Habits of Mind

Explores the politics and practice of programs that foster moral thinking and civic responsibility?highlighting the acclaimed and controversial Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO) curriculum, which uses study of the Holocaust to help students reflect on issues of racism, violence, intolerance, and prejudice. Introduction: Fostering Democratic Habits of Mind.

CLASSROOM PORTRAITS.

``What Makes You You?''

``We Don't Believe Everything that We Hear''.

``Confronting What Is Hard to Think About''.

PUBLIC DEBATES.

Visions in Conflict.

The Fight Against Critical Moral Education.

Conclusion: Educating for Democracy. MELINDA FINE is an educational research and program development consultant. Her clients include youth development organizations, curriculum development groups, school reform initiatives, and public television companies. From 1991 to 1993 she served as assistant director of research for Children's Television Workshop's Ghostwriter series. She has worked with the Facing History and Ourselves organization since 1989 as an indepAndent consultant and a member of the organization's national teacher training team. Public schools have become a battleground for an increasingly heated debate about what should be taught and how. While everyone wants to prepare students to become better citizens, the very different opinions about what this means are deeply rooted in larger questions of national identity, culture, and values. The controversy over teaching values in schools has fueled intense debate among policymakers and citizens on the Right and Left, as both sides struggle to articulate their vision and control the future direction of education in America. In Habits of Mind, Melinda Fine explores the politics and practice of programs that foster moral thinking and civic responsibility—highlighting the acclaimed and controversial Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO) curriculum, which uses study of the Holocaust to help students reflect on contemporary issues of racism, violence, intolerance, and prejudice. Combining thoughtful analyses of theoretical and policy debates with lively portraits of adolescents grappling with their differences in one multiracial middle school, Fine provides a discerning look at the issues at stake in educating for democracy.Habits of Mind provides valuable insights into ways that we might begin to understand and deal with our differences. Perhaps even more importantly, it argues convincingly that democratic principles demand we confront our differences and foster in students the capacity for informed moral choice. "In Habits of Mind, Melinda Fine cuts through the opaque rhetoric of public discourse about education to reveal the complex, difficult, ambiguous tensions that are central to developing a truly multicultural society and to the teaching of 'difference' in schools. A strong and penetrating piece of work, useful for practitioners, scholars, and policy makers."—Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, professor, Harvard University"The forces and counterforces that impact moral education can undermine the best-intAnded plans. This book must be read by all educators who are struggling with these issues."—Joseph A. Fernandez, former schools chancellor, New York City Public Schools; president and CEO, School Improvement Services, Inc.; president, The Council of the Great City Schools.Explores the politics and practice of programs that foster moral thinking and civic responsibility—highlighting the acclaimed and controversial Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO) curriculum, which uses study of the Holocaust to help students reflect on contemporary issues of racism, violence, intolerance, and prejudice.