The Social Encounter and Research Curriculum for Humanization (SEARCH) is an individualized social education curriculum for K-3 being developed at Research for Better Schools, Inc. The SEARCH instructional plan is based on a model of cognitive and social development as well as on a child-centered instructional format. Its content is organized according to five psycho-social life functions: self-realizing, governing, producing and consuming goods and services, utilizing environments, and interpreting and generating ideas and events. From these, the students can choose their own instructional focus and activity at their particular developmental level. Thus the SEARCH curriculum encourages students to take an active role in carrying out their instructional tasks and determining their own study routine. The role of the SEARCH teacher is equally demanding, requiring guidance and individualized planning for each student. In SEARCH the teacher is a facilitator of learning, rather than its source. Supplementary materials to the SEARCH curriculum encourage student independence plus responsibility and help teachers to operate and manage an individualized classroom. SEARCH is being developmentally tested at a center city school in Philadelphia, and the preliminary results from both students and teachers are positive. (Author/MK)