Education Commons^™

The Challenges Of Gaming For Democratic Education: The Case Of Icivics, Jeremy Stoddard, Angela M. Banks, Christine Nemacheck, Elizabeth Wenska

Democracy and Education

Video games are the most recent technological advancement to be viewed as an educational panacea and a force for democracy. However, this medium has particular affordances and constraints as a tool for democratic education in educational environments. This paper presents results from a study of the design and content of four iCivics games and their potential to meet the goals of democratic education. Specifically, we focus on the games as designed experiences, the nature and accuracy of the content, and the nature of intellectual engagement in the games. We find that the games, while easily accessible and aligned with standardized …

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 …

Addressing Potential Challenges In Co-Creating Learning And Teaching: Overcoming Resistance, Navigating Institutional Norms And Ensuring Inclusivity In Student-Staff Partnerships, Alison Cook-Sather

Education Program Faculty Research and Scholarship

Against a backdrop of rising interest in students becoming partners in learning and teaching in higher education, this paper begins by exploring the relationships among student engagement, co- creation and student-staff partnership before providing a typology of the roles students can assume in working collaboratively with staff. Acknowledging that co-creating learning and teaching is not straightforward, a set of examples from higher education institutions in Europe and North America illustrates some important challenges that can arise during co-creation. These examples also provide the basis for suggestions regarding how such challenges might be resolved or re-envisaged as opportunities for more meaningful …

Moving People And Minds: Dance As A Vehicle Of Democratic Education, Theresa Catalano, Alison E. Leonard

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Engaging today’s youth in civil discussions of contentious issues remains both a crucial element in democratically oriented education and extremely challenging to facilitate. The purpose of this article, which documents and presents pilot study findings from a dance workshop that engaged practicing teachers surrounding the issue of immigration, is to understand how dance can be integrated into the curriculum to prepare students to engage in democratic deliberation. Data collection consisted of pre- and post-workshop interviews with participants and was analyzed based on common principles of democracy and democratic education found in the literature. Findings point to the important role that …

Mindfulness, Democracy, And Education, Andrea Marie Hyde, James G. Laprad

Democracy and Education

In this article, we explain how mindfulness can enhance a democratic way of being, connecting practices of awareness, reflection, dialog, and action to democratic citizenship and social arrangements. We begin by sharing our understanding of democracy as a philosophy and a political system. We then provide a background for the concept of mindfulness as it is used by those in the field of education and health care and as we connect it to democracy and democratic education. We introduce a mindfulness pedagogy and use this pedagogy to develop our concept of mindfully democratic schools. We use the work of John …

“If You Cannot Live By Our Rules, If You Cannot Adapt To This Place, I Can Show You The Back Door.” A Response To "New Forms Of Teacher Education: Connections To Charter Schools And Their Approaches", Barrett A. Smith

Democracy and Education

Stitzlein and West (2014) are primarily concerned with how Relay and Match risk failing to prepare their residents to practice democratic education. My aim is to provide a more thorough account of specific practices employed by Match and their no-excuses approach in order to illustrate and support points made by Stitzlein and West. It is my hope that this deeper examination will substantiate the concerns of Stitzlein and West while further problematizing the practices employed by and advocated for throughout Match.

Educating Each According To His Needs: A Response To “Beyond The Schoolhouse Door: Educating The Political Animal In Jefferson’S Little Republics”, Andrew Holowchak

Democracy and Education

This essay is a reply to Brian Dotts’s “Beyond the Schoolhouse Door,” which focuses on the need of a system of general education in Jefferson’s writings on educative reform.

Dialogic Multicultural Education Theory And Praxis: Dialogue And The Problems Of Multicultural Education In A Pluralistic Society, Nermine Abd Elkader

Faculty Publications and Scholarship

The purpose of this theoretical article is to highlight the role that dialogic pedagogy can play in critical multicultural education for pre-service teachers. The article starts by discussing the problematic that critical multicultural education poses in a democratic society that claims freedom of speech and freedom of expression as a basic tenet of democracy. Through investigating research findings in the field of critical multicultural education in higher education, the author argues that many of the educational approaches-including the ones that claim dialogue to be their main instructional tool- could be described as undemocratic, and thus have done more harm than …

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.

An Analysis Of Future Coaches’ Emerging Dispositions On Social Justice: The Wooden Effect, Brian Culp

Faculty and Research Publications

This qualitative study explored the extent to which an archetype presented through a non-fiction text could impact aspiring coaches’ (AC’s) dispositions regarding social justice. Forty-three aspiring coaches at a Midwestern university enrolled in a foundations class that presented issues related to inequity were studied. Analysis of student journals indicated changes in AC’s philosophies regarding social justice, an appreciation for the perspectives of underrepresented groups and emergent critical perspectives when examining sport processes. Results of the study imply that a focus on democratic education and constructivism in coaching preparation programs may be of benefit. A means by which praxis of this …

Beating The Odds. A Book Review Of Democratic Education In Practice: Inside The Mission Hill School, Gregory Smith

Democracy and Education

Democratic Education in Practice by Matthew Knoester provides a powerful antidote to the despair progressive teachers too easily can feel in the face of the corporate-sponsored onslaught against 21st-century public schools. The book provides a fine-grained view of the Mission Hill School in Boston, started in 1997 by two of the nation’s most committed and creative progressive educators.

Jefferson And Democratic Education. A Response To "Thomas Jefferson And The Ideology Of Democratic Schooling", M. Andrew Holowchak

Democracy and Education

This essay is a reply to James Carpenter's “Thomas Jefferson and the Ideology of Democratic Schooling.” In it, I argue that there is an apophatic strain in the essay that calls into question the motivation for the undertaking.

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.

Nonviolent Action As A Necessary Component In Educating For Democracy, Barbara A. Peterson

Democracy and Education

Educating for democracy, seen within a liberal democratic framework, requires that students develop the requisite knowledge and skills to recognize injustice and work effectively to oppose it. Stitzlein’s notion of dissent is examined in conjunction with Kahne and Westheimer’s argument for teaching democratic capacities by actively engaging students in addressing real world problem. This paper further suggests that for active dissent to lead to real change, we must extend our notion of dissent to include the knowledge and skills to influence the balance of power. Teaching students for democracy requires teaching them theory, history, and techniques of nonviolent action so …

Engaging Engagement: Framing The Civic Education Movement In Higher Education, Chad Woolard

Theses and Dissertations

Civic education in higher education is housed in various types of institutions (i.e. community colleges, four year universities, public and private institutions), institutional offices, academic departments, and larger, cross-campus initiatives and organizations. Civic education programs promote numerous activities to foster student engagement both inside and outside the classroom. Many in higher education have embraced the civic education movement; however, as with other social movements, the civic education movement is still a contested area. Defining civic education (i.e. civic engagement, service learning, political engagement, community engagement, etc.) becomes problematic because there seems to be as many terms for civic education as …

Thomas Jefferson And The Ideology Of Democratic Schooling, James Carpenter

Democracy and Education

I challenge the traditional argument that Jefferson’s educational plans for Virginia were built on modern democratic understandings. While containing some democratic features, especially for the founding decades, Jefferson’s concern was narrowly political, designed to ensure the survival of the new republic. The significance of this piece is to add to the more accurate portrayal of Jefferson’s impact on American institutions.

Is Jefferson A Founding Father Of Democratic Education? A Response To "Jefferson And The Ideology Of Democratic Schooling", Johann Neem

Democracy and Education

This response argues that it is reasonable to consider Thomas Jefferson a proponent of democratic education. It suggests that Jefferson's education proposals sought to ensure the wide distribution of knowledge and that Jefferson's legacy remains important to us today.

Critical Democracy Audits. A Response To "Teacher, Researcher, And Accountability Discourses: Creating Space For Democratic Science Teaching Practices In Middle Schools", Kathleen Greene

Democracy and Education

Educators frequently claim that the projects in which they are involved are democratic. However, considering the multiple and often conflicting notions of democracy and democratic education, are there any shared understandings of what either of those notions means? Does the claim that a project is democratic carry with it any shared assumptions, commitments, or obligations? In this response, I extend the conversation started by the authors of that article by proposing a critical democracy audit of their education project, and I offer a preliminary collection of questions, developed from recent literature on democratic education, that might be considered for use …

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.

Imagining No Child Left Behind Freed From Neoliberal Hijackers, Eugene Matusov

Democracy and Education

As a sociocultural educator and scholar, I have always been ambivalent about No Child Left Behind's slogan. I like its democratic ideal of “education without failure,” but I do not like the current educational policies guided by a neoliberal ideology. This article begins a discussion about what a No Student Left Behind educational practice might look like from a sociocultural democratic education perspective.

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.

Curriculum Issues: Democratic Education And Knowledge, James Magrini

James M Magrini

No abstract provided.

Curriculum Issues: Democratic Education And Knowledge, James Magrini

Philosophy Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Teacher Candidates' Attitudes Toward Immigration And Teaching Learners Of English As A Second Language, Midena M. Sas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While in theory, democratic ideals promise the equal participation of all its citizens in the decisions that affect them, in practice some populations, i.e., those who do not possess membership to the dominant cultural group, often miss out on the privileges a democratic society is supposed to ensure. Critical theorists pointed out that "democracies like ours exhort equal opportunity but often ignore ways in which our schools operate unconsciously and unknowingly to guarantee that there will be no real equality" (McLaren, 2007, p. 176). In the education arena, inequitable treatment has received significant attention, perhaps due to the glaring repercussions …

The Democratic Purpose Of Postsecondary Education: Comparing Public, Private Nonprofit, And Private For-Profit Mission Statements For Expression Of Democratic Social Purpose, Lon Youngberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Thomas Jefferson envisioned a symbiotic relationship between democracy and public education because he considered educated citizens to be the critical ingredient of a successful democracy. Nevertheless, political and educational reforms over the past two centuries have not always been kind to the relationship that Jefferson envisioned. This study examines frequency that postsecondary education institutions declare a democratic social purpose in their mission statements. The DSP definition, data instrumentation, and theoretical lens for this study were situated from the Jeffersonian perspective.

Although the primary concern for this study was publicly funded/subsidized postsecondary education, recent enrollment growth in private education and privatization …

Promoting Public Intellectual Work: Themes And Provocative Questions Linked To Perspectives Section Essays, Thomas Kelly, Donna Breault

Thomas E. Kelly

The article discusses various articles published within the issue, including the establishment of democratic educational environment in the U.S. that nurtures curriculum leaders as public intellectuals.

A Teacher Educator’S Story, Thomas Kelly

Thomas E. Kelly

No abstract provided.