Merit is a popular social and cultural leitmotif in neoliberal society. It promises justice, equity, and social mobility for all by promoting the ethos that with the right skills, hard work and creativity, anyone can 'climb' the market-based social ladder. The aim of the study is to determine how academics conceptualize and perceive the concept of…

This report takes a look at the issues concerning racial segregation and educational outcomes in Metropolitan Boston. Despite the fact that metro Boston is overwhelmingly white, its public schools are highly segregated by race and language. Segregated minority schools in metro Boston are profoundly unequal, with high poverty levels, with lower…

Although there are myriad organizations one can turn to implement school change efforts such as multicultural education, gender equity in education, and even service learning in education, where are the gay and lesbian professional developers? Many educators may feel they need technical assistance and a consultant to watch over their efforts. U.S.…

In this article, the authors talk about race and racism and racial harassment and discuss how to end homophobia in schools. The authors know what they don't want people to say in the name of ending homophobia: "If these were racial slurs, teachers would be stopping them." They find this approach so offensive because it's a lie. At least…

With the growing application of modern genetic technology to everyday healthcare provision, concern over its moral defence is increasing. This paper discusses pre-natal genetic testing, currently the healthcare situation in which the technology is most frequently applied. In doing this it addresses the justification for the resulting marked…

Critical pedagogy. Whatever insurgent energy once pulsed through those words--giving them life and investing them with power and possibility--has been largely lost, their meaning sapped away with overuse and misuse, reduction and dogmatic application. Yesterday's iconoclasts are often today's icons, and every revolution, large or small, finds a…

The purpose of this study was to find out the elementary school principals' level of practicing democratic values while managing their schools, according to teachers' perceptions. The results show that Turkish elementary principals are doing well in having democratic values in general. However, some values were more well practiced or reflected…

There is a call for ensuring that all students learn, echoed through the national standards and other reform documents. But how serious is the focus on equity in these standards? We reviewed the standards from three major national standards movements focusing on developing standards for experienced teachers (NBPTS), preservice teachers (NCATE),…

Key concepts in political socialization, tolerance, groups, rights and responsibilities can be used to understand the way in which young people struggle with sexual identity issues. Educators may promote greater tolerance for homosexuality among heterosexuals by situating sexual identity issues within a broader discussion of democratic principles.…

Civic education and its call for social studies to prepare students for citizenship in a participatory democracy have been limited to the political domain and touted as participation with the already existing political domain. This paper is a reflection of how engaging with and challenging heterosexism, homophobia, and heteronormativity in a…

In this article I discuss how observed discourses of resistance indicate the exclusion of the standpoint of primary school practitioners from feminist theorization, as well as the exclusion of feminist perspectives from primary school practice. I do so from a feminist position which sees the modernist policy framework of the gender-inclusive…

This paper examines how knowledge about racism has been represented in high school Canadian history textbooks authorized by the Province of Ontario during the 1960s and after the year 2000. I argue that even though historical racisms have increasingly made their way into Canadian history textbooks as valid and important topics of study, the idea…

The globalization of youth culture complicates young people's relationship to democracy as traditionally conceived. More and more young people define themselves as cosmopolitan citizens, connected through popular culture, digital technologies, and migration histories to social geographies outside their own local and national contexts. Despite…

This paper addresses the ethical and social justice implications of an educational movement called, The New DEEL (Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership). In particular, this paper emphasizes the ethical underpinnings of this movement by focusing on the paradox in the form of the dyad of control/democracy. This important paradox is developed…

This article comments on Fullinwider and Lichtenberg's "Leveling the Playing Field". It reviews their central claims and comments on both their arguments and their reform proposals, and suggests alternative, bolder, egalitarian proposals which involve a higher degree of effective privatization than theirs. (Contains 1 note.)