Given tremendous negative societal effects of mass incarceration, the social work profession's investment in the Grand Challenge to Promote Smart Decarceration, and the call for criminal justice transformation, educational content that prepares social work students to engage in smart decarceration efforts is essential. This article presents…

As China increasingly engages in global human rights mechanisms, it has demonstrated a commitment to reforming its national curriculum. Through examining textbooks published during Xi Jinping's tenure, this study investigates how China embeds human rights issues in the English language curriculum. The findings indicate that the human rights issues…

Service learning can prepare undergraduate students with the necessary civic capacities and commitments for today's solutions to wicked social problems. However, most studies on the civic outcomes of service learning, such as civic-mindedness, are student self-reports on surveys given at the end of an academic term. A more nuanced understanding of…

Education has long been an area of political debate in the United States, with politicians and policymakers advocating for distinct societal and/or individual purposes of K -12 education. In this article, we examine the public opinion on the purpose of education, and we explore whether this political divide on the purpose of education is also…

Starting with an initiative called Buddhicised education, there have been calls to reform Chinese Buddhism for a century. Based on documentary research of textbooks and in-depth interviews, this paper examines the reform of Buddhicised education in Hong Kong since 2000. Facilitated by the Hong Kong government's education reform, Buddhicised…

This case study explores how a problem-based learning (PBL), graduate education course could be organized in ways that utilize the current knowledge of how people learn within diverse, real world community settings. Students were asked to identify an educational enterprise and a social problem within a culturally diverse, high-need community.…

The pace of societal change and the development of societal challenges have speeded up considerably during the last couple of decades, with substantial impact on different levels, i.e. ranging from global to local, or from business to government. When focusing on the public domain, these changes and challenges have had a major impact on public…

Given its propensity to foster social awareness, literature can function as a tool for developing critical citizenship, particularly in schools. This article critically analyzes John Kani's "Nothing but the Truth", a text prescribed in South African high schools, in terms of whether it presents any issues that could be drawn upon to…

Emphasizes curricular planning that considers social problems as seen by youth, helping young people to examine their basic assumptions about society in relationship to human values and social policies. (JK)

The reconstructionist philosophy is a means by which individuals can improve their lives and solve existing problems so as to better one's chances for survival. Considers the implications of this philosophy for education, the teacher, and for students. (Author/RK)

A secondary education curriculum model is proposed that provides for individualized programs, including both academic study and direct student involvement in efforts to solve contemporary social problems. (JK)

Six very different articles focusing on the prospects of today's youth upon reaching adulthood have been assembled in this booklet. The introductory chapter surveys the articles, with special attention given to technology's effects on life and education both now and in the future. The first article points out changes, good and bad, that will…

The development of a paradigm expressing social dissatisfaction was founded in the social movements of the late 1960s. Its result was to displace the individualistic, meritorious view of education with a structural one aimed at eliminating social inequality. (JN)

Article centers on education as a tool for social reconstruction. (CB)