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Full-Text Articles in Education

Navigating Context Collapse: A Strengths-Based Approach To Building Youth Civic Empowerment. A Response To “Blended Spaces: Reimagining Civic Education In A Digital Era”, Ellen Middaugh, Mariah Kornbluh, Mark Felton May 2023

Navigating Context Collapse: A Strengths-Based Approach To Building Youth Civic Empowerment. A Response To “Blended Spaces: Reimagining Civic Education In A Digital Era”, Ellen Middaugh, Mariah Kornbluh, Mark Felton

Democracy and Education

In the article “Blended Spaces: Reimagining Civic Education in a Digital Era,” the authors joined a new area of research on "civic media literacy," or the capacity to use media with civic intentionality. Building on previous scholarship that examined how to support youth capacity for effective civic inquiry, dialogue, expression, and action in the digital age, the authors contributed to this literature by usefully elaborating on the phenomenon of “context collapse” and the challenges this blurring of the boundaries between public and private spheres may present, particularly in the liminal spaces where the shifting boundaries most clearly depart from the …


Teacher Learning And The Difficulties Of Moving Civic Education Forward. A Response To “Beyond The Invisible Barriers Of The Classroom: Iengage And Civic Praxis”, Avner Segall Oct 2020

Teacher Learning And The Difficulties Of Moving Civic Education Forward. A Response To “Beyond The Invisible Barriers Of The Classroom: Iengage And Civic Praxis”, Avner Segall

Democracy and Education

In “Beyond the Invisible Barriers of the Classroom: iEngage and Civic Praxis,” the authors reported on the experiences teachers encountered during a weeklong Youth Engage Civic Institute Camp and the degree to which what teachers learned in the camp was able to move their thinking and practice toward a more critical, justice-oriented approach to civic education. The authors’ analysis thus “considers the ideological shifts the counselors [teachers] made and the likelihood that they will teach beyond the formal classroom as they return to more traditional environments” (Magill et al., 2020, p. 2). In that, the authors were interested not only …


Supporting Students To Read Complex Texts On Civic Issues: The Role Of Scaffolded Reading Instruction In Democratic Education, Shira Eve Epstein Oct 2020

Supporting Students To Read Complex Texts On Civic Issues: The Role Of Scaffolded Reading Instruction In Democratic Education, Shira Eve Epstein

Democracy and Education

This paper discusses the role of scaffolded reading instruction in democratic education. Focusing on a case study of a high school civic unit on the Syrian civil war and refugee crisis, it argues the importance of such reading instruction. Students noted the challenges they experienced when reading complex texts on the topic. Yet, scaffolded reading activities that helped students interpret and respond to the texts yielded student engagement with disciplinary material and were praised by the students. This paper illustrates the use of such supports and discusses the ramifications of their absence.


Reenvisioning Education For Civic Engagement In The Social Media Century, Ryan T. Knowles Oct 2018

Reenvisioning Education For Civic Engagement In The Social Media Century, Ryan T. Knowles

Democracy and Education

The reviewed article, “The Impact of Student Political Identity Over the Course of an Online Controversial Issue Discussion,” represents a timely response to the eye-opening influences of social media in modern political climates. Particularly, the project provides a useful model and relevant findings for future teachers and teacher educators to incorporate online political discussions. The study clearly demonstrates the value of online discussions, especially in mixed partisan groups. Based on the findings, three additional considerations were identified and elaborated on within this response. These include a renewed consideration of quantitative analysis, a focus of identity in civic education, and a …


Political Simulations: An Opportunity For Meaningful Democratic Participation In Schools, Isolde De Groot Oct 2018

Political Simulations: An Opportunity For Meaningful Democratic Participation In Schools, Isolde De Groot

Democracy and Education

Political simulations are considered promising tools to instigate democratic learning in schools. This article reports a qualitative inquiry into student involvement in the organization of the 2012 mock elections—the shadow elections that schools can organize in conjunction with the official elections—in eight high schools in the Netherlands. The objective of this inquiry is twofold: to evaluate student involvement in mock elections in these schools and to lay the theoretical groundwork for further quantitative inquiries into student participation in political events. For the deductive analysis of student roles in organizing the mock election, I adapted Fielding and Moss’s (2012) “patterns of …


Deliberating Public Policy Issues With Adolescents: Classroom Dynamics And Sociocultural Considerations, Margaret S. Crocco, Avner Segall, Anne-Lise S. Halvorsen, Rebecca J. Jacobsen Apr 2018

Deliberating Public Policy Issues With Adolescents: Classroom Dynamics And Sociocultural Considerations, Margaret S. Crocco, Avner Segall, Anne-Lise S. Halvorsen, Rebecca J. Jacobsen

Democracy and Education

Classroom discussion and deliberation have been widely touted in the research literature as a centerpiece of high quality civic education. Empirical studies, however, of such processes are relatively few. In a public policy deliberation on immigration conducted in three Midwestern high schools during the academic year 2015–16, the authors found that analysis of a set of deliberations on the subject of immigration policy in the United States reveals the ways in which sociocultural identity aspects of the settings and participants influenced the processes and dynamics of these classroom events. Reflecting upon this analysis suggests a set of factors that reveal …


The Slow Work Of Democracy: Resisting Reductionist Views Of Women And Children, Stephanie C. Serriere Dec 2017

The Slow Work Of Democracy: Resisting Reductionist Views Of Women And Children, Stephanie C. Serriere

Democracy and Education

In her research article “State your defense!": Children negotiate analytic frames in the context of deliberative dialogue," Hauver offers important contributions to the field of elementary civic education that illuminate how young people apply various analytical frames to make collective decisions. First, I highlight significant contributions of her work, namely children’s capabilities to build perspective-taking through dialogue, which I suggest can be more solidly grounded in a sociocultural framework, not a developmental one. Second, I offer suggestions toward such a theoretical framework that loosens determinism for children’s development and offers a less deterministic framework for women. My review seeks …


Powerful Design Principles And Processes: Lessons From A Case Of Ambitious Civics Education Curriculum Planning. A Response To "Reinventing The High School Government Course: Rigor, Simulations, And Learning From Text", Todd Dinkelman Nov 2016

Powerful Design Principles And Processes: Lessons From A Case Of Ambitious Civics Education Curriculum Planning. A Response To "Reinventing The High School Government Course: Rigor, Simulations, And Learning From Text", Todd Dinkelman

Democracy and Education

In "Reinventing the High School Government Course," the authors presented the latest iteration of an ambitious AP government course developed over a seven-year design-based implementation research project. Chiefly addressed to curriculum developers and civics teachers, the article elaborates key design principles, provides a description of both the substance and structure of the course, and explains the pedagogical aims and practices of the course. I review this outstanding work by providing a discussion of what I think this research might do for the intended audience and close with a few considerations that extend the authors’ own questions and concerns about the …


The Social And Emotional Components Of Gaming. A Response To “The Challenge Of Gaming For Democratic Education”, Ellen Middaugh Nov 2016

The Social And Emotional Components Of Gaming. A Response To “The Challenge Of Gaming For Democratic Education”, Ellen Middaugh

Democracy and Education

This response considers the role of video games in promoting the social and emotional aspects of civic education and engagement. Specifically, it discusses how design choices in iCivics and video games generally may impact students’ emotional responses to issues and other people, sense of internal efficacy, and social connectedness.


Reinventing The High School Government Course: Rigor, Simulations, And Learning From Text, Walter C. Parker, Jane C. Lo May 2016

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 …


Exploring The Implications Of Citizenship-As-Equality In Critical Citizenship Education. A Response To "The Practice Of Equality: A Critical Understanding Of Democratic Citizenship Education", Michalinos Zembylas Apr 2015

Exploring The Implications Of Citizenship-As-Equality In Critical Citizenship Education. A Response To "The Practice Of Equality: A Critical Understanding Of Democratic Citizenship Education", Michalinos Zembylas

Democracy and Education

This is a response to Ruitenberg’s (2015) argument that citizenship-as-equality should be the focus of citizenship education. My aim in the response is to offer clarifying comments and questions and suggest further ideas for expanding her analysis, highlighting in particular two perspectives that deserve more attention: first, the role of emotions in the constitution of political subjectification and the practice of equality; second, the possible openings that might be created when the notion of citizenship-as-equality is utilized as a point of departure to instill more criticality in students’ understandings of and feelings about citizenship.


Civic Meanings: Understanding The Constellations Of Democratic And Civic Beliefs Of Educators, Elizabeth A. Lowham, James R. Lowham Apr 2015

Civic Meanings: Understanding The Constellations Of Democratic And Civic Beliefs Of Educators, Elizabeth A. Lowham, James R. Lowham

Democracy and Education

There is little doubt of public school’s role in the enculturation of youth into American democracy. There are several aspects about which little is known that should be addressed prior to seeking options to understand and address civic education for the 21st century: first, the desired civic knowledge, skills, and predispositions are not clearly identified; and second, little is known about the knowledge, skills, and beliefs of the faculty, administration, staff and board of education members about democracy or the patterns of congruence among adults connected to K–12 education. In this pilot study, we investigate the patterns of beliefs through …


Feel Free To Change Your Mind. A Response To "The Potential For Deliberative Democratic Civic Education", Walter Parker Oct 2011

Feel Free To Change Your Mind. A Response To "The Potential For Deliberative Democratic Civic Education", Walter Parker

Democracy and Education

Walter Parker responds to Hanson and Howe's article, extending their argument to everyday classroom practice. He focuses on a popular learning activity called Structured Academic Controversy (SAC). SAC is pertinent not only to civic learning objectives but also to traditional academic-content objectives. SAC is at once a discourse structure, a participation structure, and an instructional procedure; and it centers on Hanson and Howe’s autonomy-building fulcrum—exchanging reasons. At a key moment in SAC, students are invited to step out of an assigned role and to form their “own” position on the issue. Parker argues that SAC is one way to mobilize …