(2005). In Canada: Under the Rainbow. Phi Delta Kappan, v86 n9 p713-715 May. Inclusive education seeks to provide a welcoming environment for all students, not by ignoring gender, race, disability, or sexual identities, but by recognizing and validating difference. It is precisely this validation that alarms those who are attempting to rein in schools that have initiated anti-heterosexist programs. But no one is satisfied with merely being 'tolerated' by others. Schools that literally or metaphorically display the rainbow flag, the universal symbol of rights and respect for sexual minorities, have made a profound difference in the lives of thousands of students….
(2005). Minority Language Rights before and after the 2004 EU Enlargement: The Copenhagen Criteria in the Baltic States. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v26 n5 p453-468. This paper examines the effect of the recent European Union (EU) enlargement on minority language policies in the Baltic states, and in particular in Latvia and Estonia. I first look at the so-called Copenhagen political criteria conditioning EU accession and at the European Commission's monitoring system for assessing applicant countries' compliance with such criteria. Focusing on changing language policies in Latvia and Estonia in the post-Soviet era, I then investigate whether accession negotiations between these countries and the Commission have resulted in defining new thresholds of minority language protection both domestically and in the EU. If so, have such minority rights standards become an acquis communautaire and could they then be applied to "older" member states in retrospect? (Contains 16 notes.)… [Direct]
(2004). Education and Democracy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. International Journal of Educational Development, v24 n5 p495-509 Sep. Content analysis of the curriculum and textbooks for the last four grades of compulsory education used in Bosnia and Herzegovina are presented. The major aim in this research has been to identify how issues related to democracy and human rights are presented.–Do the curriculum and textbooks support the ideas and behaviours recognized as democratic? No, the analysis shows that the curriculum is not emphasizing democratic values and human rights to any considerable extent. The major conclusion in the textbook analysis is that the textbooks present human rights and democracy mostly in negative form, i.e. the student is given a negative model of these topics…. [Direct]
(2004). The Road to Brown, Its Leaders, and the Future. Education and Urban Society, v36 n3 p255-265. The 50th anniversary of the historic 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" provides an opportunity to trace the origin of "Brown" and the long journey by African Americans to achieve quality elementary and secondary education in this country. This journey began with passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1868, which applied the Bill of Rights to the states. This action gave the newly freed slaves the same legal rights as White Americans, citizenship and equality under the law and due process protection against state action under the Bill of Rights. Even though public education did not exist for Blacks when the amendment was enacted, it gave Blacks protection against future negative state action. This journey was slowed in 1896 when the Court in "Plessy v. Ferguson" ruled that the doctrine of separate but equal could satisfy the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In the 1940s, the… [Direct]
(2005). Bioarts, Bioterror and the CAE: Resurgences in Authoritarianism and Molecular Creativity. College Quarterly, v8 n2 Spr. This article discusses what has been called the bioart revolution. The author explores some of the common themes and major exhibits of this movement leading him to consider the role of the amateur or outsider engaging in science. The author closes with the case of Steven Kurtz, an artist currently facing 20 years in jail and a quarter of a million dollars in fines for some of his recent works. The prosecution of Kurtz highlights the very real dangers of posing a critical voice in these times of preemptive information collection, management and neutralization. (Contains 1 endnote.)… [PDF]
(2005). Human Rights Education: Is Social Work behind the Curve?. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, v25 n3-4 p143-156. This article presents a descriptive assessment of human rights education within schools of social work and law. A review of course titles and descriptions within MSW programs and law programs was conducted for identification of human rights content. The results suggest a dearth of human rights content in social work curricula and a great disparity between schools of social work and schools of law in the integration of human rights in graduate level education. Recommendations for further development of human rights education are provided. (Contains 3 tables.)… [Direct]
(2002). Understanding Matters: Holocaust Curricula and the Social Studies Classroom. Theory and Research in Social Education, v30 n4 p541-562 Fall. Over the past two decades, interest in Holocaust education has grown substantially as individual states, starting in the 1980s, began to mandate and/or recommend Holocaust studies as part of the social studies curriculum. As a result, these mandates and/or interest in the Holocaust have spawned any number of curriculum products, some of which seek less to help the student of history acquire an understanding of this historical event, and more in terms of dictating to the social studies student what he or she should understand. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to critique Holocaust curricula that have been developed under the auspices of a state department of education (SDE) or endorsed by a SDE, as we believe that teachers unfamiliar with the Holocaust will turn to these products as sources of authority. We base this critique on what we refer to as three approaches or considerations to understanding history–the body of work on historical thinking which we view as the underpinning… [Direct]
(2005). Health, Equity and Intellectual Disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, v18 n2 p97-100 Jun. In this paper, we first describe the current state of health across the world. We then note that despite general good health, it is not everyone's experience and that differences in health among people frequently appear to be unfair. Health promotion is a movement committed to prevention and to creating opportunities for all people to live healthy lives. We examine the application of health promotion to people with intellectual disability. Finally, we bring equity, health promotion and intellectual disability together and ask to what extent people with these problems are victims of inequity. If they are–as seems likely–societies that have built their health services on humane values should assume greater responsibility for meeting their special needs, promoting their opportunities for health as well as managing their illnesses…. [Direct]
(2002). That's Not Fair! Fourth Graders' Responses to Multicultural State History. Social Studies, v93 n2 p85-91 Mar-Apr. In this article, the author details how she and another teacher developed a multicultural Wisconsin history curriculum for a fourth-grade classroom. Their focus in this article is a description of the main ideas students learned and the instructional strategies that supported their learning from the three-week unit on Wisconsin government. They chose to focus on issues common among many states: (1) the role of immigrants and indigenous peoples in state government; (2) different perspectives on becoming a state; and (3) voting rights for various segments of the population after statehood. By bringing out diverse perspectives and conflicts over statehood and voting rights, they hoped to engage students in thinking more deeply about state government. The author encourages classroom teachers considering teaching a similar state government unit to invite students to examine similar issues related to statehood, state government, and voting rights from diverse perspectives…. [Direct]
(2004). Factors of the Civic Socialization of Young People in School. Russian Education and Society, v46 n2 p5-14 Feb. Civic socialization characterizes the process by which each individual assimilates a certain system of knowledge, norms, values, and traditions in the labor, political, and legal spheres of activity in his life, enabling him to function as a full-fledged member of society. It is defined by three elements: (1) professional socialization, which enables the young person to acquire knowledge and learn labor skills and gain experience in one or several professions; (2) legal socialization, which is designed to do away with legal nihilism among young people and to explain to each young citizen what his rights and obligations are; (3) political socialization, which serves to enhance each individual's active involvement in the protection of his rights and freedoms and in the administration of state and civic affairs. In this article, the author focuses on the role of the subjective factor in \the activity of the various educational institutions with respect to the civic socialization of… [Direct]
(2006). The Link: Connecting Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare. Volume 4, Number 4, Spring 2006. Child Welfare League of America (NJ1) \The Link\ is a periodical published by the Child Welfare League. The Child Welfare League of America is the nation's oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization. They are committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families and protecting every child from harm. This issue of \The Link\ contains the following articles: (1) The Legal Rights of Young People in State Custody: What Juvenile Justice Professionals Need to Know When Working with LGBT Youth (Rudy Estrada and Jody Marksamer); (2) Director's Message (Christy Sharp); (3) Adolescents, Maturity and the Law (Jeffrey Fagan); (4) Public Policy Update; and (5) Juvenile Justice News and Resources. [For the the Winter 2006 issue of \The Link,\ see ED489787. For the Summer 2006 issue, see ED492069.]… [PDF]
(2006). The Dialogue of Democracy. Social Studies, v97 n3 p112-120 May-Jun. Even though social studies teachers may value discussion of controversial issues, such practice is rare in most social studies classrooms. Nystrand, Gamoran, and Carbonaro (1998) reported that 90 percent of the instruction they observed in more than one hundred middle and high school classes involved no discussion at all. What teachers cite as discussion is in fact often recitation (Larson 1999). Conducting engaging and thoughtful discussion in any classroom requires a well-prepared, highly skilled teacher and students knowledgeable not only about the content germane to the issue but also about the rules and guidelines for participating in civil discourse. In this article, the author cites the benefits of discussing controversial issues and the roles of teachers and students in conducting these type of discussion. The author presents three models of discussing controversial issues namely: (1) scored discussion; (2) structured academic controversy; and (3) advocate decision making…. [Direct]
(2006). A Tale of Two "Browns": Constitutional Equality and Unequal Education. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, v105 n2 p14-35 Oct. Author Derrick Bell is not alone in wondering why "Brown v. Board of Education" commands such "awe and respect" in a nation where racial and ethnic groups remain separate and unequal in its public schools. Indeed, the ethnic disparities in academic achievement, the resegregation of public schools, and the ever-widening disparities in school funding overshadow most of the positive gains made over the past 50 years. This chapter seeks to assess "Brown's" place in the nation's memory and history, both its undeniably important role in their long struggle for equality under the law and its unfulfilled promises of racial desegregation and educational equality. This chapter has two basic objectives. First, the author examines the place and meaning of "Brown" in the larger struggle for individual and racial equality. Because "Brown" redeemed promises of constitutional equality that had been rejected since the Declaration of Independence, its… [Direct]
(2006). Mercy Mercy Me: Social Injustice and the Prevention of Environmental Pollutant Exposures among Ethnic Minority and Poor Children. Child Development, v77 n2 p247-265 Mar-Apr. Children's lead and pesticide exposures are used as examples to examine social disparities in exposure reduction efforts as well as environmental policies impacting children in poverty and minority children. The review also presents an estimate of the effect of social disparities in lead exposure on standardized test performance. Because including measures of pollutants with potential behavioral effects can alter the observed effects of race ethnicity, income, and other variables, suggestions are made for including measures of pollutants in longitudinal studies and studies of multiple and cumulative risk. Continued basic research on developmental correlates and effects of pollution exposure, participatory action-research with at-risk and under represented populations, and contributions to public awareness and education are important leadership areas for developmental researchers…. [Direct]
(2006). Equality in Education and a School Board's Duty of Accommodation: Can Segregation Be Accommodation?. Exceptionality Education Canada, v16 n1 p71-94. Human Rights statutes prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability, which includes learning disabilities. As such, the pedagogical debate on whether to educate special education students in mainstream or segregated schools, is also an equality and human rights issue. The author attempted to analyze, by looking at current legal cases and writings on equality in education and for people with disabilities, the extent of Ontario School Board's obligations to accommodate special education students in non-segregated placements. This paper attempts to argue that the current emphasis in the law on inclusion, participation and society's construction of disability, may place new obligations on Boards and create higher standards in order to justify segregated placements. (Contains 4 footnotes.)… [Direct]