Purpose of the Journal
Education in a Democracy: A Journal of the NNER is a peer-reviewed journal sponsored by the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER). The journal is published once each Fall in an on-line format, and aims to foster inquiry related to the mission of the NNER and the Agenda for Education in a Democracy (AED). Articles should inform the NNER network about issues, policies, and practices that relate to the advancement of the AED. The publication aims to increase engagement and participation across the various parts of the network (higher education faculty, faculty in arts and science, faculty and staff in P-12 settings, and community members interested in education); therefore, articles involving collaboration among these groups are encouraged for submission and review.
The AED focuses on:
- fostering in the nation’s young the skills, dispositions, and knowledge necessary for effective participation in a social and political democracy;
- ensuring that the young have access to those understandings and skills required for satisfying and responsible lives;
- developing educators who nurture the learning and well-being of every student;
- and ensuring that educators’ competence in and commitment to serving as stewards of schools.
National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER)
The National Network for Educational Renewal delivers leadership development and support to a growing membership of institutions of higher education, local education agencies, and communities. The goal is to improve simultaneously the quality of P-12 education for thoughtful and informed participation in a democracy and the quality of preparation of educators for our schools.
The members of the network, called “settings,” include partnerships of university faculty in the arts, sciences and education, public school educators, and engaged citizens of the wider community. All are engaged as equal partners as they strive to pursue the Agenda for Education in a Democracy. The simultaneous renewal agenda, as outlined in John Goodlad's books Teachers for Our Nation's Schools and Educational Renewal: Better Teachers, Better Schools, is based on the assumptions that we will not have better schools without better teachers, and that we will not have better teachers without better universities in which teachers can learn, practice and develop.
Created in 1986, the NNER supports the institutional and social infrastructure necessary to the advancement of the simultaneous renewal agenda over time. The network’s activity is characterized by sharing successes and challenges, ongoing dialogue that examines the conditions necessary to implement the Agenda, sharing approaches to problem solving, and developing systems of mutual support and assistance among members. Central to the network’s mission is a commitment to advancing opportunities for everyone to fully participate in quality education and therefore fully participate in our political and social democracy.
Source: NNER Website