This book makes the compelling argument that religion can be complicit in conflict and that a new secularism is vital to foster security. Using insights from complexity science, it shows how dynamic secularism can be used to accommodate diverse faiths and beliefs within worldly politics. Exploration of the interplay of religion and education in…

Reviews "Appalachian Values," by author Loyal Jones and photographer Warren Brunner, which depicts the culture and values characteristic of Appalachian people. Although the book successfully illustrates the moral core of Appalachia, values are presented in a noncontroversial form, rather than as a part of individual or social conflict.…

Reviews "The Moral Dimensions of Teaching" (J. I. Goodlad, R. Soder, and K. A. Sirotnik, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990), a collection of essays addressing the teaching vocation and the moral dimensions of the profession. These analyses ignore gender as a reason teachers do not have professional status and autonomy. (SLD)

Discusses the inadequacy of current rhetorical criticism and theory for the evaluation of protestors and agitators. Explains why discourse by and about women should be integrated into rhetorical studies, reviewing 11 books which make key texts available or increase understanding of feminism as a historical social movement. (SR)

This essay examines the educational opportunities of people in poverty who receive social welfare assistance. The dominant political theory underlying social policy (including education policy) in the United States has evolved from 1960s and 1970s welfare liberalism into 1980s and 1990s style neo-conservatism -- a theory that embraces principles…

Notes Modell's examination of complexities of adoption from the perspectives of birthparents, adoptive parents, and adoptees, using lenses of kinship theory and symbolism, particularly blood as the central symbol of kinship in western cultures. Argues that as an anthropological study, Modell's work does not explicitly draw implications for…

In "The End of Racism" Dinesh D'Souza proposes a theory of rational discrimination based on the recognition that there are vast civilizational differences between black and white Americans and states a case for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act because it actually harms black prospects. (SLD)

This viewer's guide reflects some of the best classic and contemporary film titles available. These are films that reflect the traditional values of faith, family, and freedom. Seventy-five films are reviewed in the categories of achievement, communism, conscience, entrepreneurship, faith, family, freedom, crime and justice, regulation and…

Reviews "Transforming Nursery Education" by Peter Moss and Helen Penn. Maintains that the book clarifies issues and options in child care policy in Great Britain, is highly applicable to the situation in Canada, articulates the importance of values as central to developing early childhood policy and programs, highlights the importance of…

Asserts that O'Neill's book is excellent critique of liberalism and its neglect of children, but that suggestions for implementing covenant theory (rather than contract theory) as the basis for societal thinking and policy-making, although appealing, are problematic; paradoxically, in order to re-establish close relations between people, calls…

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…

Five texts by Brian L. Fife (1992), Chester E. Finn and Theodor Rebarber (1992), John Godar (1990), Nathan Rutstein (1992), and Yael Sharan and Shlomo Sharan (1992) on cultural diversity and education reform emphasize the importance of cooperation, administrative decentralization, the need for critical thinking, values that provide common ground,…