Developing Democratic Character in the Young

How are students going to function effectively in a democratic society? This collection of original essays outlines the critical role of our schools in helping create the conditions necessary for a democracy-and helping create in students the characteristics or dispositions critical to maintaining a democracy. Scholars from diverse disciplines-including anthropology, education, psychology, political science, and history-examine the challenges to our democracy, the importance of education, and the implications for teaching students from the elementary to the college level. They show how schools have been impeded by a narrow agenda that favors private-business interests and why they need a broader public mission aimed at promoting our social, cultural, and ecological well-being. They explain how schools can play a more effective role in engaging students on issues of governance and citizenship. And they reveal why bolstering democratic institutions is essential to this process?and how this commitment can be reflected in our educational policies, structures, curricula, and teaching practices. Developing Democratic Character in the Young, along with its companion volume, The Last Best Hope: A Democracy Reader, offers an important and long-overdue examination of the connections between youths, democratic character, and education?and how our schools can become more directly involved in maintaining the health of our democracy. THE EDITORS Roger Soder is senior associate of the Center for Educational Renewal at the University of Washington and vice president of the Institute for Educational Inquiry in Seattle. John I. Goodlad is president of the Institute for Educational Inquiry and professor emeritus of the University of Washington. Timothy J. McMannon is an instructor at Highline Community College, and senior associate at the Institute for Educational Inquiry.