During spring 1970 and January 1971, over 1,500 questionnaires were distributed in eight California public schools to delineate the cognitive and affective orientations of Mexican American and Anglo children to the three major components of the American political system: the political community, the regime, and the political authorities. The…

This report from the Committee on Civic Education at the University of California, Los Angeles, discusses the origin, activities, and future plans of the committee, whose major aim is the acquisition of intellectual skills rather than large amounts of factual knowledge or the development of "democratic attitudes" in the study of civics. The…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role played by the media in the 1972 U.S. Senate election in Virginia during the Scott and Spong campaigns. Its primary interest is the use of television, particularly the intense blitz by the Scott organization, which is viewed as a significant variable in the Scott victory. The case study seeks to…

The Meiji Restoration of 1868 ended six centuries of feudal military rule by establishing a divine Emperor and clam oligarchy. Compulsory schooling and military service soon followed. Until WWII both institutions engaged in moral training that was both Confucian and nationalistic in its emphasis on absolute loyalty to the state and Emperor. The…

Contents of this book include: (1) biographical sketches of the contributors; (2) an introduction to the readings by James A. Banks and Jean Dresden Grambs; and, the following articles: (4) "The world through Mark's Eyes," Cynthia Shepard; (5) "Racial prejudice and the black self-concept," James A. Banks; (6) "Black youth and motivation," Alvin…

This paper, prepared for the Center for Research and Education in American Liberties Conference in 1968, argues that education is the foundation upon which democratic politics stands because of the transmittal by schools of the skills and values necessary for our political system to operate. The objective of the paper is to show the relationship…

This paper covers the processes of developing an assessment tool to evaluate children's achievement in Civic Education throughout the world. Problems established prior to the study included: 1) uncertainty about a "common core"; 2) the need for special attitude measures as well as knowledge tests; 3) strong out-of-school influences on a child's…

This paper examines West Germany's educational system by discussing the status of K-12 political and social studies education. It was not until the late 1960s that social studies education was introduced as a subject on a wide scale into West Germany's school curriculum. The reason for its introduction and development was the desire to supplement…

Results suggest that the nature of parent-child communication and effects of that interaction depend not only on messages stressed by the parent but also on the child's own cognitive abilities and goals. (JD)

Describes the results of survey of 1,100 grade 5, 8, and 11 students to determine their knowledge of and attitudes toward world affairs. Notes that age, sex, and class were the most important correlates and that children were only marginally more knowledgeable about domestic politics than international affairs. (SB)

Examines implications of vocational education programs through investigations of Ontario education work experience programs. Argues that work programs provide opportunities for a critical counter-hegemonic pedagogy and the ethnographic investigations of such programs are valuable as a source of both a theoretical analysis of schooling and an…

The accredited course "Understanding Our Legal and Political World" was developed by the Victoria Law Foundation after a 1994 national survey into awareness of civics in Australia confirmed the need for basic political literacy programs at all levels of instruction, including adult education. To date, the course has been offered by a…

Theorizes the place of children in America's "Cold War Consensus" of the 1950s-60s. Counterposes dominant Cold War images of abstract, generic children (inevitably white middle class) to actual children most vulnerable to risks associated with nuclear weapons production and testing. Concludes that in various ways, these children were all…

Surveys of Polish teachers who volunteered to introduce civic education about democracy, along with parents, and students aged 13-14 examined individual-level support for democracy and a market economy in relation to three psychological dimensions widely thought to affect political and economic attitudes: valuing of self-direction, authoritarian…

Evaluates the relative importance of educational, economic, and cultural factors in supporting the emergence and stability of democracy. Data from over 100 countries on long-term changes in democracy, 1965-80 and 1980-88, support an institutional perspective that emphasizes the impact of elite higher education (as opposed to mass education and…