Teaching About Nuclear Disarmament: Attitudes of Middle Level Teachers

Abstract

AbstractA questionnaire was administered to 546 middle level school teachers in one public school system in the southeast. The questions clustered around the following dimensions with respect to nuclear disarmament: significance for humanity, curriculum issues, teacher qualifications, availability of materials, appropriateness of issue for middle grades students, and reaction by community or school system to the teaching of the issue. Over 90% of the system's middle level teachers responded. Chi-square tests of independence were conducted, and a number of significant relationships were found. In general responses varied by subject taught, age, and educational background. Most of the teachers believed that the issue is an important one for humanity. Only a small percentage included it in their teaching, but about half believed that it should be included elsewhere in the curriculum. Most teachers did not think that they had enough background and information to teach about the issue. Recommendations included...