To promote diverse learning strategies, teacher education programs should use their local environments. For example, students in elementary education methods courses at the University of Maryland spend one week in the Mall area of Washington, DC. They must use all the sources in the Mall to research specific problems. (RM)

Collecting, utilizing, and displaying old or antique items will give elementary children some firsthand experience of how people in the past lived, what they worked with, and the progress of their industrial development. Using brainstorming, interviews with senior citizens, resource people, and classroom demonstrations are suggested techniques.…

Explains how community legal resource persons (police officers, lawyers, law students, court employees, legislators, etc.) can contribute to high school students' understanding of the legal system. Suggestions include that the resource person's visit relate to material the class is studying and that the teacher and resource person communicate…

Presents a rationale for introducing multiethnic studies into elementary and secondary social studies classrooms and explains how community resources can help students understand themselves and others. Learning activities based on the televised version of Alex Haley's "Roots" are suggested. (Author/DB)

Identifies writing projects, children's literature, role-playing activities, and community resources that teachers can use in instructing young children about the Bill of Rights. Reminds teachers not to be overzealous in presenting the subject. Suggests that guest speakers and field trips are likely to have a greater impact upon students than most…

Explains why conflict resolution is utilized in junior secondary schools in Botswana and discusses the role of the kgotla as a location for resolving problems in a community. Reviews methods for teaching conflict resolution presenting a scenario that enables the teacher and students to resolve a conflict in a social studies classroom. (CMK)

A conceptual approach for teaching conservation so that it relates directly to the pressing resource issues confronting our modern urban-industrial society. (MB)

In this article, the author describes "community/resource mapping," an activity in which students intellectually engage problems, mine the terrain of their social conditions for solutions, and exercise and accept responsibility for the burden of decision making. The activity, which was developed for use in the public policy sector, can be an…

A rationale and framework for community-based teacher education using social studies as an example is developed. The framework includes three types of community involvement: community service programs, community-based courses and workshops, and internships or experiential programs. (RM)

Contends that barriers to effective education can be overcome by using the community as a living laboratory for social studies learning. Discusses out-of-school learning opportunities that meet four criteria: (1) goal relevance; (2) appropriate level of difficulty; (3) feasibility; and (4) cost effectiveness. (CFR)