Obtaining insights on the illicit consumption of endangered wildlife products is challenging, especially when the study objects are the super-rich. This research note draws upon my experience interviewing nearly 1,000 rhino horn consumers in Vietnam. Trust is crucial in such interactions. No interviews could have been conducted without good…

Kappan editor Rafael Heller interviews Annette Lareau about her research into different experiences of childhood and family life. In her observations of families of different social classes, she learned that upper-middle-class families approach parenting as an act of "concerted cultivation" requiring ongoing attention, making them more…

The theme of the AMS 2014 Annual Conference is "Unity in Diversity," a concept that also describes the work of conference keynote speaker Andrew Solomon. Solomon is a writer and lecturer on psychology and politics; winner of the National Book Award; and an activist for LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] rights, mental health,…

Cara Hoffman's work enacts George Orwell's imperative to "pay attention to the obvious" (an idea that several sympathetic characters repeat in her 2011 novel "So Much Pretty"), probing aspects of twenty-first century life in the United States that have become so accepted as to be unremarkable, such as epidemic levels of…

In 2012 Spain inaugurated a reform of its higher education financial aid system inspired by three principles: cost-sharing, increasing academic performance and school efficiency. This reform has shifted the aim of the system from equality of access to a type of meritocracy that can be defined as class-biased, as it is only applied to low-income…

This paper explores moments in which three new migrant students become constituted as particular types of learners and classmates, through the interplay of racialised, classed and gendered norms made available in one Irish school. Certainly, new migrant students' subjectivities may be constrained due to already embedded school/subcultural…

Sexual harassment is a highly troubling gendered phenomenon that plagues young women on a daily basis. The way in which sexual harassment is perceived and treated is varied and is largely based on racial and class stereotypes. This paper highlights the findings from a study in which a group of middle and high school teachers were interviewed and…

Universities in the United States and elsewhere are increasingly enrolling an elite group of international students who not only are able to pay the high tuition and other expenses of U.S.-based universities, but also are personally familiar with several countries and cultures. These students are part of a new global economic and cultural elite.…

Elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew maintains that a society ruled by elites is necessary to provide for high growth and social progress. Elitism conjures a class divide; an ongoing concern is a disconnection between elite and the citizens it has to represent. In the tradition of political socialization, and using the case study approach, this article…

High fee-charging non-government schools for boys comprise a small but significant sector of the Australian schooling market. In different ways in different historical periods these schools have represented themselves as being concerned with more than just an instrumental or utilitarian education, making both explicit and implicit claims about the…

If it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, middle-class children are more likely than their lower-income peers to grow up learning how to make the gears of the education system turn smoothly. Working-class parents, meanwhile, tend to raise their children to avoid conflict and be self-sufficient in problem-solving, an Indiana University…

A random sample of Canadian foster parents were asked about the importance of culture in fostering. In response to the question "What values, beliefs and traditions were you raised with and feel are important?," a total of 74 different responses were received. These responses were grouped together by foster parents and the groupings…

This article presents reflections arising from a study on adult learning professions in Poland. Changes in the socio-political and legal context created phenomena that have occurred in the adult education systems, mechanisms and approaches. The article focuses on the impact of those processes on a specific professional group--adult educators.…

Drawing on interviews with first-generation college students (FGS), the author argues that the students' culture affects college attendance and success. Although FGS often have a vocational perspective to college, the author found that they seek meaningful work with good pay. The author also suggests that good decision making, academic…

Recently, artwork of child artists from the Carrolup settlement school in Western Australia was rediscovered in the archives of the Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University. The young artists were among what was then called the half-caste children and now known as the Stolen Generation. Between the late 1800s and mid 1970s the Australian…