Offers learning activities on South Africa, which help students gain background information on South Africa's culture, history, and geography; examine United States foreign policy toward South Africa; conduct community research on United States involvement with South Africa; confront different life styles of individuals living in South Africa; and…

Noting that textbooks in the United States contain misleading, inaccurate, and biased information on South Africa, this article provides an annotated bibliography of elementary and secondary curriculum materials which may be used to provide a more balanced and accurate treatment of South Africa. (JDH)

This article describes how a fourth grade teacher helped his students learn about their home state through the experience of planning a simulated seven-day vacation trip. Data collected by the students was entered into a microcomputer filing and graphing system which helped them understand how to measure differences and make comparisons. (JDH)

This article describes a three-stage model for teaching historical writing to senior high school students. The model is applied to the incident known as "Bloody Sunday" which occurred in Northern Ireland in 1972. (JDH)

Shows how teachers can demonstrate the importance of accurate historical accounts by "falsifying" the history contained in their textbooks. Recommends that the teacher enter the classroom with false "corrections" sent by the textbook author. Concludes by describing activities designed to help students examine and refute the false account. (JDH)

Maintains that metaphors may be used to help secondary students understand the figurative language often encountered in social studies. Shows how labels were attached to real dominos which were then tipped over to explain the "domino effect," a theory often referred to in foreign affairs. This experience was related to "event chains" which were…

Reviews "Theory and Resistance in Education: A Pedagogy for the Opposition" (Giroux, 1983), "Education and Power" (Apple, 1982), and "Education under Siege: The Conservative, Liberal and Radical Debate over Schooling" (Aronowitz and Giroux, 1985). Works illuminate relationship between schools, arena of culture, and economy; and enable educators to…

Several questions and issues addressed sixty years ago at the NCSS conference in Dallas are indistinguishable from present concerns, which focus on three concepts: citizenship, social studies/social science, and how to define social problems. Concludes that the social studies movement was predisposed to work at cross-purposes because of the…

Presents Swedish views on Iran-Contra hearings and outlines issues for classroom instruction. Stresses the need to examine both the positive and negative effects of the media and the importance of teaching democratic principles. (DH)

Describes Middle America (Central America) in terms of two geographical building blocks: location and place. Tables, maps, films, video resources, and a suggested instructional activity demonstrate the concepts of location, physical characteristics, and cultural characteristics in geographic education. (DH)

Suggests twelve strategies for helping students read social studies material with greater comprehension. The strategies include simulations, debates, documents, oral histories, current events, and differing accounts of history. (DH)

Explores a definition of religious literacy; examines the role of religion in U.S. history; and reviews the side effect of neglecting religious history. Examines approaches that integrate religious events and ideas into the existing curriculum. Lists primary source documents. (DH)

Summarizes the Holmes and Carnegie reports and examines their major recommendations. The analysis points out the contradictory nature of the reforms, their conservative implications, and the lack of scholarly arguments to support such assertions. (DH)

Offers an overview of significant changes proposed by the Holmes and Carnegie reports. Criticizes the reports for assuming that means are separate from ends and form from content. Contends the reports ignore available scholarship, leaving unchallenged thinking and practices in teaching and teacher education. (DH)

Analyzes the historical context, arguments, and evidence of the Holmes Group report. Maintains that the report reflects the conservative political climate of the 1980s and is unsupported, ambiguous, and contradictory in areas. Concludes that the report's silence on the substance of teacher education highlights its political purpose of policing the…