Busing in Boston: Political Issues. Comparing Political Experiences, Experimental Edition.

N

141

National Science Foundation, Washington, DC.

Unit two to the second-semester "Comparing Political Experiences" course focuses on a specific controversial political issue: court-ordered busing in Boston. A documentary approach represents the core of instruction in this 12th-grade unit. This approach avoids lengthy narratives of a theoretical approach and yet is more in-depth than the case-study approach of the first-semester units. The documentary approach emphasizes gathering interview data from actual participants involved in the issue. The first activity unit introduces students to the concept of political conflict by examining the opinions of the various actors in the issue. Activity two focuses on how the two political factors on inequality and competition affect the conflict situation in Boston. Activity three demonstrates how the concept of mobilization and interdependence have affected the busing conflict. Finally, activity four is designed to teach students conflict-management skills and how to forecast future trends in a conflict situation. Each activity contains the necessary student materials and student discussion questions. A data packet of supplementary readings and exercises is also included. (Author/DE)

1976

ED120064