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This paper highlights my experiences as World Citizenship teacher at a public school in the Netherlands, comprising a student population of second generation immigrants with a Turkish background. It shows how the concept and course of world citizenship has evolved since its inception three years ago. The paper also reflects what we, as teachers and students, have learned. While world citizenship is in one form or another included in many schools throughout the Netherlands, the way we have approached it at our school has been a process of much reflection and learning. In its conceptualization, our approach may be a unique contribution to the Dutch curriculum. (Contains 2 tables and 4 footnotes.)

This paper examines the role of teachers in the implementation of citizenship education in Colombia. Consistent with its highly-decentralized school system, Colombia's National Program of Citizenship Competencies was developed with the participation of many local, national, and international partners. Among the most involved and most critical participants were the primary implementers of the reform: teachers. Teacher training is important to student achievement, but in a context that also seeks to teach democratic citizenship, training must be attentive to reciprocal learning and shared leadership. This paper highlights the impact of teacher training in one rural department and how a cross-cultural collaboration between Colombian and US-based educators benefited practitioners on both sides. Four key lessons on the design and delivery of professional development on citizenship education (and more broadly) are offered for educators and policymakers: the use of democratic pedagogy; the promotion and extension of teachers' self-awareness; the cross-pollination of perspectives across all levels; and a humble and inclusive expertise. (Contains 1 figure and 10 footnotes.)

This paper is intended to contribute to the general literature on international teacher exchange in citizenship education. This paper was presented at the 48th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society on March 11, 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Methodology) The author reports on the content and evaluation of two parts of a year long citizenship education exchange program. The first part reviews the development, implementation, and assessment of a teacher exchange program on citizenship education held at Eastern Kentucky University for seven East Ukrainian teachers. The second part reviews and evaluates a Citizenship Education Summer Institute which the participants presented to their fellow teachers in Ukraine. (Results) Each of the activities and programs in the citizenship education seminar were evaluated by participants, mentors, and host families respectively. Data on the effectiveness of program activities, processes, and events were collected from responses to Likert scale surveys and anecdotal comments. The results are provided in attachments. The Ukrainians were generally positive about their learning experiences in the United States. Their Ukrainian colleagues found the content of what they learned in the Summer Institute very useful. (Conclusions) International teacher exchanges provide opportunities for relevant reciprocal teacher professional development, and the adaptation of "best practices" from lessons learned. (Recommendations) Continued funding of international teacher exchanges on citizenship education is needed because they mutually benefit teachers and students from both sides. (Contains 3 figures.)

This paper describes the importance of human rights education as proclaimed by UN (1994) and also the strategies for developing human rights education by UN General assembly 2005. In proclaiming the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), in December 1994, the General Assembly defined human rights education as "a life-long process by which people at all levels of development and in all strata of society learn respect for the dignity of others and the means and methods of ensuring that respect in all societies." The Assembly called upon Governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, professional associations and all other sectors of civil society to concentrate their efforts, during the ten-year period 1995-2004, on promoting a universal culture of human rights through human rights education, training and public information. This paper also focuses on different strategies for human rights education as practices or developed in different parts of the world. As in the case of any other education, human rights education can also be grouped in to three categories--formal, non-formal and informal. Parents have a role for imparting human rights education from early childhood itself. The role of mass media, NGO, Informational technologies, other organizations, commissions & local bodies are explained under the heading non formal. The role of formal educational bodies like schools, universities and other educational institutions are explained under the heading "formal". Human rights education programs should address: particular vulnerable groups, including women, children, indigenous peoples, minorities, refugees and displaced persons, the elderly, workers, peasants, persons in extreme poverty, disabled persons and persons with HIV/AIDS; particular professional groups, including security, military, police and prison personnel, judges and lawyers, public officials and decision-makers, officials involved in development cooperation, media personnel, health professionals and social workers; the formal education sector, including early childhood, primary and secondary schools, higher education, teacher training; and non-formal learning, including general public information, education within trade-unions and women's and youth organizations, and education in difficult situations such as armed conflicts and internal tension. There is a strong international movement for human rights education. According to leading educators, teaching and learning about human rights in age-appropriate ways is feasible and desirable from kindergarten through grade twelve and beyond. Schools in most parts of the world have incorporated human rights education into the curriculum. The paper also reviewed the developing human rights education / training programs, the researches going on world around and opinion papers presented on various seminars regarding the strategies for human rights education. The paper concluded with a note on the importance of developing new learning materials, text books and media for the proper human rights education.

Moral intelligence is newer and less studied than the more established cognitive, emotional and social intelligences, but has great potential to improve our understanding of learning and behavior. Moral intelligence refers to the ability to apply ethical principles to personal goals, values and actions. The construct of moral intelligence consists of four competencies related to integrity, three to responsibility, two to forgiveness, and one to compassion. Morally intelligent leaders and teachers in schools will be supporting, respecting and caring, and engendering those qualities in their students. This paper will explore what moral intelligence looks like and how it can be taught to leaders, teachers and children. Its relationship to character and ethical behavior, as well as the other intelligences will be discussed. By developing greater moral intelligence, benefits to the schools and the society will result in organizations that are more positive, improved relationships and students who are both smart and good and value universal human principles and rights.

The new IEA "International Civic and Citizenship Education Study" (ICCS) will investigate the extent to which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens across a range of countries. ICCS will survey 13-to-14-year old students in over 30 countries in the year 2009. The ICCS outcome data will be obtained from representative samples of students in their eighth year of schooling and context data from the students, their schools and teachers. ICCS is the third international IEA study in this area and it is explicitly linked through common questions to the IEA "Civic Education Study" (CIVED) which was undertaken in 1999. The ways young people already actively participate in their schools and communities and the degree to which they are expecting to act politically in later adult life are important aspects in the development of this new study. An assessment framework has been developed as the foundation for the ICCS instruments and this paper outlines how the assessment framework addresses the role of political participation among young people. It includes a description of the measures of student knowledge, activities and attitudes associated with civic participation that have been developed in this study. Furthermore, it discusses relevant factors associated with civic participation, the relationships between these variables as well as the analysis and reporting of ICCS data. (Contains 6 footnotes, 2 figures and 4 tables. ICCS Research Questions are appended.) [Paper prepared for the ECPR General Conference in Pisa (Italy), 6-8 September 2007.]

The purpose of this research was to elucidate a continuum of postsecondary text difficulty and to use it to quantify gaps between the text difficulty of high school textbooks and various reading materials likely to be encountered in the most widely chosen postsecondary domains of endeavor--the university, the workplace, the military and citizenship in general. Wide-ranging samples of texts were identified to represent the typical texts found in each domain of endeavor. Using The Lexile Framework [R] for Reading, each text was analyzed to produce a Lexile measure of text difficulty. The resulting 1730 text measures were statistically analyzed and summarized to show the differences in distributions of text difficulty across the identified domains of postsecondary endeavor. The results indicate a systematic continuum of increasing text demand that extends from high school texts to university texts. Furthermore, there were statistically significant increases in text demand from high school texts to citizenship materials, workplace materials, community college texts and university texts. Whether a student aspires to postsecondary education, a job, the military, or just to be an informed citizen, the reading ability required is likely to be higher than what is typically required in high school based on texts that are widely used in this country. This finding is consistent with much of the extant literature about readiness for postsecondary endeavors. However it is dramatically distinct from that literature in applying a more unified theoretical framework and in producing results that are comparable across the investigated domains. It gives new insight to possible methods to address student readiness. For example, if the gap in student readiness is really a gap in text difficulty rather than a result of student failure to learn what has been taught in high school, then any policy solution should address the text gap instead of providing (remedial) "solutions" for a perceived gap in student ability. Furthermore, because reading ability is generally measured with many different scales it currently is not possible to investigate a performance gap with the definitive results observed in this study for text difficulty. Therefore, this paper also calls for a more systematic effort to identify and quantify the reading ability gap in terms of a metric for both ability and textual difficulty. The advantage would be more meaningful measurement of reading ability and findings that are more conducive to instructional and policy actions. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The purpose of this study was to examine interconnections between religiosity and citizenship education in Lithuanian religious education textbooks. Six textbooks (for 5-10 grades) used in Lithuanian basic schools were chosen for the content analysis. Dimensions of citizenship and morality found in religious education textbooks were classified according to frequency of occurrence and the form and intensity of expression. Results indicate that religious education in Lithuania develops not only religious identity, but it also contributes to education of responsible, active and intellectual citizens. It should be admitted that the idea of "multi-faith" religious education which creates conditions for inter-cultural, inter-religious communication and critical debate is not realized in these textbooks. Educators need to revise the goals and tasks of religious education in order to provide opportunity for a dialog between students and teachers from different religious and non-religious backgrounds in order to teach principles of tolerance and respect for people holding different beliefs, to develop thinking skills, skills to interpret, reflect on personal beliefs and gain insights into different worldviews, and to prepare students for the diversity in the society. (Contains 2 figures.) [This paper was published in: Caught in the Web or Lost in the Textbooks? Bruillard, E., Aamotsbakken, B., Knudsen, S.V., Horsley, M. (eds). Eighth International Conference on Learning and Educational Media, IARTEM, International Association for Research in Textbooks and Educational Media, ISSN 1402-9693. Paris: STEF, IARTEM, IUFM, de Basse-Normandie, 2006, p.151-157.]

This paper examines this issue of character formation from the perspective of Maria Montessori. Her method has much to offer in developing more peaceful classrooms and helping to develop compassionate and caring citizens. Maria Montessori developed a complete philosophy of education based on her discovery that the child has a mind able to absorb on its own. This discovery revolutionized early childhood education because she found that this special psychic force which helped the little child to develop--not only language, but also their whole personality--was common in all children no matter what their culture, nation, society, and religion. Maria considered herself a citizen of the world with a message for all humanity. If we synthesize her main ideas and apply them to education today, she would tell us that in 21st century society and family life does not allow children to do meaningful work. Too much time is spent in front of the television, the video games and on the computer. Children pass their time but they do not engage in real work or creative play. They do not develop their own character, instead they are bombarded with examples of poor characters. Is it any surprise that children become violent, withdrawn and listless? If we implement the philosophy of Maria Montessori in all schools, children at each developmental period will be allowed to work in meaningful ways and make a contribution to society. Children will yearn to serve others and to make life more pleasant for others through their work. In this way we will find our classrooms purposeful and peaceful and we will develop compassionate and caring citizens.

Many higher education institutions and discipline-specific associations have embraced service-learning as a way to join campuses (and specifically, academic departments across the curriculum) with their communities to positively respond to community challenges and opportunities for collaboration. Hundreds of definitions of service-learning exist internationally, many of which are informed by definitions used by national organizations such as Campus Compact, the Corporation for National Service or the National Society for Experiential Education. Service-learning can be defined as both an educational philosophy and a pedagogical technique for combining community service with academic objectives. Academic Service-Learning is a teaching methodology which utilizes a community involvement component as a means for students to gain a deeper understanding of disciplinary course objectives and to gain a deeper understanding of civic life and participation through structured reflection. This paper is a brief introduction to service learning.

Texas has some of the lowest SAT scores in the nation. They are ranked 36th nationwide in graduation rates and teacher salaries rank at number 33. The public school system in Texas has problems with overcrowding, violence, and poor performance on standardized testing. Currently 300,000 families have opted out of the public school system in order to pursue the freedom of homeschooling. In June 1994, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the appeal of the Leeper versus Arlington Independent School District. The court held that if students participate in legitimate home schools they are exempt from attending public school. The only requirement for legitimacy is for the curriculum to be in writing and they must teach in a bona fide manner, good citizenship, reading, writing, mathematics and grammar. When families decide to homeschool they must develop a unique curriculum. This paper takes the reader through the five different development phases leading up to and including the basics of developing a homeschool curriculum designed for students in the state of Texas.

Teachers play various roles in a classroom, but surely one of the most important is that of classroom manager. Effective teaching and learning cannot take place in a poorly managed classroom. If students are disorderly and disrespectful chaos becomes the norm. In these situations, both teachers and students suffer. Teachers struggle to teach, and students most likely learn much less than they should. In contrast, well-managed classrooms provide an environment in which teaching and learning can flourish. It takes a good deal of effort to create and the person who is most responsible for creating it is the teacher. Teachers need to feel that they are part of an empowering professionalism, in which their work has an affect on the abilities of students, and where they play a valuable role in shaping the direction of future society. The present investigation probes into the role of teachers' behavior management in developing civic consciousness. The study employed the survey method. 120 student teachers were selected by random sampling for the study. Behavior management scale and civic consciousness scale were used for the collection of data. Behavior management in the classroom and school yard is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. The essence of behavior management is to enhance the learning ability and experience for all students. On the basis of the major findings of the study, some of the practical suggestions offered will be helpful to apply in practical situations and to improve the quality of education. Through this study teachers get an idea about how much they are responsible towards themselves and others and the importance of behavior management in developing civic consciousness. An appendix contains data and results of the test of significance of coefficient of correlation for the total sample.

The practice of teaching democracy in school is diminishing. The implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has forced teachers to teach to the test, and has required some to follow scripted curriculum, leaving little time or incentive for teaching democracy. This study examines the importance of practicing democracy and identifies ways in which it can be done in the NCLB classroom. The literature demonstrates the importance of teaching democracy through practice in schools. Ideas on how to accomplish this in the pre-NCLB classroom are well documented. By surveying public school teachers, this paper endeavors to bring awareness to its importance and to provide ways in which the NCLB classroom teacher can practice democracy. Results indicated that teachers are interested in practicing democracy and believe it is important. The survey and interviews found specific areas of concern and ways for teachers to bring democracy into the NCLB classroom. Two appendixes are included: (1) Survey; and (2) Interview Questions.

This conceptual study will question the ways different epistemological conceptions of citizenship and education influence the characteristics of civic education. While offering a new theoretical framework, the different undercurrent conceptions that lay at the base of the civic education process shall be brought forth. With the use of the method of ideal types, four Utopian conceptions of civic education will be presented: "Liberal Civic Education"; "Diversity Civic Education"; "Critical Civic Education" and "Republican Civic Education." After describing these conceptions and the theoretical field on which they stand, the potential applications of these conceptions in the classrooms and in research will be discussed. "Conceptions of Civic Education--A Comparison" is appended. (Contains 2 figures and 1 footnote.)

This study examined the perspectives of a sample of Appalachian middle and high school social studies teachers regarding the teaching of controversial current events. Specifically, the survey ascertained the teachers' familiarity with school district administrative policies regarding the teaching of controversial current events, their perceptions about the inclusion of controversial current events in the social studies, and their perceptions about their instructional responses and decision-making concerning the teaching of controversial current events. The researcher derived the data for this study from a spring 2009 survey administered electronically using a secure website. The study yielded only 76 participants out of a sample of 926 middle and high school social studies teachers, a concern which may have implications for Appalachian students' accessibility to participatory citizenship skill development. Of the teachers which did participate, the feedback was positive with regard to administrative policies and favorable toward the teaching of controversial current events as a part of the social studies curriculum. (Contains 5 tables.)

At the center of this study stands the will to understand the use of the subjects of History and Geography as means of civic education. A new theoretical framework is offered, encompassing different aspects of civic education. With the use of this framework, the Israeli educational system was evaluated as a case study. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure, 1 footnote, and 2 charts.)

The purpose of the "International Civic and Citizenship Education Study" (ICCS) is to investigate the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens in a range of countries. The study will report on student achievement on a test of conceptual understandings and competencies in civic and citizenship education. It will also collect and analyse data about student dispositions and attitudes relating to civic and citizenship education. The study builds on the previous IEA study of civic education (CIVED) undertaken in 1999. A website with information about ICCS can be found at http://iccs.acer.edu.au/. It is recognised that there is substantial diversity in the field of civic and citizenship education within and across countries. Consequently, maximising the involvement of researchers from participating countries in this international comparative study is deemed to be of particular importance for the success of this study. Input from national research centres will be sought throughout the study and the consortium will develop strategies to encourage country contributions to instrument development as well as to the dissemination of results. This document gives an overview of the study and summarise the different aspects of its implementation. It also outlines the structure of the assessment framework and the process of the development and implementation of instruments as well as the benefits for participating countries. (Contains 4 footnotes, 1 figure and 3 tables.) [Paper prepared for the 51st annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society in Baltimore, 25 February-1 March 2007.]

This study discusses my attempt to improve educational experiences of fifth-grade students living in public housing. Through reconstruction of my thought processes while teaching and learning with students, the context of social justice-oriented teaching and classroom complexity is revealed. A narrative portrayal emerges demonstrating the impact our theorizing together had on our growth, outlook, and learning in an effort to make substantive change in the community. Although this curriculum was not explicitly grounded in a service learning framework, the processes, activities, and results of the classroom simplify the potential and possibilities of a justice and service oriented elementary classroom. Reflections of classroom occurrences and struggles I engaged in privately and with students are conveyed through vignettes of the change-focused, integrated curriculum based on students' priority concerns--particularly the attempt to replace their dilapidated school. The role of theorizing with students and curriculum realizing democratic principles in a poor neighborhood is depicted.

One crucial role of the teacher of citizenship education is to facilitate and help legitimize the "pupils' voice" in the classroom. The teacher should abdicate the "talking head" role and replace it with one that encourages and validates pupil owners