Political education is a loaded expression, and even more so when it is suggested that state authorities should be in charge of it. The main claim from the author in this article is that, in contexts of sufficient political pluralism, political education should more firmly be taken in charge by primary and secondary schools. In the first section,…

This article provides an example of a social studies lesson from Turkish educational context in order to facilitate comparison with examples of social studies lessons from other parts of the world. This lesson was recorded in a 7th grade class at a middle school in one of the metropolitan neighborhoods in Istanbul. According to the current…

The agenda for the Social Science Education Consortium conference at Woods Hole (Massachusetts) was designed to continue a tradition of examining scholarship relative to the social sciences in K-12 education. The content focus for this volume, is political science, economics, and sociology. Following a "Foreword" (Matthew T. Downey; Joseph P.…

Offers a collection of seven lesson plans and 33 activity ideas for the celebration of the Constitutional bicentennial. The lesson plans and activities span grades K through 12. (JDH)

Advocates an approach for teaching the civic education component of the social studies curriculum based on the teaching of political science. "Citizenship Decision-Making" materials are described as an example of curricula which conceptualize politics by permitting students to examine their own political experiences in comparison with the adult…

Traces three twentieth century approaches to social studies education: citizenship transmission, social science, and reflective inquiry. Common to these approaches is that interpretations and criticism of social institutions, distribution of goods, services, and opportunities in society, and the values that justify them are not fostered.…

Discusses political education in the postwar Federal Republic of Germany. Describes a U.S. led reeducation program founded upon principles of denazification and democracy and examines German responses. Identifies the influence of the Soviet Union upon West German education. Analyzes the growth of political education in the 1960s, its maturation,…

States that political education must represent the relationship between three entities: human being (liberty), citizenship (equality), and membership (unity). Analyzes Erich Weniger's theory of political education with respect to its peculiarities and its significance for a general theory of democracy. Relates Weniger's concept to fundamental…

This paper examines the research on students' and adults' knowledge of government and queries: "Will the civics and government standards (or any others) make any difference?" Contending that the present teacher education environment does little to promote active learning in the government classroom and that present government teachers have not…

This essay chronicles the move toward national standards in the content areas and examines the civics lessons to be learned from the debates. The paper notes the contradiction found in historically advocating local control and support of schools, moving toward the setting of national education goals and standards with little attention paid to…

Focusing on the most recent standards movement and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) framework for civics and government, this paper attempts to use the standards and framework to construct a synthesis model of civic education, to analyze the model through the perspectives of five civic education theorists, and to subject the…

Political education in Canada remains, for the most part, in the mould of traditional civics. Textbooks concentrate on legal-historical descriptions of government institutions. Students learn about politics through history or social studies courses which promote nationalism rather than political efficacy or literacy. Most teachers lack training in…

Describes the theory and practice of an experiential civic education initiative, developed by the University of Minnesota, called "Public Achievement" which is based upon the concept of public work (the work of the people). Discusses how "Public Achievement" proves successful for undergraduate coaches in the education of young students. (CMK)

The contradictions of political education in East European socialist countries based on the Hungarian experience are explored in this paper. Divided into three parts, the first part gives a brief sketch of institutionalized political education, while the second concerns the crisis of Hungary's political education emerging in the 1980s. In the…

The conventional way of thinking about politics keeps us from studying the important work that citizens must do to achieve political efficacy. Students learn the procedures of government as if politics were a spectator sport. While everyone learns about the politics of government, there is little discussion about the politics of the public. Unless…