History teachers are faced with numerous literacy-related decisions about the types of texts they use and how students are taught to learn with texts. Teachers' decisions about texts and instruction reflect their knowledge of historical inquiry processes and attitudes about the purpose of history instruction, specifically whether instruction on…

Virginia Woolf wrote that "the history of men's opposition to women's emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself." Analyzing men's resistance remains relevant to understanding gendered hierarchies, including those in academia. Recently, when women academics brought a human rights complaint against…

Drawing on a critical theoretical paradigm and critically engaging with the externalization thesis that Gita Steiner-Khamsi and Jurgen Schriewer have developed, this article examines the politics of "Finnish education" in the ongoing Japanese education reform debate. More specifically, it examines the various discursive uses of…

I would like to begin by thanking the editors of the journal, and in particular Carmen Silva-Corvalan, for inviting such a wonderful group of commentators, united in their commitment to spirited yet courteous academic debate and diverse in their academic allegiances, theories, and methodologies. I also thank the commentators for the kindness and…

Being subject to the political whims of the campaigns (such as the Republican candidate's declaration two days earlier that he wanted to postpone the debate to deal with an escalating economic crisis) is just one risk for campuses that raise millions of dollars and endure an array of logistical complexities to play host to presidential or…

Analyzes the present nature of topicality argumentation. Argues for an alternative view of topicality as jurisdiction, balancing resolutional ground and focusing debaters' attention and arguments on central substantive policy issues implied by the resolution under consideration. Concludes with an application of the jurisdiction analogy to…

Following calls to increase professional communities of practice around research in educational leadership graduate programs, this study describes the ongoing process of creating a research journal club. We share the process of implementation, describe the structure adopted, and the outcomes observed one year after the establishment of a journal…

This case study examines a U.S. History class where a veteran teacher uses challenging primary source documents and a debate to encourage his students to think critically about history. The teacher is knowledgeable about the subject matter and articulates a clear purpose for teaching. Surprisingly, the author finds that the teacher's methods,…

Student evaluation of courses and teaching at universities remains a highly contentious and divisive topic. Emotions and anecdotal evidence can overrule conclusions drawn from research on the validity and design of course evaluations. However, even amongst researchers, there is significant disagreement on the efficacy of course and teaching…

Opponents of non-state schooling--especially faith-based schools--contend that society is fragile, constantly in danger of splintering along ethnic, social class, and religious lines, and that only the common public school operated by government can create national unity and mutual tolerance. Confessional schools are a constant threat to the…

Claims that emotional well-being is synonymous with successful educational practices and outcomes resonate with contemporary political portrayal of well-being as integral to "social justice". In Britain, diverse concerns are creating an "ad hoc" array of therapeutic interventions to develop and assess attributes, dispositions and attitudes…

"Dispositions" has been one of the most controversial words in teacher education since the beginning of this decade. Now, a position paper from the leading association representing the nation's teacher colleges is calling for an open and critical conversation on the meaning and uses of the term. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher…

In 1995, the Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) voted for the first time to debate a policy-based resolution. As CEDA embraces policy-based resolutions, it changes the focus of both affirmative and negative strategies. Affirmatives must now necessarily implement a plan while negatives have more freedom to advocate counterplans.…

Although many Cross-Examination Debate Association (CEDA) coaches and debaters wish to establish "stock issues" (categories of questions that people naturally ask when confronting a resolution), there are several strong arguments against establishing stock issues in CEDA debate. To enhance the educational value of the activity, stock…

Arguments on topicality have the potential of becoming an infinite regress both as they are articulated in debate theory as well as how they are developed by debaters in rounds. An "Equal Ground" criterion is proposed as an effective means of assessing topicality. This criterion assumes the reasonability standard of topicality.…