The Reflective Citizen

This is the first in a "Reflective Citizen" series, the intention being to develop volumes from the various OPUS (An Organisation for Promoting Understanding of Society) activities which include Scientific Meetings, Workshops, Lectures, Debates and Conferences. The objective of OPUS is to promote and develop the study of conscious and unconscious organisational and societal dynamics through educational activities, research; consultancy and training; and, the publication and dissemination of these activities for the public benefit.

This is the first in a "Reflective Citizen" series, the intention being to develop volumes from the various OPUS (An Organisation for Promoting Understanding of Society) activities which include Scientific Meetings, Workshops, Lectures, Debates and Conferences. The objective of OPUS is to promote and develop the study of conscious and unconscious organisational and societal dynamics through educational activities, research; consultancy and training; and, the publication and dissemination of these activities for the public benefit.

"This is the first in a "Reflective Citizen" series, the intention being to develop volumes from the various OPUS (An Organisation for Promoting Understanding of Society) activities which include Scientific Meetings, Workshops, Lectures, Debates and Conferences. The objective of OPUS is to promote and develop the study of conscious and unconscious organisational and societal dynamics through educational activities, research; consultancy and training; and, the publication and dissemination of these activities for the public benefit."--Provided by publisher.

With awareness of both the opportunities and challenges presented by globalization, there is a growing trend among colleges and universities across the country to commit goals and resources to the concept of internationalizing their campuses. This can occur in a number of different ways but a common thread involves exploring the concept of global citizenship and finding ways to embed this concept in undergraduate curricula. For faculty, this may call for moving out of a presumed comfort zone in the traditional classroom and determining new approaches to teaching a generation of students who will live and work in a more global context. A method for accomplishing this work that is growing in popularity involves offering short-term, faculty-led field courses to international settings. In fact, today more college students are participating in such short-term study abroad opportunities than the more traditional semester and/or yearlong programs. Faculty and administrators who want to capitalize on short-term, study abroad programs as a means for internationalizing their campuses need practical resources to help them realize this challenging but important goal. They not only need support in developing the course curricula and logistics, but also in constructing authentic means for assessing the multi-faceted learning that occurs. Short-term international programs, when carefully planned and executed, engage the participants (both students and faculty) in unique learning experiences that can involve service, research, and critical analysis of what it truly means to be a global citizen. Such work helps define the somewhat nebulous but worthy goals of internationalizing campuses and fostering global citizenship. The authors of this text are professional educators with deep experience in global education and curriculum development. They offer a valuable resource for the development, execution and assessment of faculty-led international field courses that is at once theoretical, practical and motivational. Whether readers are considering offering an international field program for the first time and need guidance; are veteran field course leaders who would like to take their work to the next level; or are administrators attempting to encourage and provide needed support for faculty-led international programs, this book will prove invaluable.

Jürgen Habermas is widely regarded as one of the outstanding intellectuals of our time. This collection focuses on the theory of law which can be distilled from his vast compendium of work. At the same time the collection places this theory in the context of Habermas' overall contribution to the theory of society, political theory and social philosophy. Volume I on 'The Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy' identifies the theoretical foundations. Volume II focuses on the critical debate of Habermas' discourse theory of law and democracy, on the challenges posed by the postnational constellation (Europeanization and processes of globalization) and on particular strands within his work, such as genetic technology and religion. Each volume is prefaced by a comprehensive introduction by the editors.

Given the economic, social and historical changes of recent years, education today needs a re-thinking of its methodologies and goals. This book presents an innovative approach to language and culture teaching and learning in a context of full-immersion: EUFICCS (European Use of Full-Immersion, Culture, Content and Service) . Only thanks to a comprehensive and holistic way of conceiving the educational path, based on the practice of reflection, can students be empowered with those intercultural and democratic competences necessary to function as future global citizens. The EUFICCS approach offers some guidelines that can be applicable in several educational contexts, all around the globe. This publication is specifically addressed to educators, language and content teachers and all education practitioners, but it also discusses more general issues, such as interculturality, relations with the other, and service in the community.

Active citizenship is an objective of schooling in an increasingly complex context, in which social cohesion of the multicultural society is a cause for growing societal concern. International co-operation between European countries and a growing heterogeneity of the (school) populations of most European countries have led to an increased interest in education for citizenship. The core question dealt with pertains to the role that schools can play in developing citizenship through formal and informal learning. Day-to-day school life is seen as a rich environment in which aspects of functioning in a democratic society and dynamic interplay with rules, leadership and peers with different backgrounds are experienced and form a source of learning. In this view the school context functions as a micro-cosmos to exercise “school citizenship” as a bridge to societal citizenship and state citizenship. The book brings together material from Cyprus, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Romania and The Netherlands.

What stands between us and authoritarianism seems increasingly fragile. Democratic practices are under attack by foreign intrusion into elections; voter suppression restricts citizen participation. Nations are turning to autocratic leaders in the face of rapid social change. Democratic values and open society can only be preserved if citizens can discover and claim their voices. We access society through our organisations, yet the collective voices and irrationalities of these organisations do not currently offer clear pathways for individuals to locate themselves. How can we move through the mounting chaos of our social systems, through our multiple roles in groups and institutions, to find a voice that matters? What kind of perspective will allow institutional leaders to facilitate the discovery of active citizenship and support engagement? This book draws on psychodynamic systems thinking to offer a new understanding of the journey from being an individual to joining society as a citizen. With detailed stories, the steps - and the conscious and unconscious linkages - from being a family member, to entering outside groups, to taking up and making sense of institutional roles, illuminate the process of claiming the citizen role. With the help of leaders who recognise and utilise the dynamics of social systems, there may be hope for us as citizens to use our institutional experiences to discover a place to stand.

This book explains the rationale of the changes and challenges of Taiwanese citizenship which emphasizes the various identities in the global and multicultural era. It explores the evolving relationship between the social movements, citizenship, the education of citizens and the young peoples’ viewpoints, asking how citizenship has been conceptualised in a dramatic transformation age. How has the curriculum and pedagogy designed to fit the global changes for cultivating young generations with rights and responsibilities to interpret in and adapt for the competence of citizenship? And what outcomes and attainments had the Taiwan’s undergraduates’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of competency on citizenship?