Homophobia is accepted and encouraged by society, particularly in the sterile world of academia which allows, promotes, and creates homophobia by not providing lesbian/gay specific texts, examples, assignments, and role models. Composition teachers can make the classroom a safer place for lesbian/gay students, teachers, texts, and issues by: (1)…

The debate over teaching evolution has once again reached a fever pitch in the United States. Earnest nineteenth-century clashes between scientific and religious worldviews have given way to the politically charged arguments of creation science and now intelligent design. The Web site of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE;…

A newspaper's reporting and documenting of a local issue is used as a curricular starting point in many subject areas. (Author/KM)

The extensive social-scientific interest and continuing relevance of environmental study assure its immediate and long-range importance in the social studies. But the crisis atmosphere surrounding this issue threatens a thoughtful, systematic approach to the subject, and poses the danger of a careless rush to activity. As social studies educators,…

This paper examines the nature of radicalism, proposes definitions and dimensions, and suggests the dynamics of radical thoughts and their interrelation with schools. A radical idea is one which is highly divergent from the normative values, behaviors, ideals or traditions of a culture at a point in time. This paper views radical ideas as…

Summarizes the constitutional basis for separation of church and state as it relates to litigation concerning religion and public schools. Discusses prayer and Bible reading, the minute of silence, posting and distribution of religious materials, and evolution and creationism. Provides a summary and general guidelines for using religious…

One article describes Boston (Massachusetts) City Schools' efforts to train school nurses and health and science teachers as AIDS educators while developing a factual program for students. Another article offers steps for implementing an effective AIDS curriculum. An inset provides information on practices and procedures used by certain school…

States that the proper treatment of issues relies upon the conversion of an interpersonal conflict into an intrapersonal one. Without such conversion, a student is prone to argue with other students and the teacher, rather than himself. Describes five types of statements useful for promoting thoughtful discussions of controversial issues. (JDH)

Practical and theoretical problems associated with incorporating values clarification as an element of health education are explored. Guidelines for teaching values clarification are offered. (DF)

Proponents of the liberal arts continue to disagree over maintaining the traditional college curriculum versus diversifying it to give a greater role to ethnic and women's studies and to the ideas of non-Western cultures. (MSE)

Presents several arguments and strategies for using films about war and peace in introductory sociology and social problems courses. Addresses the practical problems of cost, scheduling, and locating appropriate resources. An appendix provides an annotated list of effective films, videos, and slide shows. (Author/BSR)

Instead of freeing teachers to teach, schools' bureaucratic organization may have inadvertently produced ritualized, mechanistic teaching that elicits only minimal compliance from students. Defensive teaching strategies, including fragmentation (teaching by lists), mystifying information, omitting controversial topics, and simplifying material,…

Describes an approach for including social issues in United States history classes. Provides examples of how specific issues were integrated with common course topics. (JDH)

Enumerates several techniques to determine what are acceptable levels of risk in society. Discusses cancer, regulation, and human responsibility. Lists several no-risk discussion topics for the classroom. (DH)

With parent and community input, the school board can develop policies that will prevent unnecessary conflicts and help resolve others involving controversial issues in the curriculum. (Author/DCS)