Critics suggest that youth lack basic civic knowledge and are disengaging from civic action, particularly political action. The validity of these criticisms depends on how civic knowledge and civic engagement are defined. The results of four studies of civic education, conducted by the IEA over a period of almost 50 years, are examined in terms of…

It's been 20 years since the last 'National Debate' on education led to the launch of Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence with the four capacities in 2004. The curriculum was conceived to 'fully prepare today's children for adult life in the 21st century' (Scottish Executive, 2004, p. 3). These four capacities articulated the aspirational purpose…

Environmental education (EE) facilitates students' scientific and environmental literacy, and addresses content areas including sustainability, ecology, and civic responsibility. However, U.S. science content compartmentalization and EE's interdisciplinary nature historically made it a fragmented curriculum within U.S. schools. To gain a better…

Background: Prior to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the civic education were characterized by denationalization and depoliticization. After the Joint Declaration, many of the conflicts emerged between the national interests advocated by the nationalistic camp and the Hong Kong interests promoted by the Liberal camp in the newly…

This paper evaluates the extent to which the implementation and assessment of the new citizenship curriculum in England treats learners as citizens or subjects by evaluating whether the interests of state or citizen predominate. Philosophical, contextual, and practical perspectives on citizenship education are drawn upon to evaluate mechanisms…

For almost five decades during his professional life, Engle was deeply concerned about the philosophical views that made up social studies education, as well as ways those views were being practiced in the classrooms. In particular, he criticized the philosophical views of two contemporary educators, Edgar Wesley and Jerome Bruner. Wesley believed…

A series of elementary and secondary school learning activities which correlate to citizenship education goals of the Maryland State Board of Education are presented. The five goals are to understand individual and group responsibilities in a democracy, know the functions of law and support a system of justice, value individual, societal, and…

CIVITAS is a curriculum framework that sets forth a set of national goals to be achieved in a civic education curriculum, primarily for K-12 public and private schools. It is a framework that proposes to specify the knowledge and skills needed by citizens to perform their roles in U.S. democracy. There are two major sections in the framework. It…

This guide was designed for teachers to help students recognize and develop their responsibilities to society. The concepts focused on include: respect for citizenship, respect for people of other cultures, respect for people of all ages, respect for people who have a handicap, respect for work, respect for being a wise consumer, and respect for…

The relationship of education to the society in the various periods of American history is emphasized in this teaching guide for eleventh grade students. Through the educational history frame of reference, students compare such current concerns as school governance and community interests concerning problems in financing education with the…

Because of the unpopularity of the inquiry method, most new government texts are of the straight narrative type. Many educators believe that civics curriculum materials are subject to censorship by special interest groups. Regarding goal achievement, many believe civic education has not trained students to accept their civic responsibilities. (RM)

This document contains an instructional booklet on law-related education for social studies classroom teachers in grades five and six and a book of spiritmaster handouts for use by students. Objectives include helping students define responsiblity and identify at least two characteristics of a responsible person, state reasons why responsible…

This document contains an instructional booklet on responsibility for use by social studies classroom teachers in grades two and three as they develop and implement a law-related education program. It also contains spiritmaster handouts for use by students. Objectives of the unit include helping primary age children clarify their feelings and…

This curriculum guide is intended to provide practical, easy-to-use applications for the widest range of faculty who would like to develop their students' citizenship skills by integrating civic responsibility concepts and practices into their college courses. The authors recognize that community college faculty teach courses that reflect varying…

Results of a Wingspread conference which focused on future directions in social studies education are presented. Part 1 contains the personal statements of conference speakers. Topics include the restructuring of social studies, what social knowledge is of the greatest worth, how to best prepare enlightened citizens for the 21st century, four…