The idea that Native American confederacies practiced a form of democracy that influenced development of the U.S. Constitution has become established in general discourse. An anecdotal overview of a 550-item bibliography focuses on the idea's spread to unanticipated places, academic debates, and conservative critics' horror story of the outcomes…

Five studies that measure abstinence-only programs' effects found no significant evidence that these programs help delay onset of intercourse. Evaluations of 30 abstinence-plus programs for sexuality and HIV education show these programs do not increase adolescent sexual intercourse. Common curriculum characteristics are outlined. (Contains 18…

Discusses the controversial work of Maurice Sendak, a popular, yet controversial children's author and illustrator. Examines the oral responses of a class of first graders to "We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy," with the purpose of demonstrating that children can act as their own agents in constructing meaning through complex…

Offers a model for a collective strategy that can be used to deal more effectively with problems associated with race relations courses. Presents a multidimensional analysis of the constraints that create problems for race relations instructors and highlights a multidimensional approach to minimizing these problems. Includes references. (CMK)

Explores the resistance faced by minority faculty, both from other faculty and from students, when teaching classes dealing with race and racism. (EV)

Examines whether students engage in biased assimilation during in-class debates. Finds that biased assimilation only occurs when the student is arguing for her or his existing position on an issue. Concludes that, in order to eliminate biased assimilation, teachers should encourage students to debate the opposite position of their preconceived…

When evaluating instructional practices, adolescents (n = 128, ages 14-19) coordinated knowledge of epistemology, fairness, and motivation in their conceptions of procedural justice. Adolescents ranked the fairness and effectiveness of instructional practices differently for controversial and noncontroversial topics. They raised epistemological,…

America has been called "the argument culture," but you would not know it from many social studies classrooms. Despite a longstanding tradition in social studies of teaching controversial issues, all too few of today's classrooms accommodate this kind of intellectual activity. Perhaps it is the pressure of high stakes testing, or the emphasis on…

In this paper, we report some reflections on science and education, in relation to teaching and research in the field of complex and controversial socio-environmental issues. Starting from an examination of the literature on the epistemological aspects of the science of controversial issues, and introducing the perspective of complexity, the…

In this article, I offer a clarification of the ambiguities surrounding the pivotal concepts that have shaped and will continue to shape environmental education movement in the United States and beyond: nature, conservation, sustainable development, and environmental justice. I point out that dualistic frameworks not only polarize environmental…

A recent United Nations' report claims that nearly two-thirds of the Earth's natural systems are unhealthy or failing, and many point to education--environmental education, education for sustainable development, or sustainability education--as a key means of addressing these issues. In this article, the author discusses the literary description to…

This study reports on the attitudes towards biotechnology of 905, 15-16 year-old students from 11 Western Australian schools. Students were asked to read 15 statements about biotechnology processes and to draw a line to separate what they considered "acceptable" statements from those they considered "unacceptable". Overall, the…

What is a teacher to do when confronted with a student who says "I understand that theory (e.g., evolution), but I don't believe it"? The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for answering this question. First we describe the various ways in which the terms "know/knowledge" and "believe/belief" are used and summarize the distinctions…

The "academy" of scholars in United States institutions of higher education generally do not like hearing about genocide in the Americas, especially if it implies or states that this country willingly participated in and benefited from genocidal policies. Well, that about sums up the primary problems that Native scholars have in writing about…

The author recounts a tale about impairment of academic freedom that he experienced while teaching in the MBA program of a respected business school. The management department chair restricted the of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals in a course called "Conflict and Negotiation." The political correctness movement has come full circle when it…