A formal critique of the social studies profession by the president of the National Council for the Social Studies. He examines social studies educators' failure to question certain assumptions, including those about moral education, rights of parents, and preparation of social studies teachers. (Author/RM)

Reports on studies which employed three different methodologies to evaluate status and needs of social studies education. Commissioned by the National Science Foundation's Education Directorate in 1976, the studies included a national survey of administrators and teachers, a review of literature related to trends in social studies, and a case…

In view of the need for open-mindedness in the instruction of new curricular approaches, such as the analysis of public issues, these studies survey pre-service social studies teachers to discover their positions relative to other pre-service subject teachers in strength of authoritarian and dogmatic characteristics. (JH)

Discusses and explains experimental validity, including both internal and external validity, in terms that a classroom teacher can understand and use in his own research. (CK)

Suggests that handicapism (discrimination against and stereotyping of the disabled) merits the same attention from the social studies profession as sexism and racism have received. The subject should be introduced into the curriculum and would be appropriate, for example, for historical analysis, psychology, and anthropology. (KC)

The authors take issue with the Shermis and Barth position that indoctrination in American education is wrong (Social Education, March 1985), arguing that they have misunderstood the issue and that the imposition of certain democratic values and processes does not conflict with the goals of reflective inquiry. (RM)

Suggests that investigation of contemporary problems be included in social studies/citizenship education programs and stresses the relevance of contemporary problems to social studies curricula for slow learners. Literature pertaining to citizenship education is reviewed, and research to determine effects of a study of contemporary issues on…

Reviews author James A. Michener's role in the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and contends that his 1939 predictions for social studies should be assessed in present-day context. Concludes that the history of social studies fails to support Michener's optimistic appraisal of its future. (CFR)

Discusses 25 years of attempts to define social studies and to research social studies education. Argues that a definition that denies teachers' diverse experiences and instructional methods is dysfunctional and that research has advanced little. Calls for a reexamination of the research enterprise itself and of graduate training in education.…

Reacts to an article by Jean Anyon (in Theory and Research in Social Education; Sep 1978 p40-55) by reiterating his definition and use of the word "mindlessness" in his National Council for the Social Studies presidential address (Social Education; Apr 1977 p300-06), and reemphasizes the point of that address. (CK)

Suggests reassessment of research methods, strategies, and aims relevant to curricular/instructional decision making in the social studies. Limitations include the lack of clear-cut implications of findings for practice and the lack of cumulative findings relevant to the real life of the school. (Author/KC)

Examines why social science/social studies educational research does not generate theories. The author concludes that the subject matter of this kind of research--human beings in their sociocultural milieu--makes it difficult to make objective observations from which theoretical principles can be derived. (AM)

Describes a study undertaken to determine to what extent research in social studies education reflects attention to population and sample definitions and descriptions, to randomness, and to replication. Findings indicated researchers often continue to be careless in their data collection and analysis. (Author/DB)