Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) has been subject to controversy historically and several studies have analysed the challenges and barriers to delivering it in schools. Recently, however, a new global phenomenon has sharpening debate with the emergence of anti-gender movements and their discourse on 'gender ideology'. The focus now is less on…

This article refers to a research on the political memory of the military dictatorship in Brazil, held in three Brazilian cities (Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and São Paulo) in which we analyzed the social and psychopolitical impacts caused by the dictatorship as well as the redemocratization process in building the political memory of community and…

Issues of sexual orientation elicit ethical debates in schools and society. In jurisdictions where a legal right has not yet been established, one argument commonly rests on whether schools ought to address issues of same-sex relationships and marriage on the basis of civil equality, or whether such controversial issues ought to remain in the…

This article argues that in divided societies, civic education fails to fulfill one of its most important social role: creating a more inclusive society that allows a democratic dialogue to flow across different ideological, religious, and cultural communities. This failure is grounded in two main reasons. First, civics teachers are socially and…

"Elitism" is frequently invoked among the pantheon of "isms" actively to be disavowed. Indeed the charge of elitism often takes the form of reiteration, of identifying yet another manifestation of adherence to traditional standards steeped in discrimination by sex, race, and class, this time in their institutional guises in the merit credited to…

Democracy is an ultimate test for human beings, holding that people are clever, generous, and persistent enough to solve power issues among themselves. This, of course, says the writer, is asking a lot of people, and centuries of evidence posit the idea as too idealistic. In this article, the author describes what he calls a pragmatic test on…

Autistic means a subject has limited affect or may be without affect altogether. Though traditionally individuals are described as autistic, the authors find it increasingly apparent that American society is becoming autistic as a whole, as citizens are desensitized to needs of neighbors near and far, losing the commensurate loyalty of being in…

During the decade that followed World War II, social studies education in the United States was affected by many societal changes, particularly the new socio-political climate and a widespread discontent with the state of postwar public education. By the mid 1950s there was a crisis atmosphere regarding U.S. education contributed to by limited…

Examines American public discourse about civil rights in national magazines from 1939-1959, indicating three stages in the controversy: (1) a positive recharacterization of blacks, (2) an inclusion of blacks under the nation's ideographs, and (3) a final contest between segregationist and integrationist rhetorics. Discusses the potential for…

This bulletin of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) sets forth the philosophic grounds for democratizing schools and the evidence from research as to why this task should be undertaken. In the first part of the booklet, a brief NCSS position statement indicates that schools should practice democracy and be able to instruct through…