Identifies areas that need improvement in teaching assistant training programs in the foreign languages if graduates are to be competitive in the job market, including course design, syllabus writing and identification and statement of curriculum and course objectives; design of content courses; materials development; articulation between the…

Examines the narrative and propositional approaches to teaching about tolerance in relation to moral and political controversial issues. Indicates that students gave the teacher higher approval ratings, perceived the teacher as more attractive, and remembered more when the teacher used the narrative approach to explain conflicting positions on an…

In an eight-month interdisciplinary seminar at the University of Dayton (Ohio), professional faculty members determined that ethical and religious issues should form an integral part of their research and teaching. Seminar activities, texts used, main points of discussion, and types of questions and research generated by participants are…

Presents a lesson plan based on the instructional practice of "Academic Controversy.""Academic Controversy" involves using student research and classroom debate to decide issues with clearly defined positions. Uses a civil rights case as source material and includes lesson procedures and a student handout. (MJP)

Recommends using focus group interviews and other discussion techniques, generally used in business, to examine social studies issues. Outlines and discusses how these techniques (systems thinking, mental models, shared vision, team learning) can greatly enhance social studies instruction of current events and controversial issues. (MJP)

Proposes a framework for school sex education within a plural society based on three themes: social changes contributing to uncertainty about sexual values in British society, sex education policy changes' impact on claims to moral legitimacy in this area, and initiatives renegotiating a moral consensus on school sex education values. (DSK)

Presents the results from a survey of middle and high school social studies teachers that asked if and how the impeachment of President Bill Clinton was being taught. Discusses implications for social studies curriculum, current issues, the media, and teaching middle school students. (CMK)

Discusses resources that can be used in an Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. history course, including a series of textbooks, supplemental readings, projects, Document-Based Questions and essays from earlier AP examinations, Internet and multimedia resources, and students and their families. (CMK)

Presents descriptions and examples of processes used by French-as-a-Second-Language instructors to teach vocabulary, reporting qualitative analyses of classroom transcripts and pedagogical materials used to teach. Teachers emphasized semantic aspects of lexis; lexical instruction in analytic and experiential classes was characterized by similar…

The British Cultural Studies program at the University of Warwick emphasizes the cultural diversity of Britain. Content includes mythical, cultural, and gender discourses about Britain as they function in economic and political forms; the nexus of economy and culture; and national identities (e.g., Shakespeare). Some course material is appended.…

This paper shows how the opportunity to encounter the other culture "in my backyard" (IMBY) can be used in landeskunde. This approach moves away from landeskunde as piecemeal factual background information toward developing own-culture and foreign/target culture awareness in mixed groups of native language students. (Contains 15…

Reports on an INSET course for the staff of an international school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The article argues that all teachers involved in the support of English-as-a-Second-Language learners can best communicate with each other and facilitate their students' learning through the medium of "common codes," which are defined and…

Notes that there is a rich literature within social studies education promoting the teaching of controversial issues. Observes that, despite this, teachers continue to be cautious, only giving controversies a token nod in curricula. Suggests four reasons why controversial content continues to be difficult for teachers to implement. (DSK)

Provides historical information on Harold Rugg and the Social Reconstructionist movement. Contends the social issues-centered method should be used within social studies education. Discusses a social issues model that exposes preservice teachers to the social issues-centered model and focuses on a case study on California Proposition 187. (CMK)

Discusses Web-based instruction (WBI)and presents a decision making model based on a set of questions relating to the use of WBI. Topics include motivation for WBI; content and pedagogy, including instructional design; the target audience, including characteristics of successful online students; time factors; resources needed, including costs,…