The author envisions a democratic school as one committed to human dignity, a common good, social justice, and equity. It is also committed to creative individuality in which people have the right to think for themselves, to be fully informed about the important issues of the day, to hold beliefs of their own choosing, to have a say in what and…

In pursuit of preparing social justice educators, the authors argue for the inclusion of young adolescents and teacher candidates as "boundary-spanning teacher educators" who are both contributors to and recipients of professional knowledge and learning. The authors draw from a qualitative, longitudinal study on the impact of a…

This study aims to be an in-depth investigation, from an interpretative perspective, of eighth-year secondary school pupils' perceptions of equality, justice, and freedom--values that are considered fundamental to all democratic values. The study is designed according to the phenomenology model as a qualitative research method, and the…

This article presents a study that explored how race and racism impact teaching and learning and how civic education can be employed to promote racial justice. We argue the need to examine educators' perspectives on how increased awareness of existing inequities coupled with ongoing professional development can better equip them to understand…

The present empirical study seeks to explore the perceptions novice educators have toward the use of controversial public issues (CPI) in the secondary classroom. The research attempts to do this by examining the following research questions: (a) To what extent do new teachers associate the use of CPI in the classroom with broad principles of…

Teaching in a democracy is challenging and filled with dilemmas that have no easy answers. For example, how do educators meet their responsibilities of teaching civic norms and dispositions while remaining nonpartisan? "Democratic Discord in Schools" features eight normative cases of complex dilemmas drawn from real events designed to…

This article reports on a focus group which was one of four principal focus groups held across the United States in Florida, Virginia, New Mexico, and Missouri as part of Voices 3, a national research project on the status of the principal and superintendent roles, sponsored by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). In other…

Lawrence Kohlberg, a psychologist, coined the term "Just Community" to describe a community built on trust and resolution, in which each member participates democratically in the development of the rules and regulations that govern their community life (Kohlberg, 1985). In a school, this means that students and teachers alike actively participate…