Introduction: education,war and peace

Abstract

This editorial introduction to the special issue on education, war and peace proposes that the dynamics between education, war and peace have been insufficiently researched in the history of education but have become a focus of increasing attention. Education for war, education for peace, the impact of war on education, and representations of war and peace are particular aspects of this general theme that are developed in detail in the collection as a whole.     

Liberalism,Pluralism, and Political Education: Paradox or paradigm?

Inspired by concern about promoting civic participation and preserving the liberal democratic state, political theorists have recently reignited a debate about the nature of political education in a liberal society. These theorists' arguments in favor of teaching toleration are significant for the progress of education reforms currently being debated and implemented in current liberal democracies and some emerging nations. Despite the increasing attention paid to the value of liberal civic education, however, its specific content is typically left virtually blank. This article aims to redress this gap in the literature by developing a coherent and comprehensive (albeit still very general) curriculum for liberal political education. To this end, Section I analyses the nature of the ideal liberal democratic state and develops a general curriculum for liberal political education based on the type of citizens needed to preserve and take advantage of such a state. It concludes by introducing two potentially illiberal outcomes of this curriculum: children's forced development of the capacity for autonomy, and the reduction of diversity in the state. Section II argues that the development of autonomy is actually central to liberal theory and liberal education more broadly conceived, while Section III suggests that civic and social diversity will persist, but rightly play a secondary role to the goals of liberal political education. The article concludes, therefore, with a reassertion of the content and importance of liberal political education.     

Constructing a national narrative in civil war: history teaching and national unity in South Sudan

ABSTRACT

This article analyses history teaching in South Sudanese secondary schools and focuses on the interplay of local context, curricular intentions, and teachers’ agency. Drawing on ethnographic data, the article focuses on how the main objectives of national unity and critical thinking are enacted by teachers in the classroom. Through theories of history teaching and learning in divided societies, I explore how teachers teach the recent violent past and how they navigate and mediate ‘invisible’ tensions among opposing truths in the classroom. Foregrounding the context of civil war, the article illustrates how narratives of current and previous civil wars in the country limit teachers’ ability to fulfil the goals of the syllabus. Despite the role of teachers as key mediators for a peaceful classroom, the context of war limits the ideological space for them to promote a culture of peace among students in the classroom.     

Citizenship Education: An empirical study of policy,practices and outcomes

This article reports on a comparative study of civic education in six countries-Britain, the USA, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia. Differing policies and practices with respect to citizenship education among the six Western democracies were found to be associated with different patterns of adolescent student political attitudes and perceptions. In those contexts in which civic education includes political content and opportunities for students to explore and express opinions on public policy issues, and to engage in decision-making, young people (ages 15-19) appear to be more interested in the political arena than in those contexts in which they do not have such experiences.     

Inclusive education in Eastern European countries: a current state and future directions

ABSTRACT

Inclusive education is key to the development of civic democracy. Its role is to transform schools into platforms of excellence and equality for all students. This literature review aims to summarize the current state of inclusive education in Eastern European countries and former Soviet states and to identify conditions necessary for their educational systems to become more inclusive. The review: (a) discusses the concept of inclusive education as a platform for civic democracy; (b) conceptualizes how historical contexts affect societal attitudes and values towards difference and disability; (c) explores the extent to which available research captures the current state of inclusive education in Eastern Europe, and (d) describes the barriers to inclusive education implementation in these countries. The results of the review show the majority of studies examined attitudes toward inclusive education and people with disabilities. In this regard, although most of participants surveyed accept inclusive education initiatives in principle, they identify a range of barriers that need to be addressed to secure its meaningful implementation in the region. The review situates the possibility of inclusive education in the region’s historical context, identifies the structural and cultural barriers to its meaningful implementation, and suggests directions for future research.     

Reflections on the Umbrella Movement: Implications for civic education and critical thinking

Abstract

The 2014 Umbrella Movement was one of the most significant social and political events in recent Hong Kong history. This paper offers some initial reflections on the connections between the movement and broader issues related to civic education, critical thinking, and theories of education. First, it is suggested that the movement closely resembles a form of civic education known as ‘action civics,’ offering an alternative pedagogy that might encourage more authentic civic participation. Second, the movement raises questions about how the teaching of critical thinking can be made more practically relevant to modern citizenship. Third, the deep political polarization associated with the movement indicates that civic education and critical thinking training need to pay attention to cognitive biases that affect political ideology. Finally, the Umbrella Movement reflects the failure of democratization in Hong Kong and coincides with increasing political pressures on the local education system. We discuss how political reality connects to issues about democratic education, critical pedagogy, and the idea of political neutrality in education.     

Political Education in the Early Years: The place of civic virtues

Citizenship education needs to start from the values and associated institutional practices and civic virtues of liberal democracy. Citizens need political knowledge and skills but they also need to be certain sorts of people, to exercise civic virtues. The view that civic virtues are unnecessary in a democracy is considered and rejected, as is the view that civic education should not begin in the first school. It is argued that the fostering of civic virtues can and should begin in the first school, primarily through its organisation and ethos. For it to do so, however, attention needs to be devoted to it in teacher education.     

Education and citizenship in diverse societies

The question of the state's role in the control of sponsorship of education is addressed in the light of liberal political principles designed to keep peace and enforce toleration in culturally diverse societies. Some contemporary, self-described liberal philosophers argue for a much more substantial educational role for the state than liberal principles will really allow. Brian Barry's argument for that role assumes that the state can prescribe answers to controversial questions regarding the truth and the good life in which a truly liberal state would take no interest. Stephen Macedo is more accommodating to religious diversity than Barry, but his argument fails because of his rashly optimistic view of the state's effectiveness in promoting civic virtue and the possibility of reconciling that role with fundamental liberal values. Liberal regimes do not depend on civic education, even under conditions of diversity. Their life-blood is toleration and dissent rather than the widespread diffusion of civic virtue.     

Accountability,control and freedom in teacher education in England: Towards a panoptican

This article presents a socio-historical analysis of teacher education in Britain, tracing the changing agents and nature of control of, and consequent levels of freedom in, the enterprise from its inception to the present day. It illustrates the evolution from church, through university to state control and the limited role of the teaching and teacher education professions in each. In doing so it identifies teacher education as a disputed territory of conflicting tendencies, which currently faces unprecedented and draconian central government control and identifies the major factors related to change. It further traces how in the period since the second world war the main source of control has shifted from institution to state, and the main object of control from the student, to teacher educators, to the content and nature of teacher preparation, to the present where all these are centrally controlled, in a fashion not only foreign to British education history but also its culture.     

Regional differences in sexuality education on a state level: the case of Florida

Introduction In Florida, a state that consistently leads the nation in adverse sexual health outcomes among adolescents, numerous demographic and socio‐cultural differences exist across the North, Central, and South regions. However, little is known about regional differences in sexuality education and beliefs among teachers.

Methodology Using a mail‐based survey of 462 teachers, we examined regional differences in parental consent requirements, abstinence instruction, student language barriers, availability of Spanish curricula, teacher beliefs regarding the dissemination of accurate safer sex information, and missing data. t‐tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted.

Results North Floridian teachers taught more abstinence than those in Central and South Florida. Additionally, they had fewer students with language barriers, offered less Spanish curricula, and, in general, possessed less favorable attitudes toward presenting accurate safer sex information. However, South Floridian teachers were most likely to report parental consent requirements in their schools. These findings largely remained in multivariate analyses.

Conclusions The present study identified several noteworthy regional differences in sexuality education in Florida. Recommendations are given for developing and implementing programs that account for these differences within the state.     

Political Liberalism,Civic Education and the Dutch Government

Abstract

Recently two members of the Dutch government, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Education and Science, have stressed publicly the importance of “the transmission of norms and values”. In this paper their public statements are evaluated from the perspective of a liberal conception of civic education. Such an assessment seems to be fair, since both people are, in their public role as ministers, key representatives of a liberal constitutional state. First, a brief analysis of the concept of civic education is presented. Subsequently, an explanation of the central aims of liberal education for citizenship is given. Finally, the educational statements of the ministers are tested against the explained liberal conception.     

Writing practices in Spanish universities / Las prácticas escritas en la universidad española

Abstract

This article examines the different writing practices carried out in Spanish universities and the methodology used to promote and teach the development of writing competences. The data in this study pertain to nine Spanish universities, 280 teachers and 1,044 undergraduate students from these universities. The data also refer to student and faculty perceptions of the importance attached to the writing process, the amount of time spent on it and the dimensions or aspects of the competence they consider the most important. Furthermore, the article examines the writing practices proposed by the teachers as well as the ones identified by and assigned to the students. On some of the variables, the results suggest opposing perceptions between the two groups and at the same time highlight differences depending on the fields of knowledge. This sheds light on different ways to include the writing process in university education.     

Relations of blood? Racialization of civic identity in twenty-first century Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how notions of race, ethnicity, and blood are mobilized in educational texts in Hong Kong. It elaborates how civic identity is racialized as part of a nationalist education operating beneath the surface of expressed commitments to global citizenship, human rights, etc., in curriculum and textbooks. Many have commented on how cultural and ethnic ties are prioritized over political principles as bases for civic education in Asian societies. These cultural/ethnic bases should be critically examined, however, as they imply racial/ethnic exclusions. Examining how race, ethnicity, and blood are used to justify cultural framings of civic identity leads to questions about how education can be used to unify some, while alienating others from a sense of belonging and community. I argue that racialization of Hong Kong civic identity is not a happy solution for all members of society, and for more inclusive visions of identity in education.     

西方国家公民教育的价值取向

在全球化的背景下，西方国家的公民教育面对着文化多元性与统一性、民族性与全球性、冲突与和平等价值的矛盾。西方国家的公民教育强调自由民主的公民资格的普遍性，同时尊重差异；以民族国家的身份认同为基础，培养世界公民；强化和平文化的营造。强调以和平的方式解决冲突。     

Expanding an Action Research framework for an evidence based mentoring program in nursing: an exploration of cooperative inquiry

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the development of cooperative inquiry as a methodology for nursing research. It commences with a historical overview of Action Research and its use in nursing. The applicability of Action Research approaches in higher education are then discussed in the context of creating partnerships between universities, students and the wider civic and social community. The concept of partnerships informs discussion of a peer mentoring project for undergraduate nursing students conducted using a cooperative inquiry methodology.     

Bullying: The Northern Ireland Context

The notion of peace education has been a subject of considerable controversy and criticism. Indeed, at one time it was one of the major targets of the last UK government's attack on what it saw as trendy, left-wing teaching. Although the attacks were often frenzied, it seemed that there was little clarity about what peace education did or should actually involve. In this paper, Lennart Vriens provides a clear and well-argued antidote to this lack of clarity. He sets out the main arguments that are levelled against peace education and then counters each one effectively. He goes on to provide a clear and instructive explanation of peace education as an active, ongoing process, explaining what this should involve and why it is of great importance.     

Moral Theory and Educational Practice: a Reply to Ian Gregory

Abstract

Taking terminological questions as a starting point the authors give an overview of the theory and practice of moral education in Germany. Special emphasis is given to the historical background of current theories of moral development as well as to legal and political questions concerning the present state of moral education in W. Germany. The authors are clear about the ways which should be chosen and the issues which should be dealt with if moral education is to meet the tasks and challenges posed by modern society and by problems of democracy, peace, and ecology. Nevertheless, they are sceptical whether these will be attempted by moral education in W. Germany.     

Truth commissions,education, and positive peace: an analysis of truth commission final reports (1980–2015)

ABSTRACT

Transitional justice and education both occupy increasingly prominent space on the international peacebuilding agenda, though less is known about the ways they might reinforce one another to contribute towards peace. This paper presents a cross-national analysis of truth commission (TC) reports spanning 1980–2015, exploring the range of educational work taken on by one of the most prominent forms of transitional justice. We find that TC engagement with education is increasing over time and that TCs are incorporating the task of ‘telling the truth about education’ into their work. However, when TCs engage with education, they tend to recommend forwards looking reforms, for instance decontextualised human rights and peace education. We argue that this limits the contribution that TCs might make towards positive peace by failing to use their backwards looking, truth telling work to insist on transformation in the educational sector.     

Challenging knowledge monopoly in education in the U.S. through democratizing knowledge production and dissemination

ABSTRACT

We discuss democratizing knowledge production and dissemination in education illustrated in two parts that challenge the current knowledge monopoly. Our discourse includes (a) problematic cultivation of the status quo in the hierarchy of knowledge value in the U.S. as a component of civic illiteracy and (b) the need for more evidence through developing practice-based research evidence as a counter to the fixation with evidence-based practice in education. We point out a cultivated state of complacency with regard to the societal expectations of the roles of educational practitioners in the U.S. and discuss developing a new status of practitioner research for knowledge democracy. A virtual space for mentoring practitioner researchers with a goal to help them produce and disseminate their research was included as an example of knowledge democracy.     

Never Again: The Impact of Learning About the Holocaust on Civic Outcomes

Abstract

Preparing students to be effective citizens is a longstanding goal of public education. Historical content provides illustrative opportunities for civic learning. Teaching about the Holocaust exemplifies this approach. Employing an experimental research design with 865 secondary school students, we analyze effects on civic outcomes from learning about the Holocaust through a school-sponsored trip to a Holocaust museum. We find that lessons about the Holocaust increase students’ support for civil liberties and deepen historical content knowledge, but decrease religious tolerance. High school students and those from college-educated households drive increases in support for civil liberties, and these students are more likely to donate to human rights causes as a result of the intervention. Middle school students and those from less-educated households drive the negative religious tolerance effect. These findings suggest that history lessons can produce meaningful impacts on civic educational outcomes. However, a stronger educational foundation that comes with engaging with challenging political issues may be a vital prerequisite to avoid undesirable consequences.