(2012). A Living Citizenship Model for the Public Schools: The Philosophical Foundations of Friendship in the Works of Epicurus and Ralph Waldo Emerson. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Lesley University. In an interdisciplinary, hermeneutical study using primary and secondary documents from history, philosophy, political theory, and critical pedagogy, the dissertation focuses on dialogue, friendship, and citizenship. The philosophical foundations of friendship in the works of Epicurus and Ralph Waldo Emerson are discussed. Included in the study is history of citizenship and analysis of works on dialogue and community. A critical consciousness is significant for real dialogue to precipitate friendship. The philosophical foundations of friendship in the works of Epicurus and Ralph Waldo Emerson are echoed in the Peaceable Schools Model for secondary schools. Based on social justice and the avoidance of conflict, the Peaceable Schools Model ministers a progressive pedagogy and fosters a living citizenship for students in public schools and in the community. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited… [Direct]
(2012). Debunking Olympic Sized Myths: Government Investment in Olympism in the Context of Terror and the Risk Society. Educational Review, v64 n3 p303-316. The significant cost of hosting the London 2012 Olympics is justified, in part, by claims that the games will inspire greater social cohesion, promote peace and encourage the public adoption of active healthy lifestyles. This critical review paper examines these justifications and finds them wanting. The first section provides a socio-historic examination of the development of Olympism to reveal the concept as mythical in a Barthesian sense. In contrast to the idealistic claim that the Olympics fosters peace, this paper argues that the "spectacularization" of the games has produced them as a space that encourages performances of protest and threats/acts of terror. Through critical analysis of governmental justifications for investing in the Olympics, the second section concludes that such investment rests, in part, on the flawed rhetoric of Olympism. Overall, it is contended that the International Olympic Committee's promotion of a set of Olympic myths play a significant… [Direct]
(2010). Going Global in Arlington, Virginia. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, v4 n2 p219-226 Sep. In July 2008, the Ashlawn Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, began the implementation of the Global Citizenship Project, which is designed around the four guiding principles of the Earth Charter: respect and care for the community of life; ecological integrity; social and economic justice; and democracy, nonviolence and peace. The intent of this project is to develop an understanding among students of what it means to be a global citizen through an instructional program that is hands-on and weaves the four principles throughout the curriculum. This article provides some background on the school, the planning process, the design and the implementation of the project. (Contains 1 figure.)… [Direct]
(2014). Global Citizenship as Education for Peacebuilding in a Divided Society: Structural and Contextual Constraints on the Development of Critical Dialogic Discourse in Schools. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, v44 n1 p53-76. In post-conflict and divided societies, global citizenship education has been described as a central element of peacebuilding education, whereby critical pedagogy is seen as a tool to advance students' thinking, transform their views and promote democratic behaviours. The present study investigates understandings of and attitudes to global citizenship and the challenges faced in its implementation. Teacher interviews highlight lack of time and resources for critical reflection and dialogue. Where opportunities for relevant training are provided, this can benefit critical engagement. Boundaries of educational systems and structures also influence pupils' understandings of the issues as evidenced in questionnaire findings. We argue that critical pedagogies may be limited unless criticality and activism transcend local and global issues and are applied to schools themselves. Emotional engagement may be required for teachers to claim the space to critically reflect and share with… [Direct]
(2011). Ten Years after Patten: Young People and Policing in Northern Ireland. Youth & Society, v43 n2 p433-452 Jun. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature, this article documents young people's experiences of policing during the period of political transition and extensive reform of the structures of policing in Northern Ireland since the publication of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland (The Patten Report) in 1999. The article explores the nature and context of these relationships and provides a commentary of how young people's experiences and perceptions of policing have been shaped by their social, economic, and community backgrounds. Furthermore, a number of ideas and activities that have been developed with the aim of improving the attitudes of young people toward the police, the attitudes of police officers toward young people, and the interactions between the two are also discussed…. [Direct]
(2011). Promoting Peaceful Coexistence in Conflict-Ridden Cyprus: Teachers' Difficulties and Emotions towards a New Policy Initiative. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, v27 n2 p332-341 Feb. The present paper looks at teachers' perceptions of difficulties and emotions about a recent policy initiative in the Greek-Cypriot educational system to promote peaceful coexistence. This policy initiative by the government sparked strong emotional reactions. This paper provides an in-depth understanding of the intersection between tensions at the larger socio-political landscape and teachers' emotional readiness to deal with this policy initiative. To do so, the paper draws on the findings of a quantitative and a qualitative study conducted during the end of the 2008-2009 school year. Possible implications are discussed for educational policy and teacher education. (Contains 2 tables.)… [Direct]
(2010). Love, Justice, and Education: John Dewey and the Utopians. Landscapes of Education. IAP – Information Age Publishing, Inc. Love, Justice, and Education by William H. Schubert brings to life key ideas in the work of John Dewey and their relevance for the world today. He does this by imagining continuation of a highly evocative article that Dewey published in the New York Times in 1933. Dewey wrote from the posture of having visited Utopia. Schubert begins each of thirty short chapters with a phrase or sentence from Dewey's article, in response to which a continuous flow of Utopians consider what is necessary for educational and social reform among Earthlings. Schubert encourages the Utopians, who have studied Earthling practices and literatures, to recommend from their experience what Earthlings need for educational and social reform and how they can address obstacles to that reform. The Utopians speak to myriad implications of Dewey's report by drawing upon a wide range of philosophical, literary, and educational ideas–including many of Dewey's other writings. Their central message is that loving… [Direct]
(2011). Moving the Borders: Multiculturalism and Global Citizenship in the German Social Studies Classroom. Educational Research, v53 n2 p137-149. Background: In many countries, working towards a truly inclusive national citizenship means deconstructing hegemonic structures that are deeply entrenched. Moving outside of the borders toward a global citizenship hints at giving up on what has been a long road toward multicultural citizenship. A balance between including and empowering diverse populations within borders as a part of citizenship education is critical. Likewise, future citizens must be prepared to conceive of a borderless world and interact with cultures different from their own. Literature that empirically examines the relationship between global citizenship and multicultural citizenship is sparse. This paper explores this tension, using the case of Germany. Purpose: The overall aims of this study were to explore German teachers' values and beliefs about citizenship education in light of new citizenship and immigration laws, and in light of European and global influences, as well. Design/method/sample: A qualitative… [Direct]
(2010). Cultural Internationalism at the Cite Universitaire: International Education between the First and Second World Wars. History of Education, v39 n2 p155-173 Mar. In the 1920s, French scholars and bureaucrats created the Cite Universitaire in Paris. The institution housed university students from around the world. The Cite founders formulated a model for the Cite that reflected ideological concerns in interwar Europe with a focus on pacifism, international education and cultural internationalism. The organisers of the Cite attempted to adhere to these theories to make the organisation viable in the politically strained interwar era while simultaneously demonstrating the continued excellence of French education. The French attempted to combine the goals of international education with the continued hope of national educational superiority. This article describes Germany and France as the earlier "national competition" model of education. It traces the early history of the Cite as it incorporated the new international education model. Finally, it examines sports and social gatherings at the Cite, which was used as a specific venue to… [Direct]
(2011). Stability for Development, Development for Stability: The Relationship between Regional Organizations and Social Cohesion through the Lens of the EU and MERCOSUR. Peabody Journal of Education, v86 n2 p129-143. Strategies aiming to foster social cohesion seek to enhance predictability and trust among heterogeneous actors. Although undoubtedly nation-states remain the dominant context for examining social cohesion, in Europe and in South America, nation-states have formed regional organizations to support political stability and economic cooperation in a world increasingly shaped by political and economic forces beyond the reach of any single nation-state. The comparative extent to which the regional political bodies of the European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) impact social cohesion within and across member states relates to their capacity to engender reciprocal patterns of political stability and economic development in the region. This article examines the EU and MERCOSUR's stake in social cohesion and how these organizations impact social cohesion in their respective regions through the establishment of institutionalized standards and norms, the content of… [Direct]
(2011). The Emotional Readiness of Greek Cypriot Teachers for Peaceful Co-Existence. European Journal of Education, v46 n4 p524-539 Dec. In this article, we: (1) offer a conceptualisation of what it means for Greek Cypriot teachers to be "reconciled" with the "other side" (i.e. Turkish Cypriots) in Cyprus; (2) examine Greek Cypriot teachers' emotional responses to the new educational objective of cultivating peaceful coexistence in schools; and (3) investigate how Greek Cypriot teachers' perceptions of reconciliation and emotional responses to the new educational objective of cultivating peaceful coexistence are entangled, and what implications these entanglements may have for educational reform efforts. This investigation is based on data collected in a national survey of Greek Cypriot primary and secondary teachers. The study is important not only for the Greek Cypriot educational system, but also for educational reform efforts in other conflict-ridden areas in Europe because it addresses a fundamental issue in relation to reconciliation: Can teachers, who may still carry traumatic experiences… [Direct]
(2009). Doves, Rainbows and an Uneasy Peace: Student Images of Reconciliation in a Post-Conflict Society. Perspectives in Education, v27 n2 p133-146 Jun. In this article we draw on data from a two-cycle action research project, in which ways of teaching reconciliation in post-apartheid secondary school classrooms are explored. We undertake a detailed analysis of a selection of artefacts produced by South African students representing their understandings of reconciliation. Initially students' work conceived of reconciliation either interpersonally or intrapersonally. Subsequently work related to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) resulted in a more socio-historical engagement with the idea of reconciliation. An analysis of the visual and verbal messages on postcards designed by students suggests that they experience our ostensibly post-conflict society as one of unstable peace. We argue that for a society with a violent past, reconciliation work needs to find ways of confronting the powerful discourses of the past that continue to circulate and to shape our identities and those of our students…. [Direct]
(2013). Challenges and Complexity in Human Rights Education: Teachers' Understandings of Democratic Participation and Gender Equity in Post-Conflict Kurdistan-Iraq. Education Inquiry, v4 n1 p189-210. This paper examines tensions in implementing human rights education (HRE) in schools in Kurdistan-Iraq, both for teachers and for policy-makers, juggling nation-building and its application through schooling and child rights. We draw on documentary sources and fieldwork in two governorates, including classroom observations and interviews with education professionals. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child confirms the right to HRE, including learning to live together, stressing gender equity. In practice, rights operate in tension and may be denied in societal contexts where conservative, patriarchal values prevail. We report on teachers' attempts to reconcile tensions while facing limited resources. HRE is often perceived as low-status and taught without adequate consideration of everyday rights denials. Nevertheless, HRE is fundamental to democratic development and social justice and can equip citizens with skills and attitudes for a cosmopolitan worldview and peaceful… [Direct]
(2011). Social Injustice, Human Rights-Based Education and Citizens' Direct Action to Promote Social Transformation in the Philippines. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, v6 n3 p205-221 Nov. This article opens with a proposed framework for human rights education (HRE), which synthesizes ideas drawn from Zinn's people's history, Sen's theory of justice and Freire's critical pedagogy. A review of the literature on HRE and human rights-based learning suggests three existent interrelated models of HRE. Drawing on human rights-based programmes designed to benefit Philippine society, this article then presents case studies in which programme participants actively struggle against social injustice. As an integral part of the learning process, co-learners envision a just and peaceful society, plan for change and engage in direct social action. New volunteers are continually mobilized to participate in community service and contribute to social action that benefits and empowers hitherto oppressed people and minorities. The article concludes with a proposal for an interactive model of human rights-based learning which aims to build on the HRE framework inspired by Zinn, Sen and… [Direct]
(2010). Using "EC-Assess" to Assess a Small Biofuels Project in Honduras. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, v4 n2 p287-296 Sep. Biofuels may contribute to both rural economic development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Gota Verde Project in Yoro, Honduras, attempts to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of small-scale biofuel production for local use by implementing a distinctive approach to feedstock production that encourages small farm sizes, mixed cropping of biofuel feedstock from Jatropha and food crops, particularly corn and beans, grown side by side on the same farmland and the total involvement of small rural farmers. But is the project sustainable? Using EC-Assess, the Earth Charter ethics-based assessment tool, to assess the sustainability of this project, the author found that in some assessment categories the actions surpassed the intended objectives, showing that the project was achieving certain Earth Charter goals without specifically stating its intention to address them. (Contains 3 images, 3 figures and 2 notes.)… [Direct]