This book redefines teaching as a profession with pronounced service and moral dimensions, then shows how this new paradigm can be instilled in both teacher education programs and teaching practice. The book argues that teaching practice requires much more than knowledge and technical competence. It calls for reflection and inquiry, a dedication…

Posits character education as an integral element in transforming the mission and purpose of schooling. Discusses the grass-roots and collaborative efforts of educators in organizing information and support networks implementing character education. Maintains that character education is necessary to correct the antisocial messages and gratuitous…

Describes the cumulation of concern over the last 10 years that brought leading educators and business people together to create an organization that supports comprehensive character education programs. Discusses the work of this organization, the Character Education Partnership. Lists 11 principles for program development and describes model…

Reports on the work of the Child Development Project. The project outlined a series of approaches and characteristics shared by successful character development school programs. These include creating a caring community, a social constructivist approach to staff development, use of cooperative learning strategies, autonomy, belonging, and…

Asserts that character education in the schools should be framed by the civic principles of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Paraphrases these principles as "rights, responsibilities, and respect." Addresses parental misgivings about possible religious content and conflict. (MJP)

Describes a service learning project where students identify a real political problem, research related issues, and propose a solution. Members of the U.S. Congress and county offices of education have created corresponding awards programs. Includes procedures for creating a local project. (MJP)

Contends that urban violence involves not only acts against individuals but also systemic violence perpetrated against the ethnic-minority poor. Argues that this systemic violence is a form of human rights violation. Maintains that moral educators should utilize a human rights perspective in curriculum planning. (CFR)

Long-term studies were undertaken to attempt to link children's prejudices with their stages of moral development. If a relation could be shown between a low moral stage and prejudice, it might be possible to devise educational strategies to raise children's moral stages and strengthen their moral development and consciences. A broad…

This manual assists teachers in providing adaptations for disabled and disadvantaged students to ensure their success in the regular vocational classroom and to meet requirements of the new vocational education standards in Iowa, which call for a competency-based curriculum. Introductory pages include strategies for teaching special needs…

A collection of readings and activities on the Holocaust for secondary students is coordinated with a teacher's curriculum guide. Material is divided into units covering the nature of human behavior, views of prejudice and genocide, the rise of Nazi Germany, Nazi persecution and mass murder, resistance to the Nazis, and related issues of…

The humanist position for the teaching of values can be turned against English teachers and literature education when it is based primarily on the assumption that literature directly portrays life, a strategy which was used by a religious fundamentalist group, Renaissance Peterborough, in its dispute with officials of Peterborough County, Ontario,…

These papers from an International Committee on Family Research (CFR) seminar explore seven themes, four of which are presented in Part 1. The first set of papers approach the question of whether the family is worth supporting and the related issue of pressures, conflicts, and expectations of family life (Theme 1). Randall Collins discusses…

These activities help high school students develop an understanding of nuclear weapons within the context of human beings making choices. Students learn to evaluate information and to identify the political stand or bias in what they hear and read. To record their own growth and change, students are encouraged to keep a journal. Teachers can…

A historical review of the institutional beginnings of the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education from 1912-21 is presented, with emphasis on the Commission's objectives to help the American high school become a better instrument of democracy and reflect the highest ideals of American life. In 1921, when this report was written,…

The document considers theoretical and practical resources for use by American Academy of Religion members in their clarification of differences among moral education, values clarification, and religion studies. A task force on religion studies in public education has been established by the Academy in response to public interest in re-introducing…