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Would-be citizens must complete a multistep process that includes answering--in person and orally--10 questions selected from 100. These 100 questions range across civics, American government, US history, a bit of geography, and even major holidays and symbols. The revealing 2018 Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation survey shows that fewer than one in three adult Americans could pass such a test, and the National Assessment of Educational Progress has recently reminded us that eighth graders' knowledge of civics (and US history and geography) remains dismal. This report discusses the following key points: (1) Conservatives should support a national citizenship curriculum to ensure that all students are taught basic civics, such as how the government works and who we are as a nation; (2) The curriculum should be comprised of the vital concepts all students must learn to be ready for active, engaged citizenship; the 100-question US civics naturalization test is a good start; and (3) The federal government should not impose this curriculum on anyone, but it could incentivize its adoption with funds for states, districts, and individual schools that adopt the curriculum.

Homeschooling can be challenging. Particularly as children age, parents can find themselves out of their depth trying to teach more advanced coursework. Many families also want their children to be part of a community while still maintaining primary control of their child's education. For them, traditional schools (whether public or private, religious or nonreligious) give too much away. Full-time homeschooling keeps too much in-house. This report discusses the following key points about hybrid homeschooling: (1) Hybrid homeschooling creates an avenue for conservatives to build the types of schools that appeal to their values and desires at a price they can afford; (2) Hybrid homeschools should be part of a conservative agenda because they recognize the primacy of the family and work in civic society to create formative institutions built on local values; and (3) For conservative families that feel isolated and besieged by an educational culture at odds with their values, hybrid homeschools offer an opportunity for renewal and flourishing.

This beginning paper attempts to explicate the myth of autonomy and individuality and the impact of this myth upon people in Western society. Focusing upon the work of the Dutch philosopher Gerrit Manenschijn, the authors briefly explore: (1) the history of autonomy as a myth as well as (2) how the West's monomythical culture shapes human thinking. In part two of the paper, the authors set out two examples to suggest how this myth works within education: (1) assessment at the K-12 level and (2) life as it is currently "competed" within higher education. The authors suggest how current educational practices might be complicit in the extension and support of autonomy and individuality as a moral compass that pushes those in the West towards materialism and extends current economic and market-driven curriculum. (Contains 6 footnotes.)

As Congress considers reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 a fundamental question in the debate is whether to continue to increase federal government management authority over education or to restore citizen ownership of America's schools. Testing requirements in NCLB are having unintended consequences: by requiring states to test students annually and make annual progress toward a national goal of all students scoring proficient by 2014, the law has created a strong incentive for states to lower standards so that more students will pass. Researchers have termed this problem a "race to the bottom," which threatens to eliminate academic transparency about student performance, denying parents, citizens, and policymakers needed information on school performance. The authors advocate that Congress can address this problem by ending NCLB testing policies and allowing states to opt out of NCLB requirements. Parents, citizens, and policymakers would continue to receive the information about student and school performance through state testing. Restoring citizen ownership of American education is advocated as necessary for future efforts to strengthen American public schools. (Contains 16 footnotes and 3 charts.) [This document was produced by the Domestic Policy Studies Department, The Heritage Foundation.]

Some see the George W. Bush administration's American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) as the perfect complement to the No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) equity focus. The authors believe, however, that the prospects for synergy of these two agendas are not bright. In this essay, the authors discuss the history behind NCLB and the ACI, and argue that there is a fundamental disconnect between the two programs' central ideals. (Contains 17 endnotes.)

On the fifth anniversary of No Child Left Behind, Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) outline their alternative for restoring state and local ownership of education policymaking while ensuring transparency about results and accountability to parents and taxpayers. The A-PLUS Act of 2007 (Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success) will revitalize education by allowing states flexibility in spending their federal education dollars while still requiring accountability to parents and taxpayers. The A-PLUS Act will restore the principles of federalism to public education. States should have the option to stay under the No Child Left Behind regime or choose to have the flexibility in policymaking while maintaining transparency for results. [Lecture delivered January 8, 2007.]

This paper explores the normative role of civic education in responding to war, and in preparing society for the possibility of peace. The paper describes changes in the conceptualization of citizenship in times of conflict. It notes that during wartime, democratic societies tend to transform their notion of citizenship to a militaristic one that is termed here belligerent citizenship. the paper examines the role of public education in response to these social challenges. It makes the case for an educational response to belligerent democracy from various perspectives, situated within the contemporary theoretical discussion of patriotic education. Based on Amy Gutmann's democratic education theory, the paper maintains that the foremost role of public education is to foster basic democratic principles, such as equal opportunity and liberty. It points out that in wartime, the education system has to fulfill this role through opposing the mainstream conception of citizenship, employing radical, critical ways of interpreting and realizing these aims. Includes 45 notes. (BT)

An event such as congressional boundary redistricting, so ripe with political confrontation, provides a fertile ground for the profuse growth of political rhetoric. The traditional two-party political system, charged by the two well-developed adversarial philosophies, generates a highly charged environment with messages begging for analysis. After numerous unsuccessful attempts at using existing political rhetorical theories to analyze the rhetoric resulting from Ohio's reapportionment maneuvers, the necessity for a suitable theory resulted in the production, design, and emergence of a new political communication theory providing sufficient framework to analyze the unique rhetoric of redistricting. This theory, called "rhetorical illusionism," consists of seven fundamental principles which provide the framework. This paper presents the rhetoric of Ohio's redistricting analyzed through this theory. As a background canvas, the paper invokes the ideas and practices of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, the noted "illusionism" artist, pointing out that this artistic tool, illusionism, has direct application to the art of rhetoric, and more specifically to the rhetoric of redistricting. Contains a 50-item bibliography. (NKA)

This paper examines the forces that affect school accountability. It presents the discussion in the context of the classic agency model, which is built around a principal-agent relationship. In these types of relationships, a principal attains certain goals through an agent, who acts on her behalf. Although ubiquitous in society, these kinds of arrangements can sometimes lead to tension between the agent and the principal, as each finds her interests to be at loggerheads. Such difficulties lie at the root of the two fundamental problems that undercut accountability in schools: the control problem and the political problem. The control problem arises because school employees (the agents) have their own interests distinct from those of the authorities (the principals and school boards). The agents have power because they have information that the authorities do not have, giving the former the incentive and the capacity to resist top-down efforts to hold them accountable. The political problem arises because the authorities are elected officials who are responsive to the political power of school employees, and thus have incentive to ignore true accountability. If school accountability is to succeed, reformers need to break from top-down methods of control and recognize that a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches is more likely to yield results. (Contains 46 references.) (RJM)

North Americans' fear and preoccupation with safety and security as a result of the September 11 attacks is similar to that felt by gays and lesbians in daily life. Queer persons are not part of the Christian family, according to Jerry Falwell and other rightist Christian fundamentalists, including those involved in transformative ministry and reparative therapy. Transformational ministry is aimed at elimination of same-sex desire and intimacy and conversion to a heterosexual lifestyle. Reparative therapy is orthodox psychotherapy which, unlike current American Psychiatric Association practices, classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder. A politics of conversion, characterized by self-worth and concern for others, would argue against such exclusionary practices. Cornell West locates heterosexism in power intersections with white supremacy and patriarchy. His vision of a popular struggle for liberation incorporates queer people into a vision for cultural democracy. Democratic transformative learning is the responsibility of educators in order to eliminate not only homophobia but also racism and patriarchy from both curricula and campus activities. Exemplars of this goal include The Diversity Conferences of Alberta Society (DCAS), which worked to build understanding and create social justice while providing space and a place for gay and lesbian students and adults to deliberate issues of sexuality and spirituality; and Agape, which investigated sex-and-gender differences in education. (12 references) (AJ)

A professor who teaches an American Studies course at the University of Idaho contends that she has her work cut out for her. According to the professor, Idaho's conservative political climate has led to her learning to negotiate. This paper first describes the development of an American Studies core course that began in the 1980s and continues today. She then discusses a course in American culture which was taught for the first time in 2001. The American Studies course, "Interpreting America," developed out of a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded University of Idaho workshop when William Bennett headed the agency in the 1980s and funding supported the "great ideas" tradition. In all the units of the course, she consciously includes a wide array of perspectives. However, she has mixed feelings about teaching such foundational readings as Frederick Jackson Turner's "The Significance of the Frontier in American History," a text now considered both inaccurate and culturally prejudiced. The second new course was designed as a freshman core discovery course, and naming the course and deciding on its themes were difficult enough even before the course began, since the course was envisaged as having a multicultural approach. She also describes some American Studies assignments and notes that the new freshman course has a service-learning component. (NKA)

This paper uses two stories to illustrate the political attitudes of today's youth. The first story, about a group of young people in a working class area of St. Paul, Minnesota, who were part of the youth civic engagement initiative called Public Achievement, suggests ways to re-engage young people with politics. Through this initiative, students engage in the politics of public work, negotiating diverse interests for the sake of creating things of broad public interest. The second story conveys another politics: canvass politics. The paper argues that the canvass embodies a Manichean politics in which the forces of good do battle against the forces of evil. The second story, about a friend of the author/educator who works for the affiliate of a nationwide community organizing network in a large urban area, points to obstacles to civic empowerment, including conventional ideas of "politics" itself. The story brings to the surface some of the hidden elements in what today's college students experience as politics. Includes 5 notes. Attached are a survey results form which reports data on political attitudes of students and a "Models of Democracy, Citizenship, and Politics" chart. (BT)

This National Council for History Education (NCHE) Occasional Paper presents the text of a speech given by Roger Mudd, a former network news correspondent and now a correspondent for the History Channel, to NCHE members. He spoke of his regard for the profession of teaching, and of the difficulty of being a teacher and the respect for teachers that is missing in U.S. society. Mudd told some personal stories from his professional life, and since it was just a few days before the 2000 presidential election, he mused about people's expectations and convictions about every new president who takes office. He discussed the results of the testing programs for public school students, mentioning that in his state of Virginia it was the high school test on United States history that most of the students flunked. Mudd also talked about National History Day and related some anecdotes about U.S. presidents from earlier times. He concluded with some personal opinions about how history is currently taught, and how television was not much help until Ken Burns' 1990 PBS series, "The Civil War." Roger Mudd ended his speech with a humorous anecdote about having the surname Mudd. (BT)

This essay traces the liberal to conservative changes in U.S. political attitudes and the effect these changes had on progressive and essentialist theories of education from the 1940s to the present. Focus is on the role Arthur Bestor played in these developments. Bestor was a leader of the anti-progressive movement during the 1950s and the most widely read educational reformer of that time. Initially the main difference between Bestor and his opponents was the relative place he gave to social problems and the liberal disciplines, but he grew increasingly conservative in his vision of educational reform, promoted essentialism in education, and called for a national commitment to liberal education. Bestor's educational background, ideologies, theories of curriculum, and opponents are discussed. Debates regarding teaching mainstream culture versus cultural pluralism, issues which divided Bestor and his progressive opponents during the 1950s, continue to divide liberal educators today. The document argues that because the Cold War is over and the political crisis that inflamed educational differences between progressives and essentialists is gone, it is time for progressive educators to acknowledge the value of Bestor's ideas and bring the educational Cold War to an end. Contains 153 references. (MM)

The paper begins with a discussion of the roles of science in the political world and, borrowing from Shakley and Wynne (1996), describes some different relationships which can exist between science and policy. It argues that education systemic reform (ESR) constitutes a novel approach to educational reform, about which little is known, and about which much is yet to be discovered. ESR requires "abracadabra" science, in the language of Shakley and Wynne. To be consistent with the philosophy of ESR, the evaluation of ESR must be an evaluation of systems undergoing change, and so evaluation itself also requires a good deal of abracadabra science. The paper describes three styles of modeling in science: analytic, exemplified by eighteenth century physics; systemic, exemplified by biology; and macro-systemic, exemplified by studies of ecologies undergoing change. Each modeling style depends on and incorporates its predecessor. The dominant intellectual traditions in education have been analytic, rather than systemic. The emergence of systemic reform as a paradigm for educational change has created a need for approaches to educational evaluation that set out to judge the functioning of systems; this will require attention to major system phases- the evaluation of plans about some new system, the evaluation of the implementation of the plans, and the provision of summative feedback about its success or otherwise. However, systemic reform requires more than just an understanding of systems; rather, it requires an understanding of systems undergoing change. It follows that the evaluation of education systemic reform then is more a kind of macro-systemic model than a systemic model as drawn from science. Several disciplines outside education have systemic and macro-systemic approaches as their dominant intellectual traditions. This monograph considers the approaches taken to evaluation and inquiry in some of these disciplines, notably epidemiology and ecology, and the central roles that evaluation plays in planning and monitoring change. From a description of the methods used in other disciplines, a specification of the evidence base needed to conduct evaluations of ESR is derived. Attention is given to some of the research styles from a number of different academic disciplines(including physics and earth sciences) that face the same problems as those faced by education in terms of handling complexity. Some ideas on data gathering, modeling, and strategies for further research into educational evaluation are presented. The monograph points out the importance of making full use of existing knowledge and the knowledge that the evaluation community is rapidly creating. It endorses arguments made by Wilson (1994) and Scriven (1993) that there is a pressing need for an intellectual community to emerge that addresses the issues of the management and evaluation of systems undergoing change. (Contains 65 references.) (Author)

Control over a broad range of programs is being shifted back to state and local jurisdictions. Based on focus groups, interviews, and surveys of those who live in or represent organizations with a strong interest in rural America, this report highlights the concerns of rural communities towards these changing intergovernmental relations. Challenges to governmental devolution include a lack of clarity in the responsibilities local governments are expected to assume, a lack of administrative infrastructure and experience to manage the new responsibilities, a lack of expertise and experience in long-range planning, difficulties in gaining broad-based participation in community decision making, and a sense among rural leaders of alienation from the sources of decision making. Opportunities identified were that local management will permit creativity in program design, program goals can be determined within the context of local priorities, and devolution could strengthen the capacity of local governments to handle their responsibilities, thus empowering local communities. Critical needs in implementing this new paradigm include open lines of communication among federal, state, and local officials; a wide range of training and technical assistance for local leaders; and increased access to data and information resources for conducting community assessments, designing programs, and evaluating programs. Federal and state governments and land grant universities must provide support by recognizing the limited fiscal and administrative capacities of rural governments; providing opportunities for more communication between governments, among communities, and between citizens and governments; and assisting in building collaborations and partnerships. (TD)

Teachers of writing face an unusual situation in the classroom in that there is no mandated agenda for what students should write about in their courses. In teaching critical thinking skills or methods of argument in writing essays, eventually writing teachers must introduce controversial issues and a political agenda. In fact, teachers' very existence in the classroom betrays an agenda, representing the valuation of learning over material reward and making it difficult for them to convince students that they support unregulated profit, for example, or cutting educational funding to build more prisons. Since it is virtually impossible to remain neutral, instructors should decide what they represent and then set about advocating in a balanced, fair-minded way. However, teachers currently face a backlash against efforts to expose students to a wider variety of viewpoints, and some are intimidated into silence. There is nothing wrong with encouraging students to consider non-mainstream views of the society around them, preferably through the use of the Socratic method rather than lectures or browbeating. Teachers have the responsibility to determine their own individual agendas and then act upon them in the classroom. The question is not whether to advocate, but rather the nature of that advocacy and its extent. (BCY)

The passage of California's Proposition 187 has mandated political and cultural debate in composition curriculum thus exploding the de-politicized composition classroom myth. As this anti-immigration initiative of 1994 applied to education, it most directly affected K-12, but it also represented a huge financial impact to higher education. It made undocumented immigrants ineligible for public social services, public health care, and public education at every level. Little of the heated pre-election rhetoric came from the academic community. Although the teachers' union donated $350,000 to combat 187, education's stance was not unified. The State Board of Education, for example, refused to endorse opposition. Proposition 187 passed with a 59% "yes" vote. Scores of academic senates, student groups, and professional organizations reacted with angry statements. The question is not whether 187 is right or wrong, but why there was an absence of pre-election debate. Where was the access to political discourse? Should not informed debate be a natural function of an educated society? This dialectic learning should be mirrored in a composition classroom. People should be taught that in a democracy they can have access to critical political inquiry through communication. (CR)

This essay looks at three kinds of changes in American society over the period from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. First, data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) are used to measure trends in college freshmen's political identification, materialism, concern for law and order, and concern for helping others. In all these measures the paper finds that college freshmen have become more conservative. The paper also examines the fate of various reforms and changes, such as making the liberal arts curriculum more "relevant," making academic rules and regulations more flexible, and allowing students a bigger voice in campus affairs. Again, the paper concludes that these reforms were generally failures. Moving off campus, the paper examines other social and political trends over the same period, noting particularly abortion, recreational drugs, and capital punishment. Here again the trend toward conservatism is clear. Finally, the paper finds the most vivid evidence of conservatism in the mellowing of the prominent rebels and protestors of the late 1960s. It concludes that the times have indeed changed, but not quite in the direction that Bob Dylan predicted! (Contains 30 references.) (CH)

It is suggested that despite its simplicity, neutrality, and practical nature, Esperanto is at risk of extinction because of the growing dominance of English as an international language. It is further proposed that in order to assure its maintenance, Esperantists must federate into a state with political autonomy. The first section of the document examines risks to less commonly spoken languages and their cultures, particularly in Europe, and the encroachment of English and other common modern languages. Problems associated with these language shifts are discussed, especially ways in which English is poorly suited as a universal lingua franca. The second section advances an argument for a politically-based alternative to the spread of English, arguing that Esperanto is the only language ready for the role of universal lingua franca, has a substantial body literary and scientific texts, and has a flexibility unequalled by other existing languages. The third part outlines a short-term linguistic strategy to advance the role of Esperanto. An addendum to the paper is provided specifically for Europeans. (MSE)

The United States has been through anti-immigration movements every few decades since its founding. A new face of the anti-immigration movement can be seen emerging from current events including: (1) California's Proposition 187, under which illegal immigrants are barred from public education and teachers are required to report illegal immigrants and their children to authorities; (2) House of Representatives welfare reform initiatives including student financial aid cuts and cuts in job training; and (3) various ordinances making English the official language. An important aspect of the current anti-immigration sentiment is opposition to Hispanic and Asian immigrants, as opposed to Anglo Saxon immigrants. This focus on non-Anglo immigrants underlies a larger conflict based on socioeconomic disparity, with children and their education often getting caught in the middle. The confused politics of liberals and conservatives as they address immigration and related issues, such as affirmative action in university admissions policies, contribute to the present opposition to immigration. It is argued that these new aspects tend to weaken the traditional perspectives of race and ethnicity, but tend to strengthen those based on economics or social class. The end of the unifying force of the Cold War has paved the way for these kinds of social and political attitudes. (Contains 27 references.) (Author/SLD)

One of the prerequisites or unavoidable results of multiculturalism is that the classroom becomes what Mary Louise Pratt calls a "contact zone." But how does the teacher keep discussion productive without taking sides? How does the teacher abdicate enough authority to diminish the asymmetricality but not so much that the class becomes a shapeless mass? When students meet and clash with each other and with the teacher, chances are good that the teacher's authority will become eroded. Within the spectrum of student political approaches is the student who is openly belligerent to the multicultural agenda and the student who is "converted" or will simply give the teacher what he/she wants. But most classrooms consist of those in the middle, those who reconstitute the nature of the polarity being discussed as a means of eliminating completely any traces of asymmetricality. In other words, they make their own experiences compete with the textual expression of Black authors. An example of a student in English 102 at Rutgers illustrates this point. The student is representative of a group with which most composition teachers are familiar: white, middle class, from a homogeneous suburban or rural background, and uncomfortable talking about race. In her final essay, if she was not less racist, the student repositioned her cultural views within the dominant terms of the discussion. One possible approach to such students would be to foreground and problematize the position of whiteness. (TB)

In the fall of 1992, Mesa Community College (MCC), in Phoenix, Arizona, established the Center for Public Policy and Service to promote community service and active participation in the social and political process as integral parts of a community college education. Through the Center, students are provided with educational opportunities in community service through service learning internships and in-course options in government agencies, educational entities, civic organizations, and citizen advocacy groups. MCC offers independent modules in 22 discipline areas, and the courses transfer as elective credit to the major universities in Arizona. Students may take between one and three credits each semester under the supervision of a faculty member within the discipline. Students receive a letter grade based on meetings with a faculty advisor, 50 volunteer contact hours per credit hour, an analytical paper, a reflective journal, and three reflective feedback sessions. Students are asked to evaluate what they have learned in terms of how they were influenced to take an advocacy role, how their values and opinions changed, and how they envision new solutions to problems. Approximately 45 students enroll in the program each semester, participating at over 140 community sites which are categorized by their relevance to specific discipline areas. Additionally, the center coordinates a citizen's action group, a community roundtable, and efforts to prevent gang activity. (MAB)

Political correctness (PC) is often associated with attempts to place limits or boundaries on expressions of racist, sexist, or homophobic attitudes and feelings. PC is most often associated with such efforts on college and university campuses. Many critics of PC have attempted to suggest that these activities pose a great threat to American society. They suggest that PC is restrictive of opinion and free expression. The comments of Nat Hentoff are typical. He notes that "many white male students, faculty members and administrators are convinced that speech must have its limits if racism, sexism, and homophobia are to be extirpated in and out of the classroom." It would be naive, however, to assume that anti-PC criticism is a by-product of objective investigation. Much of the anti-PC rhetoric is a direct result of highly organized and well-funded campaigns by conservative elements. Further, virtually all of the evidence against PC consists of collections of anecdotes. There is no hard, quantitative data to prove the extent or impact of a PC "movement." Also, the sheer quantity of faculty engaged in higher education in this country suggests that political viewpoints are far more diverse than a PC norm. An objective examination of the status of PC on American campuses casts much doubt on the positions advanced by critics--it seems unlikely that there is much, if any, organized effort to program students with PC ideas. (Contains 60 footnotes.) (TB)

In the last 6 years, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been undergoing fundamental political reinvention. Scholars of language, literacy, and rhetoric can learn much from the study of rhetorical histories. Accordingly, a brief rhetorical history of these upheavals, particularly those in Poland, reveals the extent to which they are very much about the language of politics and public debate. According to literary professor Michal Glowinski, the major characteristic of Communist rhetoric in Poland was the dominance of simple, direct evaluation over sense. Such evaluations were always based on clear oppositions and polarizations: us vs. them, friend vs. foe, good vs. bad. It was thus a language that was already overinterpreted; each work, each expression, had one meaning and one meaning only. Because of this semantic reduction it did not tolerate synonyms or alternative ways of expression. Another major characteristic of this language was its strong "magical" quality: its orientation not towards describing reality but towards bringing it about. Desirable states were talked about as though they already existed. In the 1980s, public frustration and demands for real dialogue and meaningful reforms, coupled with a deteriorating economy, led to an acute rhetorical crisis. Ironically, Solidarity entered the elections with a program whose articulation painfully resembled, in spite of the differences in substance, the traditional rhetoric of propaganda. One problem continuing to face Poland is the persistence of the polarizing, valuative rhetoric, which originated in totalitarian discourse. (TB)

In this paper, James Sledd and his son Andrew Sledd respond, on seven distinct points, to Sandra Stotsky's "Connecting Civic Education and Language Education" and to her "College English" essay "Conceptualizing Writing as Moral and Civic Thinking," in both of which she attacks the Sledds for their criticism of E. D. Hirsch. According to the paper, Stotsky's technique is to lift short passages of academic prose from their explanatory contexts and then to praise or blame them according to her notions of scholarly responsibility. The paper notes that one of the qualities that Stotsky values highly is academic courtesy. The paper also states that, in both book and essay, Stotsky has called the Sledds' criticism of E. D. Hirsch irresponsible, racist, age-ist and immoral--and rude, too. In response, the Sledds affirm that, although they dislike being called racist, they are not primarily concerned with the personal attacks. In the paper they make three familiar but sometimes neglected propositions: (1) that the politic evasion of an opponent's evidence and arguments, though commonplace, is not an academic virtue; (2) that such criticism of "decontextualized" passages as Stotsky recommends is guaranteed to obscure issues really at stake; and (3) that the ancient rhetorical tradition of justified blame as well as praise should not be submerged in a rhetoric of identification for immediate persuasion. (TB)

This position paper examines the changing focus of citizenship education in Australia over the past 40 years. Citizenship education has not achieved as high a profile in Australia as in the United States and this situation has become a growing concern for many educators and community leaders. An examination is made on how questioning traditional values and changing the international scene have impacted the way Australians and Australian governments have come to see themselves. The changing nature of Australian society in recent years through a series of events, processes, and initiatives is recognized. A call for consensus is made in order to develop a citizenship education program for the Australian students to function in the new era of change. The paper includes the following divisions: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Conflicting Images of Citizenship Education in Australia"; (3) "Issues for Citizenship and the School Curriculum"; (4) "Levels of Student Understanding"; (5) "Student Attitudes"; (6) "Opportunity to Learn"; (7) "Teacher Attitudes"; (8) "Student Participation"; (9) "National Curriculum"; (10 "Curriculum Options"; and (11) "Conclusions." In summary, the level of student understanding of political concepts and processes is an important component of being an effective citizen. The development of citizen education involves not only a reconceptualization of citizenship education, but also a rethinking of how citizenship education might best become a major component of the school curriculum. Contains 28 references. (EH)

This paper examines the status of social welfare programs in the United States and recent efforts to reform such programs. It proposes key issues that need to be addressed in any attempt to overhaul the federal welfare system. Welfare reform should ensure that: (1) those families on public assistance are able to meet their basic needs in order to provide them the time and incentive to prepare for the job market; (2) the wages and benefits received from employment are adequate to support a family and provide for future growth; (3) there are real jobs that provide opportunities for security and adequate training resources as families make this transition; and (4) there is a system in place to provide "quality" child care to recipients not only while they are in training, but also long enough after training so that parents do not have to quit work in order to care for their children. The paper argues that Head Start can and should be an active partner in any effort to implement this system; the idea of "breaking the cycle of poverty" was the basis of the introduction of the Head Start program in 1965. (MDM)

The concluding chapter of Tom Quirk's new book, "Coming to Grips with Huckleberry Finn," raises the question: "Is 'Huckleberry Finn' politically correct?" Quirk's book identifies acutely some of the fundamental issues regarding how racial attitudes and ideological agendas shape the way this great novel is read and taught. Critics have complained that interpreting Huck Finn as antiracist is reductive and ignores countervailing tendencies in the text. For Quirk this implies making Twain into a 1990s politically correct liberal, which he was not; and for Wayne Booth, author of the critical study called "The Company We Keep", it represents the even worse sin of dismissing the moral complexities of the novel in favor of self-satisfied rationalizing. Some critics have argued that the post-Reconstruction era was so violently racist that no more than a handful of Southerners wrote antiracist novels. In that sense, "Huckleberry Finn" is certainly not politically correct: the political correctness of Twain's era was, after all, strident racism. Only a superficial reading of black characters in "Huck Finn" as reflections of racial stereotypes can ignore how Twain undercuts such stereotypes and exposes their inadequacy. The conformity that goes along with political correctness in a given era may not always generate humanitarian sensibilities nor will literary critics' practice of political correctness in criticism or teaching necessarily lead to the kind of interactive change in which students and teachers are both in some way transformed. (SAM)

This speech examines the relationship between the college experience and education for citizenship in the United States. The research evidence finds changes toward greater altruism, humanitarianism and sense of civic responsibility and social conscience during the college years. Most research also shows that students' political attitudes and values become more liberal and that students have a greater interest in social and political issues and in participation in the political process. Studies also indicate that students become more egalitarian in their views on the equality of the sexes. Clear and consistent evidence indicates that students make statistically significant gains during college in the use of principled reasoning to judge moral issues. Students also appear to become more independent of parents and somewhat more mature in their interpersonal relations. Whether these changes are due to the college experience or normal maturation at this age, the weight of evidence overall suggests that a statistically significant if modest part of the changes during college can be attributed to the college experience. Institutional differences appear to have little impact on changes in students' attitudes, values, or principled moral reasoning. Certain kinds of experiences do appear to be more important: particularly place of residence and the type of interactions with faculty and peers that the living situation promotes. (Contains 11 references.) (JB)

This book is a briefer, simpler popular edition of "Militarism and Peace Education in Africa." It is intended to interest the African peoples in the problems of peace and allow them to discuss and debate the issues of militarism and peace for Africa and to suggest solutions. It is also intended to interest leading organizations and people working at the grassroots level in urban and rural areas in problems of militarism and peace education. The first two chapters show how, in former times, militarism was brought to Africa by the Europeans through slave trade and colonialism. Chapter 3 shows how militarism continued after independence under neocolonialism in these forms: state terrorism, militarism based on ethnic nationality/conflicts, militarism resulting from "pastoralist conflicts," militarism resulting from cultural and religious conflicts, and militarism based on ideological conflicts. Chapter 4 explores how militarism is still connected to the exploitation and oppression of Africa with the new strategy called "low intensity conflict" or "low intensity war." Chapter 5 considers developing types of peace education and proposed content of peace education. Chapter 6 proposes the content of African peace education, including African history and civilization, cultural and moral education, development education, and human rights and equality education. Contains 15 references. (YLB)

This paper addresses the potential for the practice of psychology (i.e. therapy) to be politically subversive: to challenge and attempt to change the status quo. More specifically, it raises questions for feminist psychologists and therapists about the possibility, the value, and the morality of implementing a style of therapy designed to impel women clients to take political action and challenge the patriarchal status quo, in order to better the condition of women. The paper offers the view that a potential implication of the finding that peer counselors working in a radical feminist social change movement rely on an individualized, psychologized, and humanistic approach to counseling is that it may be professionally trained feminist psychologists who can, and do more often, offer a political-social action type of counseling. The paper expresses the fear that theory and collective commitment to liberate women from the oppression of the patriarchy is becoming lost at the very interstice where personal lives can generate political awareness and action, when feminist counselor meets another woman. (ABL)

This document reports on the tenor and outcomes of the National Issues Forums held in 1991-92 on three issues. The report draws upon three resources: short participant questionnaires, descriptions from groups' convenors, and detailed analysis of the taped proceedings of 10 groups. The report is organized in three sections, each consisting of a report from the forums and excerpts from the public response to each issue by a group of representatives from the national media and Congress who met to review excerpts from the videotapes. The first forum report, "America's Role in the World: New Risks, New Realities," starts from the premise that what dominates people's minds when they think about shaping the U.S. role is the breakup of the Soviet Union. Discussion focuses on the following: United States as a solitary superpower; need for U.S. citizens to be much more frank about themselves and more objective about the rest of the world; the United States as leader, not policer, of the world; and need to concentrate on problems at home. The report on the second issue, "Energy Options: Finding a Solution to the Power Predicament," makes the point that the public's view as reflected in the forum discussions reveals a genuine concern about the energy crisis and how it affects and is affected by the national way of life. Topics include the cost of energy conservation, risks people are willing to live with, mistrust of nuclear energy, and need for a national energy policy. Forums held on the third issue, "The Boundaries of Free Speech: How Free Is Too Free?" indicate a worry about the precedents that any restriction would set. Focuses are sex and violence on television and in the movies and what to do about it, hateful speech, and children's right not to hear. (YLB)

This document presents the point of view that although socialism has produced benefits for the USSR, Soviet society has undertaken its own radical reconstruction. History shows that the natural basis of changes in every society tends to be objective technological revolutions. The first technological revolution was agrarian. The second was industrial. The third revolution, the scientific and technological revolution, took place mostly in highly developed capitalist countries. The first aspect of perestroika in Soviet society is dissatisfaction with the state's power and a striving to adopt democratic governing. The second aspect of perestroika is the economy and financing. Economic reconstruction is complicated by the monopoly of central ministries, strict centralization in national economy management and its branches, lack of production material and equipment for free trading at the market, and a financial system in disarray caused by the partial transition to market relations and cooperatives. Reconstruction of the ideology in the Communist Party is also hinted at. The main trends of reforms in education are decentralization of management and differentiation of education. New concepts in vocational training include new curricula and programs and differentiation of subjects regarding professions. One way to reconstruct vocational training is by "de-ideologization" of education, democratic reform, and priority in financing. (YLB)