This teaching unit represents a specific "dramatic moment" in history that can allow students to delve into the deeper meanings of selected landmark events and explore their wider context in the great historical narrative. Studying a crucial turning point in history helps students realize that history is an ongoing, open-ended process,…

Students who ordinarily would not register for a history course were attracted to one offered on The World Since 1960.'' A variety of lecturers, of media approaches, and of evaluation methods provided the needed motivation. (JB)

The 1981 French elections mark a political watershed, demonstrating that women voters have moved from political passivity to activism, both in use of voting rights and in legislative participation. A variety of demographic, social, and political changes have contributed to this changing political consciousness. (MSE)

Like other national organizations from 1939 to 1945, the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) worked to promote national unity in the United States. MENC position statements are quoted in this article and its wartime music education programs outlined. (One of three articles on music in the 1930s-1940s.) (SJL)

Discusses an oral history project in which students interview a member of the Baby Boomer generation. Explains that the fourth episode of the "Talking History" series, "Greatest Generation," offers students background information before starting the project. Describes how the teacher can prepare and guide students through the interviews. (CMK)

Forms of organized authority that eclipse freedom of thought and action exist as a possibility in both public and private schooling. Historical patterns of resistance to public authority through private schooling are examined. Greater attention to democratic versus authoritarian aspects of socialization is much needed in discussions of school…

Critiques the writings of historians Frederick Jackson Turner and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., arguing that the experiences and viewpoints of Native Americans are largely absent. Describes the inaccuracies of the eurocentric view common to typical presentations of American history and calls for integration of Native Americans into the nation's…

Reviews the combined efforts of the National Bureau for the Advancement of Music and the Music Supervisors National conference (MSNC), who together contributed to the musical developments of the 1920s. Credits the organizations with obtaining high school credit for private music study, forming high school bands and orchestras, and state and…

Examines the social and intellectual development of Anne Jemima Clough, an early participant in the women's education movement in England. Explores Clough's decision to work for change within the established gender system, rather than outside of it. Suggests that Clough deserves greater historical recognition than she has received. (DSK)

Reviews two textbooks for seventh-grade students on modern history discussing the strengths and deficiencies of each: (1) "Modern History. Part I: A Textbook for the Seventh Grade of the Basic School" and (2) "Modern History, 1500-1800: A Textbook for the Seventh Grade of General Education Institutions." (CMK)

Asserts that the study of elites should be included when teaching modern world history, since elites significantly shaped the modern world. Explores sources of misinformation resulting from the failure to teach students about landed elites. Discusses how not everyone was happy to see the old elites disappear. (CMK)

The philosophers of the Enlightenment formulated a set of new ideas and visions about access to knowledge and education for all citizens. The main discourse of modernity is linked to liberty, democracy and equality, but modernity is also an ambiguous project, characterized by an ongoing conflict between individual freedom and discipline. Modernity…

This paper reports on a research study that investigated the extent to which the Queensland secondary school subject Modern History adopts characteristics of socially critical environmental education. The study found that while the Modern History syllabus gives ample opportunities for students to focus their inquiries on "environment",…