Culture plays a large but often unnoticeable role in what we teach and how we teach children. We are a country of immense diversity, but in classrooms the dominant European-American culture has become the language of learning.

The professor emeritus of education, Teachers College, Columbia University, contributes the opinion that education should serve the purpose of society. (LN)

Describes the Cultural Crossroads Educational Center, a hands-on museum designed to build understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity among intermediate-grade students in the Dallas (Texas) schools. (Author/IRT)

Article 3.3 states that every school district that has one or more schools with 25 percent or more minority enrollment must provide its professional staff with 60 to 90 hours of inservice preparation in the history, culture, and current problems of diverse ethnic groups. (Author/IRT)

Presents a first-hand look at the Centro Intercultural de Documentacion, a Mexican experimental college founded by Ivan Illich. Considers the subjects taught, the school organization, types of students, and school philosophy. (Author/DN)

Presents arguments against the inclusion of "Man: A Course of Study" in the social science curriculum of the intermediate grades. (IRT)

Explores the profound connection between human memory and imagination. Educational ideas that find only incompatibility between memorizing and developing imagination and procedural skills are inadequate. Viewing teaching as story telling transforms the curriculum from a huge mass of predigested material to a collection of great stories reflecting…

Describes the characteristics, benefits, and common elements of place-based education. Identifies five thematic patterns: cultural studies, nature studies, real-world problem solving, internships and entrepreneurial opportunities, and induction into community processes. (Contains 16 references.) (PKP)

Warns against the dangers of allowing a student too much freedom in choosing his curriculum. (JF)

The school described here operates on the principle that play for the sake of play, without unsolicited adult intervention, entails the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Sudbury Valley School promotes cultural acquisition in a manner harmonious with the child's biological self-education system, without age segregation, grading, or academic…

Describes how one school is blending the traditional and the modern under the direction of an all-Indian board of education. (IRT)

Presents reasons why "Man: A Course of Study" should be included in the social science curriculum of the intermediate grades. (IRT)

Presents the fundamental principles of the Getty Center and surveys its activities. Premises are that study of the arts is a principal means of understanding human experience and transmitting cultural values and that arts education should include aesthetic perception, art history, and art criticism, along with creative activities. (MJL)