
Society's Problems Learning Circles
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIETY'S
PROBLEMS LEARNING CIRCLES
The Society's Problems theme provides students
the opportunity to explore problems that confront their communities and
to work together as teams to propose effective solutions. The students
research issues and discuss the impact of similar problems in diverse
local communities. By comparing problems across different communities,
students gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of these issues,
and work together to propose solutions to them.
Learning Circle participants produce a final publication
called Investigating Society's Problems covering a broad range
of topics. The students may want to investigate teenage-related problems
such as drugs, alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, abortion, school dropouts,
runaways, academic pressure, gangs, suicide, or cheating.
Other Learning Circle participants may want to sponsor research on local
governmental responses to problems such as unemployment welfare, crime
and punishment, death penalties, gun control, minimum wage, or illegal
immigration. The students may also choose to study certain social groups
such as the elderly, the family, the homeless, the hungry, AIDS victims,
ethnic groups or the handicapped.
Bill Burrall (WV) designed a project for his Learning
Circle which involved having experts on society's problems--felon
prisoners--share their unique perspectives with secondary students.
Return
to List of Themes in the Overview
Copyright © 1997, 2002,
Margaret
Riel
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