It is one of few statements upon which Americans left, right, and center agree: The nation faces a civic crisis. Polarization, rage, and militancy vie with cynicism, disengagement, and despair in the much-vaunted battle for America's political soul--all while trampling grace, deliberation, and cooperation underfoot. What can and should our…

The widening cracks in the foundations of American democracy are leading to appeals for higher educational institutions generally, and public affairs programs specifically, to offer more courses on civil discourse. In this paper, we conduct a curriculum scan to evaluate the extent to which public affairs programs have answered these calls at the…

This paper shares a participatory action research study conducted by a team of researchers at a university laboratory school in collaboration with three classroom teachers and 60 preschoolers. The team engaged in this research in order to examine the ways in which school personnel could generate more authentic community service experiences with,…

This resource has been developed for pre-K-20 educators in order to help students use primary sources to go beyond simple acquisition of content knowledge and rote memorization. The procedures and approaches outlined in this book are designed to help students use primary sources in discipline- and inquiry-based ways to develop and enhance cultural…

Higher education is expected to contribute to graduates becoming active citizens of democratic societies. Still, little is known about how heterogeneities within higher education are connected to political participation. This study centres on differences in the type of institution, kind of degree and field of study and their relationship with…

Purpose: We discuss and preliminarily evaluate the SCA, a novel educational experiment that takes place in a Greek high school. Drawing on contemporary educational and political theory as well as the rich history of democratic ideas SCA has a twofold aim: to enable students to substantially participate in direct democratic decision-making…

This qualitative study explored factors that supported teachers in their efforts to promote students' critiquing, communicating, and collaborating skills. Despite the various challenges that public schools face today, they are most likely the very institutions to play a critical role in individuals' civic skills development. Individual in-depth…

This paper outlines how ethics and democracy can be conceived procedurally within the context of education for global citizenship, using the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead as a starting point. Education for global citizenship aims to create active individual consciousness within a community and a commitment to build upon values and…

The National Survey of Student Leaders (NSSL) is the first initiative extending scholarly insights about democratic benefits of participation in civil society associations to student organizations and their leaders on campus in order to assess democratic engagement as well as civic and political learning. This article describes NSSL and presents…

In our response to "Deliberating Public Policy Issues with Adolescents," we address the matter that students seem to be reluctant to changing their minds, opinions, and initial positions in classroom deliberations and instead see such deliberations as an opportunity to perform and publicly announce their preexisting views. We argue that…

The curriculum of K-12 schools is scrutinized, Westheimer claims, because what we teach can be a proxy for the kind of society and citizen we hope to create. People need to look closely at what kinds of citizenship skills public schools are promoting. Westheimer recommends three practices we should inject into education to prepare youth to be…

In this article, the authors address the challenges facing democracy in the U.S., including restrictions on voting rights, declines in the rule of law, disputed elections, and the non-peaceful transfer of power. They assess the historic failure on the part of K-12 education systems and university leadership preparation programs to prepare students…

In this response, we make the case for the power and promise of scaffolded reading instruction for teaching civic literacy--civic content knowledge and skills needed to both comprehend and take a stand on civic issues at a local, national, or global level. We argue the following: (a) Now, more than ever, students need to develop the skills and…

Philosophy for Democracy is a research project which aims to examine whether and how Philosophy with Children contributes to the development of democratic skills and attitudes. Philosophy with Children seeks to develop children's critical thinking, their ability to judge, enhance their dialogical skills and attitudes and to contribute to their…

Educating for democracy, seen within a liberal democratic framework, requires that students develop the requisite knowledge and skills to recognize injustice and work effectively to oppose it. Stitzlein's notion of dissent is examined in conjunction with Kahne and Westheimer's argument for teaching democratic capacities by actively…