Presents results of a survey questionnaire asking for teacher perspectives on student acquisition of democratic citizenship. States that the survey initially was begun as a field test of the evaluation instrument. Includes the survey questions and percentages of agreement and disagreement in the teachers' responses. (DK)

Offers suggestions for teaching about the quincentenary of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the Americas. Includes details on teaching definitions about the topic, offering an essay test, and providing a nine-day unit of study on Columbus. Provides a three-item annotated bibliography of works about the explorer. (SG)

Presents a learning activity calling upon students to choose the best candidate for U.S. President. Requires students to examine the qualifications for the position, brainstorm and discuss additional qualifications, study the backgrounds of potential candidates, choose candidates, and defend choices. Includes references and the backgrounds of…

Presents a five-day study unit that provides positive and negative views of Columbus' voyages. Explains that lessons include reading and writing assignments culminating in a debate of the implications of the Columbian legacy. Offers questions designed to prompt students to defend their views on Columbus. Identifies instructional objectives and…

Consists of a reading assignment and questions for students about Christopher Columbus' voyages. Provides details on how Columbus brought the potato to Europe from the Americas and how sugar, new diseases, and the horse got to the Americas. Argues that Europe would have been different, and poorer, without Columbus. (SG)

Discusses the historical and ecological significance of Christopher Columbus' contacts with the Americas. Suggests that 1992's Columbian quincentennial can be an occasion for improving teaching about Columbus. Underscores teachers' responsibility to provide a multidimensional view of the explorer's times. Cites the need to balance teaching about…

Observes that Native Americans have been replaced almost entirely in North America by the descendants of European immigrants. Discusses the differing ecological histories of Europe and the Americas. Identifies some of the plants, animals, and pathogens that were exchanged between Europe and the Americas as a result of Columbus' and other…

Provides an annotated list of materials dealing with Christopher Columbus. Includes articles, ERIC documents, children's magazines and books, discovery kits, films and videos, and other items. Concludes that educators are only now discovering the innumerable connections between Columbus' era and the present. (SG)

Discusses the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Criticizes contemporary condemnation of Columbus as unproductive. Acknowledges the deaths of countless Native Americans through disease and warfare. Recognizes that the pre-Columbian Americas did not comprise a paradise. Concludes that commemorating the…

Criticizes calls for national competency testing for Canadian students. Argues that thinking skills are too complex, and standardized tests too simplistic, for such tests to be valuable. Points out that testing alone does not improve education. Examines why standardized tests are appealing. Concludes that the tests are useful if their limits are…

Discusses moves toward independence for the Canadian province of Quebec. Predicts that Quebec will remain in the Canadian confederation, assuming that the French-speaking province retains its recognition as a "distinct society." Cites polls suggesting that compromise remains a possibility. Argues that continuing unity lies in national justice for…

Explores prospects for self-government for the Native peoples of Canada. Reviews the historical background of the Native community's loss of political autonomy. Explains how missionary efforts and the ethnocentric views of Europeans disrupted the community's culture and individual families. Identifies education as the key to effective self-rule in…

Critiques current views of multiculturalism. Reveals results of a student survey concerning a Canadian history curriculum. Indicates that students express concern for Eurocentrism, insensitivity to Native peoples, and sex bias uniformly, but ignore other minorities. Explores multiculturalism's ideological bases. Identifies the movement with…

Discusses the meaning of postmodernism. Describes it as a distrust of universal truths, a shift toward social fragmentation, and a recognition of the world's plurality. Explains how members of different groups can view similar phenomena differently. Examines social studies teachers' role in educating students about the many different possible ways…

Discusses the life of human rights activist Raoul Wallenberg. Explains his role in the rescue of European Jews from the Nazis during World War II. Reviews Wallenberg's disappearance and the Soviet coverup of the incident. Suggests presenting Wallenberg as a role model for secondary school students, particularly those in Canada who share…