Effective social work education that promotes social justice requires expanded curricular models and creative pedagogical approaches. This article presents a curricular case study demonstrating the use of current events to enhance both implicit and explicit curricula. How the cultural crisis of Hurricane Katrina was used to engender transformative…

Focused conversation is a method of collecting observations, emotions, interpretations, and decisions from groups that have shared a significant experience. This article reports how the author used focused conversation to discuss the events of September 11 with students in three sections of a master's-level organizational change class in the week…

Recommends using focus group interviews and other discussion techniques, generally used in business, to examine social studies issues. Outlines and discusses how these techniques (systems thinking, mental models, shared vision, team learning) can greatly enhance social studies instruction of current events and controversial issues. (MJP)