Examines four varieties of curriculum irrelevance, including curricula that are fixed, antiseptic, trivial, and right answer-oriented. Suggests that educators need to stress curricular context and concern themselves more with process and less with products. Includes 10 references. (MLH)

Explains the difference between rote and experiential/locale learning, their effects on neurons of the brain, and their impact on short- and long-term memory. Draws upon brain research to explore the effects of stress and boredom on learning. Notes programs that employ teaching methods using brain-based theories of learning. (DMM)

Discusses the importance of teaching place names and locations to students. Targeting rote memorization as an unstimulating method, offers an exercise and several activities using an incorrectly labeled map to teach place-name and location geography in an interesting manner. (AEM)

New knowledge on the evolution of the brain helps to explain human behavior and learning patterns. Threat is implicit in our school system, according to the author, and this atmosphere severely inhibits full use of the New Mammalian brain. (Author/WD)

"1984" and other works by George Orwell contain messages that are pertinent to teaching. Orwell left a teaching career for other work; his comments on teaching, rote learning, regimentation, and literature are discussed. (PP)

The two opposing reading instruction philosophies are analyzed and placed in historical perspective. The author shows the importance of clarifying the debate and distinguishing between manifest and actual issues. (MD)

In this article the author explores possibilities for cultivating justice with reference to teaching and learning in (South African) universities. It is argued that teachers and learners ought to become responsive, democratic and critical--they need to act justly in order to break with South Africa's apartheid legacy. The author discusses why…

Considers the value of preschool children saying the Pledge of Allegiance daily in their classrooms. Suggests that there may be better ways to help children grasp abstract concepts like patriotism and to provide developmentally appropriate ways to explore the symbol of the flag. (LB)

Every spring, education-related newspaper and magazine stories raise the alarm that schools are "teaching to the test." Scores of articles and editorials paint a disheartening picture of frustrated teachers forced to abandon good instructional practices for a relentless stream of worksheets based on boring, repetitive test-preparation…

The federal journey into public education has followed a long and winding road. Most educators know that the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is simply the latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which dates all the way back to 1965. In the years since its initial passage, the ESEA road has taken a number of…

Looks at problems in United States geographical education in the early nineteenth century as perceived by reformers of that period. Focuses on who the reformers were, what changes they advocated, and problems encountered by the reform movement. (Author/AEM)

We should not, in the name of "back to basics," regress to the old methodologies of memorization and drill. Computational skills must be thoroughly developed, but mathematics should also be taught in a way that will enhance thinking skills and problem solving in an enjoyable atmosphere. (Author/SJL)

Often, bright young people languish in a setting where repetition and rote learning lull them into passivity. When students are not challenged, they fail to understand that true achievement comes with effort. Because of bureaucratic pressure, limited funding, and large class sizes, teachers often find themselves "teaching to the middle" or…

This paper has two purposes: (1) to describe how qualitative studies, drawing on educational criticism, have thrown into relief some salient features of curriculum and instruction in social studies; and (2) to compare and contrast the current reform proposal to upgrade geography education. The qualitative studies that are reviewed are the…

Schools need to be improved holistically, becoming vigorous community institutions. It is the local school which must be the focus of the efforts of community action and parent and teacher support. There are several major problems which many schools must solve in their effort to improve the educational delivery systems in the 1980s. There need to…