Democracy & Education (E-Journal)
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Being in Community with Children and Engaging Their Full Range of Civic Capabilities. A Response to Learning to Talk and Listen in Elementary Social Studies: Exploring a Third-Grade Teacher’s Decision to Use Classroom Talk for Community Building
Full text linkEarly childhood social studies should open opportunities for children to make sense of their social world; the civic question of how we live together is central to the social world. Elementary classrooms are uniquely positioned to support democratic civic education given the amount of time children and adults spend together, the emphasis placed on cultivating a positive classroom community, and children’s capabilities to cultivate relationships full of care and concern for people from outside their close familial relations. In response to Lo’s (2025) examination of a third-grade teacher’s use of discussion to engage in contentious topics while cultivating a sense of mutual concern within her classroom community, I consider how we engage the full range of young children’s civic capabilities and the role of the teacher within the classroom community
Reimagining Democratic Education with Care Ethics—Toward Care-full Democratic Education
No full textIn an era of democratic crises, democratic education in basic education is considered crucial. However, recent studies show that young people perceive their influence both at school and in society as limited, which decreases their civic activity later in life. The aim of this theoretical study is to reevaluate democratic education through feminist care ethics, which is an under-researched topic in the current theoretical debate. In our article, we outline a novel approach to caring democratic education (i.e., care-full democratic education), which presents a complementary stance toward current democratic education, which relies heavily on the theories of liberal democracy and a rational and atomistic subject. Instead of an individualistic emphasis, our approach cultivates the idea of relational autonomy, interconnectedness, and respecting mundane practices in schools as the basis for child-oriented democratic education. In addition, our study dismantles some of the structural injustices (childism and privileged irresponsibility) that we have identified in society and in education, which hinder the realization of democratic culture in basic education
Orientation Toward Consensus—The “Safest” Path for Teachers to Choose? A Response to “Agreement and Disagreement in Teachers Talk”
No full textIn “Agreement and Disagreement in Teachers Talk” the author shows how Norwegian initial education teachers (Grades 1–4) are consensus-oriented in their facilitations of classroom deliberations. The author emphasizes what teachers say and do when they guide their pupils toward consensus, but reflections on why teachers are consensus-oriented are less prominent. In this response to “Agreement and Disagreement in Techers Talk,” I point to conditions and factors in the Norwegian society and the Norwegian educational context that might explain why a consensus orientation is prevalent among the teachers
Productive Discussion across Political Differences: Understanding Students’ Experiences with Comfort and Discomfort within Structured Discussions of Public Policy Issues
Full text linkThis study investigates the effectiveness of two pedagogical strategies—deliberation and debate—in fostering productive political discussions among high school students, with a focus on overcoming affective polarization. Paying attention to students’ comfort, engagement, and willingness to participate, this study employs a mixed-method approach using data from surveys, observations, and interviews with students participating in a civic immersion program in Washington, DC. Using deliberative theory and the concept of “productive classroom discussion across political differences,” the research explores the extent to how students perceive each strategy as productive, as well as their experiences of comfort and productive and unproductive discomfort. Additional attention was paid to how identity factors such as ideology, gender, race/ethnicity, and social class influence student experiences. Results of the study indicate that deliberations tend to enhance feelings of comfort and mutual respect, while debate garnered more participation and disagreement. We found that negative feelings with debate were often related to productive discomfort. Emphasizing the importance of discussion design in cultivating productive and unproductive discomfort, we provide insight into how teachers can support student engagement in political discourse and offer practical guidance in fostering inclusive learning environments as a means to overcome affective polarization
Solidaristic Perspectives on School Choice and Public Partitioning. A Review of \u3cem\u3eUnsettling Choice: Race, Rights, and the Partitioning of Public Education\u3c/em\u3e
No full textThis review of Ujju Aggarwal’s Unsettling Choice: Race, Rights, and the Partitioning of Public Education (University of Minnesota Press, 2024) overviews the author’s focus on the critical geography, history, and ethnography of school choice in the Manhattan Valley neighborhood of New York City. The review focuses on the author’s solidaristic approach and perspective as a community organizer in the neighborhood, as well as the book’s conception of “partitioned publics” as a mechanism for racial and class segregation in post-Recession school politics
Beyond the Human: Democratic Education Through the Ethics of Care and Carriance. A Response to “Reimagining Democratic Education with Care Ethics—Toward Care-full Democratic Education”
No full textThis is a response to Koponen and Kasa’s argument that feminist theorizing and care ethics have been overlooked as theoretical approaches in the current democratic education debate. Their article draws on these insights to theorize democratic education in ways that combine care and democracy. In my response, I aim to offer clarifying comments and questions while suggesting ideas to expand Koponen and Kasa’s analysis. Specifically, I highlight two perspectives that, in my view, warrant further exploration in democratic education: developing theoretical frameworks that move beyond human-centered and anthropocentric accounts and, embracing care and the concept of care-carrying or carriance (Ettinger, 2015) as practices integral to Koponen and Kasa’s account of care-full democratic education. My response concludes by discussing how these insights illuminate further the current democratic education debate by expanding the horizon of democracy and democratic education
Exploring the Democratic Challenges and Potential of Alternative Education
No full textDoes an assembly make a school a democratic space? What happens if a participant is not interested? Democracy for innovation or democracy for social transformation? Can a democratic school be neutral and apolitical? These are some of the questions this article will try to discuss by focusing on democratic aspects of alternative educational proposals. Based on an anthropological, ethnographic, and comparative study of three alternative schools and educational projects in Catalonia, this article sheds light on the challenges and contradictions but also the potential hidden behind such initiatives. More specifically, it first explores educational change in Catalonia through time and on the present, stressing its current depoliticization. Then, based on three ethnographic cases from the public, private, and self-organized educational sector, the article draws attention to aspects of decision-making and participation. It is argued that democratic assemblarian processes are important but with limited efficiency toward social transformation if engaging certain profiles and if restricted to the school context only
“You Don’t Have to Tell Them It’s a Lie”: Teaching Social Studies within a Backsliding Democracy
No full textIn this essay, the authors posit that democratic backsliding, rather than partisanship, is the prevailing political situation in which civics and social studies teachers are working. The authors then present evidence from focus groups composed of practicing social studies teachers from across the United States to illustrate how the reliance on evidence and argumentation is the primary mode of navigating contemporary political issues. However, while these strategies are built on decades of research in civic education, the authors illustrate a conceptual dilemma: Inquiry strategies may not be able to accommodate the realities of democratic backsliding and its attendant misinformation. The authors propose that reframing inquiries in terms of pro- or anti-democratic stances rather than more traditional liberal-versus-conservative framings could be a potential way forward
Learning to Talk and Listen in Elementary Social Studies: Exploring a Third-Grade Teacher’s Decision to Use Classroom Talk for Community Building
Full text linkWith mounting polarization in the political arena and media sources, trust of one’s neighbors and of teachers are facing increasing strain in the United States. Furthermore, teachers continue to struggle with how to teach high-quality, nuanced, social studies, especially in the elementary setting, where time and resources for social studies has been depleting for decades (e.g., Fitchett et al., 2014; Heafner, 2018). Within this context, this study presents a case of a third-grade teacher who chooses to use discursive talk as a way to support high-quality social studies and to build community in her classroom. Findings suggest that classroom talk has the potential to help young children learn to talk and listen when the curriculum provides content support and that talking and listening can help build a classroom of mutual concern. This suggests helping young people learn to talk and listen to one another can help support the kind of open-mindedness and perspective-taking that is missing in a era of polarization
“The Domino Effect”: How Early Adolescents Describe Their Capacity for Civic Engagement
No full textThis qualitative study explored how 28 early adolescents described their capacity for civic engagement as they participated in a civic education camp in the United States and engaged in action civics inquiry projects about local issues. Focus group interviews revealed that these youth recognized the capacity of people their age to raise awareness and advocate about issues they care about while acknowledging their limits as youth and conceding that adults have advantages of age and power. Participants also described their capacity to take personal responsibility for their actions and efforts and to leverage relationships to influence others. Findings suggest that as youth are given opportunities to discuss areas of personal control and influence while engaging in action civics projects, they may begin to develop civic dispositions and imagine themselves taking collective action as a form of democratic participation