Bringing peace to the world is a profound aspiration, and it can be achieved by instilling the values of empathy, compassion, and respect in young children through humane education. Humane education sows the seeds of hope for a future that can heal our planet and usher in positive societal change. Humane education fosters empathy and ethical…

The author discusses what it means to be a "good" citizen in a democracy, whether schools are teaching children to be good citizens, and ways to implement citizenship education in schools.

President Barack Obama once said he believes that he learned how to be a good citizen by reading novels. In this article, Laura Tavares looks at the ways that ELA teachers can use fiction to illustrate social and ethical awareness, humility, and a tolerance for difference--all traits that are necessary to be a good citizen. By putting themselves…

"The most essential component to offering the children an education for peace is the emphasis on that which unites us." With this focus, Elizabeth Henke presents a picture of how Montessori students progressively develop a sense of moral, civic, and social responsibility. The foundation is set during the elementary years when children…

This lesson prompts students to explore the ways that individuals, groups, communities, and nations define who belongs and who does not. The outlined activities examine what it means to belong by introducing the idea of a "universe of obligation," the term sociologist Helen Fein coined to describe the circle of individuals and groups…

University of Michigan (U-M) students visit community-based organizations in Detroit on a weekly basis to work on projects aimed at improving the well being of children and their families, such as tutoring youth in after school programs. Their site visits are supplemented by relevant readings, class discussions and written reflections on topics…

This chapter highlights good practices and lessons learned for infusing social responsibility--contributing to the larger community and taking seriously the perspectives of others--as outcomes of college.

An innovative curriculum designed to foster the development of social responsibility among pre-adolescent children was introduced at a rural Zambian primary school. The curriculum invoked Child-to-Child principles focusing on health education, advancing a synthesis of Western psychological theories and African cultural traditions. The teacher…

The clichés "it's a small world" and "the world is our classroom" are becoming practical realities for many educators. Increasingly accessible transnational contexts for English language teaching and learning offer new opportunities for local-global learning. This article reflects on a content-based online English course…

Values education and environmental education for sustainability are both spheres of education research that have manifested rapid and overlapping development in recent years. An independent primary school located in the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia participated in research on both values education and environmental education for…

Making children good citizens for tomorrow, despite the examples of dishonesty and irresponsibility available in today's news headlines, requires of teachers a positive attitude, concrete positive examples, and thoughtful discussion of personal responsibility. (JH)

Antonio Gramsci's theory of hegemony--not so much a theory of domination as a theory of the manufacturing of commonsense--offers a way to break into the myth of leadership as always already tied to practices of domination. His complex accounting of leadership's "necessary" relationship to the pedagogic and hegemonic constitute an…

This guide was designed for teachers to help students recognize and develop their responsibilities to society. The concepts focused on include: respect for citizenship, respect for people of other cultures, respect for people of all ages, respect for people who have a handicap, respect for work, respect for being a wise consumer, and respect for…

Asserts that social studies teacher educators can develop future teachers' commitment to student service learning. Describes and reports on a study of a community service-learning program for elementary preservice social studies teachers. (CFR)

The program of civic education in Indianapolis elementary schools in the early part of the 20th century is described. Content and teaching methods of community civics are reviewed. Objectives of the program were to help children understand their roles as members of various social groups; to establish habits of order, cooperation, and service; to…