Background/Context: The current national debate over the purposes of civic education is largely tied to outdated notions of citizenship that overlook its changing nature under globalization. Civic education is based on a legalistic understanding of citizenship that emphasizes patriotism and the structures and functions of government. This study…

This paper examines portrayals of Russia and the Russians in two generations of Ukrainian history textbooks. It observes that the textbooks are highly condemning of Ukraine's main ethnic other in the guise of foreign ruler: the tsarist authorities and the Soviet regime are always attributed dubious and malicious intentions even if there is…

This paper examines the discourses framing citizenship education in Ukraine and Russia from "perestroika" to the present and assesses the role of the Council of Europe in promoting democratic citizenship in both countries. We argue that there is a tension between the discourses of active citizenship, strongly disseminated by…

As the United States prepared to enter the Second World War and during the early years of the conflict, Music Educators National Conference (MENC) focused attention on how music educators could support the war effort. The association worked with the federal government and other agencies on a number of national programs. Through its publication,…

The extent to which people abhor or admire patriotism in the schools depends on how it is taught. If educators teach it narrowly as jingoistic, uncritical self-praise of the nation, then such instruction is wrong. It would be indoctrination rather than education. If, however, they teach civic education and define patriotism as a respectful…

The author was invited to speak at a poetry slam conducted by Urban Poets, a group of teenage poets who perform their own works with the most passionate intensity. She had trouble deciding what to say to the young generation whose world differed so much from hers. She turned to Walt Whitman and a poem he wrote, "To the Young Poets," telling them…

Following the resumption of Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the Hong Kong Government has introduced a new national education project which aims at building nationalism and patriotism. With an active involvement of the state and civil society in promoting national education in recent years, there have been certain drastic changes in the school…

This paper examines the politics and practice of education in Malaysia within the context of ethnicity and nation building. Public education in Malaysia--particularly, but not exclusively, at the pre-university level--is promoted as a nation-building tool, seeking to inculcate a sense of Malaysian-ness and patriotism. Simultaneously, however,…

This article examines China's senior high "Thought and Politics" ("sixiang zhengzhi") texts, analyzing how these seek to legitimize the regime's developmental strategy. It is argued that their overriding emphasis on the strengthening of the state is premised upon the imperative of securing China's position within global order…

At the Appalachian Studies Association's thirty-first annual conference, in March, 2008, activist and author Silas House gave a thought-provoking keynote address. That Friday evening, on the Marshall University campus, in Huntington, West Virginia, not far from the coal fields of southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, Silas offered some…

More than 300 men of Japanese descent refused to be drafted into the U.S. military in the 1940s, contending that they should not risk their lives for a country that had forced 120,000 Japanese-Americans, including them and their families, into internment camps. They would be willing to fight in World War II only after Japanese-Americans were…

Scholarship on globalization suggests that new forms of democratic citizenship and politics are emerging, yet the U.S. educational system remains resistant to global perspectives in the curriculum and continues to favor national identity and patriotism over learning about the world. A national approach to citizenship, which is the norm in U.S.…

The Chinese nationality is a great one, possessing a glorious tradition of patriotism. Patriotism is the banner that mobilizes and inspires the Chinese people to unite and struggle, a great force that moves the social history of the nation forward, and a common spiritual component of all of the country's nationalities. Now, the nation's people are…

Most people believe that by learning about the past, students can better prepare for the future. As a teacher of U.S. history, the author believes that people learn much about the present from their study of the past. She also believes that juxtaposing past and present can help students understand that dissent can be patriotic and that the…

Many young students are unfamiliar with key symbols of the United States and the ideals that these symbols represent. These symbols consist of images and words that adults know by heart, but too often take for granted. The lesson activities described in this article focus on four well-known symbols--their history and what they mean to American…