Introduces the idea that attention deficit disorder is a myth brought about by society's attempts to alter and adapt children's natural behaviors to fit the routines and limits of a flawed educational system. Anecdotes from Albany's Free School describe ways of working with children as unique individuals, based on the faith in every child's inborn…

Educator violence against students (verbal and physical assaults and the undermining of students' constitutional rights) erodes rather than enhances school safety. Unnecessarily harsh disciplinary practices create a violence-prone climate mirroring U.S. society--the most retributive of Western nations. Democratic classroom practices can help…

Explores the evolution of postmodernism and the many differences between modernism and postmodernism. Describes two strategies (authentic instruction and discipline-based instruction) for structuring a postmodern curriculum. Highlights an activity that helped fifth-grade students learn about postmodern art and real-world issues by studying the…

This article summarizes findings of "What Grown-ups Understand about Child Development," a national survey to gauge America's knowledge about child development. The findings suggest a need for more and better information on topics such as expectations of young children at different ages, theories on spanking and spoiling, and choices of…

We examined contextual factors that may affect the impact of physical discipline on later child behavior problems among high-risk Black and White families. We examined race, parental warmth, and early child problems as potential moderators of the discipline-behavior problem link. The sample included 442 White and Black children and their…

The authors compare the ideal versus actual academic reward structures at a representative sample of nondoctoral four-year institutions and make recommendations. (Contains 2 tables.)

Across America, colleges and universities proclaim their commitment to liberal education through general education mission statements touting outcomes such as increased intellectual awareness, breadth of learning, communication skills, and critical thinking. According to this author, however, general education programs are burdened by several…

Examines a case study of a high-track English class to show how teachers use multiple claims to legitimacy and ambiguous standards to negotiate classroom authority. Finds relationships between teachers and students involve both conflict and collusion. Claims that a teacher's professional authority can be undermined by reliance on bureaucratic…

Good teaching should be inclusive of all students. There are very strong arguments for making courses/units/modules as inclusive as possible, based on issues of equity and access. Inclusive teaching has been a catch cry in recent times and most universities have policies related to this issue. However, research into the effectiveness of measures…

Background: Five DNA markers (single-nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) have recently been found to be associated with general cognitive ability "g") in a sample of 7414 7-year-old twins. These children have also been studied at 2, 3, 4, and 7 years of age on measures of cognitive and language development and behaviour problems; family environment…

Objective: To compare the predictive validity of the clinical-diagnostic and the empirical-quantitative approach to assessment of childhood psychopathology, and to investigate the usefulness of combining both approaches. Method: A referred sample (N = 96), aged 6 to 12 years at initial assessment, was followed up across--on average--a period of…

Although the literature on social networks has made a considerable contribution to the sociological imagination in recent years, it has been largely ignored in conventional course materials. Such an omission is curious, considering social networks' intuitive imagery, broad theoretical relevance and extensive empirical application. This article…

Human resource development (HRD) uses a wide variety of theories from multiple disciplines and fields of study to create its own unique field of scholarly practice. As with any field, however, we tend to get comfortable with familiar theories and theorists and fail to explore other possible sources of wisdom. One scholar whose work is worthy of…

Organisational change in UK higher education has resulted in control of the student learning environment passing from specific disciplines such as psychology to central management teams and university-wide course frameworks. This poses the general question of how disciplines can exert influence upon broad pedagogic issues, when their control…

The symbolic location of EUROCALL's 2004 conference in Vienna offered to both new members from Eastern Europe and established members from the West an opportunity to review the relationship between computer assisted language learning (CALL) and language teaching in general. CALL is defined as an "academic field that explores the role of…