Democracy--with its complicated problems, multiplicity of positions, and often deeply held convictions--has always been messy. How do we prepare students to participate meaningfully in this type of world, where issues are complex and opinions vary widely? Knowledge about democratic ideals and development of civic dispositions is important, but for…

Drawing on a mixed methods study of a district-wide initiative to integrate civic learning practices into the high school humanities curriculum in an urban school district in Northern California, this article examines the relationship between face-to-face versus online civic learning opportunities and students' motivation for engaging in practices…

The purpose of this study is to examine profiles of students' attitudes toward citizenship norms and inclusiveness in the political process, focusing on changes in the frequency of particular profiles and in the strength of predictors across a decade. Using data from 16 countries participating in the 1999 and 2009 International Association for the…

The purpose is to investigate process drama for teaching civics, mainly democracy and migration. Process drama implies students and teacher to take on roles, to explore a subject content collectively. The study is based on a secondary school educational initiative where a drama pedagogue was invited to address civics through process drama. Four…

Drawing from the theoretical contributions of Ethnic Studies, activist new media, and critical digital literacies, this article explores the nature of a ninth-grade curricular unit about how one's daily environment impacts one's health and well-being. Using a combination of ethnographic and practitioner inquiry methods, the authors highlight an…

This study seeks to develop and validate a model of living values-based interactive multimedia in Civic Education learning. A Research and Development approach was employed. Data were gathered through observations, interviews, document study, focus group discussions, and questionnaires. Data were analyzed by way of interactive models and a…

This article presents an in-class exercise that teaches students how to call elected officials about a course-related issue of their choice. The goals are to connect classroom learning with real-life action, to show that contacting elected officials need not be difficult or intimidating, and to help students develop a sense of efficacy that can…

Civic education has always been an ancillary subject in the Italian school system. Introduced at the end of the 1950s as a sort of appendage to the history programs, it has recently been subject to multiple reforms although little or nothing has changed in reality. The analysis of a sample of civic education textbooks in use in schools explains…

The metaphor of education as a conversation that is currently popular is attractive in many respects and it continues to be explored and applied in philosophy of education. This article seeks to consider that aspect of education that involves the literal conversation required to learn other languages. The burden of the argument is that language…

Game-based learning not only contributes to a learning environment that is interesting and engaging for students but also fosters collaboration while meeting educational goals. Recognizing the potential of digital games to promote primary-source use for discovery and problem-solving, the Library of Congress established funding to advance the…

The main thesis of this work is that the elements that raise difficulty with the diversity concept approach are the consequences that we derive from its recognition. And this recognition comes from pedagogy. After succinctly examining the importance of the idea of diversity in mainstream traditions of social philosophy, the author proposes the…

With nationwide concerns about the declines in youth voting turnout across the United States, increased attention has focused on schools to promote "civic education," a broad curricular approach aimed at facilitating students' development of key civic knowledge, skills, and behaviors. However, less is known about how civic education…

Many students view their classes as separate and disconnected from each other and their lives beyond the classroom. Additionally, STEM students may fail to understand how concepts and formulas of introductory classes relate to practical applications of upper-division coursework and may perceive required general education courses as even less…

Amid a devastating pandemic and increasing polarization, how can US colleges and universities help students bridge divides, make their voices heard, and understand their responsibilities to others in a democratic society? This article is an interview of Nancy Thomas, director of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts…

This is the second of three articles on "Sources of Authority in Education". All use the work of Amy Gutmann as a heuristic device to describe and explain the prevalence of market-based models of Education Reform in the United States as part of what Pasi Sahlberg terms the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM). This movement is based…