Student outcomes don't change until adult behaviors change. Or said differently when placed in the context of governing, patterns of behavior that are exhibited in the boardroom can reasonably be expected to be found paralleled in the classroom. This concept, which offers a summation of the current literature on board behaviors and their…

Since gaining independence in 1957, the Federation of Malaya and now Malaysia has implemented education policies to broaden access, to unify an ethnically diverse population through a common curriculum and language, to enable the disadvantaged to catch up through affirmative action, and to build human capital as the country seeks to become an…

Education in many countries is used to initiate children and young people into publicly accepted forms of knowledge and to further a common identity among members and citizens of the nation-state. This study discusses both an uncritical initiation to such knowledge and the value of criticality as an educational goal in terms of critical thinking,…

Presents a philosophical analysis of E. D. Hirsch's book, "Cultural Literacy." Concludes that Hirsch fails to acknowledge the problem of cultural transmission in a society where people have been conditioned to a mode of reception characterized by continual excitement and distraction. (CFR)

Presents an interview by National Endowment for the Humanities chairman, Sheldon Hackney, with historian John Higham on multiculturalism and national identity. Contends that the centrifugal forces of national, ethnic, and religious diversity need countervailing forces to hold the nation together. (CFR)

Maintains that E. D. Hirsch's book, "Cultural Literacy," is based on an anthropological rather than a normative view of societies and, therefore, does not claim that one society is more cultured than another. Concludes that historical understanding or other forms of cultural literacy requires wider criteria of significance than Hirsch…

Contends that E. D. Hirsch's book, "Cultural Literacy," is not a work of scholarship but one of dogma and persuasion. Discusses Hirsch's views in relation to democratic values, the national culture, and both public and private education. Concludes that Hirsch wants to retain public education to impose a conservative ideology. (CFR)

Rejecting assimilationist notions, proposes Jewish education emphasize the Jewish minority status and sense of separateness. Recommends that Jewish education stress commands and customs that reassert ethnic identity as well as foods, fashion, festivals, and family. Defends this approach on sociological and theological grounds. (MJP)

Summarizes E. D. Hirsch's book, "Cultural Literacy," focusing on four separate arguments. Compares U.S. and Canadian education and society, particularly in relationship to multiculturalism and bilingualism. Concludes that Hirsch trivializes culture by presenting as no more than a common convention of effective national communication.…

Maintains that, from very different points on the ideological spectrum, citizenship and citizenship education have been added to the political agenda. Argues that political theory, distinct from descriptive civics, is more relevant to the political development of citizens. (CFR)

Asserts that moral education in Singapore has been aimed pragmatically at forging together, by shared values, the four major racial and cultural communities of that nation. Maintains that moral education also has been used to preserve a cultural and national identity against the perceived erosion of Asian roots by Western education. (ACM)

Considers the paradox of a liberal, pluralist society supporting (subsidizing) religious schools whose beliefs are more restrictive and judgmental. Argues that recognition of group rights is sanctioned in liberal thought as long as it does not impinge on individual rights. Discusses liberal responses to conflicts between communitarian concepts and…

The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement invited Ann Chafin to share her thoughts and ideas about sustaining school reform. Chafin, chief of Program Improvement and Family Support Branch of the Maryland State Department of Education, was a speaker at the annual Institute for CSR State Coordinators held May 9-10 in Washington,…