Preface<br >The torrid weather in the U. S. Midwestern states during the spring and<br >smmner ot 1988 and the resulting drought dramatized U.S. Iinks with the<br >world and the extent to which humans everywhere on the earth share a<br >common thte and destiny. Some scientists believe that the high temperatures<br >and drought indicated that the greenhouse eltbct is taking place and that<br >human pollutants are depleting the ozone layer of tile atmosphere. Other<br >scientists are reluctant to link the high temperatures and destructive drought<br >of 1988 to the greenhouse effect. However， scientists agree that human pollu-<br >tants， which have global origins， are depleting the stratospheric ozone and<br >that the earth s temperature is rising.<br > The depletion of the ozone layer illustrates that the world is a global<br >system and that all of earth s inhabitants share intractable problems， which<br >cannot be solved unless citizens from many different nations and cultures<br >participate in the shaping of public policies to ensure the survival of planet<br >earth and humankind. Despite the growing interdependence of the world<br >and its problems， nationalism is as strong as ever. The challenge to the social<br >studies on the eve of the twenty-flrst century is to help students develop<br >reflective attachments to their nation-states arm a sense of kinship with citi-<br >zens in all parts of the world.<br > We also need to help students develop the ability and conmlitment to<br >influence public policy. As in the previous editions， our central thesis is that<br >the main goal of the social studies should be to help students develop the<br >ability to make reflective decisions. This goal remains essential despite the call<br >by many popular wri)ers lor a social studies curriculum that emphasizes the<br >mastery of factual knowledge. To make reflective decisions and to act to<br >make the U.S. and the world more humane， students need to master impor-<br >tant outcomes in addition to facts. They need to understand how knowledge<br >is constructed， what purposes it selwes， and how it reflects the values and<br >goals of the people who formulate the knowledge categories. Understanding<br >how knowledge is socially constructed will help students to become reflective<br >citizen actors，<br > Our belief about the proper goal of the social studies is based on the<br >assumption that humans will always face personal and social problems， and<br >that all citizens should participate in the making of civic and public policy.<br >The theory of social studies education presented in this book is grounded in<br >democratic beliefs. ()ne of its basic assumptions is that citizen participation in<br >the making of public policy is essential for the creation and perpetuation of a<br >