Part of a series of articles entitled "Environment and the Child.

Further development of research regarding the effectiveness of parent education programs depends upon a shift in conventional strategies of program evaluation. Current evaluation methods have been dominated by an interest in the outcomes of parent education programs. It is suggested that program evaluations should examine relationships between…

Contemporary theories about the nature of modern bourgeois culture are reviewed briefly, and the contradictions of that culture are stressed. Christopher Lasch's criticisms of American schools in "The Culture of Narcissism" fail to recognize that self-liberating practices may stimulate intellectual growth. (PP)

Roger Ikor's 1972 novel "Le Tourniquet des innocents" is proposed for advanced university-level French culture courses, illustrating how the study of a contemporary novel can be integrated into cultural education. Classroom activities suggested include text analyses, study of cultural themes, and preparation of a lexicon featuring cultural…

Excerpts from a discussion session involving six panelists and 150 teachers of English in non-English-speaking countries range from the revolution in the communicative approach to the extent to which the mother tongue is taken into account, translation, grammatical correctness, teaching large classes, and textbook development. (MSE)

Analyzes the cultural, social, economic, and political problems involved in handling new communications technologies, describes the electronic "nuts and bolts" of the communications-information revolution, and looks closely at potential contributions communications technology can make to development. Available from: Editorial, Sales and…

Graffiti analysis is an important means of understanding social and cultural realities at a given moment of a community's existence, realities that the media often treat only in generalizations. Comparisons of graffiti between places, periods, languages, and subjects may be revealing. (MSE)

Three types of macro-level variables for program analysis--cultural, economic and demographic--provide a context for evaluation and offer alternative explanations for program success or failure. The problems of causality and availability of data, as well as the usefulness of macro variables in meta evaluation are discussed. (Author/CM)

A critical theory of education, which moves the study of education away from cultural reproduction to cultural change, is discussed. The ideas of Gramsci, Trotsky, and the Frankfurt School are outlined and applied to the current cultural crises. A positive alternative to curriculum, to aid in the development of social change, is described. (CJ)

Describes the method and the instructional materials entitled "Contacts," which were developed specifically for Nigeria. The discussion covers the use of audiovisual supplementary material, the essentially African sociocultural reference of the text, the methodology peculiar to the Nigeria plurilingual situation, and the goals for both…

A model for technology transfer is presented with notes on the many, often unforseen influences on the transfer process: competence, cultural and political context (especially in a multinational company), competition, satisfying multiple expectations, and avoiding misunderstandings. (MSE)

Researchers from several disciplines have contributed to the realization that context or social situation varies in regard to a child's language acquisition. Children acquire both linguistic competence, the unconscious understanding of grammatical rules, and communicative competence, the understanding that language is used differently in different…

To throw light on the value of Catholic education today, the author looks at the role and objectives of Catholic schools throughout American history. (SJL)

Applying the concept of "neighborhood effects" to education in a federal state such as Canada permits the argument for federal presence in public schooling. Includes four sets of examples of neighborhood effects that meet criteria specified for federal action. Notes five differences between Canadian and American public education.…