This article analyzes the epistemological aims and justification of character education legislation passed by the North Carolina General Assembly. I take this specific state law as representative of the broader national trends in the character education movement. I primarily use the work of Richard Rorty as the theoretical lens for the analysis…

In 2005 the Dutch Minister of Education proposed making it compulsory for all schools in The Netherlands to stimulate active citizenship and social integration. Teachers must give these educational goals a tangible form in their practice. What are the teachers' views on citizenship education? Concepts of citizenship education and the teacher's…

The demonstrated willingness of institutions of higher education to contribute to sustainable development is on the rise. Colleges and universities are attempting to integrate principles of sustainability into their operational practices, curriculum, and research priorities. Integrating sustainability into a university requires processes by which…

Service learning is one of the most pervasive education innovations of the past generation and has demonstrated much success in connecting schooling with community service. Service learning is designed to be integrated into, and enhance, the academic curriculum. It is believed, and there is growing evidence to show, that participation in service…

In this article, I describe the influence race, historicity, and culture had on an African American social studies teacher's agency and negotiation of character education policy. Situated in a teacher personal theorizing framework, I use a three-dimensional narrative inquiry space (temporal, personal/existential, and place) to excavate this…

Cosmopolitanism is a worthy educational goal, perhaps more important now than ever before. Its possibilities, however, cannot be adequately realised unless people develop a different way of thinking about issues of global interconnectivity and develop in students a set of epistemic virtues with which they can critically explore the ways in which…

Societies can examine themselves and their values through examining their literature and the way they use literature in values education. This research investigated the values embodied in children's literature used by early childhood teachers in Israeli state schools. On the basis of questionnaires completed by 14 early childhood educators, and…

Although scholarship has described the challenges inherent in becoming a teacher, less attention has been paid to the process of becoming a teacher educator. Within this paper, I describe the intellectual and pedagogical struggles I have experienced as a graduate student and novice teacher educator committed to the goals and aims of multicultural…

Studies by neo-institutionalists in sociology suggest that the institutions, organizations and governing rules in the environment are becoming more similar worldwide as the process of globalization continues. A so-called "world culture" based on science was hypothesized to explain the phenomena related to standardization and convergence.…

This essay suggests that freedom and democracy will not be sustainable unless all participant groups (citizens, judges, legislators/executives): (1) have the knowledge and motivation necessary to promote ongoing progress; and (2) possess the integrity necessary to inspire public confidence. A case could be made that each of these participant…

This paper explores some key findings from the recent two-year evaluation of a national pilot to introduce Restorative Practices (RP) in Scottish schools. A Restorative approach emphasises the human wish to feel safe, to belong, to be respected and to understand and have positive relationships with others. It recognises the fundamental importance…

The authors describe a five-day, literature-based thematic unit for second-graders on positive character traits, such as friendship, respect, perseverance, honesty, and cooperation, and how four books by Janell Cannon are integral to children's learning. (The authors offer suggestions throughout for adapting the unit for younger children.) They…

Teaching in socially just ways and in ways that produce social justice requires the recognition that learners need access to the knowledge deemed valuable by the content domains, even as the knowledge they bring to their learning must not only be recognized but valued. In this review, the author revisits that notion of teaching as the fusion of…

According to a study of student religiosity conducted by the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), 80 percent of students express a strong interest in spirituality. They are not only spiritual, but they are also religious. Over half of all students attend religious services at least once per month. Indeed, according to the UCLA study, eight…

The significance of education in physical fitness and sporting on students character is discussed.