This issue of the Curriculum Report examines the status of humanities instruction in secondary schools. Although there is great variety among programs across the country, a number of characteristics common to most are that they are person-centered, lead to self-knowledge and self-discovery, teach learning activities across traditional subject lines, share the roles of teacher as student and student as teacher, and actively involve the student in the learning process. However, three situations militate against complete success including inadequate teacher training opportunities, inadequate means for sharing and disseminating ideas and experiences, and the use of packaged material rather than individually developed course design. Course descriptions of humanities courses in 17 high schools across country, helpful institutions for gaining further information, brief discussions of five different approaches to humanities instruction, and a list of references are also included. (Author/DE)