Many teachers have expressed worry about how and if to teach the U.S. presidential election in the wake of such polarizing times. Difficult civic and political discussions in the classroom should not be avoided, argues Jacob Fay and Meira Levinson, but should be practiced. By using normative case studies to talk through highly polarized issues,…

Dissent is vital to the intellectual life of a classroom, just as it is to the health of a school, a school system, or a democracy, explains high school teacher Mike Miller. Rather than being silenced, healthy dissidence should be taught. Miller draws from his classroom experience to illustrate how educators can cultivate a climate that welcomes…

The current political climate has created urgency around civic education. The authors argue that educators can best seize the moment by infusing authentic activities and experiences in content studies. They provide an example of one such hybrid instructional model from Democracy Prep Public Schools.

The author, director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, shares results of a study he led exploring how principals in U.S. high schools are responding to five specific societal challenges; he highlights what principals said about the challenge of gun violence in their schools. More school leaders reported their school being…

"If education is to be a safeguard of democracy, then recent events suggest tweets and other social media must be part of curriculum," write Daniel G. Krutka and Jeffrey P. Carpenter. In this article, the authors argue that teaching citizenship also requires teaching with and about social media. They provide a framework for educators to…

The curriculum of K-12 schools is scrutinized, Westheimer claims, because what we teach can be a proxy for the kind of society and citizen we hope to create. People need to look closely at what kinds of citizenship skills public schools are promoting. Westheimer recommends three practices we should inject into education to prepare youth to be…

Adults in the United States have been migrating to ideologically homogenous communities, a phenomenon that researchers have called "the big sort." Thus, the need for young Americans to engage in civil discussion of controversial issues has never been greater. Public schools are an ideal place to undo the big sort because controversial issues fit…

While the purpose of K-12 education is largely to train students for college and career, free education in a democratic society has another purpose: to prepare citizens to rule themselves. In this article, Anderson and Gurnee explain how place-based learning equips students to be active citizens in their communities. In this model, school localize…

Why should teachers bother with student-driven discussions? Elizabeth A. City offers three reasons: (1) talking and thinking reinforce each other; (2) dialogue is a necessary skill of democracy, so schools should teach thinking, speaking, and listening as "practices of freedom"; and (3) student-driven talk is fun. Yet student-driven…

In this article, Alfie Kohn discusses four questions about questioning--starting with questions that are more basic, and progressing to some that are "deeper and potentially more subversive of traditional schooling." He begins by considering what questions we should ask students, and encourages teachers to keep questions with…

In this interview conducted by educator Arnold Dodge, education historian Diane Ravitch discusses what's wrong with the agenda of the "corporate reform movement." She notes that a current obsession with testing and a persistent blaming of teachers is subverting learning for students. The emphasis on competition, entrepreneurship, and…

Given the prevalence of religion talk in today's world, another form of fluency is needed. Civic multilingualism is the ability to converse across different religious and ethical perspectives in search of understanding, compromise, and common ground. According to the author, this may represent the greatest social challenge of the 21st century.…

Although most people in the United States believe, at least theoretically, in educational equality, fewer and fewer appear to care about the resource gaps between affluent and poor schools, says Weissbourd. He illustrates these gaps with vivid descriptions of what he calls an "opulence arms race" among affluent independent schools, but…

At a time when the United States faces unprecedented challenges at home and abroad, public schools must do far more to prepare young people to be engaged, ethical advocates of "liberty and justice for all." This article explores what makes some people behave ethically--even at the risk of their own lives--and asserts that developing…

After creating developmentally appropriate curricula to satisfy students' needs and encourage genius, educators must design schools according to democratic principles. Educators must make education free and universally accessible, equalize opportunities and resources, abolish family wealth's influence, respect students' diverse abilities and…