This article investigates the normative logic and orientation of civic and religious education in seven countries in northern Europe. One main underlying argument is that public schooling must be generically regarded as a heavy functional contributor to the "soft" normative reproduction and validation of certain ethical and cultural…

The purpose of this study is to explore the journey of one large urban inner-city school district with a high population of Hispanics in South Texas as it worked to implement Positive Behavior Intervention and Support into primary (elementary) schools. We questioned, "How does a large urban inner-city school district serving a majority of…

This article argues that high-stakes educational testing, along with the attendant questions of power, education access, education management and social selection, cannot be considered in isolation from society at large. Thus, high-stakes testing practices bear numerous implications for democratic conditions in society. For decades, advocates of…

The focus in this article is on issues of social cohesion and citizenship as they relate to students' understandings of religion and religious identity. The article draws on data gathered from a study conducted at a highly diverse English comprehensive school and is set amid broader anxieties about religion, community disharmony and national…

Each secondary school in South Africa is legally obliged to establish a representative council of learners, a democratically elected, learner-only council. This article looks at how the representative councils of learners are realised in practice in four secondary schools. Three research questions focus on the practice of representative councils…

In this article, we present a qualitative multi-case study of three beginning elementary teachers working in New York City and describe the distinct ways in which each articulates her responsibility to teach a social justice-oriented education. We employ positioning theory to examine how teachers narrate their relationship to the concept of social…

This article opens with a proposed framework for human rights education (HRE), which synthesizes ideas drawn from Zinn's people's history, Sen's theory of justice and Freire's critical pedagogy. A review of the literature on HRE and human rights-based learning suggests three existent interrelated models of HRE. Drawing on human rights-based…

Every society has an obligation to provide quality education to children regardless of their socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. The number of cross-boundary students (CBS) from Mainland China in Hong Kong schools is increasing. This article reviews educational policy and provision for educating CBS, presenting data from an empirical study.…

This article explores experiences that led individuals to become teacher leaders advocating for under-served students in urban schools. Cohort members in an urban teacher leadership master's degree programme engaged in systematic critical reflection about becoming leaders for equity, describing the influences of their families and communities,…

As educators, we grapple with a myriad of dilemmas and often have difficulty resolving issues that relate to curriculum and instruction, funding, facilities and supervision, to name a few. Depending on the leader(s), a variety of ethics come in to play when making decisions. The ethic of connectedness refers to community building and welfare as…

Recent moves towards greater pupil participation in school decision-making have in part been based on instrumental rationales, such as increases in test scores and improvements in behaviour. This article assesses a different approach--that of the "prefigurative"--through which the school embodies the democratic society it aims to create. Two…

In this article we present insights from research which has sought to deepen understanding of the ways in which young people (aged 13-21) learn democratic citizenship through their participation in a range of different formal and informal practices and communities. Based on the research, we suggest that such understanding should focus on the…

We raise questions about young people's participation in light of findings from a project ("Democracy through Citizenship") funded by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Limited, and managed by the Institute for Citizenship. Following a six-month feasibility study the project took place over a three-year period in one local authority in the north of…

The field of transnational contestation conceptualized as global civil society (GCS) is gaining academic interest as a political "counter-force" against the exigencies of globalization. However, social actors within GCS occupy unequal positions of power in relation to each other. This article examines how the discourses of transnational action…

The influx of Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands during the past 50 years and terrorist events in recent years have led to increased alienation. This case study, conducted at a culturally diverse school with a large Muslim student population, found that its administrators and "social studies" teachers agreed it is important to simultaneously…