[From th Archives] Ep 158: Dr. Steven Camicia on Democratic Education

On this episode, Katie is joined by Dr. Steven Camicia, an associate professor of social studies education at Utah State University. His research focuses on curriculum and instruction in the areas of perspective consciousness and social justice as they relate to critical democratic education. The term “critical” modifies “democratic education” in order to focus upon the attributes of power, inclusion, and recognition in democratic education. He was awarded an American Educational Studies Association 2017 Critics’ Choice Book Award for his book entitled, Critical Democratic Education and LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum: Opportunities and Constraints. In his book, he examines how the contexts in Utah and California might influence what can and cannot be said in classrooms about LGBTQ individuals and issues. His research has been published in scholarly journals such as Theory and Research in Social Education, The Social Studies, Social Studies Research and Practice, International Journal of Social Studies Research, Journal of Teaching and Teacher Education, the Journal of Public Deliberation, and the London Review of Education. He is a former associate editor of Theory and Research in Social Education. His research interests stemmed from his experiences as a former elementary school teacher.

Segment 1: Researching Democratic Education [00:00-13:50]

In this first segment, Steven shares some of his projects focused on researching democratic education.

In this segment, the following resources are mentioned:

• Butler, J. (2006). Precarious life: The powers of mourning and violence. New York: Verso.
• Camicia, S. P. (2007). Deliberating immigration policy: Locating instructional materials within global and multicultural perspectives. Theory and Research in Social Education 35(1), 96-111.
• Camicia, S. P. (2009). Teaching the Japanese American internment: A case study of social studies curriculum conflict and change. Journal of Social Studies Research, 33(1), 113-132.
• Camicia, S. P. (2012). An ethics of recognition in global and teacher education: Looking through queer and postcolonial Lenses. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, 4(1), 25-35.
• Camicia, S. P. (2016). Critical democratic education and LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum: Opportunities and constraints. New York: Routledge.
• Hess, D. E., & McAvoy, P. (2015). The political classroom: Evidence and ethics in democratic education. New York: Routledge.
• Mouffe, C. (2000). The democratic paradox. London: Verso.
• Parker, W. C. (2004). Diversity, globalization, and democratic education: Curriculum possibilities. In J. A. Banks (Ed.), Diversity and citizenship education: Global perspectives (pp. 433-458). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Segment 2: Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice [13:51-23:21]

In segment two, Steven discusses how his research includes an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and social justice.

In this segment, the following resources are mentioned:

• Au, W. (2012). Critical curriculum studies: Education, consciousness and the politics of knowing. New York: Routledge.
• Banks, J. A. (1996). The cannon debate, knowledge construction, and multicultural education. In J. A. Banks (Ed.), Multicultural education, transformative knowledge, and action: Historical and contemporary perspectives (pp. 3-29). New York: Teacher College Press.
• Benhabib, S. (2002). The claims of culture: Equality and diversity in the global era. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Harding, S. (1995). “Strong objectivity”: A response to the new objectivity question. Synthese, 104(3), 331-349.
• Parker, W. C. (Ed.) (1996). Educating the democratic mind. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
• Camicia, S. P., & Knowles, R. T. (forthcoming). Education for Democracy: A Renewed Approach to Civic Inquiries for Social Justice. Charlotte, NC Information Age Publishing, Inc.
• Camicia, S. P. (forthcoming). LGBTQ Inclusion and Exclusion in State Social Studies Standards: Implications for Critical Democratic Education. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue.
• Camicia, S. P. (forthcoming). Disturbing Democratic Education: Rethinking Power, Inclusion, and Recognition.

Segment 3: Helping Students Understand Political Discourses [23:22-33:28]

In segment three, Steven describes his most recent project on using social studies to help students engage in political debates and discussions.

In this segment, the following resources are mentioned:

• Young, I. M. (2002). Inclusion and democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.

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The views expressed by guests on the Research in Action podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Oregon State University Ecampus or Oregon State University.