The evolution of the consumer economics course at Hobart and William Smith College demonstrates its mainstreaming in the liberal arts curriculum. The course uses principles of economics to address broad and often controversial consumer issues. (SK)

Discusses some of the dilemmas of dealing with multicultural issues and examining underrepresented groups at predominantly white colleges to students who have had little contact with individuals outside their own group. (SR)

Provides a brief discussion of the controversial issue of logging as it relates to the extinction of the spotted owls. Suggests ways to help students understand both sides of the issue. (ZWH)

Whittle Communications' Channel One and Cable News Network's Newsroom are two popular media that facilitate the study of current events in U.S. classrooms. Atlanta and Austin public school teachers identified three issues: usage inconsistencies, problems in linking programs to instruction, and treatment of controversial content. There seemed to be…

Presents a 10-item annotated bibliography for children from kindergarten through sixth grade and for teachers. Examines works on the Pledge of Allegiance, its author, and controversies surrounding the pledge and the flag. Suggests that in the 100th anniversary of the pledge is an opportunity for teachers to help children understand more about the…

Presents the responses of nine practicing teachers to the questions, "What controversial book do you teach anyway? How do you handle it in the classroom?" Provides citations and descriptions of the books discussed. (HB)

Considers the extent to which students are acquiring an understanding of mathematics as a whole and of the relative significance of different parts of mathematics to that whole. Results indicate that many students had not developed such an understanding. Concludes that developing such understanding while also maintaining high standards in…

President Clinton's "Religious Expression in the Public Schools" guidelines, based on 50 years of court rulings, have proved useful and helped reduce controversy. Problems continue in three areas: proselytizing by adults, musical programs falling short of the desired neutrality, and teaching appropriately about religion. Other curricular…

Sets out the positions of Liberal and Communitarian philosophers on the fundamental requirements for a democratic civil society. Argues that a cultural, pluralist, democratic society will be characterized by a diversity of controversial moral positions at a range of levels. Offers discussion as a method of reconciling controversial moral…

Describes a teacher's relationship with a 15-year-old student whose father's mental illness and abusive manner led the student to try to commit suicide. Raises questions about what a teacher can do for such a student and suggests that reading can be one way that teachers and students can be led to talk about sensitive topics. (TB)

Discusses how for gay or lesbian youth, the issues of identity and acceptance that are ignored both in life and in literature are not only profound but also dangerous. Notes that books that include gay or lesbian characters usually elicit a strong negative reaction to their content by vocal conservative groups. (SG)

Explores the responses of the author's 31 pre-service teachers to a controversial picture book. Begins by searching for a short text geared to elementary age children and suited for read-alouds. Notes that she believes that the majority of pre-service teachers at this stage in the program are still very impressionable and must be given multiple…

Explores how two classes of 10th-grade students experienced and learned from a required social-studies course that focused explicitly on teaching students to become more effective participants in discussions of controversial public issues. Finds, for example, that students' perceptions of their peers had a greater influence on their participation…

"Moral" or "character" education is neither a discrete, afterthought curriculum nor an unreflective community-service activity. Grappling with thorny dilemmas and the meanings of civil behavior is not beyond adolescents. Few issues can be persuasively reduced to sharply painted absolutes. Small-group discussion of these issues…

Many teachers advocate teaching students to deliberate on controversial political issues as a powerful way of preparing them for political participation. Support for this approach recently came from a Civic Mission of the Schools report, which endorsed including political controversies in the curriculum. Specifically, it recommends that schools:…