12007 Education Policy: Education for Democracy in Democratic Societies 1
Credits: 3 graduate credits in Democracy Studies / History, Education and Citizenship or in Educational Administration, Policy and Leadership
Prerequisites for Democracy Studies: Two of the following: Democracy: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Israeli Democracy: Selected Issues, Contemporary Democratic Theories, and exemption from bibliographic assignments on computer searches in the “Alef” catalog and databases.
Prerequisites for Educational Administration: Admission to the graduate program in Educational Administration, Policy and Leadership.
Author: Dan Gibton. The materials include a collection of articles.
The course contributes to the student’s understanding of the relationship between democracy and education, and between education and values, structures and democratic processes. It examines the contribution of schooling, its functions, contents and structure, to the education of pupils in a democratic society, and analyzes various approaches to education for democracy in the school system (democratic schools, political education, education for tolerance and peace, civil knowledge). It focuses on education toward democracy in Israeli society: its meaning in a nation in transition from a “melting pot” to a multi-cultural society. The course examines different theoretical approaches to these issues and presents an empirical survey of curricula and of schools which focus on education toward democracy.
Topics: Democracy discourse as a value system; Education in a democratic society; Schooling in a democratic society; Education toward democracy – the Israeli case.
1Students may write a seminar paper in this course, although it is not required.