Discusses why challenges to materials in school libraries cannot be avoided. Demonstrates how reader response theory, the multiple readings of text, makes self-censorship difficult. Explains how "censorproofing" by title, author/artist, and subject ignores reader unpredictability and maturity levels. Finds all school libraries vulnerable…

Presents a bibliographic survey of works describing the variations in contemporary French seen in regional, social, and stylistic associations. Also takes a critical look at the necessity for this variation from a sociolinguistic viewpoint and examines the potential limits of these varieties in the language. (216 references) (Author/CK)

Discusses a study of young adult literature in light of contemporary literary theories; family relationships in selected young adult novels by Cynthia Vogt and Sue Ellen Bridgers; teaching young adult literature, moral inquiry, and the personal journey toward meaning; and using recorded books in a high school classroom. (RS)

Presents three short essays designed to stimulate teachers in their approaches to teaching literature and writing as the school year draws to a close. (TB)

Explains why Evald Ilyenkov (1924-79) is a serious cultural philosopher whose ideas are of enduring significance. Argues that Ilyenkov offers an intriguing vision of the relation of mind and world, which has radical implications for conceptions of thought, language, and human communication. Attempts to show that one thinker in the Soviet tradition…

Suggests a number of teaching strategies that can be used for the development of authentic voices (instead of institutional, depersonalized voices) in student writing. Focuses on the importance of students' choosing their own topic, developing audience awareness, and making connections between their own lives and literature. (TB)

Discusses the mutually opposed stances towards learning represented by early formulations of deconstruction and of hermeneutics. Identifies shifts in later formulations of both which provides a more inclusive context for understanding learning as a human undertaking, including the identification of tensions that are more promising than the…

"Neo-Hahnian" approaches to outdoor adventure education assume their programs "build character." Social psychology research has found that "character" is almost entirely illusory. Outdoor adventure education programs may provide situations that elicit certain behaviors, but the belief in character building must be…

Situates the practices of literary criticism and the appreciation of literary texts in World English within a larger historical context. By drawing attention to the moral metaphors that have so far guided the interpretation of literary criticism, interpretations, and scholarship, sets a new agenda for literary criticism, interpretation, and…

Argues that New Hampshire high-stakes test administered at the end of the third grade is flawed and thus should be discontinued because the questions are not only too abstract, but beyond the knowledge and experience of most third graders. (Contains 23 references.) (PKP)

Reflects on the idea of a story and what makes it alluring and engaging to a child in contradistinction with a moral tale or story with a preachy lesson. (TB)

Argues for the use of film in composition classes. Provides a system of inquiry for students that is both dialogic and generative, one that enables them to critique movies and see them not as a repository of ideologies and values but as an apparatus for producing meaning. (TB)

Discusses why affirmative action lacks full support in the United States. Two fairness issues are addressed in judging affirmative action programs: heightened salience of group identity and differences; and perceived scarcity of resources. Argues how program design and viewing work force diversity as a feasible means toward economic expansion can…

Compares two social studies textbooks for second graders, one standard curriculum (SC) text and the other from the Core Knowledge Curriculum (CKC). It argues that the SC textbook is boring and overly simplified, while the CKC textbook is interesting and considerably more informative. It suggests that elementary school students are fully capable of…

Based on fieldwork with first-graders in two racially mixed U.S. elementary schools, this article draws from Black feminist theory to examine intersections between gender and racialized ethnicity, especially in the experiences of African American girls. Findings suggest that racial positioning and gender of the African American girls held…