Voices for Democracy:

This book addresses the important question of the relationship between education and democracy in four countries committed to a democratic form of government - Britain, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. It argues that, despite the existence of democratic political institutions at the national level, all four countries need to develop a more robust democratic civil society and political culture, and that education must play a key role in this. Contributors to the book explore different political contexts for education in the four countries and the extent to which they have been and are supportive of education for democracy.

Despite the different periods of time that democracy has existed in the four countries concerned, it is clear that no one country has all the answers and that there is much to be learnt, both negatively and positively, from more established democracies such as Britain and (in the African context), Botswana and from recently emerged radically reforming democracies such as South Africa and Namibia. Authors from the four countries concerned explore both the broad picture of education for democracy, and certain key educational themes associated with it. These include human rights and peace education, managing a democratic school, democratising teacher education, gender equality and the role of non-government organisations (NGOs) in promoting greater democracy in education.

Contributions by