This collection brings together many of the world's leading sociologists of education to explore and address key issues and concerns within the discipline. The thirty-seven newly commissioned chapters draw upon theory and research to provide new accounts of contemporary educational processes, global trends, and changing and enduring forms of…

In an effort to learn more about pedagogy in the action present moments of teaching and in response to Schon's (1987) call for a "phenomenology of practice," this phenomenological study explored the pedagogy of 18 middle school teachers. The researcher selected participants with a purposive sampling procedure. Participants taught for at least…

The secularization of religion is discussed. It is now conventional wisdom that the industrialized world is a secular world that sees scientific methodology as the sole reliable approach to solving problems. Religion is seen as making no greater contribution to society than any other social or economic group. (RM)

In this updated resource book, for the Elementary Social Studies Curriculum in Canada, civics education is integrated with all other components of social studies. In its broadest sense, civics involves both learning about government and the political process, and acquiring the knowledge and developing the attitudes and skills that enable effective…

During the past 30 years, there has been a global surge of democracy. For most people of the world today, democracy is the prevailing source of political legitimacy. In 2002, 121 of the world's 192 sovereign states could be recognized as democracies in terms of the minimal global standard for an electoral democracy. This digest discusses: (1) the…

This book presents a teaching unit that focuses on efforts to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957--efforts that resulted in a crisis that historian Taylor Branch once described as "the most severe test of the Constitution since the Civil War." The unit explores civic choices--the decisions people make as…

This book presents the findings of eleven teacher educators as they examine the meaning of democracy and its application to classroom practice. There is a shared belief among all contributors to this volume: that incorporating democratic practice into teacher education is an essential requirement to introducing democratic practices in K-12…

The fifth grade social studies curriculum includes a study democracy within the context of United Sates history. The traditional approach to teaching the material focuses on stories of the white, male heroes of American History and calls on students to be passive recipients of information. History is presented as a series of events that "just…

This user guide covers "Teaching in a Multicultural Society," one part of the 12-unit series "My America: Building a Democracy." The focus of the guide is to raise a generation of children who appreciate the value of a wide range of human experience including those distinctly different from their own. Goals of this program are to help children…

High school students need to be able to analyze specific social and political events, as well as political institutions within a system. They should analyze the existence of democratic behavior and the level at which the democratic behavior operates. Discussed are six criteria for determining democratic performance within society. (RM)

Today, many classroom teachers are busy preparing for standardized tests. The No Child Left Behind Act encourages such behavior. Little time is left to devote to subjects that previously were considered a vital part of the curriculum, such as social studies, physical education, art, and music. Needless to say, if these subjects have taken a back…

Educators and other cultural workers need a new political and pedagogical language for addressing the changing contexts and issues facing a world in which capital draws upon an unprecedented convergence of resources--cultural, political, economic, scientific, military, and technological--to exercise powerful and diverse forms of hegemony. In this…

A democratic constitutional system is one in which the majority has a general right to determine public policy. At the same time, however, the rights of that majority are limited. Individual citizens enjoy "certain basic rights" by virtue of the fact that each individual person "is a human being." If schools are to prepare students to be…

Three teachers implemented a modified Reggio Emilia approach in their multiage, looped, early childhood, setting. This study examined how teachers articulated their work and how they deconstructed social studies through enacting tenets of the approach. Through processes of research, the teachers found that the primary students described themselves…

This book is a guide to creating a democratic classroom management style that serves as a real-life model for the same system of rules and responsibilities under which students will live when they leave school. The ideas are based on ethical, educational, and legal perspectives for school rules and decisions based on a democratic form of…