Presidents can inspire, exhort, and lift their fellow citizens to new levels of hope and moral purpose. Presidents have with varying degrees of success presented visions that helped many citizens transcend the despair of economic depression, the horrors of war, or the brutality of racial violence. Presidents have used their powerful tools of…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 17 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) subordinates' perceptions of the androgynous communication style of supervisors as an index of job satisfaction; (2) comprehension and perception variables…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 13 titles deal with the following topics: the development of strategies and materials for teaching speech communication to students in a remedial pilot program; the treatment of ethics in selected speech communication textbooks;…

This paper looks at how rhetoric was used as an instrument in the Progressive Education Movement. According to the author, this movement stretched from the early 1920s to the early 1950s. As part of it, educators placed increased emphasis on child development, the student's freedom to develop naturally, student motivation, and the school/community…

The seven articles in this journal issue deal with the politics and practice of teaching writing. The articles focus on the following topics: (1) efforts to establish educational accountability, including competency based teacher education, licensing of teachers, and minimum competency testing; (2) methods for teaching students to use intuition in…

Evaluation is an act of persuasion directed to a specific audience concerning the solution of a problem. The process of evaluation is prescribed by the nature of knowledge--which is generally complex, always uncertain (in varying degrees), and not always propositional--and by the nature of logic, which is always selective. In the process of…

This paper describes the experience of a Basic Speech teacher with college-age Choctaw Indian students enrolled in a combination college and vocational training program. In the process of teaching basic speech techniques, the teacher learned a valuable lesson in Choctaw cultural patterns. Time concepts; social etiquette such as name-giving,…

This book presents a rational discussion process approach to the teaching of specific social controversies in the social studies in secondary schools. The authors provide an in-depth analysis of this approach which includes both theory and application. The introductory chapters place the discussion process framework within terms of American values…

Discusses the dominance of the narrative form in President Reagan's rhetoric and how his use of narrative form--characterized by a story-based truth, an emphasis on morality, and a grounding in common sense--affects political judgment, differentiating the perspective of his supporters and his opponents. Considers the power and limitations of…

Maternal and child health practitioners often approach systemic change in a very practical manner: fostering a collaborative vision, engaging critical stakeholders, working with policymakers on reform, and bringing the data and experience to inform the process. Systems are often maintained at a status quo due to deep, ingrained structures,…

This collection of articles on the nature of discourse and writing instruction include: "Une demarche de psychologie de discours; quelques aspects introductifs" ("An Application of Discourse Psychology; Introductory Thoughts") (Jean-Paul Bronckart); "Les procedes de prise en charge enonciative dans trois genres de texts expositifs" ("The Processes…

The Human Services Policy Center of Washington undertook a study of communication strategies for protecting children because of the perception among many leading child protection professionals that a distorted pattern of media coverage is driving child protection policies toward responding to the small proportion of atypical cases which the media…

In a teaching experiment, 16 face-to-face and 11 e-mail Finnish university students engaged in an argumentation course. The 19 students of the control group did not study argumentation. The course involved two lectures, exercises with argumentative texts, and face-to-face or e-mail seminar discussions based on these texts. The topics of the texts…

Four French language class activities are described, including a game using proverbs to review animal names and encourage comprehension; videotaping a class debate in French, to promote both exchange of ideas and student confidence before a group; a role-playing exercise in which a television news program is created; and a specialized activity to…

Directing a publicly funded project can present a number of challenges to researchers in reconciling their own philosophy with the expectations of their funders. This paper explores those dilemmas in the context of a four year project funded by the British Government to explore strategies to raise boys' achievement. It reflects on the underlying…