The paper delineates areas to investigate when seeking information about political ethics in western society. The main purpose of the paper is to call attention to the relationship of civic virtue to communal politics. Specifically, five questions are posed and answered which deal with various aspects of civic virtue and its relationship to…

It is proposed that the role of teachers in bilingual education curriculum development is essential. The assumption is that pre-packaged curricula, programs, and materials cannot be effective because student and community needs differ from one situation to the other. Therefore, those persons involved in each situation should be the ones to develop…

The essay provides background material for a junior high school unit, The Emergence of the New American. The unit deals with the colonial period in America in terms of the evolution of the political American. Separate sections of the paper discuss the format of the course, the Englishman in the 17th century, the lure of the new world, changes over…

The paper investigates the qualities which distinguish representative democracies from other forms of government, particularly direct democracies, dictatorships, and oligarchies. Representative democracy is based on the precept that political authority should be located in offices which are specified by a popularly ratified or accepted…

The current political conflict over school policy making is raised as a source of political learning for the young. It is hypothesized that the current politicization of educational issues influences students as never before and that this influence has great potential for re-shaping perceptions and evaluations of the political world. In the last…

A conceptual framework and a unique data collection technique are proposed as a means for studying the relationship between cognitive structure and political awareness in children. Most researchers have dealt with cognitive development and political socialization research by examining children in different grade levels at one point in time.…

The primary objective of this research is to explore whether black student activism can be presumed to indicate a relative lack of socialization among activists. Contrary to the popular belief which argues that widespread challenges to established authority and dominant groups should be seen as an index of social disorganization among the…

Research techniques for measuring political learning during a campaign are examined. Micro-analytic techniques involve intensive analysis of individuals. Large amounts of data on the psychological and sociological settings of subjects are gathered, along with information on opinions toward past and emerging political situations. Macro-analytic…

Reflections on the fundamental problems of teaching political science in community colleges are outlined. Facing the stark reality of a student population deficient in reading and writing skills, the teacher must make difficult concepts and material comprehensible in order to create a sense of attachment for the nation, its Constitution, laws, and…

As is true in all societies, the American schooling process is a formalized effort designed to induct the individual into his/her society. During the course of the 1930s', through the 1940's, and on into the cold war years of the 1950's, a great emphasis was placed on citizenship education; a societal desire to have all American youth…

That American education is in trouble no longer needs to be documented. What is not clear or widely accepted is an understanding of how and why the schools became that way, and what alternatives are available. The readings in this book have been brought together as sources in which to find the foundations of educational alternatives. Alternatives…

This social studies curriculum guide for grades 5 and 6 is a product of the American Values Exemplary Center directed by Ralph H. Davis. The introduction describes a model program to introduce students to the functioning of local and national government through a student government program set up as an essential part of the social studies…

Social studies programs in the Fresno City Unified School District are evaluated as part of PROJECT DESIGN, funded under ESEA Title III. This report surveys the scope and sequence of the social studies program and assesses how well the needs of learners are being met. Visits were made to 16 elementary, junior high, and senior high schools, and…

Distinctions between political socialization as beliefs about ideals, beliefs about the realities of governmental structure, as attempts at cognitive consistency, and as affective orientations toward the system, map out most children's political orientations. The objects of these orientations are: 1) America as a nation and patriotic attachment;…

Purposes of this paper are to analyze youth's reactions to Watergate, look at the effects of age, class, and sex upon Watergate orientations, study the impact that school has had on these adolescent perceptions, and speculate about the American political future with these images in mind. Data are obtained from a questionnaire survey of 370 eighth…