Provides a sampling of items from the ERIC database on the subject of social studies as a discipline. Includes documents on proposals to improve social education and on return to traditional emphases in history and geography. Explains how to obtain copies of documents from the ERIC system. (SG)

Provides a partial listing of works found in the ERIC database on the debate between those who support social studies as a discipline and those who would replace it with history and geography courses. Includes articles, reports, and reviews covering various aspects of the debate. (DK)

Education about national security has always been part of the social studies curriculum in U.S. high schools. But its focus has been simply chronological and episodic with major attention given to war, particularly the decision to enter it and the conduct of U.S. military forces. Little attention has been given to the evolution and structural…

Presents abstracts of 10 documents, selected and reviewed from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) that deal with the debate over how to teach history. Includes information for accessing or ordering documents. (NL)

Four rationales for free enterprise economics education are discussed and information sources for economics teachers are listed. About half the states in this country have mandates requiring economics instruction. Rationales for free enterprise education, for consumer or personal economics, for economics from a global perspective, and for…

Many college mission statements convey the importance of citizenship education to prepare future leaders. However, values education often remains, at best, peripheral to the community college curriculum. This digest provides an examination of the classical and current approaches to community college values education. According to the digest,…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores issues affecting high school literature programs. The digest first explores whether a literature curriculum can be based upon the results of limited surveys of high school reading interests. Next, the digest addresses the question of what literature to include…

The implications of six national reports for social studies are examined. These implications are compared with past and present practices in the social studies and the ways in which the reports fail to give useful guidance to teachers are noted. An introductory chapter presents a broad overview of the six reports: "The Paideia Proposal: An…

Given the global significance of Soviet-U.S. relations, elementary and secondary school students should learn about the Soviet Union, but most students graduate from high school with little knowledge and many misconceptions about this country. It is important to teach about the Soviet Union because of: (1) its emphasis in the U.S. media; (2) its…

Instructional packages dealing with a single conceptual unit of humanities subject matter can be used to infuse humanities education into vocational curricula. The development of such modules must begin with a firm foundation to insure the success of the project. Steps in the preparation for module development should include determining the…

This guide offers ideas for adult literacy curriculum development using a participatory approach. Its intent is not to prescribe a curriculum but to raise issues associated with the varied needs of limited-literacy students and with development of curricula to address these needs. An introductory section discusses how the guide evolved and can be…

The term general education has been employed to characterize an array of community college non-vocational programs, from Great Books courses to guidance services. General education at present differs from previous decades in terms of its emphasis on tighter curricular structure, global, gender, and ethnic studies, and the integration of knowledge.…

This report discusses what should be taught in history and social sciences courses, and how the material should be taught. Differing views of educational leaders as well as results of recent research and studies are summarized. The following propositions are offered as stimulators of inquiry and as tentative guides to practice: (1) the greatest…

People from African countries who visit the United States often are stunned by how little people know about African countries. Africa is a large continent more than 3 times the size of the continental United States, and it contains over 50 independent countries. One out of every three member states in the United Nations is an African country. One…

Three essays focus on integrating subject matter and the English used to communicate it as a technique for teaching limited-English-proficient students. "Integrating Language and Mathematics Learning," by Theresa Corasaniti Dale and Gilberto J. Cuevas, discusses the vocabulary, syntax, semantics, and discourse features of mathematics;…