To be educationally sound, the flow of cultures into the United States must be viewed multidirectionally, not as a unidirectional, east-to-west phenomenon. (MM)

Discusses the content and problems of contemporary social studies curricula. Recommends five guidelines for future social education, including teaching democratic culture, developing students' sense of community, studying the sociology of knowledge, analyzing social problems, and emphasizing global and future orientations. Suggests 12 steps to…

Article describes the Curriculum Inquiry Center of the Teacher Education Laboratory in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles and its purposes and functions. (GB)

Describes efforts to include the teaching about religion in state and national education standards, shortcomings in teaching about religion in schools, how schools should teach about religion, and teacher training issues. (PKP)

Curriculum is regarded as an identifiable field of study. (MM)

Medical schools are starting to put students in small groups and help them solve real problems they will face in treating patients. Trend of problem-based learning in medical schools will have ripple effect throughout education. Teachers relinquishing lecturer's role must become adept at listening, answering questions, and helping students frame…

Social studies educators in the coming years should concentrate on the humanizing elements of the curriculum to ensure that programs are social and humane. (MM)

Proposes discarding conventional history and geography classes and including community involvement and social studies courses that speak to the personal needs of students and assist them in grappling with contemporary political and economic problems. (Author/MLF)

Responses of 165 elementary school principals in the state of Washington were analyzed to determine sources through which principals learn of curricular innovations in science and social studies. (GW)

Citizenship education remains the central focus of the social studies curriculum. A number of organizations are taking steps to promote social studies in elementary and secondary education and to increase its global content. (MLF)

As more states mandate study about religions, educators now have support for including religion in the curriculum. To address religion's role in American history and culture, three new curriculum publications from the Wiliamsburg Charter Foundation, the National Council on Religious and Public Education, and the World Curriculum Development Center…

Ernest Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, assesses the limits of reform, formulates the substantive questions needed to move reform to a higher level, and proposes a convocation of educators to plan reforms for the 21st century. (TE)

The author reviews trends in the curriculum field, pointing out how it suffers from "ahistoricism." Schools must be responsible for countering cycles and fashions. Curriculum reform efforts should be an attempt to solve problems based on knowledge from previous experience. (MD)