The article focuses on the problem of a crisis in contemporary European universities. The key question is whether the crisis in university education is a calamity or a challenge in these times of social transformation. Adapting a metaphor of health to the university education in the contexts of "politics", "knowledge" and…

This study examined the teaching of controversial public issues (CPI) in middle and high school social studies classes. I sought to better understand the instruction and conceptions undergirding the instruction of secondary social studies teachers who were nominated by discussion experts as especially skillful at teaching their students to…

The use of children's literature in urban social studies classrooms to facilitate students' engagement in literate behaviors and simultaneously develop a framework for understanding social action is an under-researched area. This paper discusses the use of literature for children and young adults in an urban middle school language arts and social…

Given the varied backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives among students and faculty in management education and organizational studies programs, often teachable moments present themselves around differing perceptions. Seizing these moments to talk about difficult, controversial issues--or undiscussables--can catalyze and deepen learning. This…

As a second article in a series devoted to an ongoing evaluation of our antiracism field project, a controversial assignment rooted in our Smith College School for Social Work's antiracism commitment, this paper focuses on the review of 128 assignments completed between September 1998-August 2000. A thematic analysis of these projects revealed…

Some educators have developed teaching strategies to address issues of racism and discrimination in the classroom. Although these exercises are provocative and no doubt meaningful for students, they generally do not address the impact that racial group membership has on student response to provocative issues like affirmative action. In the…

Notwithstanding the First Amendment, book banning is a practice rooted in American history. In 1873, Congress passed the Comstock Law in an effort to legislate public morality. Though rarely enforced, the act remains on the books. A survey by the National School Boards Association found that one-third of challenges to school reading materials in…

The literary works surveyed here were written by authors who, as children, witnessed apartheid, holocaust, imprisonment, escape, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other horrors that marked their lives. In each case, the selected texts are rendered as diaries or as first-person narratives describing disturbing situations which are resolved either…

For decades, educators have wrestled with how to handle the increasingly diverse religions of an increasingly diverse student body. Sometimes, the line between church and state--what schools can and cannot do under the Constitution--can feel confusing and slippery. Today, religion has become a subject one high school teachers describes as even…

Aiming to develop both a philosophy and a rationale for student-determined course content, this paper proposes ways in which college students can determine reading content and writing assignments for their courses. An instructor and his students at the University of Illinois at Chicago developed course syllabi for English 152 (introduction to…

During the first 6 months of 1996, a task force of teachers, administrators, and community members in the Lane Education Service District (Eugene, Oregon) studied issues and practices related to teaching about religion in public school classrooms. The task force sought to develop a framework for teaching about religion and its appropriate…

This paper examines the rapid changes in technology that enables cloning of human embryos and explores the issues related to teaching students about the use of such technologies. STS adoption has made only minimal impact on mainline social studies curriculum, although the topic has been included in discussion for decades. The paper outlines five…

This book argues that the best solution to higher education's conflicts over culture and "political correctness" is to teach the conflicts themselves. The book suggests making intellectual conflict part of the universities' object of study and thereby more successfully engaging students in the world of ideas and learning. The book argues…

This journal article examines how school board policies are used to control the controversies that often surround curriculum challenges. Specific key provisions of model policies and actual policies from California are analyzed to suggest ideal policy provisions. In a longitudinal study, over 42 percent of the 1,000-plus school districts in…

This document suggests that the main purpose of the study of current affairs in the social studies program in Alberta, Canada, is to add relevance, interest, and immediacy. It defines current affairs as the study of news events presented by the media. Because the study of current affairs must be tied to the achievement of social studies…