Changing times and postmodern perspectives have disrupted the taken-for-granted relationship between child development knowledge and the preparation of early childhood teachers. Despite ongoing exchanges about how best to respond to the critique of the developmental knowledge base, few descriptions of how particular teacher educators have gone…

Professor George Sefa Dei has written and taught extensively in the fields of anti-colonialism and anti-racism. His latest work on the subject is "Anti-Colonialism and Education: The Politics of Resistance," co-edited with Arlo Kempf for Sense Publishers (2006). Dei and Kempf are also co-authoring a forthcoming volume on anti-colonial…

We seek to understand why persons develop their musical preferences by identifying with a particular cultural group and social background. This identification is greatly shaped by experience in their environment. Resources employed for this identification are mostly different from those employed in schools to foster academic knowledge. We argue…

George Orwell, in the essay "Politics and the English Language," criticized pretentious doublespeak and technobabble that numb the consciousness and hide political power plays. Judith Butler defends the "nuanced" prose of her fellow postmodernists as necessary to convey the complexity of their thoughts. Stephen Roney contrasts the two and…

In this completed qualitative dissertation research, the nature of the relationship between professional development programs (in-service training programs) and English language instructors was studied with a critical postmodern lens focusing on the narratives of nine English language instructors on their experiences in their professional…

This paper analyses the problematic nature of citizenship as a modern achievement faced with the challenge of vindicating ancient ideals in what is increasingly considered to be a "postmodern" world. It offers a parallel analysis of childhood as a characteristically modern construct whose reality in children's life-worlds is threatened…

This essay suggests a way for creating a curriculum for the future amidst the challenges of post-modern uncertainty. Curriculum discourse in the past has been dominated by widely-accepted key questions, which produce and maintain curricula that are essentially fragmented and reductionistic, and directly opposed to the essential demands of the…

The author reviews the relationship between "literature" and pop culture, arguing that both are part of an intellectual continuum, and that to attempt to extol one and demonise the other is not only based on false and simplistic premises, it is exclusive and destructive. She reminds us that "All education is based on assumptions…

The purpose of this article is to discuss strategies for the secondary, public school educators to implement postmodern thinking in the United States of America. Postmodernism is a set of strategic practices that erase limits or norms to abide by placed upon people in society. The time is now for educators to be recognizant of these changes.…

This book presents six critical commentaries on the state of the discipline and practice of adult education. "The Critical Turn in Adult Education Theory" (Michael R. Welton) takes the position that the critical theoretical tradition from Marx to Habermas can provide a foundation for an emancipatory educational practice.…

This book examines the personal, moral, cultural, and political dimensions of teaching in the context of rapid and far-reaching change within teachers' work and in the world beyond it. The chapters in Part One examine the powerful forces for change in society and how those forces are exerting pressure on existing institutions. Issues such as the…

The teaching of German in America is analyzed from a postmodernism perspective and in comparison with the long-term commitment to learning a foreign language in Europe. Two points are considered: (1) most innovative teaching methodologies were derived in the 1970s from humanist psychology, not from second language acquisition theory; and (2) the…

Delving into the often unexplored areas of class, race, and power struggles, "The Power of Parents" poses a unique and original critical examination of the relationship between bicultural parents and the school system. Written with students and practitioners in mind, it challenges past research that has traditionally argued bicultural parents are…

With many English teachers now opting to teach writing and literature courses in electronic environments, some of the teachers' most significant experiences in these environments have stemmed from their attempts to make technology available as a literacy tool for culturally diverse student populations. Computer-mediated communication can broaden…

Taking a post-modern approach, this paper addresses the relevance of measurement and evaluation of libraries and information services. The following topics are discussed: (1) past and present approaches to performance measurement, including origins of measurement and landmarks of the past; (2) a conceptual framework for evaluation, including a…