The ambitious project to nationalise the Australian Curriculum has prompted great interest among policymakers, academics and civics teachers in Australian schools. The government-led citizenship education initiative "Discovering Democracy" (1997-2007) comprehensively failed to meet its objectives, most prominently the stated goal of…

Civic and citizenship education is a component of the school curriculum in all nation states. The form it takes, its purposes and the way in which it is implemented differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The pressures of globalization in recent times have meant that citizenship has increasingly come to be seen in global terms brought about by…

Compiled by the Action for Children's Television (ACT) committee, this report (1) distills themes from the symposium "ACT on the Constitution" that was designed to bring educators and members of the television industry together to talk about programing opportunities for the 1987 Constitutional Bicentennial, and (2) includes related…

Presents social studies' dichotomous two faces in its goals, content, and methods: the declarative versus hypothetical modes. Delineates the problem of education to produce good citizens or critical thinkers. Argues that the National Commission on Social Studies report, "Charting A Course," fails to provide a social studies program…

This revised New York state social studies curriculum guide presents teacher development materials and a syllabus for fourth grade social studies classes. The teacher's section elaborates on key features of the program and suggests relevant classroom applications. Contents discuss or provide: (1) concept goals; (2) skill goals; (3) evaluation…

Critiques James Barth, Robert Barr, and Sam Shermis' three social studies traditions theory and National Commission on Social Studies task force report. Argues first falsely splits essential social studies components; second creates a curricular hodgepodge. Highlights need to consider values as both affective and cognitive and to create…

Reviews social studies curricula developed for classroom use since the 1890s. Examines six categories of differing recommendations. Reveals disparate conceptualizations of what constitutes useful knowledge to attain citizenship objectives. Defines classroom practice as the bottom line, citing findings from recent National Science Foundation…

Traces historical trends in social studies education, examining pressures that have both produced and inhibited change. Analyzes differences between discipline-based and issue-centered approaches. Presents pessimistic, optimistic, and realistic scenarios of the next 100 years of social studies education. Advocates developing issue-centered social…