Explores three social-studies teachers' conceptions of classroom discussion, focusing on discussion's defining characteristics and purpose and influences on usage. Data included interview and think-aloud responses and classroom observations. Teachers view discussion as recitation, teacher-directed conversation, open-ended exploration, a…

For the Educational Left to gain emancipatory ground, the outcome-based education reform movement must be considered as a hopeful democratic sign. This article analyzes and critiques OBE, arguing that teachers must assume personal responsibility for grounding democratic hope within policy. A transitory democratic framework may prove a useful…

Describes a 1992-93 research project involving 66 state schools that attempted to ascertain the overall effectiveness of school-based management in Victoria, Australia. Findings of the Likert-style survey revealed substantial participant satisfaction with school councils' current composition, information provision, and overall functioning. (20…

The difference between charity and change provides an important conceptual distinction for those analyzing service-learning curricula and learning objectives. In the moral domain, service-learning activities tend toward giving or caring; in the political domain, such activities can embrace either civic duty or social reconstruction; in the…

Examines Dewey's claim that moral education refers to both the conduct of education (a morally defensible form of education) and the product of education (a moral citizenry) as expressed in his essay "Ethical Principles Underlying Education." Maintains that Dewey did not consider adequately the need for specifically moral criteria for…

Looks at the notion of the democratic public sphere as a useful construct for collaborative practices in portfolio classrooms. Describes the author's efforts to foster democratic participation by situating portfolio talk and assessment within the public space of one developmental writing classroom. Describes conflicts unseen until the end of the…

Describes Collin County Community College's (CCCC) (Texas) attempt to address the issue of civic disengagement by pairing scholarship with service-learning programs. Institutional research data reflect increased student retention and success in these classes, a climate of increased communication and objectivity, practical experience in community…

The development and promotion of the "expanding communities" curriculum design model for teaching elementary school social studies was a crucial episode in the history of social studies. This article profiles how the model developed in the mind of its most effective promoter, Paul Robert Hanna. Paul Hanna understood early in his career the…

When college students find ways to combine education for productive work with education for responsible citizenship, the balance between workplace productivity and civic engagement provides both financial rewards and a deep sense of satisfaction associated with contributing to the vitality of the communities where they work and live. This is…

Of the many arguments for charter schools, one is crucial: that charters should be deliberately, thoughtfully, boldly different from existing mainline public middle and high schools. The evidence of the ineffectiveness of the traditional design of K-12 education, especially that of middle and high schools, serving both rich and poor, is…

As character education continues to be an objective of the social studies, the more effective educators have taken up the challenge by first understanding the principles of their discipline and opportunities for examining the values of character to be encountered. The organizing and teaching of history conceptualized and taught in a powerful…

In a literate and democratic society, literacy achievement is one result of education that has a compelling impact on both academic and life-course outcomes. Strong literacy skills are requisite to curricular access and academic achievement during the school years, to post-secondary education and training in young adulthood, and to participation…

Since the 1990s participation has become a buzzword in education as well as in development contexts. In those contexts, participation has more particularly been linked up with personal promises of self-fulfilment, ownership and self-determination as well as with democratic ideals such as justice, equivalence and freedom. In the paper, we focus on…

The present study shed light on the continuing debate among students of political socialisation regarding the effects of civic education on the upholding of democratic attitudes. Our major conclusion is that civic education, in and of itself, has only minor effects on democratic attitudes of pupils. Furthermore, among pupils who attended civic…

Teaching is a moral endeavour. It transmits moral messages based on values and expectations. This paper explores the relationship between school practice and the democratic values endorsed in the Swedish national curriculum. A lunch-time episode illustrates the discrepancy between the national curriculum's ethical values and their realization in…