Encourages participation of high school students in courses relating to politices and government and identifies five types of student political participation that can be incorporated into the curriculum. Activities include political campaigning, participating in decision making, interning, lobbying for a cause, and taking part in extracurricular…

Maintaining that social studies classes should teach students to participate and acquire a feeling of political efficacy, the article suggests ways of introducing social participation into the formal curriculum. Ways of using students groups to promote participation are outlined. (DB)

Maintains that self-esteem is more than simply "feeling good" about oneself. It derives from having experienced meaningful success. A service learning program can accomplish this and avoid the self-preoccupation and narcissism that occasionally accompany self-esteem efforts. Service learning can replace this with empathy and commitment. (MJP)

Presents six service learning lesson plans from the Constitutional Rights Foundation. Each lesson plan represents a step in a larger service project. The plans include "Defining and Assessing Your Community"; "Choosing and Researching a Problem"; "Examining Policy"; "Exploring Options"; and "Taking…

Examines factors contributing to youth violence and suggests ways that service learning can mitigate their influence. Community-based programs can fill the void of unstructured, unsupervised time tempting many youth. Peer education and cross-age teaching can help create positive attitudes towards cooperation and responsible behavior. (MJP)

Profiles Active Citizenship Today (ACT), a social studies service learning program for middle and high school students. In ACT, students explore their community, identify problems, examine public policy, explore their options, and take action. Includes unit excerpts from the ACT teacher's handbook. (MJP)

Briefly describes a service-learning grant program and provides examples of elementary, middle, and high school projects awarded grants in 1996. Projects included efforts to educate the community about river pollution, multicultural murals, and a school activities news show. Includes application form and general guidelines and suggestions. (MJP)

Provides a brief overview for including labor history in the social studies curriculum. Notes the broad range of subjects (geography, history, economics, music, and art) and approaches (women's history, social history, oral history) that encompass labor history. (MJP)

Presents four brief essays expressing the importance of combining service learning and citizenship education. Authors Benjamin Barber, Joan Schine, Harry C. Boyte, and James C. Kielsmeier stress the advantages of learning democratic concepts and principles, as well as understanding civic government, through student participation. (MJP)

Provides 11 guideposts for teachers and students planning constructive community action projects. These include avoid overanalysis at the beginning, write your original idea down before you modify it, ignore negativity, do your homework, build a core group, and recruit community allies. (MJP)

Describes a middle school curriculum that integrates service learning and civic responsibility skills into the core academic program. The "CityYouth" curriculum consists of 32 multidisciplinary lessons divided into four units of eight lessons each. Examines how schools have incorporated the units into community activities. (MJP)

Reports on the background and philosophical base of the Community of Caring program. Originally started as a teen pregnancy prevention effort, the program has grown to include teacher training, values discussion, student forums, parent involvement, and community service learning. The program is sponsored through the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation.…

Reviews psychological and educational research on prejudice and intergroup relations to produce suggestions and guidelines for improving the combined educational goals of service learning and multicultural education. Recommends starting early, emphasizing critical thinking, connecting activities to appropriate stages of cognitive development, and…

Provides a brief history of character education and categorizes current efforts. Recommends combining civic participation programs with character education in an attempt to provide consistency, depth, and support. Notes that civic participation programs teach a recognized set of values, use interactive teaching strategies, and promote critical…

Distinguishes weak forms of critical thinking (restricted to logical thinking) from strong forms of critical pedagogy (incorporating a moral component into critical thinking). Sees evidence of weak forms in the 1987 California History-Social Science Framework. Contends that social studies must be interdisciplinary, global in perspective,…