Political pressure on colleges and universities has been a matter of common debate and concern since 1934. That was the year the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Association of American Colleges (the precursor of AAC&U) established a series of conferences in order to reaffirm and develop the 1925 Conference Statement on…

The paper describes a discussion strategy for secondary school students. The strategy focus the various dimensions of Science, especially the internal sociological and philosophical dimensions. Students are expected to learn more about Science, namely the role of controversy for scientific progress. The article contains key questions for the…

This paper describes an experiential learning exercise I have used to teach race discrimination in my introductory and criminology courses. The exercise is designed to introduce students to the concept of non-conscious forms of racial bias, a form of race discrimination often difficult for students to grasp. Using a hypothetical criminal case,…

If preservice teachers are to be capably prepared to meet the challenges of classroom and community diversity, teacher educators have a responsibility to address the full range of diversity issues in teacher preparation coursework, despite controversial or political overtones that may exist. Among these issues is that of considering and responding…

Critical literacy is about how people see and interact with the world; it is about having, as a regular part of one's life, the skills and desire to evaluate society and the world. It is especially focused on issues of power: Who has it and who is denied it; how it is used and how it is abused. More specifically, it often revolves around issues of…

Complementary schools for immigrant and ethnic minority children in the UK have been an important socio-political, educational movement in the country for nearly half a century. They have made a major impact on the lives of thousands of children of different ethnic backgrounds, attracted public debates vis-a-vis the government's involvement in…

The ubiquity of documentary films in social studies courses, along with their potential to influence what students learn, clearly show that documentary films matter in social studies education. While the high rate of documentary film usage by social studies teachers indicates that they are amenable to bringing new films into their classrooms, they…

This article develops the notion that virtues can be utilized as a means of understanding the professional expertise that science teachers demonstrate when they deal with socioscientific issues. Socioscientific issues are those contentious issues that connect science to the society in which it operates--environmental issues being a prime example.…

Although inter-religious conflicts have not yet surfaced as major social problems in Japan, religious education for peace and tolerance is needed in the country as much as in other countries. This article aims to disclose that, in light of political contexts, supposedly neutral "teaching about religion" can be as problematic as history…

Fifty experts with a special interest in peace education (and representing 22 different countries) were confronted with the following set of questions (as part of individual interviews): "In many countries, questions related to disarmament and peace are highly controversial. Would you anticipate any difficulties, for example with parents or…

A major controversy arose in 1987 in a midwestern school district, after a middle school teacher assigned the novel "Go Ask Alice" to her seventh-grade class. This book describes the district's attempt to answer two basic questions: What should students read? and Who should decide what students read? The book controversy is first…

This study focuses on students' acquisition of current events knowledge, attitudes about the news, and motivation to seek the news as it relates to news seeking behavior and studying current events in school. A current events knowledge test of 53 true/false items and a questionnaire assessing motivation strategy use toward current events were…

The findings of a study that examined the impact of peace studies courses at the college and university level upon students is reported. The study involved 260 undergraduate students at 3 midwestern universities. At the beginning of each course, students filled out a questionnaire; at the end of the course, students were given identical…

This document proposes a case study approach to U.S. history instruction. The method which the document suggests arises from an actual class discussion of the My Lai massacre that occurred during the Vietnam War. A sample class discussion concerns the setting of standards to guide national and international affairs and the particular standards…

Designed to facilitate communication and understanding among college students of diverse ethnic backgrounds, the Building Bridges Program at Shippensburg University (Pennsylvania) used trained student facilitators to lead classroom discussions about intergroup relations. In addition, these minority and majority facilitators shared personal…