This article argues that Harry Potter fan vids can be used in the classroom as works of secondary criticism about J. K. Rowling's primary text. It makes two claims: the first is that vids can be read as criticism of a particular text (in this case Harry Potter) alongside other critical essays on that text; the second is that the practice of…

This chapter explores the basis of rationality, arguing that critical thinking tends to be taught in schools as a set of skills because of the failure to recognize that choosing to think critically depends on the prior development of stable sentiments or moral habits that nourish a rational self. Primary among these stable sentiments are the…

Positive psychology is influencing educational policy and practice in Britain and North America. This article reveals how this psychological discourse and its offshoot school-based training programs, which stress happiness, self-improvement and well-being, align with an emergent socio-economic formation: cognitive capitalism. Three key points are…

In this article, the author reports on an awareness of controversial incidents on campuses around North America surrounding "politically correct" speech codes and thought control measures instituted at the behest of faculty and students of this ideological persuasion. It seems that critical theory is going beyond "critical…

Henry A. Giroux claims this to be the "worst of times" for US public education. Not alone in this judgment, numerous other scholars stand in agreement with him. These thinkers view the current corporate/accountability/testing movement, with its iron grip on public school policies, as disfiguring and disparaging the US system of public…

Beginning with Carl Rogers' exhortation for counsellors to be non-judgemental of their clients, this article explores the rationale for withholding judgement in therapy, including diagnostic judgement. It traces Rogers' incipient sociopolitical analysis as a foundation for this ethic and argues that Michel Foucault provides a stronger…

This paper examines the development of European-style education in Egypt during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as Egyptian reformers and governments, in their desire to create relevant and effective educational institutions, began looking to Europe for inspiration. The resulting institutions utilized modern methods while preserving…

This review is premised on the idea that poststructuralist theorising, particularly deconstructive conceptual ideas, is often seen as incongruent with research focused on social justice. Poststructuralism--if one can risk homogenising it into the one singular category given the variety of nuances--is considered anti-foundationalist. The utility of…

Using narrative from 6 high school American history textbooks published between 1956 and 2009, this study investigated changes in how textbook authors presented the topics of agricultural science, farming, and community. Although some critical discourse analyses have examined textbooks' treatment of different population groups (e.g., African…

This essay questions the digital humanities' dependence on interpretation and critique as strategies for reading and responding to texts. Instead, the essay proposes suggestion as a digital rhetorical practice, one that does not replace hermeneutics, but instead offers alternative ways to respond to texts. The essay uses the Occupy movement as an…

Discrepancies (i.e., a subjective sense of falling short of one's own standards) are a key part of the perfectionism construct. Theory suggests discrepancies confer vulnerability to depressive symptoms. Since most research in this area is cross-sectional, longitudinal research is needed to disentangle directionality of relationships and to permit…

Educators' reliance on the Internet to research and answer any question, gives rise to a new challenge for students. Like its counterpart at other colleges and universities, Career Services at Burlington County College leads students through a workshop where they analyze their social media presence. The tips and hints help students develop the…

The importance of subscores in educational and psychological assessments is undeniable. Subscores yield diagnostic information that can be used for determining how each examinee's abilities/skills vary over different content domains. One of the most common criticisms about reporting and using subscores is insufficient reliability of subscores.…

The only available English translation of Makiguchi Tsunesaburo's most characteristic work, "Soka Kyoikugaku Taikei" ("The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy"; 1930-1934), was published as "Education for Creative Living" in 1989 with Alfred Birnbaum as the translator and Dayle M. Bethel as the editor. "Education for Creative Living", not…

Stanley Fish wrote a column for the "New York Times" entitled "Will the Humanities Save US?" Here, Fish asserted that the humanities can't save humans, and in fact they don't really "do" anything, other than give pleasure to "those who enjoy them." This sustained shrug elicited a blast of energetic and…