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Full-Text Articles in Political Science
Navigating The Indeterminate Relationship Between Politics And Pedagogy. A Response To "Education As Commons, Children As Commoners: The Case Study Of The Little Tree Community”, Derek R. Ford
Democracy and Education
In their article, Pechtelidis and Kioupkiolis added a case study to research at the intersection of politics, pedagogy, and the commons. Examining the Little Tree Community to deepen our understanding of how education can operate as a common practice, they raised key questions about the political possibility of subjectification in an education in the commons, leaving the question of politics and pedagogy open. Case studies in general, especially in the article format, require a delicate balance of theoretical exposition, contextual explication, data presentation, and analysis. In this response, I propose one way we might refine the politics assumed in the …
A Democratic Critique Of The Common Core English Language Arts (Ela) Standards, Nicholas Tampio
A Democratic Critique Of The Common Core English Language Arts (Ela) Standards, Nicholas Tampio
Democracy and Education
Parents, educators, and students have criticized the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects for expecting students to regurgitate evidence from assigned texts rather than think for themselves. This article argues that this popular critique is accurate and that the Common Core, regardless of its advocates’ intentions, has undemocratic consequences. Initially, the essay considers a democratic argument for the Common Core. Then, I show that the standards themselves, faithfully implemented, lead to assignments and assessments that give students few opportunities to articulate their own thoughts or responses. I argue that …
Beyond The Schoolhouse Door: Educating The Political Animal In Jefferson’S Little Republics, Brian W. Dotts
Beyond The Schoolhouse Door: Educating The Political Animal In Jefferson’S Little Republics, Brian W. Dotts
Democracy and Education
Jefferson believed that citizenship must exhibit republican virtue. While education was necessary in a republican polity, it alone was insufficient in sustaining a revolutionary civic spirit. This paper examines Jefferson's expectations for citizen virtue, specifically related to militia and jury service in his 'little republics.' Citizens required not only knowledge of history and republican principles, but also public spaces where they could personify what they learned. Jefferson often analogized the nation as a ship at sea, and while navigational instruments are necessary in charting an accurate course, i.e., republican theories, they become inconsequential without the decisive action required for their …
Repair To The Lamps And Rake The Language, Daniel Malachuk
Repair To The Lamps And Rake The Language, Daniel Malachuk
Democracy and Education
Boatright and Faust rightly recommend Emerson’s active reading style, but they misrepresent him as pragmatist who believed readers to be “makers of meaning.” Emerson was a transcendentalist whose fundamental message was that moral “truth exists, though all men should deny it.” Especially in his antislavery writings, Emerson teaches two ways for readers to find (not make) these moral truths in the texts they read: by reading with their souls, or intuitively (“repairing to the lamps”), and by reading for the facts (“raking the language”) that will awaken moral sensibilities. Rather than continue to invent an Emerson who flatters our contemporary …