As the U.S. and other nations grapple with the boundaries of inclusion at a time of increasing political polarization, teachers face quandaries about how to address immigration in classrooms. Although some educators may avoid immigration as a discussion topic, others enthusiastically choose it precisely because of its relevance. Further…

The author proposes that "societal renewal" and the engagement required to accomplish that renewal should be the core of the university. By focusing on the basic building blocks of good citizenship (civic knowledge and civic action) the university can weave, at relatively low cost, programs and classes into its core. Using Northwestern…

The 2012 presidential election and many state and local races are only a few weeks away, but schools are not doing much to promote student interest in the elections or provide civic education more broadly, new research suggests. A report last week from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), at Tufts…

Social studies teachers are charged with imparting an understanding of what democracy entails. Unfortunately, a major component of any authentic democracy, the acceptance of dissent in the face of majority views, is often omitted from classroom discussions due to practical considerations such as maintaining classroom order. Many scholars insist,…

University of the Pacific is a private, comprehensive university with a College of Arts and Sciences and six professional schools, and with a population of more than four thousand students on its main campus in the ethnically diverse central valley city of Stockton, California. The signature component of Pacific's general education program is the…

Canada prides itself on being an inclusive country. Immigrants from all over the world arrive in Canada's cities with their families because they feel welcome and safe. According to research, engagement towards social inclusion increased among Canadians during the last 30 last years. These changing values resulted in the creation of official…

Outlook is the monthly newsletter for the Council for American Private Education (CAPE). Each issue contains information relating to private education such as: new legislation and regulations, the most recent research, court rulings, national trends, federal initiatives, private school news briefs, and more. This issue contains the following…

Citizenship education is an important part of the development of young people. By enabling them to learn about their rights and responsibilities, to understand how society works, and develop knowledge and understanding of social and political issues, citizenship prepares them for dealing with the challenges they face in life. Through citizenship…

Describes the role played by people's movements and nongovernmental organizations, including educational programs, in empowering citizens and combating injustice in the Philippines. The authors argue that this type of education can play an important role in challenging the materialist vision of progress and awakening people to deeper values.…

"Homophobia Prevention" is a two-week social studies mini-unit. The purpose of this mini-unit is to raise awareness and understanding levels surrounding heterosexism and heterosexual privilege. Additional student goals for the mini-unit include forming connections between heterosexism and other forms of oppression, as well as identifying…

This research study used citizen profile data from the National Election Study surveys for the presidential elections years from 1980 through 1992. By crossing internal efficacy and trust indicators, the researchers hypothesized citizens would fit into four types: (1) the "Wary Monitors" have high internal efficacy and low trust with the highest…

Between 1976 and 1982, teenagers improved their performance on citizenship/social studies items measuring political knowledge and attitudes--13-year-olds by nearly three percentage points and 17-year-olds by about two percentage points. Results for the various population groups indicated that improvements tended to be greater for lower achieving…

Uses the journalists' tool of "who,""what,""when,""where," and "why" to examine the nature of Canadian citizenship. Notes, in particular, the tradition of a "loyal subject" to the crown. Although largely symbolic, this tradition has engendered a respect for and obedience to the law of the…

Summarizes some of the attitudes and circumstances contributing to low-voter turnout in the United States. These include apathy, language problems, lack of education, minority disincentives, a mobile population, and the discouraging effect of polls. Notes the impressive correlation between voter registration and voter participation. (MJP)