A study examined the possible differences in home training received by Hispanics and Anglos, the development of particular problem-solving styles as a result of home training, and possible differences between Hispanics and Anglos in problem-solving styles. A questionnaire was used to investigate home teaching style, actualization of…

Some organizational activities can be understood in anthropological terms as "rites" affecting and reinforcing the organizational culture. Six specific rites are described and a case study is reported in which a change in a school committee's culture was attempted through a change in its rites. The first three rites examined relate to the…

Raymond William's historical analysis of the "community" and the "individual" is useful for looking critically at the notion of "discourse communities." Recent "social" theories of writing have invoked the idea of community in ways that seem at once sweeping and vague, for they fail to state the operating…

Held in 1987, and emphasizing the naturalness of reading behavior as well as cultural diversity, the proceedings of the 53rd Claremont Reading Conference consist of the following articles and their authors: (1) "Encouraging Free Reading" (S. D. Krashen); (2) "A Conceptual Framework for Integrated Literacy Teaching" (S. B.…

Most of the "talk" about the role of mass media in the Third World is generated by politicians rather than by professional communicators. The "Developmental Play Model" treats media experience as an encounter with the "self" and considers the "self" as an integral part of the mass communication process. The…

This paper uses the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the case of "West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette" to illustrate the impact of changes in Western Culture world views of reality on educational and legal philosophy. The report argues that Western culture has replaced vertical assumptions, with its conception of individuals who…

There is indeed a literacy crisis, but this crisis needs to be reconceived as a crisis in definition. Paulo Freire and Donaldo Macedo's book "Literacy: Reading the Word and the World" can be used to refute E. D. Hirsch's arguments as presented in his "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know," but this kind of…

Focusing upon the importance of the overall school climate, and viewing school improvement from a cultural perspective, this document presents a report on the first year of a study of culture and cultural processes involved in improving the effectiveness of high schools. The first section discusses the year's three major activities undertaken to…

If the various academic disciplines are considered as cultures, with their own language, literature, behavior, and mode of discourse, then more and more the need of educated readers is to read across disciplines or multiculturally, and the goal of college writing teachers should be to encourage students' interdisciplinary reading. Respect for the…

Akira Kurosawa, the most popular Asian film maker with audiences in the United States, has found in William Shakespeare's plays themes and plots that resonate within Japanese culture. While the translations of "Macbeth" into "Throne of Blood" and "King Lear" into "Ran" are quite direct and literal with only…

Viewing conflict as a communication process and culture as a system of symbols and meanings allows conflict to be seen as embedded in the normative system of culture. Conflict is functional when it maintains the fundamental norms and values of the culture, regulates an appropriate degree of stability in the system, and takes place in a normative…

In an attempt to locate studies from various cultures and nations that would provide useful sources for university courses in comparative reading, this booklet provides annotated sources of international reading studies, as well as three articles on comparative reading. Following an introduction, the first part of the booklet begins with an…

Concepts and methods intended to enhance the relationship between psychoanalytic theory and psychological anthropology are proposed and illustrations of the application of these concepts and methods are given based on ethnographic data on the Gusii of Kenya. Using five minimum assumptions about the universality of personality, an ethnographic…

In this analysis of healing and conversion as two of the most notable and persistent traits of the new religious movements in Africa, healing is described as an indigenous religious category within the context of conversion as a modern permutation of African religion. Religious conversion is most strikingly represented in societies where the…

This publication is a critical bibliography and assessment of scientific materials relating to family planning discontinuation rates. Most of the studies referenced were done in Asia, Africa, and South America. Chapter titles include: (1) Discontinuation: A Neglected Topic?; (2) Measuring Discontinuation; (3) What Happens After Termination; (4) A…