It is common to think of learning as the acquisition of knowledge by an individual learner. Starting a century ago, Lev Vygotsky developed a different perspective on learning, initiating a tradition of educational research whose momentum and influence continue to grow. One of Vygotsky's key principles is the "general genetic law of cultural…

This article discusses recent Brazilian research on the relationship between environmental education and cultural studies. Television narratives about the environment and/or sustainability in our everyday lives are used to pose some initial questions about this relation. First, culture is discussed briefly showing how it potentially relates to…

Many contemporary students are unfamiliar with the cultural history of television programming in the United States. References to iconic series that represented significant milestones in minority representations and discussions of racial issues--such as "I Spy," "Julia," "All in the Family," or even "The Cosby…

Despite recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics for limited media use in childhood, children are watching increasing amounts of television. Ethnically and racially diverse children are watching more TV than their Caucasian peers. While there has been intense debate regarding rates of TV viewing and the concomitant risks or benefits,…

For many years computing in New Zealand schools was focused on teaching students how to use computers, and there was little opportunity for students to learn about programming and computer science as formal subjects. In this article we review a series of initiatives that occurred from 2007 to 2009 that led to programming and computer science being…

This paper examines, in their social context, the origins and history of TG4. It notes that TG4 broadcasts mainly but by no means exclusively in the Irish language, being one of the Republic of Ireland's four national terrestrial television services and one of three operated under the umbrella of the state-owned RTE. The paper focuses on the…

This paper examines the ways in which young children construct and negotiate musical meaning as song-makers in a post-modern consumerist musical world. A critical analysis of the presentation of music in two popular Australian children's television programmes (Play School and Hi-5) and the ways in which such media impact upon children's…

This paper examines issues of social difference and justice in a university international student center through a "cultural studies as praxis" model, which had been developed in the field of cultural studies and/in education by Handel Wright at the University of Tennessee (Wright 2001, 2001/2002). The model blends and hybridizes three…