Based on recent ethnographic research, this article explores young people's opportunities of formal and informal democracy learning and expressions of such learning in the highly market-influenced Swedish upper secondary education. With its ambitious democracy-fostering goals and far-reaching marketisation, Swedish education constitutes an…

Over the last decades, many liberal democracies have experienced a tension between the education system's expressed requirement to foster citizenship norms and the liberal (sub-)ideal of norm neutrality. This dilemma has been accentuated by, on the one hand, increased ethnical and cultural diversity and, on the other hand, liberalization of…

Due to the complex nature of global understanding and practice of citizenship, it is essential to understand how to educate for a responsive public sphere with active and emancipated citizens. This study aims to clarify how social movements (through a case illustration of Occupy) are representative of global citizenship goals while illuminating…

Work contexts shape conditions for work. Teachers working in Indigenous school contexts face conditions different from teachers working in mainstream schools. Challenging working conditions for these teachers result in high teacher turnover, making it even more difficult for already disadvantaged students to progress. From a social justice…

Borrowing insights from the Ancient Greek ideal conceptions of a democratic civic space (demos), this article examines the applicability of this framework to four teacher educators' journey to implement social justice in their programs. It is proposed that the three constitutive dimensions of demos (freedom of speech, equality to vote and…

Much research on bullying in schools positions individual children within a deficit model of personal variables, categorising and cataloguing them with high levels of aggressiveness, low levels of empathy and so on. While less than optimal school characteristics are sometimes noted, the expectation for change is on the children. This article…

Although citizenship education has received significant official attention in China in recent years, its aim remains vague. At a time when social demands increasingly influence policymaking by the state, this article examines the meaning of citizenship to the state and society in China. Data are derived from a content analysis of the use of…

This research project sought to learn how solidarity education is manifested in Chilean Catholic schools, considering the perspectives of school principals, programme directors and pastoral teams. Eleven Chilean schools were studied and the information gathering techniques applied included: a questionnaire, semi-structured individual interviews…

Finnish youth are found to be, despite their broad knowledge, uninterested in politics and in societal participation. As a remedy, international studies suggest enabling democratic experiences in schools. This article discusses an action research project aimed at developing deliberation-based democratic practice in an elementary classroom. Results…

In this article, I explore emotions in relation to social justice dialogue and share vignettes to illustrate how emotions are embodied, situated and fissured, drawing upon narrative, critical sociocultural and rhizomatic theories. Data comes from a practitioner inquiry while teaching 5- and 6-year-olds in a summer enrichment program in a…

The preparation of students to take part in social justice advocacy has been increasingly embraced within higher education in the USA; nevertheless, the corollaries of social justice intentionality and commitment among students have yet to be investigated thoroughly. To contribute to the study of this question, data from 217 American psychology…

There are many models for education that place students in the forefront. This proposed model for informational education presents a particular structural and pedagogical suggestion that aims at enabling students to grow intellectually. It also situates education, as a human action, with a system of justice. The intellectual and personal growth of…

A long-standing objective of American public education is fostering civically engaged youth. Identifying characteristics associated with likelihood of future voting, a measure of democratic participation that predicts future voting behavior, might yield targets for education programs to increase civic participation. Survey data from urban…

This article provides a critical examination of a common form of adult attempts to promote civic engagement among young people, namely, youth advisory councils. While youth councils have been widely celebrated as an effective way to integrate young people into political processes, little research has explored why some politically active youth…

This article addresses the following question: What characterizes the mechanisms of political alienation among non-Western immigrant students, and how might these mechanisms be related to student's acculturation attitudes? A theory of political alienation and acculturation is applied. Substantial quantitative data from Norwegian upper secondary…