At its best, service learning involves students making meaningful connections to their own community and feeling empowered by the experience. Unfortunately, in the elementary years, student service-learning is often a one-shot effort in which adults make decisions for children, preventing them from truly having a hand in the project's direction…

Dr. Wangari Maathai--"environmentalist, human rights advocate, global peace worker, and community builder"--passed away in 2011. The first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Maathai left a legacy even greater than the 47 million trees that her organization, the Greenbelt Movement, has planted across Kenya since 1977. As the Nobel…

In the age of globalization--marked by growing interrelationships and interdependence between nations, economies, people, and cultures the world over--U.S. educators are increasingly interested in how to induct young children effectively and appropriately into the responsibilities of global citizenship. Research studies, conceptual explorations,…

The authors review an eight-year collection of journal articles from "Theory and Research in Social Education," "The Social Studies," "Social Education," and "Social Studies and the Young Learner". Their research yielded 37 articles, of which 20 were published in "Social Studies and the Young Learner" from 2000 to 2008. The authors describe three…

Panwapa, created by the Sesame Street Workshop of PBS, is an example of an initiative on the Internet designed to enhance students' learning by exposing them to global communities. Panwapa means "Here on Earth" in Tshiluba, a Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the Panwapa website, www.panwapa.org, children aged four to…

Preparing students to be global citizens is foremost among teachers' educational goals and is central to the teaching of social studies. High quality trade books with multicultural and international themes can promote cultural and global awareness, which in turn advocates for peace and social justice. Such literature allows teachers to select…

During a recent trip to South Africa, the author had an array of opportunities to experience the cultural, historical, political, and geographic landscape of the country. He was privileged to visit classrooms and to teach and interact with students and teachers. Through teaching some lessons on democracy and citizenship, the author learned that…

Teaching social studies concepts and skills through an introduction to world languages is a powerful vehicle for student learning. Simultaneously, teachers can increase student awareness of language diversity by teaching students about the world and its many countries and supporting English language learners. Fortunately, for linguistically…

In this paper, the authors--a university social studies professor and two elementary classroom teachers in a metropolitan urban community--share their perspectives, experiences, and commitment to keeping social studies in the curriculum. Specifically, they discuss practices that they have engaged in to navigate the school district's mandated…

Addresses human rights education (HRE) for young learners stressing the centrality of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Illustrates the use of HRE within history, geography, world cultures, and literature. Believes that HRE begins by creating a human rights community in the classroom. (CMK)

Describes a project that focuses on teaching current events from a global perspective. Students are grouped into news teams and then develop questions based on the five dimensions of the Hanvey Global Awareness Model. Provides an example of the questions and answers developed by a seventh-grade Latin American team. (CMK)

Stresses the need for all students, even ones with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), to interact within cooperative learning activities. Asserts that cooperative groups help develop social studies knowledge, literacy skills, and global understanding. Presents practical suggestions for addressing the special needs of students with…

Reviews teachers' resources related to people and places. Most of these focus on the identification of geographic locations and historical biographies of famous individuals or groups of people. Includes discussions of reference works, audio cassettes, activity kits, and fiction. (MJP)

Reviews four approaches to the integration of ethnic content into the curriculum. The contribution and additive approaches add ethnic heroes and courses to the curriculum. The transformation approach changes the basic assumptions of the curriculum while the social action approach requires students to use the information gained in transformative…

Urges that an evaluative attitude be taken concerning curricular efforts to foster multicultural education. Suggests expanding the primary school curriculum, defining multicultural education, and multiplying the effects of a lesson by linking multicultural activities with concepts already being taught. Provides illustrative activities to integrate…