This is the second article in a two-part SWOT analysis of academic libraries. The purpose of this research is to guide strategy development, decision making and advancement of positioning by identifying and analyzing the key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats impacting academic libraries. Its premise is that an understanding of these…

The collection of data on values through instruments such as the World Values Survey has focused attention on two opposing but inter-related trends, namely the combination of substantial cultural change in many countries and the persistence of distinctive traditional values. This reflects the interplay between social changes associated with…

"Atlas de Geografía Humana" constitutes a critique of the much vaunted notion of a progressive Spain that has rectified the gender inequalities of the Francoist era, as one of the highly educated and successful protagonists, Fran, unwittingly adopts her mother's alignment with patriarchal norms. This novel elucidates the incompatibility…

In this article we begin by discussing "ideology" as a theoretical construct, and the interconnections between policy and ideology in the education system in England. We analyse the main principles of education policies that can be broadly defined from Left to Right, according to the following ideologies: Marxism/Socialism/Radical…

The article examines the enduring popularity of a form of school history which is based predominantly on the idea that the transmission of a positive story about the national past will inculcate in young people a sense of loyalty to the state; a reassuring and positive sense of identity and belonging; and a sense of social solidarity with fellow…

This is one of the commentaries on Wu's "Interpretation, autonomy, and transformation: Chinese pedagogic discourse in a cross-cultural perspective" ("JCS", 43(5), 569-590). It highlights the paper's demystification of Western pedagogic discourse and recovery of the meaning of Chinese traditional pedagogic discourse as a…

To get an inside view of campus life today, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (whose purpose is to foster in college students an appreciation of the values that sustain a free society) was approached and asked to supply a list of their Collegiate Network editors--students who are active on their campuses, interested in the issues facing higher…

Scottish education was, until quite recently, the conscious product of liberal tradition, of the belief by influential elites that the nation's educational history was strong, coherent, and progressive, a source of economic flexibility, of modernising ideas, and of liberal opportunity. In recent decades, however, it has become fashionable to decry…

The hope that young people would accept and quickly learn Western ideas and democratic principles rather than just economic and technological achievements occupied a key place in the conceptions of the liberal and democratic parties in Russia. The possibilities of the modernization of Russian society and its economy were associated directly with…

The very purpose of traditional--especially religious--education is to induct the young into a unique vision of reality. When the compelling religious vision conflicts with other visions, extremist confrontations may result. This paper explores ways to "square the circle" of the educational conundrum of how to educate for fervent commitment to…

This article studies the foundations of laic moral education in Spain. Some aspects of laic moral education can also be found in other nations, including the emergence of the laic man or the need for an educating State; other aspects of laic moral education, however, are peculiar to the Spanish case, such as the influence of Krausoinstitutionism…

Drawing on data from an ethnographic study in an urban district in the state of Utah, this article highlights how liberalism shapes educational policy and practice in particular ways that ultimately reproduce and legitimate the status quo of whiteness. I employ critical race theory to analyze two aspects of liberalism that are especially pervasive…

The book is entitled History Wars in the Classroom: Global Perspectives and examines how ten separate countries have experienced debates and disputes over the contested nature of the subject, for example the "Black Armband" and "Whitewash" factions in Australia who adopt opposingly celebratory or denigratory views of Australian…

In the period of active transformations in Russian society in the past several decades it is extremely difficult to speak of any generally accepted standards of behavior. Specialists have noted that all countries that are undergoing "postcommunist" transformations are characterized by a discrepancy between social norms that are codified…

Reports that the conceptual and empirical distinctions between symbolic racism and "old fashioned" prejudice have been exaggerated. Symbolic racism may be best understood as one symptom of generalized tendencies to derogate outgroups' tendencies associated with personal attributes that reflect commitments to conservative sociopolitical…