Discusses the implications for women of Subject Review, a quality-assurance process involving the formal assessment of several aspects of teaching and learning in United Kingdom institutions of higher education. Contends that Subject Review does not benefit the professional goals and aspirations of most women in higher education. (Contains 44…

In her book on Wittgenstein's "Philosophical Investigations", Beth Savickey points out that few critics pay explicit attention to Wittgenstein's references to the child and childhood, particularly in his later work. She argues (paraphrasing Wittgenstein) that "the figure of the child is the figure that draws together the concepts of teaching and…

The notion of "enlightenment" holds within it two seemingly contradictory attitudes. On the one hand enlightenment is synonymous with freedom, self-determination, autonomy and independence. On the other hand, in their critique of enlightenment, Horkheimer and Adorno draw attention to its more pernicious features. This critique of enlightenment as…

This paper analyzes the impact of the idea of accountability on education. It considers the kind of relationships that are promoted or produced by the culture of accountability, both in order to understand what kind of relationships are made possible and to understand what kind of relationships are made difficult, or even impossible, as a result…

What does teaching from a postmodern perspective mean? This chapter describes adult education from one educator's standpoint, with attention to knowledge, teachers, students, and power.

Issues of critical inquiry and social and environmental change have entered art education theory and are making their way into art classrooms. Unfortunately, rather than embracing how these ideas are carried out in the community of practicing artists and how they could be made relevant to students, many art teachers artificially force these ideas…

School counseling lacks clarity. This confusion is the result of competing models and confusing standards, domains, and competencies. This article offers a simplified model of school counseling entitled the "Six 'C' Model" (i.e., Care, Collaboration, Champion, Challenge, Courage, and Commitment). The interactive model is informed by the…

The implementation of education programmes in different cultures invites the question whether we are justified in doing so in cultures that may reject the programmes' underlying principles. Are there indeed ethical principles and educational ideals that can be justified as applicable to all cultures? After a consideration of Zygmunt Bauman's…

In a response (in this issue of "Educational Researcher," p14-16) to this author's previous essay, "Rethinking Domination and Resistance: Challenging Postmodernism" ("Educational Researcher," Jan-Feb 2004), Samantha Caughlan argues that Aaron Schutz was incorrect in his description of the workings of oppression. In this article, Schutz responds to…

This paper defends the idea that universities manufacture knowledge as a public good through the "creative destruction" of social capital. The idea is presented as contemporary restatement of the Humboldtian ideal of the unity of research and teaching: Research "creates" (i.e. concentrates) social capital, which is then…

One concern for teachers of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is how to balance academic study with a need for the development of the imagination. This article examines the subject at the heart of the IB Diploma, Theory of Knowledge, and looks at the contrasting philosophies of Spinoza and Hegel and their relationship with this…

Religious education takes place within a postmodern culturalintellectual milieu exemplified in part by the work of Michel Foucault, which disrupts common modern concepts of knowledge and power. For Foucault, power is not only repressive but also productive, insofar as every system of knowledge depends on social arrangements of power for the…

What happens when children come across texts that push the boundaries of what they expect to encounter when they pick up a picture book? There exists a genre of nontraditional picture books, commonly referred to as "postmodern picture books," which is characterized by a variety of alternative literary and illustrative devices. Given that…

This article builds on the foundations and evaluations laid recently by Symes and Gulson in their 2005 article, "Crucifying Education: The rise and rise of new Christian schooling in Australia." It evaluates the warrant of Christian schooling within a liberal democracy and offers a rejoinder for defending the rights of Christian…

This article examines the practical adequacy of the recent defining of a normative framework for the South African National Curriculum Statement that focuses on the relationship between human rights, social justice and a healthy environment. This politically framed and socially critical normative framework has developed in response to…