Annette M Miller

The purpose of this qualitative, interpretive, study is to help us better understand how a small group of Hmong immigrant adolescents conceptualize their political and civic citizenship in the United States. Three focus groups including a total of 18 Hmong middle/junior high school adolescents were carried out in order to garner data. Upon data analysis and interpretation, it was determined that study participants consider rights and responsibilities important to citizenship in a democracy and participate in various social, political, academic, and environmental activities. Study participants emphasize the community good over personal self-interests. As Hmong culture tends to be more collectivist in nature, this value orientation may be incompatible with the curriculum, instruction, and philosophy that students experience in public schools: Hmong youth may experience educational disadvantage. Adolescents in this study are developing their conceptions of citizenship within a racializ...

The term democracy has an overwhelmingly positive connotation for most people (Diamond & Plattner, 2008), yet it is a contested, fluid, and evolving concept that represents many different things to different people. This article presents our analysis of conceptions of democracy among groups of adolescents (n=2,848, ages 13-19) in the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, and the United States. This study focused on students’ responses to one open-ended item on a written questionnaire. Our inquiry is significant because the ability to provide a meaningful definition of democracy has been shown to be associated with support for democratic institutions, and more complex understandings of democracy have been associated with greater political involvement and commitment to democracy (Bratton, Mattes, & Gyimah-Boadi, 2004; Miller, Hesli, & Reisinger, 1997). We found that the vast majority of the students gave acceptable definitions of democracy and that students were most li...

ABSTRACT Analyzes six U.S. civics and history textbooks used in grades seven through nine to determine what messages these texts convey to young people about the nature of civic life. Explores the results in three sections: (1) learning about the nature of democracy; (2) national identity and loyalty; and (3) diversity. (CMK)

Abstract:  This critical reflection considers the alignment of a School of Education’s (SOE) Conceptual Framework and effective tools for co-teaching in an online graduate learning environment.  Two instructors co-taught two graduate level, online education courses over two semesters. The courses served as the last two research-based classes in an education master’s degree program, and were instructed in progression: students were required to take a literature review course, followed by a data analysis and capstone completion class.  The instructors aligned their SOE’s Conceptual Framework with their online co-teaching instruction and assessment, to develop a meaningful, thoughtful, and successful graduate learning environment for all students.  This paper outlines the tools, strategies, and activities that supported students in the online learning community, as well as those aspects of the online co-teaching model that need further consideration and development. This work will be continued by soliciting feedback from students in regards to their online experiences.

ABSTRACTNine secondary teachers who were taught to use one model of deliberation, Structured Academic Controversy (SAC) (Johnson and Johnson 1979), were matched with nine teachers in their schools who taught similar grade levels and subjects. Teachers in the Deliberation Classes engaged students in three deliberations across six months. Deliberations focused on current public issues, such as whether violent juvenile offenders should be tried as adults. Five of the nine classroom pairs were analyzed using both pre- and post-questionnaires. There were no statistically significant differences in the pre- and post-questionnaire responses of students in the Deliberation Classes (n = 244) and Comparison Classes (n = 249) in terms of self-reported issue knowledge. Variance in student opinion in the Deliberation Classes showed a significant decrease. Students in the Deliberation Classes (n = 297) demonstrated greater perspective-taking abilities than students in the Comparison Classes (n = ...

ABSTRACT The authors argue that deliberation should be an integral part of secondary civics classrooms and teacher education programs. Drawing on a wide range of research, they contend that teaching and learning deliberative skills has the potential to build individual and group civic capacity. They share some of the results of an evaluation of one ten-nation project, Deliberating in a Democracy, which suggest that teachers can learn to conduct deliberations in secondary classrooms. Furthermore, across countries, students reported increases in their understanding of issues, their ability to state their opinions, and their confidence in talking about controversial issues with peers. Most important, students demonstrated greater perspective-taking abilities than students not involved in the project. The potential limitations and weaknesses of the deliberative model are discussed, as are the implications for civic pedagogy and learning.

ABSTRACT This study examines national narratives constructed by the authors based on survey responses of students (n=3273) from nine Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and the United States. Students were asked to name events and heroes important to their nations' pasts. The authors used a framework based on the work of James Wertsch to construct and interpret the national narratives. Findings indicate that there was a high level of agreement between the students of each country about their national stories. In addition to the high level of agreement about what events and people belonged in the story of the nations, the narratives described by the students all fall within the mainstream national narratives of each country. Further analysis reveals the uniqueness of each of the CEE nations' post-communist paths. The ways in which all students understand the relationships between the distant and more recent pasts give insight into the ways in which the narratives of these nations are being reshaped.

Analyzes six U.S. civics and history textbooks used in grades seven through nine to determine what messages these texts convey to young people about the nature of civic life. Explores the results in three sections: (1) learning about the nature of democracy; (2) national identity and loyalty; and (3) diversity. (CMK)