Analyzes theoretical and practical political frameworks behind two main approaches to civic education in the United States: civics and service. States that neither liberalism nor communitarianism has been able to mount a significant alternative to what a former Cambridge Journal of Education article called educational Darwinism, whereby less…

Although public schools attempted to assimilate immigrant children, immigrants tended to blend American and ethnic identities. Civic education played a role by encouraging students to define American identity as commitment to broad civic ideals, including respect for diversity. (Contains 27 references.) (SK)

Examines constructivism in a seventh-grade civics project, involving a variety of literacy practices. Suggests that those interested in changing binaries in classroom relational structures must contemplate the degree to which relationships have been produced historically, in materials, curricula, and literacy practices at specific school sites.…

Drawing on sample of Australian teachers, study highlights the role that teachers play in constructing and reconstructing civic education policy in schools and classrooms. Finds teachers' personal views of civics are more likely to influence them than external policies, their focus is more on citizenship than formal civics programs, and they…

Although the nation's founding documents do not refer explicitly to education, it would be wrong to regard that which is not explicitly articulated as unimportant. The documents themselves demonstrate the founders' trust in the importance of learning, and the "Federalist Papers" provide the basis for the national regard for education.…

Describes the First Amendment Schools project aimed at teaching K-12 public and independent school students their constitutionally protected religious, speech, press, assembly, and petition rights and responsibilities. Includes examples describing the project in several schools. Includes annotated list of resources for educators. (PKP)

Argues that building civic capacity of citizens is the top priority for countries in the Asia Pacific Region in the 21st Century. Explores several issues surrounding the development of civic values based on democratic principles. Discusses role of schools in developing civic capacity in young people. (Contains 20 references.) (PKP)

The cartographic and aesthetic marker reveals about the contradictions inherent in the racial and civic constitution of the U.S. body politic based on the political and cultural notions of "landscape" during the mid-nineteenth-century era and the neoliberal era of 2005. These two liminal periods are placed to render a more complete portrait of the…

School choice advocacy is dominated by perspectives that reflect a tendency to regard public schooling as a private service commodity. In recent years, numerous works of Anglo-American political philosophy, sociology and legal theory have attempted to restore a conception of public schooling as an institution that cultivates civic virtue.…

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance may be the core civic ritual in the United States and the most common--core because it extracts a personal promise of some sort and most common because it is widely required in schools and concludes the naturalization ceremony for new citizens. While many people have recited and memorized the pledge, few have…

This paper describes a project that underscores the critical role of this nation's museums and libraries in helping citizens build such 21st century skills as information, communications and technology literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, civic literacy, and global awareness. Recognizing that every individual requires these…

The nation's recent preoccupation with reshaping academics and raising academic performance has all but overpowered a task of vital importance--educating our young people to become engaged citizens of their communities. Traditionally, students are taught citizenship skills in either a civics education class or through citizenship courses in the…

We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution is a civics curriculum developed by the Center for Civic Education (Center). The program, utilized in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, is intended to foster civic competence and responsibility among America's youth. While educating youth about the principles of American constitutional…

The Bradley Commission on History in Schools was created in 1987 specifically in response to the widespread concern over the inadequacy, both in quantity and in quality, of the history taught in elementary and secondary school classrooms. This book explores the conditions that contribute to, or impede, the effective teaching of history in schools.…

Rather than relying on the traditional courses in civics, problems, and government, the new, law-focused education programs described in this article are designed particularly to amend political ignorance among Americans. (JH)