Fiestaware, the brightly colored dinnerware first introduced in the United States in 1936, has been a cultural phenomenon from its inception. This paper seeks to explain the extraordinary popularity of Fiestaware and to understand the role the ware occupies in U.S. popular culture. Fiestaware achieved enormous success, in spite of its introduction…

The widespread popularity of the young adult novels of Judy Blume makes them important factors in the socialization process. Almost all of the characters in her books are members of the middle or upper-middle class, and with the exception of some of the characters in 4 of her 15 novels, all are white. Thus, Blume is teaching youth how to be…

Discusses the need for educators, school librarians, and authors of adolescent literature to provide literature which is at once entertaining and educational for young adults. Some current social factors affecting the emotional and intellectual development of adolescents, including permissive family environments and the impact of television, are…

The foundation and development between 1850 and 1900 of English "redbrick" colleges, also referred to as civic universities, are considered. Colleges were successfully established in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, and other cities. The history of these colleges is considered in order to provide tentative conclusions about the origins of…

Since the 1950s, parenting and childhood in America have changed dramatically. Childhood as a period in which to grow at one's own pace in a protected environment largely removed from adult supervision has given way to a new era in which the parent acts as supervisor and director of the child's development. Such involvement, especially by middle…

The system of education in the United States mirrors, creates, and legitimates inequalities of the larger society that supports it. Legally required schooling ranks, sorts, and prepares children for the "real world," and contributes to social maintenance rather than to social change by stressing the "correctness" of some…

Presents salient features of workshop discussion examining values, culture, and identity in early childhood education. Discusses issues related to identity, child rearing, language, and curriculum content for trainers and children. Considers the relationship between minority and majority cultures, language and power relations, and dominant and…

Teachers should first realize that their assigned role (according to society's decision-makers) is to produce a brainwashed work force which does not question the prevailing culture. Then they should take action to reject this role. As Michael Holzman put it, "We should stop doing harm if we can help it." Many "compositionists"…

The operation of several coal mines with vast proven reserves on the Navajo reservation is a manifestation of conflict between: a power hungry external world; the preservationist attitudes of traditional Navajo culture; the disadvantaged socio-economic status of the average Navajo wage earner; and the Navajo Nation's long term needs for internal…

The writing center is a logical setting for assisting the culturally dissonant student. Although the education of ethnic minority youth is one of the major tasks confronting American society and public higher education, teaching methods remain oriented to the values of a predominantly white middle class population. As a result, non-traditional…

This study examined how social interaction norms and promotion and tenure norms effected job satisfaction, focusing on how these variables effected on underrepresented faculty at a predominantly white, four-year, public, urban university. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of nine faculty (white male, white female, and…

This paper describes a study comparing the development of children reared in a communal environment with that of children from upper-middle-class home environments. Variables considered were cognitive development and academic achievement. Subjects consisted of 39 children, 2 1/2 to 6 1/2 years of age, reared communally from birth, and 39…

This paper explores the issue of low interest and involvement in teaching careers by students of color. The study discussed in the paper was designed to consider the following general supposition: teacher education programs, as they have traditionally selected, trained, and supported teachers, no longer suffice for the needs of today's…

This paper explains the method used to locate low-income inner-city participants and describes progress during the first fiscal year of the endeavor. Several educational programs are described briefly. Among them are the archaeological summer camp, 4-H teams' participation in a basketball league, 4-H clubs' in the low-income inner-city target…

This study followed six "culturally aware" elementary school teachers through student teaching and their first two years of teaching to look at how their life experiences as minority people affected their classroom practices. The study was a qualitative inquiry based on reciprocal and interactive relationships. The approach was…