Purpose: This report provides an overview of social science education in primary and secondary education in Sweden with the purpose of introducing the international research community to policy-related issues concerning citizenship education, educational institutions and the scholarly state of the art. The principal topics are: a context of Sweden…

Climate change presents escalating risks to young people and communities, including risks to the achievement of educational outcomes. In the years NZCER has been researching climate-responsive education, we have noted a steady increase in activity, interest, and concern about climate change amongst educational policymakers, school leaders, and…

In this article, a New York City public school teacher discusses the creation and implementation of a course that explores controversial topics surrounding terrorism and modern reactions to terrorism. The author describes the challenges of creating such a course and questions why such courses are seemingly rare in social studies education.…

Recent research on civic learning shows that students' civic identity--the sense of who they are in relation to the nation--is shaped by their lived experiences. Yet, efforts to integrate civic learning into the social studies curriculum do not generally build on this notion. A high school U.S. history course was developed to test this very idea.…

With the realities of standards-based accountability, it is imperative to model and demonstrate for students how subject areas and teaching methods transcend across traditional boundaries. In an effort to prepare future social studies educators to teach for global awareness and to meaningfully integrate critical literacy skills into their…

The author describes a social studies unit designed to help students develop critical thinking skills. The lessons give students opportunities to analyze multiple perspectives, use multiple sources when conducting research, and construct historical narratives through the creation of a digital historical biography.

In our complex, interdependent world, it is critical that educators prepare students for global citizenship. One way to develop students' awareness and understanding of the world is through global literature. Through exposure to this type of literature, students gain multiple perspectives and learn about the social, political, and moral conditions…

The idea of using "little stories" to illuminate the "big pictures" of the past was creatively explored in "Teaching History 107," which offered teachers a wealth of detailed vignettes with which to kindle young people's interest and illuminate major historical events. Paul Barrett builds on the ideas explored in that…

Offers an outline of the social studies methods course taught at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. (SR)

To promote diverse learning strategies, teacher education programs should use their local environments. For example, students in elementary education methods courses at the University of Maryland spend one week in the Mall area of Washington, DC. They must use all the sources in the Mall to research specific problems. (RM)

Fourth-grade students, wishing to expand upon what they learned about William Penn in their textbooks, sent in questions to the director of social studies in the Reading (Pennsylvania) schools. The director referred the students to sources (some primary) that would answer their questions. (KC)

One technique particularly worthy of possible inclusion in the secondary social studies methods class is an assignment in which students interview practicing social studies teachers. In addition to obtaining more insight into actual teaching practice, methods students learn about interviewing as a social studies teaching method. A course is…

The purpose of this study was to compare the social studies curriculum of Illinois schools with recommendations presented by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Task Force on Scope and Sequence which appeared in "Social Education," April, 1984. Courses offered during the 1981-82 school year in 483 junior high schools and…

Educational Objectives and brief course descriptions for the social studies program, grades K-8, Montgomery County Public School, Rockville Maryland, are presented. The document is organized into two sections. Section one outlines the K-6 Social Studies Design approved by the Council on Instruction in April, 1977. The design should be implemented…

The oral history section of a Penn State University course, "Culture and Ethnic Groups in the Social Studies," is described. (SJL)