By taking the vantage point of agonistic pluralism, the aim is to enter into dialogue with Samuelsson's theoretical development of consensus as an educational aim for classroom discussions. The response highlights three points of interest in the deliberative conception of consensus. The first point relates to the problem of exclusion, which…

Two philosophers of education, Sarah Stitzlein and Lauren Bialystok, have recently expressed criticisms of so-called "Parental Conscience Acts," which allow parents to opt their children out of aspects of the public school curriculum that they find objectionable. (These laws and policies should be distinguished from those which allow…

In this response to Martin's "Should Deliberate Democratic Inclusion Extend to Children?" I examine Martin's comments against the "argument from circumspection," which is dubious regarding the claims children make to change democratic policies and procedures. I explain there are good reasons for being circumspect. One of these…

In our response to Tilhou's article published last issue, "The Morning Meeting: Fostering a Participatory Democracy Begins with Youth in Public Education," we share and discuss ethnographic data from Morning Meetings in two U.S. elementary classrooms. We detail ways the democratic potential of Morning Meetings is being cultivated in…

The work of Crocco and her colleagues, "Deliberating Public Policy Issues with Adolescents," combines two important fields--deliberative democracy and discussion as a pedagogy--with a study of policy deliberations in three classrooms. Their article yields valuable insights. As the authors note, the results are disappointing. This may be…

In the following interview, Meira Levinson (Harvard Graduate School) discusses the field of educational ethics and how it can enhance justifiable youth activism to enact citizenship education and recover democracy. She introduces readers to her philosophical approach for developing normative case studies that aim to be inclusive of divergent views…

Bradley-Levine reported in her article how she created an opportunity to explore research data with the aim of examining the degree to which New Tech schools were democratic in the sense conceptualized by the notion of holistic democracy. My response is in three parts. The first sets out my understanding of the significance of the model of…

The use of deliberation with English Language Learners presents possibilities to both improve language learning, but also expand the potential for civics education for all students. In particular, this response examines the issue of power to extend Liggett's (2014) arguments for using deliberative democracy with English Language Learners and…

In this review article, I argue that games are complementary, not self-supporting, learning tools for democratic education because they can: (a) offer "simplified, but often not simple, outlines" (later called "models") of complex social systems that generate further inquiry; (b) provide "practice spaces" for…

In the United States there is such incredible complacency about both the meaning of democracy and America's position as the great democratic nation that there is very little, if any, public debate on what is meant by democracy and what responsibilities Americans bear as a democratic nation. In response to the editors' growing recognition of the…

This article is a response to "Living in the Gutter: Conflict and Contradiction in the Neoliberal Classroom, A Call to Action" (2011, this volume). Among other critical insights, Ayers and Ayers argue that conversations about educational reform must be framed in ways that center education for democracy. Here, the author builds on this…

Mueller, Tippins, and Bryan (2012) presented a new conceptualization of citizen science that is meant to facilitate emerging trends in the democratization of science and science education to produce civically engaged students. I review some relevant trends in the field of citizen science, for clarity here referred to as public participation in…

Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations in principle endorse lifelong learning (LLL) as a useful framework for sustainable development. However, in spite of the rhetoric, only a few member states such as South Africa, Botswana and Namibia have officially endorsed LLL in their educational policies. The sub-region is plagued by social…

The Coalition Government, building on the foundations laid by its Labour predecessor, aims to dismantle the local authority system and with it what remains of the accountability of schools to local elected government. In this article, a response to Stewart Ranson's in a recent issue of "FORUM," the author examines his claims for the…

Rhetoric about young people's "ownership" of future socio-technical change is a familiar part of much educational and political discourse. This does not, however, translate in practice into a meaningful dialogue with young people about the sorts of futures they might wish to see emerge. This paper argues that a number of social and…