Describes a team-taught college course designed to develop philosophical literacy among students as groundwork for future humanities courses. Unifying motif was "dialog" between faculty from different areas of expertise; the concept of philosophy as dialog; and the student-teacher relationship as dialog. Discusses course design, lessons learned,…

Discusses the actions and approaches advanced during the 1996 Summer Colloquium, "Art and Ecology: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Curriculum." Illustrates how action-oriented inquiry makes learning relevant to all people through exploring the poetry of place. The colloquium identified community ecological issues that could be examined through…

Suggests some approaches to meeting the requirements for study of "cultural process" in geography in New Zealand. Provides some guidelines for defining a cultural process and discusses possible teaching units. Outlines a conceptual and pedagogical map to follow in developing these units using transportation development as an example.…

Describes a collaboration between a university education professor and a team of four middle school teachers to create and implement an interdisciplinary thematic unit of study about the Caribbean region. Describes how the unit dealt with language arts, math, science, and social studies areas, and describes alternative forms of assessment used to…

Outlines a lesson examining architectural and social history by investigating the changing uses of color in public and private buildings from 1830 through 1920. Describes several activities including examining historical black-and-white photographs of buildings and attempting to determine their true color and examining the chemistry of paint. (MJP)

Reports on a teacher-education course that emphasized the use of the visual arts in promoting content area reading. Local art museum personnel and teacher-education faculty identified works that could invoke discussions in certain content areas of specialization. Students used these as a basis for their papers. (MJP)

Profiles a course that challenges college seniors to gain new perspectives, skills, experiences, and insights into their own creative and imaginative processes. The course uses the work of Joseph Cornell who constructed enigmatic, box-like assemblages from found objects. Students construct their own boxes and consider future applications of this…

A Virginia science and technology high school restructured its ninth-grade curriculum by clustering three core courses in an integrated program. Students work with resource managers at Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge to gather data on species inhabiting the area. They prepare well-researched reports and present them to peers, faculty, and…

Three courses in the adult education division of Loyola University (Louisiana) combined religious studies and literature appreciation using an interdisciplinary, team-taught approach. Instruction was guided by the metaphor of conversation, first through collegial discussion of the ideas underlying the courses and later, in the classroom, in the…

This paper describes the Early Intervention and Family Support Training Program of the Family, Infant and Preschool Program at Western Carolina Center, North Carolina. The program uses competence-based training to flexibly respond to interdisciplinary needs and interests while preserving essential core content. The paper discusses role…

Compares and contrasts American Indian spirituality with European-American religion. European-American religion emphasizes theological interpretation and separateness between man and God. American Indian spirituality stresses direct experience of the holy, and unity between man and the spiritual world. Considers how the two might be incorporated…

Describes an art project that constructed a realistic model of a frozen prehistoric cadaver including its clothing and tool kit. Originally conceived as a way to introduce students to art materials, ancient history, and different cultures, the project grew to include a traveling exhibit and instructional puppet shows. (MJP)

Endorses U.S. political history as a colorful and interesting resource for teaching important historical and social science concepts: order and change, elitism and pluralism, creating structures, the Constitution, and the formation of political parties. Discusses these concepts and gives examples of each. (MJP)

Describes one college's program requiring preservice elementary educators to take their methods courses in an integrated block during one semester before student teaching, noting pitfalls of and advantages to this network of classes and reporting data collected from cooperating classroom teachers who subsequently had these student teachers in…

Praises the Laura Ingalls Wilder books for their realistic portrayal of 19th-century prairie life. Recommends using the books as source material for a variety of social studies classes. Provides a list of suggested activities collected under broad topics including housing, unusual weather phenomena, medical care, and clothing. (MP)