Education, Citizenship and Social Justice current issue

Service-learning in communication education: A case study investigation in support of a prisoners' human rights organization

Novek, E. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:23 PDT

This article offers a case study of a graduate class in communication research methods with a service-learning approach. Students were engaged in evaluating the public information campaign of a nonprofit organization exposing human rights abuses in US prisons. They gained hands-on experience in the use of a variety of basic research methods and offered their client insight into its current and potential audiences. With a community partner to serve, the students understood the importance of systematic research inquiry and its value to nonprofit organizations. The project demonstrates the value of service-learning in communication education and describes how best practices can be applied for the development of similar courses in the discipline.

A university service-learning assignment: Delivering the FAIR curriculum to K-12 students to promote social justice

Zimmerman, T. S., Krafchick, J. L., Aberle, J. T. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:23 PDT

A wide variety of universities are engaged in service-learning activities that create opportunities for K-12 students to interact with university students. Engaging students in their communities and working toward social justice in a variety of settings provides positive outcomes for communities, university students and the K-12 students involved. At Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, college students have been working in K-12 school settings facilitating FAIR, a social justice and diversity curriculum. The FAIR curriculum is outlined and suggestions for how to utilize the curriculum as a service-learning assignment are provided. As a service-learning assignment, FAIR, is beneficial to the K-12 students and schools while engaging university students in social justice action in an experiential and meaningful way. Outcomes are presented from our use of this service-learning curriculum. Finally, we provide instructions and plans for implementation.

Sowing the seeds of citizenship and social justice: Service-learning in a public speaking course

Ransom, L. S. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:23 PDT

Students enrolled in two sections of the public speaking courses at a small liberal arts university were required to do 10 hours of service in a local not for profit agency. Student comments indicate that doing service-learning in these courses affected their self-perceptions and expectations as deaf persons in a local community. This article will also discuss the ways the university is responding to the service-learning pedagogy to encourage citizenship and social justice values for students who tend to be somewhat alienated from the surrounding community.

The education ideal of the democratic citizen in Germany: Challenges and changing trends

Buck, A., Geissel, B. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:23 PDT

This article draws on exploratory qualitative interviews with German education policy experts. We ask whether, as Germany faces new challenges, changes have occurred in respect of the education ideal of the democratic citizen; perceived implications for civic education and schooling are also drawn out. Interviews were conducted with senior employees at a variety of key institutions, including the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Germany’s history in the 20th century is a key reference point for the education ideal of the democratic and critical citizen. Though many interviewees state that the importance of education for democratic citizenship remains unchanged, they perceive some shifts. In a changed Germany characterized by unemployment, declining prosperity, cuts to the welfare state — and in a globalized world — children and young people need to develop new competencies. The interviewed policy experts are divided in regard to the impact of these changes on civic education. The article contextualizes results drawing on education and political science research and literature.

The moral construction of the good pupil embedded in school rules

Thornberg, R. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:23 PDT

The aim of this field study was to investigate the hidden curriculum of school rules delimited to the moral construction of ‘the good pupil’ embedded in the system of school rules in two primary schools. According to the findings, the rule system mediates a moral construction of the good pupil to the children, and this actually includes two constructions: the benevolent fellow buddy and the well-behaved pupil. Furthermore, a picture of a final learning outcome of this hidden or implicit citizenship education of school rules emerges: the good citizen who (1) does good to others and does not harm others, (2) functions well in the society and lives by its laws and norms, and (3) takes responsibility and does her or his very best. Critical thinking and the possibility of questioning, critically discussing and abolishing explicit rules are not parts of this picture.

Erratum

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:23 PDT

Pykett, J. (2009) Pedagogical power: lessons from school spaces. Cooperation and Conflict, 4, 102–16. On p 112, the citation in the quotation, If you buy BBC Tell Me Why magazine for a year ... should read: (BBC Tell Me Why, n.d.: No. 4, p. 2, cited in Buckingham and Scanlon, 2001: 291)’ SAGE apologizes to the author for this error.

Hip-hop and the academic canon

Abe, D. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:45:23 PDT

Over the last 30 years, the hip-hop movement has risen from the margins to become the preeminent force in US popular culture. In more recent times academics have begun to harness the power of hip-hop culture and use it as a means of infusing transformative knowledge into the mainstream academic discourse. On many college campuses, hip-hop’s influence has begun to extend beyond the classroom. Hip-hop think tanks and archives have been established as instructors have recorded and released hip-hop albums. Hip-Hop based cultural groups have begun appearing, and several campuses have hosted hip-hop conferences. As hip-hop increasingly permeates the highest levels of the academy, its effectiveness as curriculum continues to gain credibility. Consequently, it has begun to seep down the educational ladder in the form of curriculum for high school and junior high students. This unique cultural movement continues to carve out a significant space for itself in the transformative academic movement.