As de Tocqueville recognized, the U.S. democratic system relies on the advocacy of civic-minded individuals. Although U.S. history is replete with persons using different means to advance one or more democratic principles, VanSledright and Hess argued that secondary history education reinforces a persistent national narrative, one characterized by…

Despite 9/11, the seemingly endless Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons capabilities, and the Arab Spring and its aftermath, the social studies curricula of high schools throughout the nation generally put little emphasis on the Middle East and Islam as the foundation for understanding vital issues that…

Education in the twenty-first century requires that all students learn the social studies skills that help them understand the complex issues related to civic ideals and practices. One of these skills is developing multiple perspective-taking. Many educators believe that this critical thinking ability is not only for upper level students but also…

The authors present three lesson ideas that integrate women's history into the curriculum and that support the development of important social studies skills. The first lesson, for teachers to use at the beginning of the school year, encourages students to think critically about the nature of history and the importance of understanding the point…

An author-study approach to children's literature provides students with a critical tool for text analysis. When students analyze an author's biography, interviews, and collection of work, they see writing as a powerful tool of personal expression. In this article, the author presents a week-to-week plan for analyzing multiple texts from one…

Elementary students can learn to appreciate their own and other cultural backgrounds through a four-stage process of observation. The process involves taking a careful look at home environment, participation in food exchange with classmates, observation at friends' homes and other schools, and followup discussion. (AV)

Goals, course structure, physical and technical problems, the running of a simulation and evaluation of students are described for a game representing the political system of Argentina in a university comparative government course. (Author/KM)