Reports the results of an October 1982 survey of readers of this magazine designed to assess the perceived significance of a variety of social issues and to determine how much respondents believed these issues were and should be included in school curriculums. (JM)

Social consensus concerning drug use and abuse may be only skin deep. Despite numerous "anti" campaigns, Reagan administration is saying "no" to funding for drug treatment and prevention programs, while tobacco advertising and growing incentives continue unabated. Despite these and other societal addictions, schools must reason calmly and offer…

Describes travel experiences in foreign cities to illustrate the authors' contention that cities provide an ideal context for developing critical thinking in students. Argues that schools should exploit urban resources to relate students' learning experiences to their everyday lives. (Author/JM)

Evidence suggests that curricular content and the educational process shape and are shaped by sociocultural factors. This article explores changing ideas concerning how schools should respond to the societal environment and points out that no educational approach is completely neutral. The author urges that school-society relations be regarded…

In 1983, elementary and secondary teachers in West Germany were surveyed concerning the treatment of social themes in school curricula. As in a similar survey conducted in the United States, West German respondents indicated that every theme surveyed was important, with nuclear disarmament and environmental pollution clearly considered the most…

According to National Council for the Social Studies and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development respondents, the issues deemed important--nuclear disarmament, pollution, worldwide wealth and poverty, and alternatives to the U.S. social-economic-political system--are not included in the social studies to the extent they should…

Adults need to acknowledge the nature of this world more frequently in their discussions of youth violence. The media's focus on retribution and punishment reflects the popular anger over "bad" kids. Seeds of evil have sprung from an unkempt societal garden where widespread child poverty, disintegrating home environments, child abuse, a…

Educators, replacing substance with form in their dialogs, argue over symptoms and fail to consider causes. No coherent analysis links practice to social reality, because low-level sloganeering replaces useful analytic language. Particularly offensive, career education, another energy-draining slogan, has clearly reactionary potential. Two…