Civics courses have a great significance -- they are supposed to train new cohorts of citizens to engage in multiple public roles in (democratic) society. How it is done depends on a multitude of factors, and teachers' performance and program contents are among the most important. In post-authoritarian order like Poland, civic contents of…

Purpose: Taking the form of a report, the presented text aims to map the curricular changes in civic education and social science learning in basic and upper secondary schools after 1989. It seeks to identify the key features of undergraduate teacher training at universities, with an emphasis on field-specific didactics, and to provide a brief…

The Israeli education system is divided and segregated along the lines of nationality and religiosity. While Israeli society and its education system, in particular, have generally been subjected to the influence of globalisation, including universal discourses of citizenship, in many ways it remains highly particularistic and nationalistic. To a…

Purpose: The paper presents a review of the process of inclusion of 'civic education' as part of the formal education system in the Republic of Macedonia, from its beginnings as project activity in the late 1990's to its current implementation as a mandatory subject in the primary grades. Comparison is made between what was initially planned and…

Contemporary discussion of the "crisis in democracy" displays a tendency to see young people as the problem because they are "apolitical" "apathetic" and "disengaged" or point to deficiencies in institutions deemed responsible for civic education. This discussion normally comes as a prelude to calls for more…

What are the key contents related to democratic life in the curricula of civic and citizenship education in Latin American countries? What values and dimensions are most emphasized? This document summarizes the results of a comparative analysis of civic/citizenship curricula for primary and secondary education in six Latin American countries…

This essay explores why, despite repeated affirmations of the importance of civic education in undergraduate education, preparing students to understand and play an active role in democratic life is, for the most part, a marginal and episodic part of the undergraduate experience. After describing various factors that have contributed to its…

This paper discusses the importance of civic education in the transformation from totalitarian communism to constitutional democracy in Central and Eastern Europe. The primary question of civic education for this great transformation is: What are the few core ideas of democratic civic education that learners must know and support to prepare them…

Schools fail to provide understanding and skill in the process of social scientific inquiry and the ability to analyze political decisions and values, and fail to develop within students an understanding of the capacities and skills needed to participate effectively and democratically in politics. To remedy some of these weaknesses, the movement…

This document consists of three documents in a packet that make up a curriculum guide that presents objectives, content outlines, sample lessons, and background readings for the development of a primary school and a secondary school civics course in Poland. The documents are: (1) Proposed Civic Education Curriculum for Primary and Secondary…

Presented at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (53d, San Francisco, February 28 - March 5, 1969).

In May 1990, the Republic of Latvia declared the restoration of its independence from the Soviet Union. After that declaration, many Latvians began to reform their schools' curricula and teaching methods. They replaced Soviet-era citizenship courses with new teaching materials and methods appropriate for educating the young citizens of a…

This document is the report of a project to strengthen democratic reforms in Poland by enhancing student and teacher understanding of citizenship in a democracy. The goal of the initiative is to promote the development of democracy in Poland by instituting a new citizenship curriculum in Polish schools. The immediate goal of this project was to…

Responds to the 50th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by arguing that elementary school is an appropriate place to begin teaching about human rights. Outlines the rights enumerated in the UDHR, provides related activities for primary and intermediate grades, and suggests related Web sites. (DSK)

An "experience-based" approach to elementary school level civics education, involving learning by doing and organized around personally meaningful political experiences, is desirable since existing programs and materials are not adequate. (MB)