This research provides a descriptive study of the use of social science research contained in reported decisions of the United States Supreme Court. The cases were selected from case abstracts contained in two U.S. Supreme Court digests. The author relied on the court reporter's arrangement of abstracts of case decisions (sorted by substantive areas of the law) to identify relevant cases presenting issues of parent -child and husband-wife relations. The following substantive areas were initially selected using this method: abortion, adultery and fornication, adoption, immigration, exclusion and deportation, bigamy, bastards, dower, death, domicil, divorce and separation, guardian and ward, homestead, husband and wife, incompetent persons, infants, kidnapping, indecency, lewdness and obscenity, marriage, privacy, poor and poor laws, torts, schools, social security and unemployment compensation, wills, workman's compensation, and zoning. Substantive areas receiving one or none citations of social science (in the summary tabulations) were excluded, leaving the parent-child areas of abortion, bastards, infants, obscenity, poor and poor laws, schools and social security. The above exclusion process left the husband-wife areas of adultery and fornication, bigamy, divorce and separation, husband and wife, and marriage. The entire text and footnotes were analyzed in the selected cases . The date of the decision, use or non-use of social science research, and the nature or discipline of the research were recorded and tabulated. The substantive caselaw of schools and obscenity were the substantive areas containing the most frequent citations of social science. The study revealed a general trend consistent with Christensen's (1964) model of family research development. Parent-child opinions revealed a general utilization rate of four per cent. The study revealed that history and economics, as social science disciplines, have been cited more frequently by the Supreme Court during the period analyzed than the social science disciplines of sociology and psychology.

In 1976, the Indonesian government began to implement a new curriculum known as Curriculum 75. This was intended for all government primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools. This field study, which is written for non-Indonesian readers, examines the Social Science component of Curriculum 75 using elements of the Stake model of curriculum evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to show, within the Stake model, the intended antecedents, transactions and outcomes of the Social Science Curriculum; that is, the specifications of the curriculum documents and associated texts before implementation in the classroom. The principal argument of this evaluation is that the worth of the curriculum is discovered in the elements of control which are manifest in intentions. This evaluation selects three issues for closer examination and evaluation; economic development, political culture and the world view which are portrayed in the curriculum. This closer examination reveals that knowledge of economic development is emphasised more than knowledge of political culture. In turn, knowledge of the the world outside and beyond Indonesia which constitute the world view is the least important of the three issues, and particularly at the primary level receives very little attention whatsoever. The specific outcomes of the Social Science Curriculum show that the type of knowledge which is emphasised is cognitive understanding rather than the formation of attitudes and values. Pupils are expected to learn factual knowledge rather than develop personal and social values. The central theme or argument which this evaluation pursues is the notion of curriculum control. Curriculum 75 is the creation of an educational bureaucracy within a bureaucratic state. When understood within the context of the Jackson critique of contemporary Indonesia, curriculum is a bureaucratic function of the state. A principal element of that function is the exercising of control which, for the purpose of this field study, is revealed in a bureaucratic and a curriculum form. The curriculum form of control is the central notion in this evaluation. For the Social Science Curriculum to be successful in the Indonesian classroom, the Curriculum should specify contents and methods in such prescriptive detail that teachers are given a clear programme of what is expected of them. Teachers can only be successful when the Curriculum clearly communicates what teachers are required to do. Control in the sense of constraint is a vital element in that communication. The characteristics of curriculum control are described in terms of the Bernstein concepts of coding and framing. By tracing coding and framing techniques in the Social Science Curriculum in general and each of the three issues in particular, this study shows that the antecedents (as defined by Stake) are strongly controlled (through a Bernstein-type collection code). On the other hand, some curriculum control is lost in the transactions (as defined by Stake) because teaching and learning methods are not sufficiently framed. Future refinements in this Curriculum should concentrate on strengthening curriculum control through increasing the level of specification and prescription about learning methods.

This thesis reports on a study which made an analysis of the new Grade 7 social science syllabus textbooks that are currently being implemented in the high schools of Papua New Guinea. Data relating to these textbooks has been gathered from the teachers who are teaching the course and their Regional Secondary Inspectors. The data was basically obtained through postal questionnaires. The basic aim of the study was to find out how the syllabus materials are received and used in the implementation process. The study also attempted to identify the problems and difficulties the teachers encountered and the concerns they had about the new course. The study revealed some interesting results. For example, there are some teachers of social sciences in the high schools who do not have secondary teaching qualifications, the level of English language used, which was one of the major problems identified with the old syllabus, has not been completely overcome, the problems, difficulties and concerns identified by this study differ from school to school and between rural and urban schools. In addition, the study also identified many practical problems, difficulties and concerns which affect the effective and successful implementation of the syllabus. These include the need for additional support such as reference materials both for teachers and students and a need for more short in-service courses to resocialise teachers in order to change their classroom culture and thus facilitate change.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2005. / Advisors: Alicia R. Crowe, Shawn Fitzgerald. Keywords: teacher education; mobile computing; handheld computing; social studies education; attitudes. Includes survey instrument. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-128). Also available via the World Wide Web.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to analyse and describe the way prospective teachers of social science understand democracy and its conditions, and, on the basis of these descriptions, to discuss the actual and possible forms and contents of teaching democracy both in upper secondary school and in teacher training.</p><p>The assumption is that students’ conceptions of democracy are influenced by the society they live in and the education they receive. To contextualize students’ conceptions of democracy the theories of Habermas and Dewey as well as some central concepts of contemporary democratic theory are drawn upon. The study primarily focuses on the content of education in democracy. The teachers’ conceptions of their own subject influence the content of their teaching and thus what their students learn. If teachers are aware of various ways of conceiving democracy, and the critical differences between them, their teaching practices may enable students to experience different aspects of democracy and, as a consequence, reach a fuller understanding of it.</p><p>The empirical data consists of interviews with eight students of political science and eight teacher-students of social sciences. These interviews were carried out before and after they had studied theories of democracy. The study also includes interviews with eight teacher-students who had already finished their theoretical studies in social science and were at the end of their teacher training. In total, 40 interviews were carried out. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. A phenomenographic analysis of the students’ conceptions of democracy was performed, along with a thematic content analysis of their ideas of the conditions of democracy.</p><p>Three main categories of conceptions of democracy were constituted. In the first democracy was viewed as a possibility to influence political decisions through institutionalized forms. In the second category democracy was seen as a feeling of participation in processes of political decision. In the third category democracy was understood as the possibility to take part in all decisions that concern one’s life. The thematic content analysis showed that the students’ reasoning about the conditions of democracy concerned three main themes: the values of democracy, the individual conditions and societal conditions. Several teacher-students regarded it as their duty to maintain the prevalent forms of democracy in Sweden. Students of political science on the other hand, focused more on developing these forms.</p><p>Finally, the possible didactic consequences of these different views for the education in democracy in upper secondary schools and in teacher training are discussed.</p>

The aim of this thesis is to analyse and describe the way prospective teachers of social science understand democracy and its conditions, and, on the basis of these descriptions, to discuss the actual and possible forms and contents of teaching democracy both in upper secondary school and in teacher training. The assumption is that students’ conceptions of democracy are influenced by the society they live in and the education they receive. To contextualize students’ conceptions of democracy the theories of Habermas and Dewey as well as some central concepts of contemporary democratic theory are drawn upon. The study primarily focuses on the content of education in democracy. The teachers’ conceptions of their own subject influence the content of their teaching and thus what their students learn. If teachers are aware of various ways of conceiving democracy, and the critical differences between them, their teaching practices may enable students to experience different aspects of democracy and, as a consequence, reach a fuller understanding of it. The empirical data consists of interviews with eight students of political science and eight teacher-students of social sciences. These interviews were carried out before and after they had studied theories of democracy. The study also includes interviews with eight teacher-students who had already finished their theoretical studies in social science and were at the end of their teacher training. In total, 40 interviews were carried out. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. A phenomenographic analysis of the students’ conceptions of democracy was performed, along with a thematic content analysis of their ideas of the conditions of democracy. Three main categories of conceptions of democracy were constituted. In the first democracy was viewed as a possibility to influence political decisions through institutionalized forms. In the second category democracy was seen as a feeling of participation in processes of political decision. In the third category democracy was understood as the possibility to take part in all decisions that concern one’s life. The thematic content analysis showed that the students’ reasoning about the conditions of democracy concerned three main themes: the values of democracy, the individual conditions and societal conditions. Several teacher-students regarded it as their duty to maintain the prevalent forms of democracy in Sweden. Students of political science on the other hand, focused more on developing these forms. Finally, the possible didactic consequences of these different views for the education in democracy in upper secondary schools and in teacher training are discussed.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Sociology

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Sociology

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Sociology