Environmental Education (EE) is described as a process of moving individuals toward stewardship and ultimately a union view of the relationship of people with nature. This document presents a general tenet of EE and explores some prevalent precepts that can be a guide to fully incorporating EE into all teaching settings. The percepts are explored…

From the academic--or instructivist--perspective, the young child is seen as dependent on adults' instruction in the academic knowledge and skills necessary for a good start for later academic achievement. This perspective is in direct contrast to the active and interactive curriculum assumed by proponents of the constructivist approach. This…

Calculus has become the center of a heated debate within the mathematics community. There are those who question the very centrality of calculus in the mathematics curriculum. Evidence indicates that many current calculus courses are not serving students well. In addition, computers and advanced calculators can now do many of the manipulations…

This ERIC Digest considers: (1) why U.S. students should learn about Canada; (2) where course content on Canada belongs in the curriculum; and (3) useful strategies and resources to improve the teaching of Canadian studies. The United States and Canada share the world's largest undefended border, and the United States trades more with Canada than…

Given the global significance of Soviet-U.S. relations, elementary and secondary school students should learn about the Soviet Union, but most students graduate from high school with little knowledge and many misconceptions about this country. It is important to teach about the Soviet Union because of: (1) its emphasis in the U.S. media; (2) its…

An action of an individual or a societal action that has an impact on other societies constitutes a "global issue." Global climate change, airborne toxins, ozone depletion, and solid waste management are a few of the global issues concerning the environment. This digest discusses methods by which students learn about global issues and…

A growing number of education reformers are justifying their reform strategies by pointing to the findings of developmental brain research, theories of information processing, and the needs dictated by today's information-rich world. They advocate integrative education, which places students in a holistic context. This digest describes the…

With the purpose of highlighting the lessons to be learned from immersion programs, this digest presents selected findings from research carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of immersion programs in Canada and the United States. These lessons are related to the importance of: (1) integrating language with content instruction (when second…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest provides a rationale for an integrated language arts curriculum. The digest first defines integrating the language arts curriculum as providing natural learning situations in which reading, writing, speaking, and listening can be developed together for real purposes and…

This ERIC digest on a new curriculum project called "Teaching with Historic Places" discusses the program, its products, and how they can be used in classrooms and communities by students, teachers, and other interested groups. The program offers not only educational materials, but also professional training and development for teachers,…

It is important to reaffirm the teaching of recent United States history in secondary schools. Diane Ravitch and Chester E. Finn state: "If we think it important that they (17-year-old students of 1986) understand the three decades between the Second World War and their own sixth birthdays (in 1975), we cannot expect this instructional job to…

This digest discusses the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requirements which state that all students, regardless of their abilities, be given the opportunity to become involved with and progress in the general education curriculum. It describes how educators can use a curriculum that has been universally designed to ensure…

This Digest addresses the question of what young children should be learning that will best serve their development and learning in the long term. Two major dimensions of development--normative and dynamic--are explored, and four categories of learning goals are discussed: (1) knowledge; (2) skills; (3) dispositions; and (4) feelings. The view…

This digest discusses curriculum and teaching strategies for early childhood education which best serve children's long-term development. Two dimensions of development, normative and dynamic, are considered with respect to what children should be learning. Four categories of learning are identified, namely, knowledge, skills, feelings, and…

The curriculum now being taught in many kindergartens is profoundly different from what it was two decades ago. The kindergarten classroom, once conceived of as a play- and group adjustment-oriented setting, may now also be a classroom with an "academic" approach, characterized by direct teaching of discrete skills with specific…