This article describes a three-step process by which behaviors are associated with the concept of "giftedness." In the first step, a three-way interaction of a person x task x situation leads to some kind of excellence in a societally significant performance. In the second step, that performance is identified as excellent and societally…

Three variations of experience identified in the educational literature entail different ways of thinking about and developing learners' imaginations. The relationship between these different imaginative modes resembles shifts between different kinds of understanding in Kieran Egan's theory of imaginative development. From this theoretical…

This article outlines a new approach to the study of learning and the improvement of education. The approach consists of two elements: a theory of learning cultures and a cultural theory of learning. Learning cultures are different from learning contexts or learning environments in that they are to be understood as the social practices through…

This paper presents the cooperative analysis by a lecturer and an academic development practitioner of a reflective journal dialogue over the 12 weeks of teaching a postgraduate course. Through a retrospective analysis of the journal the present paper explores the following issues: the framing of an inquiry; the personal-professional nexus; and…

In 2005 the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) launched a national initiative that championed the importance of a twenty-first century liberal education. What was unique about this initiative was the underlying assumption that educating for personal and social responsibility was "core" for an educated citizenry and should be…

This article presents the idea that the Early Church supported teachers as one of the ministry offices within the local church. These teachers worked to mature the spiritual life of the congregation and so helped to free the pastoral ministry to focus on other duties, many of which fall on pastors. Most ministers, pastors, and others teach at one…

This article aims to contribute to the debate about the moral and ethical aspects of education for sustainable development by suggesting a clarification of ethics and morals through an investigation of how these aspects appear in educational practice. The ambition is both to point to the normative dangers of education for sustainable development…

Analyzes the confusion in the language of political economy in Great Britain that generates and sustains moral infantilism in the civil polity. Critiques the limits of recent approaches to moral education. Sketches the relationship between the use of interpretative understanding and Jungian insights in support of poetry in moral engagement.…

Attempts to construct an account of how teachers acquire their professional identities as a means to informing professional development. Discusses four significant traditions (craft, scientific, moral, and artistic) in education. Considers implications for practice. (CMK)

Christine Counsell draws upon her recent work in developing definitions and practice concerning pupils' thinking about historical significance. Here she tries out those ideas in relation to the 19th century campaigner against the Contagious Diseases Acts, Josephine Butler. Counsell explains why she developed her own set of criteria for structuring…

Examines fundamental conceptions regarding the role and nature of evaluating and researching music education programs. Questions the common idea that evaluative criteria for programs should focus primarily on the students' level of musical skill. Argues that consideration should be given to personal growth and other issues. (MJP)

Maintains that many traditional economics classroom experiments unfairly label, deride, or denigrate altruistic behavior and moral motivation. Describes several in-class experiments, the prisoners' dilemma, dictator games, and double auction experiments and discusses their inherent bias against moral considerations. Examines the ethical problems…

Outlines six instructional approaches to aesthetics and discusses the instructional applications of these approaches. Assesses their feasibility for classroom practice and places them in relation to established educational rationales. Considers multicultural aesthetics, humanist applications, populist applications, studio instruction applications,…

A comparative analysis of values education in the United States, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and Canada analyzed eight assertions: (1) No institution with education as its primary aim can be value neutral; (2) Countries differ in values which characterize their political cultures and in values which are taught in…

Reprints the 1954 article as a representative example of thinking about art education during the 1950s. Defines the world as an uncertain and challenging place well served by the evaluative and creative-thinking characteristic of art education. Argues for a closer synthesis of studio art and art history courses. (MJP)