This selective listing of books for children in grades K-8 is organized by the following categories: American history, culture, and life; world history and culture; biographies and autobiographical accounts; folktales, myths and legends and storytelling; poetry and rhyme; contemporary interests and controversies; and understanding oneself and…

Results of a social studies program evaluation conducted in the Albuquerque Public Schools are consistent in most respects with major research studies throughout the country. Highlights of the study that examined social studies program goals, course content and sequencing, teaching methods and instructional materials, and program effectiveness are…

Tactics that right wing conservatives are using to attack education are discussed. These include the Hatch amendment to the Magnet Schools Act that, if it becomes law, will prohibit funds for courses determined by the Local Education Authority to be secular humanism and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment of 1978. (RM)

The relationship of the social sciences to the social studies is traced and explained. This remains an area of much confusion; further study will be required for current disputes to be resolved. (RM)

Part of the value of history, particularly in school teaching, consists of its function in communicating shared values, myths, and data between generations. However, the discipline of history is also a producer of new knowledge. Teaching frameworks that make some coherent sense of both old and new historical emphases are needed. (RM)

Three case studies of secondary U.S. history teachers who use instructional methods that discourage rather than promote analysis and critical thinking are presented. Teachers do too little because they try to cover too much. The need to improve the teaching of history is urgent. (RM)

Teachers today are being held accountable and being judged inadequate as a result of factors--curriculum requirements and school organization--over which they have little control. In spite of this, many teachers are making extraordinary contributions to education. Examples of educational innovations being used by secondary history teachers are…

The new criticism critiques root causes of existing educational conditions. Regardless of its internal disputes and divergences of opinion, the new criticism proposes a philosophic orientation to society and school and indicates changes in the practice of schooling and teaching. (RM)

Control over content, teaching, and evaluation of social studies is moving outside of the classroom. Organized action is needed to see that teachers do not lose their autonomy. (RM)

Teachers must play a central role in attempts to reform public education. Teachers are losing control over their work. They must organize, defend schools as institutions essential to maintaining a democracy, and portray themselves as transformative intellectuals who combine scholarly reflection and practice to train students to be responsible…

Certain fundamental perspectives on social issues have become conventions in the way society is represented in school curricula, distorting the kind of social understanding needed by young people. Among these distorting conventions are functionalism, determinism, and individualism. These approaches to social education are analyzed; alternative…

The reconstructionists have raised a number of questions and made specific proposals for improving the process of social education as currently practiced. In particular, their ideas concerning ideology, indoctrination, relativism, and social welfare should be studied. (RM)

Educational change will develop from social conditions. Emergent patterns of social change are described, and educational possibilities of future social education are considered. (RM)

Language issues are basic to cultural knowledge. By being self-conscious about language and how it is used in speech, social studies education can help teachers and students gain more control over their own lives and the course of their society. (RM)

Emancipatory pedagogy refers to a process of teaching that aims to free the teacher and the student from the mental restrictions imposed by the mainstream culture on the way they perceive things. Cited here are sources of practical ways in which classroom teachers can explore emancipatory pedagogy. (RM)