Social justice is a critical component of many of the helping disciplines. Similar goals govern these different disciplines, which are reflected in the scholarship of their professional training. However, the crossover in scholarship is limited. This review of social justice andragogy literature from various fields in the United States creates a…

Popular culture exists as an expression of cultural history. It speaks to who we are, what we aspire toward, and where our generation stands in relation to the major issues of the day. This article is a conversation about the myriad perspectives offered in this issue of "New Directions for Student Leadership," exploring the contributions…

Race for the Red Planet was designed by Daphne Fauber to teach engineering design principles through the contextualization of popular culture, science fiction, and the current race for Mars. The goal of the lesson was for students to learn how people may be living on Mars in the future through a variety of interdisciplinary sources and various…

This new publication sets forward the PISA framework for global competence developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which aligns closely with the definition developed by the Center for Global Education at Asia Society. Based on the Center's extensive experience supporting educators in integrating global…

This book is a wonderful blending of methodologies. This juxtaposition of art and literature serves as an instrument for teachers to inspire their students to create, critique, compare and predict, all higher-level intellectual behaviors, while composing across symbol systems. The work contains detailed classroom transcripts of strategies that…

Discusses how the issues of African hunger may be taught. Notes that this topic crosses disciplinary boundaries and provides background information relative to the hunger situation in Africa. Describes the perspectives on African hunger as being externalist, internalist, or environmental. Suggests strategies for teaching about African hunger. (KO)

A group of outstanding science teachers agreed that student motivation and interest soar when real-life issues are used as themes for study. Illustrates how the interdisciplinary approach works with the issue of smoking. (MLF)

Suggests that an event-based science curriculum can provide the framework for deciding what to retain in an overloaded science curriculum. Provides examples of current events and the science concepts explored related to the event. (MDH)

Proposes sharing mathematics-related newspaper stories as a classroom method to illustrate the importance and relevance of mathematics in the students' lives. Provides examples of appropriate stories and ways they can be used in the classroom. (18 references) (MDH)

Reviews the problems and benefits associated with instruction of controversial issues, questioning the effectiveness of a neutral and objective position in the discussion of controversial topics. Also assesses prevalent teacher tendencies in instructional approaches and offers suggestions for classroom adoption. (ML)

Describes the use of current events for term paper subjects in a freshman chemistry class to address such problems as the detachment of freshman chemistry principles from world issues, and the tendency of high achieving students to memorize facts without thinking critically. Students gain appreciation for the relationship between textbook…

Presents two activities from an "Idea Bank for Teaching Germany and Europe U.S. Classrooms K-12." Includes a role playing exercise involving significant individuals from European history and a student project involving cooperative learning about individual European nations. Provides an address for obtaining a free copy of the "Idea…

Reports on a teaching method that combined assigned daily newspaper readings with weekly informal journal writing to teach basic sociological concepts. Assigned journal topics acted as a link between class material, the newspaper stories, and other texts. Student response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Provides several examples of the journal…

OPT, a newsletter consisting of a student and a teacher edition, is published monthly during the school year. Emphasis is upon presenting information and materials on current topics of interest for junior and senior high school students. The periodical, announced here on a one time basis, is unique for the following reasons: 1) it is an…