In this essay, I offer provocations toward an ethics of teaching for democracy and social justice. I argue that while driven by compelling macro social and political visions, social justice teachers do not pay sufficient attention to the moral dimensions of micro, classroom-level interactions in their work. I begin by describing social justice…

This paper builds a theory of wait-citizenship, wherein the lack of opportunities for structural inclusion has contributed to young people's liminal positioning in society and their struggles to become social adults while seeking equality, democratic freedoms, and a sense of belonging. Two decades after civil war, Guatemalan youth are routinely…

The struggle for meaning is central to human existence. Beyond material needs meaning offers purpose and hope to our lives. The present context of our existence is now shaped by the powerful influence of global capitalism which disrupts the communal bonds of traditional communities leaving an atomized individualism in its place. In the more…

This paper analyzes the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for education, which sets benchmarks for member states to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all" by the year 2030. I examine ways in which the underlying philosophical rationale for the targets invokes a…

The aim of this paper is to bring together concepts and commitments from both liberal and queer theories with the purpose of designing an integrated framework for equity-focused education policy analysis and implementation. In essence, we aim to build a conceptual bridge between queer and liberal democratic theories and to develop what we call a…

Interpreting the modern heritage of 'Bildung' in connection to education theory, this open access volume explores non-affirmative theory of education and 'Bildung' as a language of education for the 21st century. In this 'Bildung'-centered view of education, discerning thought on knowledge and values are critical objectives of education. To…

Apocalyptic crisis discourses of mental health problems and psycho-emotional dysfunction are integral to behaviour change agendas across seemingly different policy arenas. Bringing these agendas together opens up new theoretical and empirical lines of enquiry about the symbioses and contradictions surrounding the human subjects they target. The…

Deliberation has become a defining ideal of democratic theory, and learning is central to robust deliberation. It is challenging for people to learn from each other, however, in contexts of inequality and deep social cleavages--though this is precisely when such learning is most needed. The political theorist Danielle Allen has argued that the…

Purpose: The typical Introduction to American Politics course has a plurality (if not majority) of students who take the course to satisfy a general education requirement rather than having a deep interest in the subject. It is also difficult because students lack interest and knowledge about the topic. Yet, many believe they know everything they…

This article addresses questions of workplace democracy, particularly in relation to school education. Following Luciano Canfora in treating democracy as "the rule of the many", it traces the post-1945 rise of workplace democracy, and its post-1979 decline. Analysing the constitution of contemporary schooling in England, the article…

The concept of freedom is one of the key ideas in political philosophy. In a liberal society one can do, live, and like whatever he/she pleases, but at the same time there are certain constraints on the individual that balance between one's desires and the common good. In this paper, the author examines the notion of freedom in the age of digital…

In this essay I question the liberal faith in the efficacy and morality of citizenship education (CE) as it has been traditionally (and is still) practiced in most public state schools. In challenging institutionalized faith in CE, I also challenge liberal understandings of what it means to be a citizen, and how the social and political world of…

The commitment to the construction of a diverse and equitable democracy is even more imperative than ever given our changing demographics, growing inequality, and the eroding of gains of the civil rights movement. For instance, the criminalization of communities of color, with Blacks imprisoned five times more than Whites, and Hispanics nearly…

This review provides a critical appraisal of Kubow and Min's paper. It teases out their conception of "liberalism" and argues that the classical notion of liberalism as a political theory that advocates individual liberty based on assumptions of the unencumbered autonomous individual has lost currency. This is because over the years…

The study contributes to the inter-disciplinary field of "deliberative pedagogy" (DP), which is an engaged learning approach focused on academic processes that facilitate student learning of values, attitudes, and skills that support deliberative practice (Shaffer et al. 2017, xxi). The analysis examines the perceived effects of a DP…