Education Commons^™

Agonism In A Classroom Discussion On Strindberg's Miss Julie, Emma N. Tysklind, Linn Areskoug, Eva Hultin

Democracy and Education

In many parts of the world, researchers and policymakers alike report possible threats to democracy and its institutions. Accounts in the media of hatred and threats aimed at people taking part in public discourse, and of a polarized political debate, raise general questions about the current state and future of democratic dialogue and processes. Solutions are sought, by both research and policy, in the educational context. Some researchers have turned to the agonistic theory proposed by Chantal Mouffe, highlighting the democratic role of conflict and dissent. Empirical research on agonism in education is, however, scarce. In this article, we explore …

The Queer Agenda: A Fluid Education, Charlee Corra

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

Throughout this paper, I weave together various aspects of my identity in order to investigate how fluidity and questioning form an undercurrent of my being and therefore of the way I teach. Through metaphors and narratives of my experiences within environmental education and experiential learning I seek clarity and expansiveness rather than definitive answers, leaning into the certainty that change is inevitable and there are rarely any static answers. Using queerness, Judaism, and my scientific background as the layers of my unique identity lens and positionality, I explore the ways in which the power of questioning, critical thinking, democratic education …

Pedagogy Of Tarot: Simultaneity Of Past, Present, And Future, Ashley S. Hill

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

A three card tarot spread can represent the past, present, and future. As a reflective practice, tarot does not divine the future; rather it invites the practitioner to consider context and imagine multiple futures. Simultaneously experiencing the past, present, and future of education is valuable and is possible through a pedagogy of tarot. A pedagogy of tarot connects fxminist and democratic approaches to education through non-hierarchical relationships that honor lived experiences - calling teachers and learners to remain conscious and awake to one another. By acknowledging the possibility of multiple truths within current sociopoliticial and hxstorical contexts, we can make …

Democratic Spaces: How Teachers Establish And Sustain Democracy And Education In Their Classrooms, Julia Collins, Michael E. Hess, Charles L. Lowery

Democracy and Education

Democratic education focuses on developing students using democratic principles and processes in the classroom. In this study, we aim to understand how self-identified democratic educators practice democratic education in public-school classrooms. Nine participants, teachers in K12 schools, were interviewed for this qualitative study. In investigating how public-school teachers implemented and sustained democratic education in their classrooms, six themes emerged—fostering relationships, empowering students, and teaching and using democratic skills, democratic educative structure, democratic teacher praxis, and obstacles.

Playful Practice: The Democratic Potential Of Reacting To The Past As Experiential Learning, Kyle Chong

Race and Pedagogy Journal: Teaching and Learning for Justice

This paper utilises a theoretical approach to discuss the subversive potential of the Reacting to the Past role-playing game pedagogy to expand experiential learning in higher education. Doing so, this paper asserts, also creates experiences that are not simply focused on the vocational outcomes of university education. Rather, that the soft skills and critical civic engagement enabled by focus on argument and rhetoric. These skills are necessary for radical democratic engagement enable more effective public practices of confronting injustice in a neoliberal curricular climate.

Quantitative Civic Literacy, Mary Candace Raygoza

Occasional Paper Series

As teachers strive to reimagine mathematics classrooms as interdisciplinary, problem-posing spaces that connect to students’ lives, communities, and the world, how can they prepare young people to develop as civic actors, to build quantitative civic literacy? This article explores how mathematics teachers may support students to learn about and take civic action in relation to mathematical study of societal inequalities. Keeping in mind there is not a singular way of conceiving what it means to develop students as democratic citizens, this article offers a call to explore the range of ways quantitative civic literacy may be understood and taken up.

Democratic Education And An Urban Teacher Residency: A Case Study, Bryan P. Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

Over the course of American schooling scholars note that democratic education and citizenship have not been abandoned, but perhaps marginalized or pushed aside, as test scores and achievement have become the most desired outcomes. Democratic education must move out of the margins and into high priority. The current political climate of increased division and divisiveness could not illustrate this need any more. Another well-documented challenge within the American educational system, particularly in high need areas is the need for highly qualified teachers. Urban Teacher Residency (UTR) programs have offered a possible solution to this growing problem in recruiting, training, and …

Middle Grades Democratic Education In Neoliberal Times: Examining Youth Social Action Projects As A Path Forward, Jessica Demink-Carthew

Middle Grades Review

Although democratic education has long been considered a cornerstone of the developmentally responsive middle school model, current neoliberal priorities in education pose a particular threat to the democratic purpose of education. Due to their emphasis on student voice and civic engagement, youth social action projects present one opportunity to preserve democratic education as a focal point of the middle school concept. In this article, I offer a case description of a middle grades youth social action project. Incorporating student perspectives, I then critically examine the extent to which the project was successful in its goal of promoting student voice and …

Empowering Young People Through Conflict And Conciliation: Attending To The Political And Agonism In Democratic Education, Jane C. Lo

Democracy and Education

Deliberative models of democratic education encourage the discussion of controversial issues in the classroom (e.g., Hess, 2009); however, they tend to curtail conflicts for the sake of consensus. Agonism, on the other hand, can help support the deliberative model by attending to antagonism in productive ways (Ruitenberg, 2009). In this paper, I present how agonistic deliberation (the infusion of agonism into deliberation) can work as an account of the political that may help empower young people. The paper presents two classic democratic classroom practices—structured academic controversy (SAC) and debate—together as examples of how agonistic deliberation can help students engage politically. …

Democratic Foundations For Spiritually Responsive Pedagogy, Audrey Lingley

Democracy and Education

Spirituality has been identified as an important component of democratic education by influential scholars such as Dewey, Freire, hooks, and Noddings. However, many teachers in the United States do not engage openly with a framework for understanding, organizing, and integrating pedagogical knowledge of spirituality within the context of culturally conscious social justice education. Drawing from an analysis of the works of Dewey, Noddings, Freire, and hooks and using a critical construct of spirituality that emphasizes inquiry, practical experience, meaning making, and awareness of interconnectedness, I argue that spiritually responsive pedagogy is a vital element of emancipatory, culturally responsive education in …

Reinventing The High School Government Course: Rigor, Simulations, And Learning From Text, Walter C. Parker, Jane C. Lo

Democracy and Education

The high school government course is arguably the main site of formal civic education in the country today. This article presents the curriculum that resulted from a multiyear study aimed at improving the course. The pedagogic model, called Knowledge in Action, centers on a rigorous form of project-based learning where the projects are weeks-long simulations. The first section introduces the course and the study, the second describes the methodology and design principles, the third describes the political simulations that are the spine of the course, and the fourth examines implementation and design issues that emerged across the years. The …

Democratic Teaching: An Incomplete Job Description, Rachel Bradshaw

Democracy and Education

The importance of public education in democratic states is almost beyond dispute. Too often, though, discussions of democratic education focus solely on policies and systems, forgetting the individual teachers who are ultimately responsible for educating future citizens. This paper attempts to illustrate just how complex and significant the role of teachers in a democratic republic can be.

The Need For Media Education In Democratic Education, Jeremy Stoddard

Democracy and Education

Despite the potential for media and technology to act as a democratizing force and the challenges to democracy posed by partisanship and the explosion of political media spending, media education and the preparation of active citizens in schools is virtually nonexistent. This essay presents the case for revitalizing media education for the age of digital media as a tenet of democratic education and outlines an agenda for teacher education, curriculum integration, student engagement, and research.

Resisting The Neoliberal Ambush Of Public Education. A Book Review Of Educational Courage: Resisting The Ambush Of Public Education, Brandy S. Wilson

Democracy and Education

This is a review of the book Educational Courage: Resisting the Ambush of Public Education.

“With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”: Privileged Students’ Conceptions Of Justice-Oriented Citizenship, Katy Swalwell

Democracy and Education

How do students from privileged communities respond to educational efforts encouraging them to become justice-oriented citizens? Observational and interview data collected during a semester-long case study of eleven high school students in a social studies class at an elite private school reveal four markedly different interpretations of their teacher's call to be justice-oriented citizens. Under Westheimer and Kahne’s (2004) conceptions of citizenship as an analytical frame, only one of these interpretations aligns with the tenets of justice-oriented citizenship and the desired outcomes of social justice pedagogy. Given that all eleven students considered themselves to be justice oriented, these findings reveal …

Public Acts Of Self-Deliberation: Preparation For Discursive Democracy In Education, Vonzell Agosto

Educational and Psychological Studies Faculty Publications

This conceptual essay forwards self-deliberation as an act to be included in the preparation of educators and administrators. Self-deliberation is defined as a public act of deliberation that can be instigated pedagogically to prepare students for difficult dialogues on enduring issues in education. Self-deliberation provides another pedagogical method for preparing aspiring educators to participate in deliberative or discursive democracy. Narrative vignettes are used to illustrate the acts of self-deliberation performed by aspiring teachers of color as they consider controversial issues such as affirmative action, racial segregation, and culturally relevant education.

Democratic Education Only For Some: Secondary Schooling In Northern Uganda, Philip Kelly, Stephen Odama

Philip P. Kelly

This article analyzes the effects of the political, social and cultural contexts of secondary education in northern Uganda. Specifically, the authors examine interactions between several factors with the schooling system, including

• post-colonial curriculum,
• centralized examination system,
• several decades of war and instability,
• poverty, and
• intra-national and inter-tribal prejudice and discrimination.

Informing the analysis is the fact that Uganda is a democracy and thus has certain democratic responsibilities to its children and students. To explore these issues, the lenses of democratic theory and critical theory are employed.

Democratic Education Only For Some: Secondary Schooling In Northern Uganda, Philip Kelly, Stephen Odama

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article analyzes the effects of the political, social and cultural contexts of secondary education in northern Uganda. Specifically, the authors examine interactions between several factors with the schooling system, including

• post-colonial curriculum,
• centralized examination system,
• several decades of war and instability,
• poverty, and
• intra-national and inter-tribal prejudice and discrimination.

Informing the analysis is the fact that Uganda is a democracy and thus has certain democratic responsibilities to its children and students. To explore these issues, the lenses of democratic theory and critical theory are employed.