This article summarizes issues in defining character education (CE) that are relevant to program development and evaluation. No authoritative definition exists for CE, but several features seem prominent. These include a focus on enhancing civic, moral, self-regulatory, and/or intellectual virtues; and (at least implicitly) prioritizing the…

Purpose: Taking the form of a report, the presented text aims to map the curricular changes in civic education and social science learning in basic and upper secondary schools after 1989. It seeks to identify the key features of undergraduate teacher training at universities, with an emphasis on field-specific didactics, and to provide a brief…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe how one interdisciplinary program that used an authentic learning approach may have developed global competence in students. This study explored how teachers planned and implemented a global competence program and how students perceived their acquisition of global competence. I used an…

Many educators and leaders in international schools around the globe recognize the value and urgency of global citizenship education (GCE) and the need to empower PreK-12 students to engage in authentic community engagement and active local and global citizenship. To this end, many educators use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals…

Since 2015, UNESCO has developed a variety of programmes for preventing violent extremism through education (PVE-E), under the framework of Global Citizenship Education and Target 4.7 of Agenda 2030. There have been formal board decisions to promote PVE-E, regional and international conferences and three key publications: a Teacher's Guide (2016),…

Following ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1989, councils involving young people have become widespread, both in developed and developing countries. However, these councils are said to reflect the hierarchical nature of parliamentary and representative democracy, leading to tokenistic…

In this article, we explore the term 'programme renewal' and then continue to point out why programme renewal bodes an essential topic for continuous inquiry and attention. We also highlight the importance of approaching programme renewal from a sound theoretical base and point to the important issue of promoting critical citizenship with students…

Government agencies and civil society organisations in nation-states and areas affected by conflict strive to develop citizenship education programmes to empower children as agents of change. However, the pedagogical culture within these contexts demands that children memorise information provided by higher authorities and avoid sensitive and…

The senior year of high school has the potential to be a bridge between childhood and adulthood, but senior courses are not vastly different than courses offered to freshman who are barely into their teenage years. A service learning component that is embedded throughout the senior year provides students with the space to think critically and then…

In a 2016 survey, just 26% of Americans were able to name all three branches of government, and 31% failed to name even one branch. In 2011, the American Bar Association's (ABA) Commission on Civic Education in the Nation's Schools called the progress of civic education "worrisome" and said, "there is reason to be alarmed at the…

America's schools were founded on the principle that a democratic nation needed informed, active, and knowledgeable citizens in order to realize the promise of democracy. Over the last 400 years, we have lost our way. Today's schools do a poor job of preparing our students to be engaged, open-minded, and purposeful participants in a system of…

The C3LC project produced a distinct body of knowledge and resources for teachers, which have been reflected in the contents of this special issue of Social Education. The project also provided important lessons about professional learning through teacher-driven collaborative inquiry. I will summarize some of the most important ones in this…

The purpose of this study is to construct a model of the development of the agricultural school in accordance with modern educational requirements ensuring the improvement of conditions, processes, and the content of agricultural education. Modern approaches to constructing the model of the organization of educational activities at agricultural…

Over the past decades, more and more institutions of higher learning have developed programs destined to educate students for global citizenship. Such efforts pose considerable challenges: conceptually, pedagogically and from the perspective of impact assessment. Conceptually, it is of utmost importance to pay attention to both structural…

The issue of inclusive practice, particularly as it pertains to how school staff address antisocial behavior to improve learning and life outcomes for children has become a primary topic of discussion among educational stakeholders. Within an action research framework, this investigation used a mixed-method multiple case study approach to…