Describes an experimental course at an urban school that focuses on experiences of service work outside the school as well as involvement in the political and social structure within the school. Suggests ways that schools can design a curriculum that reflects on social activity as an element of community life. (MJP)

Examines the Peace Corps' early efforts to recruit black volunteers and the consequent culture clash between their expectations of Africa and its reality. Sexism, social stratification, and cultural stereotyping often underscored the differences between black Americans and Africans. Nonetheless, volunteers generally credited the experience as a…

Presents four brief essays expressing the importance of combining service learning and citizenship education. Authors Benjamin Barber, Joan Schine, Harry C. Boyte, and James C. Kielsmeier stress the advantages of learning democratic concepts and principles, as well as understanding civic government, through student participation. (MJP)

Provides 11 guideposts for teachers and students planning constructive community action projects. These include avoid overanalysis at the beginning, write your original idea down before you modify it, ignore negativity, do your homework, build a core group, and recruit community allies. (MJP)

Discusses the utopian philosophy and related educational practices of the early 19th-century communitarian settlement in New Harmony, Indiana. The settlement failed after several years, due in no small part to the falling out between its two main supporters, Robert Owen and William Maclure. (MJP)

Reviews the moral issues and political circumstances of the Holocaust. Identifies four prototypical participants and discusses their role and actions in terms of personal decisions. These are: Victims, Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Activists. Concludes with a call for individuals to examine their own efforts at combatting bigotry and hatred. (MJP)

Proposes using feminist art criticism, rather than the modernist emphasis, to teach art criticism. Outlines three goals for feminist art criticism: social analysis, political activism, and self-knowledge. Examines each goal and its complementarity, stressing a pluralistic approach. Maintains that such criticism promotes socially relevant learning.…

Critiques many research efforts on women in educational leadership. Describes a feminist, action research project, and argues that it more accurately explores the issues and facts of this subject. The research project involved 10 women in education in New Zealand and sought to empower them to seek professional advancement. (JB)

Examines the nature and activities of the Christian Schools Campaign. The campaign worked to influence educational legislation in England concerning public funding for religious-based schools. Assess the campaign's effectiveness in influencing the 1993 Education Act, which opened the possibility of public funding. (MJP)

Describes a seventh-grade class project in which students researched a specific social problem, proposed an action plan, and took steps to implement the plan. Students who chose problems closer to home (the elderly, literacy, dropouts) were able to develop more effective action plans. (MJP)

Within a university course, a professor and two graduate students explored societal and individual implications of literacy in general and of information and scientific literacies: conceptualizations (or ideologies) of specialized literacies in society, injustices caused by a narrow view of literacy perpetuated by dominant groups, literacy as…

Community-based environmental education is an important part of the sustainability project. Along with regulation and market-based instruments, adult learning and education in non-formal settings consistently features in the sustainability strategies advocated and implemented by government, community and industry entities. Community-situated…

This study explores the concept of finding pleasure in social and ecological caring from the a/r/tographic stance of the author as artist, researcher, and teacher. I combine place-based and visual culture art education with multicultural children's picture books to promote more connection and pleasure in the teaching and learning process. The…

This paper examines changes in values and practices that are emerging in Mexican higher education, reviewing recent trends and policy dilemmas affecting colleges and universities in Mexico. It argues that the educational reforms carried out in the early 1990s indicate the movement away from a social welfare model of higher education, built around…

This report presents data on the civic involvement of U.S. adults, including sources of information, community and political participation, and attitudes toward government and democratic principles. The data are from the 1996 National Household Education Survey, Adult Civic Involvement component. A brief summary of the data is included in the…