the 3 C's of democratizing culture

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the 3 C's of democratizing culture

Aroundsquare's activities are diverse, but they have a single centre of gravity. They all have to do with helping to build a better world by supporting healthy learning and development. So we make toys that spark creativity and encourage active play. And we support educational initiatives all over the world, and especially those that are focused on empowering young people to help transform their communities, to make them more peaceful, more sustainable, and more just. 

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fostering democracy through education

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fostering democracy through education

With the support of the Council for a Community of Democracies, Aroundsquare's Matthew Hiebert recently had the opportunity to participate in a panel presentation on fostering democracy through education, hosted by the International Foundation for Democracy Education. The esteemed panelists included Lee Arbetman, Executive Director of Street Law, Augusta Featherston, Regional Program Officer with IFES, and Romina Kasman, Coordinator of the Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices at the Organization of American States.

A video recording of the webcast for the event, along with links to downloadable materials provided by the speakers, can be found on the IFES website. 

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six balances in transformative education

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six balances in transformative education

A variety of tensions inevitably result during any process of change. Many teachers feel these tensions when implementing transformative educational approaches, because they are very different from traditional ways of teaching. It's the same situation, whether we're talking about education for democracy, education for sustainable development, student centred approaches, or whatever the case may be. Teachers must strive to find the right balance between extremes, in order to mediate these tensions and be as effective as possible in the classroom.

Balance 1: Explicit and Tacit

Much of the discussion in this Guidebook has been about tacit learning, and the role of contextual factors in students’ experiences. However, most curricula, and most 

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democratizing educational content

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democratizing educational content

 

While it's almost certainly the case that context trumps content in terms of the deep lessons we are teaching our students, it's not entirely the case that the medium is the message. It still matters what we say. In implementing education for democracy, we need to consider how we can better infuse the content of instruction

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