This case study describes the development of elementary social studies methods courses appropriate for two new alternative Michigan State University teacher education programs entitled "Learning Community" and "Multiple Perspectives." The "Learning Community" program prepares teachers to teach school subjects effectively while focusing upon the concomitant need to promote personal and social responsibility among students. The "Multiple Perspectives" program focuses upon teacher decision making, giving attention to decisions regarding instructional design, instruction, individual differences, and group development. Several tension points emerged in the effort to develop methods courses that were consistent with the goals of the two target alternative programs. Conflict centered around differing conceptions of social studies in the schools where students were required to do field work and in problems of designing methods courses within the thematic framework upon which each of the alternative courses was based. How these issues were resolved is discussed, and the social studies literature that provided intellectual models in the design of the two methods courses is described. A topical structure of each methods course is provided. (RM)