Advocates a revival of oral communication, historically an element of classical rhetorical training. Points out that talk that focuses on noticeably literary texts and approaches does not encourage dialogic inquiry. Provides a model for fostering more casual discussion of student writing and literary texts. (HB)

Suggests that, to better gauge children's learning progress, teachers and schools should put less emphasis on standardized tests and more emphasis on continuous classroom assessment of students. (MDM)

Reports on a study that examined how death is presented in young children's literature. Death themes are classified as educationally and developmentally positive or negative presentations. A content analysis was conducted to create a profile of the typical children's book with death themes. (SM)

Identifies the ideas of the good that organize the professional lives of English college faculty. Discusses how these ideas should help faculty to constitute their departments, colleagues, and students. Applies insights from Aristotle's "Rhetoric" to departmental discussions. (HB)

Considers how students are represented in institutional discourse and how students are viewed by their teachers. Outlines historical and current examples of the way students are represented. Calls for a closer examination of the relationship between rhetorical representations of students and reality. (HB)

Explores Singapore poet Edwin Thumboo's aesthetic use of consistent foregrounding, or use of certain linguistic devices to attract attention, in one poem from three perspectives: propositional; textual; and interpersonal. The approach adopted is functional-semantic in orientation and is designed to gain a better appreciation of the poem's texture…

A professor submitted a passage on Native American literature for the reading comprehension section of a postgraduate standardized test. The passage (reproduced in full) points out the difficult questions that Native American literature poses about personal identity. The passage was rejected as potentially disturbing to Native American test…

Draws on experiences as a straight feminist geographer to address questions regarding teaching sexualities in geography. Looks at "sexing" and "queering" geography curricula at the college level; discusses strategies to make universities and classrooms less heterosexist and lesbo/homophobic; and discusses dilemmas of disclosing…

Suggests that science and technology studies (STS) is ready to reconsider an approach based on Heideggerian phenomenology. Argues that STS is facing a confrontation with the inadequacies of constructivism's founding assumptions. (CCM)

Presents two scenarios representing two very different critical perspectives: a text-focused and a reader-focused approach. Argues that using literary theory to look at a literary text anew results in a richer engagement with that text and helps students to want to engage with the work. (SC)

Considers how the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"'s achievement of the status of a modern classic provides evidence that children's collective voices can sometimes cause the walls erected by the field's adult gatekeepers to come tumbling down. Discusses reasons for the popularity and controversy surrounding the book. (SC)

Reviews "Constructing Critical Literacies" (1997), describing the various approaches of the main contributors to the book. Sets these selections against a critical literacy rubric which would equip children with literacy for active, autonomous, and democratic citizenship, and finds a qualified positive relationship. (NH)

Contributes to scholarship on rhetorical theory and political judgment theory by examining how the rhetoric of Reconstruction congressional actors expressed divergent modes of political judgment regarding the civil rights of African Americans. Contends that proponents and opponents enacted adverse norms of discursive practice and competing…

Describes the development and construction of the Bibliotheca Alexandria, a public research library in Alexandria (Egypt) serving African, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern countries as well as having global cultural implications. Topics include friends of the library groups; the role of UNESCO; and criticism of the library. Includes side bar…

Discusses the research in technology education as reported in 145 articles from the "Journal of Technology Education," 1989-1997. Indicates that conservative opinions are favored and critical voices the exception and suggests that closer attention must be paid to the politics of data, methods, theories, and epistemological visions. (JOW)