The author will attempt to demonstrate that the concept of culture is no longer appropriate for describing present-day cultural diversity. Indeed, cultures can no longer be understood as independent entities, but need to be contextualized in terms of social, political and communication-based realities. When contemplating cultural pluralism, it is…

The "end of ideology" was declared by social scientists in the aftermath of World War II. They argued that: (1) ordinary citizens' political attitudes lack the kind of stability, consistency, and constraint that ideology requires; (2) ideological constructs such as liberalism and conservatism lack motivational potency and behavioral…

Our paper reviews and analyzes B. F. Skinner's contributions to applied behavior analysis in order to assess his role as the field's originator and founder. We found, first, that his contributions fall into five categorizes: the style and content of his science, his interpretations of typical and atypical human behavior, the implications he drew…

This article describes action research within a multicultural pedagogical praxis orientation in a teacher education course at a higher education institution in Brazil during the academic year 2003. The narrative draws on the ways in which the course sought to develop a research perspective that could equip student teachers with elements that allow…

This paper examines the proposition that administrative policy has the properties of a myth, with myth defined as a grand narrative of explanation and justification. It illustrates the proposition with an example of radical restructuring in a large education system, the Department of Education in New South Wales, Australia. It reviews the…

This monograph maintains that qualitative methods in research are no longer alternatives, but accepted practice in many research institutions. Consequently, the purpose of this anthology is to continue the search into "the forms of things unknown" and to re-examine those that are known by offering examples of new waves in research, based…

Research on learning styles has shown that students learn better when teachers plan class learning activities to fit students' learning styles. This paper describes three "ways of knowing" and discusses the role they play in "knowing the culture" of a school. The first part relates ways of knowing to the usual three domains of learning--cognitive,…

This study investigates what thinking skills are needed to be a good artist or art student, particularly in a secondary school art course. Following a review of the literature, a qualitative approach was used to identify, describe, and classify the thought processes that are seen by the participants as being conducive to success in visual art. The…

Maintains that the study of signs is divided between those scholars who use the Saussurian binary sign (semiology) and those who prefer the Peirce tripartite sign (semiotics). Concludes that neither the Saussurian nor Peircian analysis methods can produce a semiotic interpretation based on a hierarchy of the text's various components. (CFR)

Discusses the question of how English-language learners (ELLs) experience writing by probing the effects of researcher positionalities on inquiry practices. Explores positionality through experiences with the discourse of contrastive rhetoric. (Author/VWL)

Developed a needs-assessment model and validated the model with five groups of stakeholders connected with an undergraduate university nursing program in Canada. Used focus groups, questionnaires, a hermeneutic approach, and the magnitude-estimation scaling model to validate the model. Results show that respondents must define need to clarify the…

Suggests that considerable insight into effective teaching strategies may be gained through the analysis of a small section of classroom interaction using multiple perspectives. Provides an example of using discourse analysis to explore interactions. Contains 40 references. (DDR)

Discussion of relevance provides an overview to this special issue on relevance research. Topics addressed include user-centered criteria that affect relevance judgments; information-seeking behavior; the need for appropriate research methodologies; models for system design and evaluation; and approaches to facilitate further research, including…

What is faith development? Can it be assessed? Which environments and experiences are most conducive to growth in faith? These are a few of the questions that the Faithful Change research project attempts to address. (Contains 1 table.)

In this paper I consider the ways that the instrumental and cautionary profile of sex and relationship education is used to regulate the sexuality of young people in the United Kingdom. This regulation is partly a counter to the commodification of sex in the mass media but also a means to reinforce the social and cultural norms that are performed…