This book is a collection of works that explore the implications of a national U.S. curriculum through the study of Japanese education. It consists of 10 chapters: (1) "The Development of the Course of Study and the Structure of Educational Reform in Japan" (Hiroshi Azuma); (2) "Setting National Standards: Educational Reform, Social…

This curriculum project is intended for studying nonviolent conflict resolution at the undergraduate and graduate level, but it could be adapted for high school classes. The project first presents an historical context of Israel to illuminate the present conflict in the Middle East. It then presents a series of vignettes that represent differing…

This curriculum unit seeks to place South Africa's history in a world historical perspective. Although the unit cannot provide a comprehensive analysis of South Africa's place in the world, it does intend to provide an introductory framework by exploring the broad themes of settlement, economic development, and political development. It is…

Role-taking, a prototypical social-cognitive skill, is the ability to view the world (including the self) from another's perspective. (Author/MB)

Questionnaires exploring friendship relations, perspective-taking competencies, and notions of popularity were presented to 48 children divided into four age groups (mean ages 5.9, 7.11, 10.3, and 12.2 years) and into categories of upper and lower sociometric status. (Author/RH)

Discusses Erikson's ideas on the importance of historical perspective in identity formation and values. Suggests the developmental processes at adolescence and the way in which the individual and society react and interact have implications for the transmission and nurturing of values by both individual adults and the collective society. (RC)

Activities that reinforce social studies instruction and improve writing skills are described, including: (1) writing resumes for historical figures; (2) "on-site" reporting of historical events; (3) defining social studies concepts; (4) perspective taking and letter writing; and (5) speech writing. (CJ)

Reports on research which indicates that much of the meaning of transcendental meditation (TM) is constructed from preexisting understandings and expectations. Various influences for the impact of TM are suggested including the language, rules, and world view of the social environment. (RC)

This article discusses cognitive development research as it relates to social competence. Two research approaches are summarized: (1) attempts to isolate sequential stages in the development of social cognition, and (2) conceptualization of broad organizing principles hypothesized to mediate all social cognition. (Author/SJL)

Examines Kohlberg's proposition that both cognitive and perspective-taking development are necessary but not sufficient conditions for moral development by attempting to stimulate moral development. Results are interpreted as confirming Kohlberg's proposition. (RMH)

This study examined the relationship between the frequency of adult/peer interactions of preschool children and their perceptual role-taking ability. (CM)

Belief clusters show that journalism students' early impressions of newspaper work may be influenced by advanced journalism courses. (RL)

Eighty-three children from grades 2 through 5 were administered measures of social egocentrism and moral judgment. Methodological improvements in the moral judgment measure were introduced. (Author/MP)

The authors look at the psychological literature on changing roles of men and women and provide a rationale for these changes. They propose a concept of androgyny and what they call "the symmetry option" as a goal for career socialization to maximize human development. (MF)

Examines how modern technology is redefining competences, particularly those required by aircrews in state-of-the-art cockpits and how rule-based descriptions may not always be as practical as cognitive schemas and frames or case-based reasoning. Concludes that a wider systems perspective must include a balance between intuitive and analytic…