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)

This article describes a University of Hawaii at Manoa course that is designed to prepare teachers and related school personnel to work with at-risk students in inclusive settings. A survey of 105 special education teacher certification programs found that only 9 offered a separate course on working with at-risk students. (Contains references.)…

The Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale explored attitudes of 1,346 Australian preservice teachers to people with disabilities. The best fitting model was found to be one in which there were four factors: discomfort, sympathy, embarrassment, and vulnerability. Changes in attitudes after a one-year training course were found to be minimal.…

A survey of 46 United States and Canadian dental schools examined curriculum trends and assessed the effectiveness of educational initiatives and the value of American Association of Dental Schools and Administration on Aging geriatric dental curricular materials. An increasing number reported geriatric didactic courses, clinical rotations, and…

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…

Discusses cross-cultural issues in the delivery of teacher training courses. Focuses on a 3-week training course that took place in the United Kingdom, describing the decisions made about content and process in light of an awareness and knowledge of specific national and educational cultures. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on an interdisciplinary teaching model called the linked course, in which "linked" courses are modified to give more emphasis to logical connections among the disciplines. Describes how history courses can be linked with other disciplines, such as economics or anthropology. (CMK)

Describes the development and content of the online course "HIS 320: Capitalism, Culture, and Technology in Modern World History" offered by National University. Addresses issues such as students' motivation for taking the course, characteristics of the enrolled students, and problems with the course. (CMK)

Examines proposals for task-based approaches to instruction, reviews relevant research, investigates developments in cognitive psychology, proposes a framework for the implementation of task-based instruction drawing upon relevant theory, and organizes the methods to implement such instruction so as to minimize problems and maximize goal…

Discusses the English Language Fellows (ELF) Program, a pilot project that pairs specially-trained, native-speaking undergraduates with nonnative-speaking (NNS) classmates to study the content of courses that both are taking together. Woven into that study of course content, for the benefit of the NNS students, is the study of language as it is…

This article describes the development of "content negotiable" activities for teacher development sessions used with South African teachers of English as a Second Language in the United Kingdom. Using input from the teachers involved, sessions focused on teaching speaking and listening to secondary pupils. Contains 13 references. (MDM)

Presents various activities designed to foster the learning of a language. These include the use of everyday "street words" taught to advanced level students, the use of political speeches of French presidential candidates in order to familiarize advanced adolescents with political discourse, and the playing of cassette tapes and videos…

Second-language teachers dealing with teenagers face a task of imparting communicative language skills to learners who think and speak in terms of a language of their own making. It is important that these teachers familiarize themselves with teen language in order to make their teaching relevant by making their classrooms more responsive to their…

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)

Describes a St. Olaf College (Minnesota) seminar on German- Americana, and suggests ways in which instructors in other areas of the country can create a course reflecting local experience. The course, taught in German, offers information about the broad spectrum of German language and German immigrant life in the United States. A dozen goals of…