Colleges and universities are some of the most important social institutions in America. These institutions have the privilege of educating large segments of future generations of Americans who will advance or undermine the American way of life that has been bequeathed to them. These same institutions also have the greatest longevity of any other…

In this article, we situate the imminent extinction of educational foundations within larger macro contexts, including the corporate control of knowledge production, the marginalization of critical academics who challenge the social, economic, and political status quos, and the global (United States in particular) economic recession. We also…

This article describes America's descent into madness under the regime of neoliberalism that has emerged in the United States since the late 1970s. In part, this is due to the emergence of a public pedagogy produced by the corporate-owned media that now saturates Americans with a market-driven value system that undermines those formative…

Anti-intellectualism and political illiteracy are sweeping across the American media and cultural landscape, giving rise to discourses that are unabashedly nativist, racist, and reactionary. Populist sentiments drive the rabid individualism and anti-government rhetoric of right-wing groups such as the Tea Party movement. Underlying these…

This speech is about respect for small things and suggests that schooling could benefit from the care and attention enabled by a smaller scale. Among the points made are that, yes, all children can learn, but that is no big deal. Schooling should contribute to their education, but schooling is far from being identical with education. Learning…

Argues that the primary purpose of mass education in America--nation-building--is collapsing and that educational researchers must develop different commitments; among these are local purposes for education. Distinguishes rural (local) and cosmopolitan commitments; suggests readings and other means of preparation for rural educational research;…

Many outdoor adventure educators are ignorant of the relevant literature and heritage. Books and tradition have become a waste of time for those who believe all learning must pay in the fast-time global mis-economy of fragments for sale. Yet many university students relish the classics and deeper knowledge, once they are given the opportunity. (TD)

Examines technology in education as social engineering that discourages intellectual development and accustoms children to accepting without question a hidden stranger's mind-altering drills. Relates this perspective to Greek philosophers Thales and Heraclitus' differing thoughts on the purpose of education: solving the universal human dilemma of…

What is the task of educators at a time when mainstream American culture is increasingly characterized by a declining interest in and misgiving about national politics? How one answers this question will have a grave impact not only on higher education but on the future of democratic public life. There are no simple solutions says author Henry…

In interpreting the intellectual and cultural contexts of gifted education, this book considers how and why U.S. schooling fails to care for intellect and to develop the talents of all children. Rather than acting as stewards charged with nurturing intellectual development, schools concertedly devalue intellect, and this shortcoming is most…

If schools were strongholds of intellect, the most academically able would be stars. Gifted kids often have trouble with school; academically uninterested kids enjoy cult-hero status; and the humanities are undervalued. Schools' purpose has been to train future employees and consumers, not create intellectual citizens. (MLH)

Traces current educational philosophy and practices to 19th-century philosophers who proposed the "mudsill theory," the notion that ordinary children could not be intellectually successful and must be coerced and prepared for work by compulsory schooling. Points to the success of relatively underschooled self-sufficient Lancaster Amish…

This paper examines the dynamics of authority relationships and curriculum enactment in a lower-level, college-preparatory US History class. It explains how a teacher and his students construct a relaxed order shaped by uncertain educational goals, the use of entertainment, and students' wants. Ambiguity and entertainment in the teacher's practise…