In this essay, a broad spectrum of the work of influential educational scholars was examined in order to identify crucial components of teaching for democracy. Synthesizing the literature with their experiences as middle level teachers and teacher educators, the authors determined those conceptions that would be most fruitful for moving…

In this paper, we discuss the design and development of an eBook titled "Building Democracy for All: Interactive Explorations of Government and Civic Life," which serves as an open educational resource for the eighth-grade Massachusetts social studies curriculum standards. This design case offers an example of an interactive,…

In a historical review of curriculum revisions carried out in British Columbia, Canada, the author argued that these revisions were undemocratic in the sense that the revisions were carried out by a small selection of individuals associated with the Ministry/Department of Education. This article begins with a brief review of previous findings…

Although susceptibility to populist sentiments among adolescents is viewed with concern, research focusing on the nature of populism in youth is still rare. This two-wave study (approx. 10 month) among 9th grade German adolescents (T1: N= 1,205; M[subscript age] = 14.4, SD[subscript age] = 0.6; 52.1% female) examined populist attitudes as a…

Including democratic principles in a traditional public school general music program can be challenging, but the benefits are significant, including greater student independence and motivation for learning. Democratic practice is both an approach to teaching and an outcome of the experience. It prepares students to be participants in society by…

Education in the United States has a foundational public purpose: to prepare students for effective citizenship. The idea that an educated and engaged citizenry is essential to the health of a democracy motivated the creation of government-run "common schools" in the early decades of the nation and remains an important value in modern…

How can middle school mathematics teachers navigate their roles as authorities in managing classroom democracies while providing their students with opportunities to exercise their rights? The concept of complementarity (Vithal, 1999) acknowledges that a teacher's authority is not always in conflict with students' rights or agency, but instead a…

This qualitative study explored factors that supported teachers in their efforts to promote students' critiquing, communicating, and collaborating skills. Despite the various challenges that public schools face today, they are most likely the very institutions to play a critical role in individuals' civic skills development. Individual in-depth…

The basic aim of this paper is to discuss the concept 'Knowledge Democracy' (KD) and what it can mean in the school context, its implications on knowledge production and dissemination and on the educational practices. We try to enrich this discussion by presenting action research projects to provide case studies of how thinking about KD can…

The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of Taiwanese students' perceptions of good citizenship in terms of citizenship behaviours rooted in Western democracy and character and moral (CM) oriented citizenship. Data from Taiwanese eighth graders participating in the 2016 International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) were…

The author envisions a democratic school as one committed to human dignity, a common good, social justice, and equity. It is also committed to creative individuality in which people have the right to think for themselves, to be fully informed about the important issues of the day, to hold beliefs of their own choosing, to have a say in what and…

Studies show that adolescents who follow a higher educational track have more positive experiences than those of lower levels with aspects of democracy, such as decision-making or discussions. This study focuses on how adolescents from different educational tracks evaluate the various possibilities to experience democracy in daily life, and…

To advance the implementation of civic education curriculum, understanding what young people perceive as a "good citizen" is of great importance. The current study takes a quantitative approach to analyse the results of three civic education studies conducted by The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement…

This article describes how preservice teachers and Latinx students can collaborate to effect change in the way that K-12 educators support students from traditionally marginalized groups. We build on the concept of funds of knowledge to demonstrate how situating traditionally marginalized students in positions of expertise as funds of knowledge…

While civic participation is a crucial component of healthy and sustainable democracies, young adolescents may perceive or experience barriers that limit their civic action. This study draws from focus groups and surveys during a week-long summer civics camp to explore ways in which 47 young adolescents entering Grades 6-9 described barriers they…