Dr. Michael S. Matthews is professor and director of the Academically & Intellectually Gifted graduate programs at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is incoming Coeditor of the "Gifted Child Quarterly" and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Gifted Children. Dr. Matthews also currently…

Michael Young's article "Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: a knowledge-based approach" ("JCS, 45", 2) is discussed from the starting point that the claimed crisis is constructed from a decisive solution, that is the solution determines what is a crisis. But curriculum research and curriculum theory are in need of…

In our knowledge-based world, the societies that prosper are the ones that generate knowledge--through research, through the interwoven relationship between the academe and funded research bodies and with industry. They are the new "centre". It is strange indeed to think of the countries of the Arab Gulf States as the…

Between the Inter-governmental Conference on Environmental Education at Tbilisi in 1977 and the Fourth International Conference on Environmental Education at Ahmedabad in 2007, our conception of the challenge posed by the global crises of climate change, environmental destruction, social disintegration, poverty, natural resources exhaustion and…

The authors argue that attempts to establish more placements to meet the growing demands of undergraduate medical students in North America for international experiences may be outweighing critical reflection on the ethical issues, curricular content, and pedagogical strategies necessary to support equitable engagements with countries of the…

Globalization and transformations in nation-state structures require developing a new social-political language that would allow a peaceful coexistence for various identities and interests. This entails revising the link between local histories and the "universal." Education can play a crucial role for developing this language. This…

A larger scale context for power teaching includes ideas from Duane Elgin, Lester Brown, Al Gore and many others. Collectively, they say the convergence of systems level global problems without national borders place before humankind a choice the species has never encountered in 195,000 years of life on "Spaceship Earth." In Elgin's…

The rise of Brazil, Russia, India, and China will shape global resource use, the location of market demand and international institutions and interdependencies in the decade to come. In this paper we argue that an understanding of the historical and institutional context of the BRICs, and the potential shift towards a multi-polar world is…

The main hypothesis here is that the notion of economic and social development has been misconceived by most stakeholders in matters of development. This misconception is the main cause of underdevelopment in Kenya, which leads to all the reasons most authors and commentators have given to explain Kenya's situation. Therefore, it is only possible…

This article reflects on the historic tensions of education under capitalism, arguing that they have been exacerbated in our era of neo-liberal globalisation. Government drives for greater "accountability" and "effectiveness" are a blinkered response to the threefold global crisis we face: poverty and debt; a collapse of the…

As nations become increasingly interrelated, citizenship education must include development of a global perspective. (Author)

Over past decades, the demographics of the United States have changed markedly. The proportions of married and single people are changing; so too are the nature and functions of marriage and the family. However, people who are single, and perspectives not based on conventional marriage, remain underrepresented or misrepresented in scholarship and…

Discusses the views of Paul Gagnon and his book "Democracy's Untold Story." Examines the drawbacks of teaching the type of Western civilization course advocated by Gagnon and argues that schools should continue the quest for a teachable approach to world history. Includes suggestions for improving the typical world history course. (GEA)

Offers specific ideas for integrating international awareness into business communication courses in three situations--in the introductory course, in written communication, and in organizational communication. (JOW)

The democratization of South Africa has necessitated a transformation of the education system. The current transformational landscape of higher education in South Africa requires that basic curriculum concepts, and principles be rediscovered and, rethought with a view to ensuring that future educational practice is based on sound, and proven…