Argues that, although social studies classes should be exciting and interesting, students frequently rate them as among the most boring and irrelevant. Asserts that living history programs, including history theater, history immersion, and living history museums can improve history instruction and student attitudes. (CFR)

Discusses lying by public officials and governments. Reviews history textbook research, and concludes that the content is selected and written to preserve political and economic power. Questions whether or not societies should allow children to be brought up with false beliefs about their own history. (CFR)

Contends that during the colonial period, approximately half of the white immigrants to America were indentured servants. Presents a high school lesson plan on indentured servitude using William Buckland, an indentured servant at George Mason's Gunston Hall Plantation, as a case study. (CFR)

Presents an interview by National Endowment for the Humanities chairman, Sheldon Hackney, with historian John Higham on multiculturalism and national identity. Contends that the centrifugal forces of national, ethnic, and religious diversity need countervailing forces to hold the nation together. (CFR)

Asserts that people of all ages love a story that involves heroes and villains and that a teacher can bridge the gap between political and social history through dramatization. Describes procedures for identifying appropriate topics for dramatization and encouraging student involvement. (CFR)

Maintains that, if Richard Nixon is to be considered as a significant historical figure, his personality and complexity must be studied. Asserts that Nixon viewed the world as an unremitting struggle and unceasing competition in which an individual could only succeed by his own efforts. (CFR)

Discusses the impact of Marxist geography on course content and textbooks in college geography. Reviews three textbooks. Identifies four persistent problems in the representation of Marxist geography. Suggests a template through which teachers can offer students a more discriminating account of that model. (CFR)

Reports a study that investigated how a preservice teacher education program affected the development of student teachers' understanding of the role of information technology (IT) in the history classroom, noting the role of mentors. Interviews indicated the use of IT in history was important for both mentors and students. (SM)

This study examined transformations in educational discourse in the context of history lessons at a Hungarian secondary school with an English immersion program. It provides a contextualized analysis of classroom discourse practices by examining some of the sociocultural, linguistic, and academic knowledge structures that are integral to and…

Includes the following essays on American Indian history: "Imagining Indians in Selma," by Jennifer Gray Reddish; "A Journey Inwards and Backwards," by Lily Boyce; "The Chief's Journey into the Spiritland to Bring Back His Wife," a Winnebago myth retold by David Smith; and "Battle or Massacre?" by Harold Sorkness. (MAB)

Presents a five-lesson, high school instructional unit on the ideas and activities of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, Jr. Includes student objectives, step-by-step instructional procedures, and discussion questions. Provides quotations by Thoreau and King. (CFR)

Discusses responses related to the nature and purpose of history from a survey of historians. Contends that it is the appeal of history, rather than teaching methods, that captures the interest of high-school and college students. Applies Ernest Boyer's four principles of scholarship to the survey results. (CFR)

Answers critics of the 1916 Social Studies Report. Stresses its continuity with earlier more widely favored curricular reports. Discusses the influence of James Harvey Robinson's new history with its focus on the whole of society rather than just political and military events. Urges a continuing synthesis of history and the social sciences. (DK)

Discusses the state of Germany's armed forces in World War II. Describes Germany's progress from inferior weaponry and unprepared military at the beginning of the war to superior weapons and fighting. Stresses heavy German dependence on horse drawn supply. Credits Germany's defeat to human attrition accelerated by Hitler's operational leadership.…

Three students describe how teachers were able to make the learning of history exciting and encourage historical investigations. The use of primary sources of information to stimulate interest in history is recommended as a means of providing curricular differentiation for gifted students, and activities using primary sources are described. (JDD)