This paper describes the importance of the CIVITAS@Prague meeting in June 1995. The conference provided a much-needed look at the role of education in the future of world peace. This international conference of educators is likely to affect world history in the obvious ways that international meetings of diplomatic, military, or financial leaders…

Brookline High School in the suburban Boston, Massachusetts area has been long recognized as having a reputation for academic excellence; its social studies department, for example, has been highly praised for the diverse range of courses it has offered. This paper recounts what happened to Brookline High school's social studies department in the…

Three articles on civic education are included in this theme issue. "Civic Education: While Democracy Flourishes Abroad, U.S. Schools Try to Reinvigorate Teaching of Citizenship," provides an overview of the status of civic education in the United States. "Civic Education: Schools Aim to Link Knowledge, Active Lessons in Citizenship" features…

For related articles, see TM 501 492, 493, 494 and 495. (RC)

A review of eight leading political science journals beginning with the first volume of the "American Political Science Review" in 1906 revealed no articles or statements about how elementary civic education is or should be taught. Several reasons for this omission are suggested. First, the elementary civic education curriculum was established…

This study guide and workbook is intended to be used by students in conjunction with two books: "Alaska State Government and Politics" and "Alaska's Urban and Rural Governments." Each of the 15 units in the guide contains four sections. (1) The learning objectives tell the students what they should have learned after reading…

The historic events of 1989 changed the political map of the world. Students and workers in China rose up to demand democracy. Democracy bloomed in Chile, Brazil, and other Latin American countries where freely elected governments replaced repressive rulers. Communist dictatorships in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Rumania were…

Civics education in a democracy is a central goal of the public schools. The purpose of civics education is to educate youth to enable them to participate in a democracy. This guide highlights the components of a K-12 civics curriculum which features knowledge, democratic ideals, skills, and social participation. Sample lessons, state goals and…

The history of higher education in America has a rich tradition of preparing students for civic roles and responsibilities, but with increased specialization, these goals have lost their emphasis in the curriculum. This monograph defines responsible citizenship in a democratic society and its requisite skills; reviews higher education's role in…

The motivation for monitoring public affairs and for taking part responsibly in the civic process depends on a person's "civic identity," defined as a sense of kinship with and responsibility toward others in the community. Currently civic education is the province of social studies teachers, but English and language arts teachers could…

This instructional unit for grades eight and nine tells why and how American small towns declined as a result of the availability and acceptance of automobiles, and it tells of the growth of suburbs and their effect on the city. The learning activities also relate the story of the demand for cars and explain the drain on the cities' sense of…

A simulation for the classroom consisting of three elections. This article presents its objectives, participants, duties of participants, how to prepare voter profile cards, sample subjects for voter profiles, how to play the game, and follow-up activities. See SO 504 023 for address of journal. (ND)

FIVE SUMMER, 1966, PILOT INSTITUTES AT FIVE UNIVERSITIES, ATTENDED BY 190 ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY CIVICS TEACHERS WERE JUDGED WORTHWHILE BY THE AUTHORS. HOWEVER, DEFICIENCES WERE FOUND IN (1) SCHEDULING, (2) UTILIZATION OF LITERATURE (CURRENT POLITICAL SCIENCE LITERATURE WAS NOT USED TO GOOD ADVANTAGE), (3) TRANSFER AND TRANSLATION (THE INSTITUTE…

There is increasing evidence that what we call civic education embraces only a part of the influences operating on a people, and may well be among the less important. There are a number of practical obstacles to the success of civic education in political socialization. The multifunctionality that allows schools to have so many favorable effects,…

Discusses the Canada Studies Foundation as a Canadian approach to curriculum development and provincial cooperation, and includes two brief cross-national comparisons, one with the United States and the other with the United Kingdom. (Editor/RK)