In this response to Kevin St. Jarre's article "Reinventing Social Studies", the author agrees with St. Jarre that the social studies curriculum needs to change. However, he stresses that the improvement process will not be easy. Creating university social science and social studies courses that would prepare secondary teachers with the knowledge…

Calls for reconstructive planning in education, by which social trends are adjusted to people rather than people to social trends. (LR)

Argues for the importance of emphasizing the study of history in the social studies curriculum and discusses principles, founded on respect for academic subjects for revitalizing the social studies program. (Author/WD)

For nearly 2 years, opponents of California's curriculum reform movement have been protesting a series of K-8 social studies textbooks officially adopted by the state board of education and widely endorsed by teachers, administrators, school boards, and community groups. This article explains that the Houghton Mifflin series is neither racist nor…

Argues that it is both possible and desirable to teach history to children in the elementary grades and that it would be educationally beneficial to substitute a history curriculum for the present elementary social studies curriculum. Contends that those who infer curricula from psychologists' findings are confusing concept and content. (Author/WD)

Suggests that student behavior could be the subject matter in social studies classes. (DW)

Discusses the initiation and development of the Citizenship Education Project in Texas, based on the concept of infusing citizenship objectives into the social studies curriculum. (Author/WD)

Discusses four alternative programs that will soon be available to students wishing to be certified to teach secondary social studies. (Author/DN)

Provides a curriculum design to take advantage of the high levels of motivation generated by contemporary events in Iran and the Middle East. (Author/IRT)

From the demise of numerous "New Social Studies" programs initiated 25 years ago have sprung some guidelines for revising curricula and promoting educational change. Some lessons: Avoid too many course offerings, involve teachers in early stages of projects, and design programs to meet major goals. Above all, such programs need to be relevant to…

Concern about curriculum has produced its own subgenre of national reform reports covering the core subjects (science, mathematics, social studies, and language arts). Common themes include curriculum integration, emphasis on thinking skills, more rigorous content for all students, influence from outside groups, and acknowledgement of standardized…

World order education (a special variety of peace studies) is a legitimate part of a social studies curriculum. (Author/DW)

To prepare for life in the real world, an "American Problems" course sends students into the community for practical, involved, experience learning in community agencies and activities. (DW)

Proponents of Perestroika" and "glasnost" are tirelessly seeking to remold Soviet teaching and learning. Innovations and "corrections" are being fed by numerous articles in professional journals and by pedagogical leaders in academies and universities. Teaching in Soviet classrooms remains a teacher-centered, one-way…

Summarizes "First Lessons," the author's 1986 report on elementary schooling. Acknowledges society's complexity, the nation's ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, parents' importance, and changing family structure. Examines curriculum content and quality, principal and teacher effectiveness, and school policy issues, including the need for rigorous…