Proposes a K-12 social studies curriculum designed to support a democratic civic culture with active participation of individuals in the improvement of society. Seeks to have students develop firm and thoughtful attachment to the core values of justice and equality. Provides a flexible sequence of conceptual themes to guide the curriculum at each…

An examination of Hilda Taba's work mirrors changing concerns in the agenda of the National Council for the Social Studies since 1935. Three phases of her work are discussed: (1) problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making; (2) intergroup, intercultural, and multicultural education; and (3) maintaining the integrity of the disciplines.…

The 1983 Teacher of the Year argues that the public has an archaic view of teachers and education, redefines the three Rs of today's education, and suggests five basic competencies students will need for the present Information Age: communication, critical thinking, cultural appreciation, creativity, and coping skills. (MBR)

A curriculum project to help dental students identify, reason about, and resolve ethical problems applied moral development theory to professional education, an approach not previously used. The project involved testing student attitudes and abilities and developing learning activities to promote the desired abilities. (Author/MSE)

In this article, the author discusses seven characteristics of classrooms that encourage maximum student participation in the education process: (1) democracy; (2) scientific method; (3) creativity; (4) change; (5) individualization; (6) socialization; and (7) problem solving. Using these concepts to make students part of the instructional…

A two-year ethnographic study of dialogic literary circles in Spain explored the learning experience of adults who participated in them. In a dialogic society, educational projects providing real opportunities for transformation and overcoming inequalities usually had a dialogic orientation and promoted instrumental learning as well as critical…

This project emphasized the writing-reading connection in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum, noting the effects of integrating nonfiction reading about culture into writing tasks and investigating reading-for-writing activities that functioned as an extension from the EFL classrooms to the outside world. The project occurred in a…

This book for teachers and administrators demonstrates how implementing contextual teaching and learning (CTL) at all levels can change students' lives and help them realize their full potential and achieve academic excellence. CTL is based on the philosophy that students learn when they see meaning in academic material, and they see meaning in…

This book explores the questions that arise as a result of the increasing awareness in U.S. society about equality issues. The book suggests that it is vitally important that children be alerted to the ways in which literature may convey prejudice. It is not possible, and it may not even be desirable, to insulate children from any possible…

As funding for public education decreases, corporations are "making up" the shortfall by donating seemingly benign teaching aides to schools. While many business-school relationships are positive, many others are commercializing classrooms, aiming to make students "brand-loyal" through the guise of providing free equipment,…

This program provides a new framework and approach for breaking the cycle of blame surrounding violent imagery in the culture and promotes an informed and rational public conversation about the topic. The goals of the program are to: (1) reduce exposure to media violence; (2) change the impact of violent images that are seen; (3) locate and…

The proliferation and subsequent devaluation of electronic symbols necessitate a rethinking of classroom discourse. In recent years, "visual literacy" has become an issue among those who feel that the increasingly symbolic orientation of communications compels the writing instructor to address the dynamics of both visual and written…

This 42-month project at the University of Denver (Colorado) developed materials and faculty development activities concerning application of Kitchener and King's reflective judgment theory. Testing and implementation were at the University of Denver and Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and the University of Missouri (Columbia). The model…

This paper discusses active and meaningful learning and the application of this instructional approach to the college classroom, focusing on techniques used in the author's biology classes. Active and meaningful learning places emphasis on students actually doing things and thinking about what they are doing, relating new information to…

This course seeks to provide high school students the opportunity to sharpen their critical thinking skills and use of language through acquaintance with some ideas of literary criticism. The course features Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," assuming that the students have just finished reading that American classic novel. The…