The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the reasons for regional disparities in educational expansion in Germany (i.e., rising rates of general university entrance qualification) on the basis of theoretically relevant influencing factors: changes in school policies, changes in social structure, or general social modernization…

Critical policy analysis examining how powerful actors use educational policies to reproduce unequal social structures presents many challenges. These challenges are amplified by the politics of spectacle, where duplicity comes to dominate how educational policies are conceptualized, presented to the public, and subsequently enacted. The pursuit…

Based on the data collected in a one-year long fieldwork in Zhong, a county located in middle part of China, this article reconsiders the concept of "useless schooling," which was proposed in recent studies on the perceptions of value of education among lower-class rural residents in China. It calls for a understanding of those changes…

This volume includes three sections of the 2022 NORDSCI international conference proceedings: (1) Education and Educational Research; (2) Language and Linguistics; and (3) Sociology and Healthcare. Education and Educational Research includes 7 papers covering a full spectrum of education, including history, sociology and economy of education,…

This article employs a variety of theoretical lenses to describe the nature and ramifications of the Digital Divide, which, the author states, continues to remain one of the biggest social challenges to confront the human race in modern times--even as technological advances, globalization, and other socioeconomic shifts are rendering digital media…

This case study is an investigation of the attitudes, perceptions, and reactions of school staff and community members in a rural pre-boom school district. In the early stage of an oil boom, real and perceived disruptions commonly occur in the schools and communities that are affected. The preparations and responses that residents make to the…

Argues that broad themes of social studies knowledge represent primarily the ideological representations of socio-structural forces and configurations, than the choices of educators. Recommends several activities for educators who would increase the power of individuals and groups to make changes in social, cultural, and educational techniques,…

The implications for Soviet education of "glasnost,""perestroika," and the other interrelated concepts of Gorbachev's reform program are examined. The manner in which Gorbachev's concept of restructuring has shaped the efforts of schools to promote communist ethics, the human factor, and independent thinking is considered. (SLD)

Proposes an integration of critical theory and humanistic education. Strengths and limitations of each are discussed, and a model for liberatory education is proposed. The model is illustrated with an example from a fifth grade classroom. Further dialogue among humanistic educators and critical theorists is recommended. (Author/VM)

This document is a commentary on a report by the Quebec Ministry of Education on the problem of educating the disadvantaged. One basic criticism of the report is that it is not enough to decry the failure of the schools and propose a strategy of compensatory education to solve the problem of disadvantagement. It is necessary to realize that the…

Revolution requires more than acceptance by counselors of behavioral techniques which ecourage the client to acquire behaviors consistent with the immediate social milieu. A revolution entails taking on society as the client, and applying change strategies to social structures. (Author/BEF)

The change processes involving schools that are currently experiencing turbulent social reconstruction in eastern Europe are examined in this paper, which calls for the development of a new paradigm for social change. The first section describes recent educational reform activities and their flaws in three eastern European countries--Russia,…

Presents boarding schools as educationally integrative and culturally innovative. Examines historical examples of eastern Hungarian Kollegium, Institutions, England's 18th century public schools, and Israeli youth villages. Boarding schools seen as potential accelerators of change in social structure and culture. Considers schools' autonomy and…

The education literature has not adequately considered the notion of change at its most fundamental level. This paper considers notions of institutional or social change from the ontological perspective of H. R. Maturana. The pattern of organization in living systems is defined by Maturana and Varela (1980) as "autopoiesis," a coined…

Argues that schools hinder all students by not helping them to acquire knowledge and skills needed for building a more equitable society. Offers an egalitarian conceptual framework for multicultural education, suggests guiding principles for effectively translating this framework into curricula, and presents a policy agenda for action. (CMG)