The fact that our world increasingly faces serious problems including poverty, wars, environmental destruction, climate change, pandemics, gender inequality, hunger, oppression and so on raises the question of the role of foreign language teaching profession in struggling to find solutions to those global issues. This understanding relates to an…

In democratic societies schools have an obligation to address complex societal issues such as ethnic/religious tensions and social conflicts. The article reports an exploratory study of how theatre plays were used in upper-secondary schools to generate pedagogically relevant platforms for addressing the current Middle East conflicts and their…

Summarizes a unit of study in which students learn about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki through reading about the survivors of the atomic bomb explosions and reflecting on the debate surrounding the 50th anniversary commemorations in Hiroshima (Japan) and the United States. Suggests that students keep journals throughout the unit. (CMK)

This document describes a National Security Council (NSC) role playing exercise designed to introduce students to the complexities and dynamics of U.S. foreign policy crisis management. Based upon the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) program, "In the Face of Terrorism," this classroom exercise casts students as NSC team members charged…

Focusing on Latin America's culture and historical development, this seventh grade social studies curriculum guide provides teaching methods for presenting this topic in the classroom and lists resource materials including three textbooks. A topical outline suggests that the course emphasize: (1) Latin America's physical environment; (2) the…

Presents a classroom activity designed to explore whether the world is becoming a better place for children. Describes the UNICEF publication, "The State of the World's Children," upon which the activity is based. Includes instructions on selecting, recording, and analyzing data drawn from the publication. Discusses continuation of the…

This middle school curriculum packet contains teaching ideas developed by United Kingdom professionals who then implemented the ideas in 15 day programs in West Yorkshire, England. The objectives were to stimulate communication and inquiry; to question accepted ideas on poverty; to challenge stereotypes; to value students' knowledge concerning…

To examine the cultural characteristics of a society without exploring the human condition of that society and how it relates to all as citizens on this planet is to ignore the realities of today. Most Canadians see global problems as massive and overwhelming. Some are uninformed and others are misinformed. As a result, gross misconceptions have…

Examines the Arab-Israeli issue using a humanistic approach. Uses case studies of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and a 17-year-old Israeli boy in a role-playing activity intended to help secondary students better understand concepts underlying the long-standing controversy in the Middle East. (LS)