A small community in southwest Michigan has been witness to a significant cultural divide within its school system. An influential church has permeated school leadership and in many cases has overstepped the proverbial "wall separating church and state." A fairly high-profile case saw the Sixth Circuit Court enjoin the district to remove…

This set of essays is based on a panel session convened at the 2009 meeting of the Association of American Geographers, which sought to explore the many challenges and pitfalls involved with teaching nationalism as a topic in geography classrooms. The authors offer different but complementary insights into the practical difficulties and potential…

In the author's research, he has found that there are two key elements of an effective civic education: (1) duty; and (2) voice. In this article, he elaborates on what he means by these terms, but first he notes that--perhaps ironically--neither speaks to the content of a civics curriculum. He believes that it is possible to reach consensus on…

Reflecting on our efforts to provide Canadian university students with a transformative learning experience in Cuba, we were surprised to find that dominant forms of liberal thinking were more difficult to challenge than was anticipated. This paper explores this phenomenon and offers deliberation as a means toward lessening the stronghold of such…

By considering ethics and morals from a vantage point in which personal and political beliefs become part of our national debate, students could form the habit of political discussion in much the same way that representatives of social and political groups prepare and respond on a daily basis to an ever inquiring media. I will explore several…

Character education is a growing discipline with the deliberate attempt to optimize students' ethical behavior. The outcome of character education has always been encouraging, solidly, and continually preparing the leaders of tomorrow. The promotion of character education should not just a leap service but has an action plan for practice. In order…

The American public can count on a few things during the presidential election season. First, candidates will take a moral high ground and forswear mudslinging. Before long however, they will proceed to engage in nasty accusations against their opponents. A vibrant democracy ought to welcome carefully thought-out views that, when intentionally…

Just as people focused on education in the United States call for more content-rich curriculums, elementary schools in many areas have squeezed history and social studies out of their school day. When social studies is taught, it's often characterized by overreliance on a textbook and "covering" isolated facts; extended, engaged reading…

In educational reform, teaching through socio-scientific issues (SSIs) is considered the best way to promote scientific literacy for citizenship as the goal of science teaching. To bring SSIs into the science classroom, Thai pre-service science teachers (PSTs) are expected to understand the concept of SSI-based teaching and to use it effectively…

As the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda approaches, Mark Gudgel argues that we should face the challenges posed by teaching about Rwanda. Drawing on his experience as a history teacher in the US, his experience researching and supporting others' classrooms in the US and UK, his training in Holocaust education and his knowledge…

Scientific literacy is an important goal for science education, especially within controversial socioscientific issues. In this study, we analysed 143 students' research reports about stem cell research (SCR) for how they addressed specific source evaluation criteria provided within the assignment. We investigated students' opinions about SCR, how…

This article addresses some of the curriculum implications of adopting a socioscientific issues (SSIs)-oriented approach to science education, including (a) the need to provide scientific knowledge on a need-to-know basis and adapted to the complexity, multidimensionality, and fluidity of real-world situations and the constraints of particular…

This paper explores affordances in teaching evolution, especially those in which evolution is made relevant to and argued for in a grade 9 biology classroom, thus giving potential answers to the pupils' legitimate question,"'why am I learning evolution?" The aim of the paper is methodological in the sense that it explores whether the…

Background: This study examined the impact of professional preparation and class structure on sexuality topics taught and use of practice-based instructional strategies in US middle and high school health classes. Methods: Data from the classroom-level file of the 2006 School Health Policies and Programs were used. A series of multivariable…

Teaching heritage to a nation is important. The Israeli Arab curriculum on Druse heritage helps students connect religion with modern society. The textbooks that are still used were written in the end of the 1970s and do not reflect the changing reality of Druse women. This research shows that women must be portrayed in more diverse roles in…