The need for a citizenry capable of comprehending and tackling contemporary issues related to science and technology demands science education experiences that are fundamentally different from traditional experiences in school science. Argues that high school biology experiences organized around contemporary bioethical issues can meet this need.…

The debate over national history standards is so fixated on "which history" that the importance of studying history is being overlooked. History humanizes us in ways that few other curricular areas can. Three classroom vignettes illustrate the difficulties of achieving mature historical understanding in a Disney/MTV-dominated culture. (53…

Considers the taboo topics that social studies teachers avoid or de-emphasize, such as topics that tend to provoke strong emotional reactions. Addresses the reasons for the stifling of taboo topics and finds that the closer a topic is to students' lives the more likely the topic is labeled as taboo. (CMK)

Advocates confronting controversial subjects in classrooms. Describes bringing hatred into the curriculum of a film study class. Articulates purposes and obstacles. Addresses how to handle tough topics and ways to introduce civil rights issues. Describes the final student project. States that students make a transition from consciousness to…

Draws from the text of "Jack" (a story about a teenager dealing with his father's homosexuality) several narratives from class discussions. Analyzes the teaching and learning in the middle school class and the teacher's role. Presents responses from Patricia Enciso and Lauren Myracle which comment on this article. (PA)

Responds to the article "Reconstructing Multicultural Education: a Response to Mike Cole" in which Cole defends his views of antiracist education and the role of cultural racism, the teaching of controversial aspects of other cultures, reconstructed multiculturalism as opposed to student misconceptions, and nationalism within the context…

Describes a project that focuses on teaching current events from a global perspective. Students are grouped into news teams and then develop questions based on the five dimensions of the Hanvey Global Awareness Model. Provides an example of the questions and answers developed by a seventh-grade Latin American team. (CMK)

"Opposing Viewpoints" and "Opposing Viewpoints Juniors" have long been standard titles in upper elementary, middle level, and high school collections. "Opposing Viewpoints Juniors" should be required as information literacy/critical thinking curriculum tools as early as fifth grade as they use current controversies to teach students how to…

The article examines understandings of class, race, gender and sexuality in the writings of secondary school students in two working-class schools in Durban. The analysis of students' questions and responses to a problem page "agony aunt", indicate how class and race come to be expressed through accounts of sexuality. In the letters many…

This study focuses on the influence of high school students' (10th and 11th grade) epistemological understanding and topic interest on their interpretation of a dual-position expository text about genetically modified food, as well as on the change in their beliefs about the topic. After reading, students were given different tasks: (1) to write…

Although most high school students want their biology classes to include evolution, most high school biology classes in Minnesota do not emphasize evolution. This lack of an emphasis on evolution defies state educational standards and is associated with most students (high school and college) having serious misconceptions about evolution. The…

This issue of "Media and Values" helps students acquire and evaluate media information in order to be effective citizens. The individual articles include: (1) "In the Light of the Fires" (Elizabeth Thoman); (2) "From Milton to Media" (Clay Jenkinson); (3) "Brave New World" (Paul Du Bois; Frances Moore Lappe); (4) "Making Politics Work" (Jay…

This book address the underlying problems of teaching controversial subjects in the college and university history classroom. The volume criticizes both sides of the debate, rejects calls for a uniform, chronological history curriculum, and rejects the claims that only ethnic or racial 'insiders' are qualified to teach about their communities. The…

This guidebook is built on the conviction that finding common ground on many divisive issues is possible within the civic framework provided by the Religious Liberty clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It argues that there is a clearly defined constitutional difference between "teaching religion" to students and "teaching…

This paper presents findings of a longitudinal survey that gathered information on the number and types of challenges to curriculum and services in the California public schools. Data were collected from a questionnaire sent by the Board of Directors of the Educational Congress of California to every school-district superintendent in the state in…