Models of giftedness are not versions of the way the world is, but programmes for improving the world. They uphold visions of the good life, good society, and worthy character. They are vehicles for values. Sternberg acknowledges this in his conclusion: "The important thing is to work together toward a common good--toward devising the best ways to…

In this article I draw attention to the current legitimising of new forms of identity of vocational and higher education learners. Using identity as a lens for examining pedagogy I focus on one of these new forms--the learner-worker identity. I examine one teaching and learning practice portfolio development, by discussing the program within which…

"The Mission" is an award-winning film that presents an allegorical treatment of colonial drama in the Americas. Depicting the fabled "Jesuit Republic," the film dramatizes historical events that span a period of more than 150 years, from 1610 to 1768. In scope and deed these events bear much that is relevant to the invasion and conquest of the…

Chomsky's (1959) review of "Verbal Behavior" (Skinner, 1957) has been hailed as the most influential document in the history of psychology. Although many rejoinders to Chomsky's review have been published, their impact has been minimal. Moreover, Chomsky has not answered them in detail. To invite Chomsky to revisit a number of matters concerning…

The last two decades have seen the massification of preservice teacher education and critiques of its quality in Australia and elsewhere. Part of the strategy of massification has been the establishment of satellite campuses in growth corridors. This paper enters the debate on the quality of preservice candidates. The purpose of this research is…

This article reports findings from 39 interviews from two Hong Kong universities and offers a critique of the RAE system. Respondents stated that the main emphasis in counting research productivity was on articles in prestigious international journals. There were many negative comments about this as the main quality indicator. Some respondents…

United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a plurality of the Court in "Mitchell v. Helms" in 2000, advanced the idea that state constitutional prohibitions against public funding of religious schools were manifestations of anti-Catholic bigotry in the late 19th century. Thomas's reading of history and law led him to believe…

High-stakes testing is the practice of attaching important consequences to standardized test scores, and it is the engine that drives the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The rationale for high-stakes testing is that the promise of rewards and the threat of punishments will cause teachers to work more effectively, students to be more motivated,…

Assimilation into society via academic achievement is a premise and practice that is universal in schools and school systems. Drawing on the testimonies of technological education teachers and the sociology of knowledge literature, this narrative inquiry research sets the stage for a critical analysis of our reliance on knowledge versus experience…

Growing criticism of existing educational leadership preparation programs seems to focus on a lack of contextual relevancy and instructional leadership. Universities and school districts need to develop more formal, collaborative, long-term relationships focused on the nature of principal preparation, moving beyond acculturation to district norms…

The neo-conservative subjectification of English teachers (as "language technicists" and "preachers of culture") is being resisted in Australia (for example, Doecke, Howie and Sawyer, 2006a). In this climate of contestation, the (re) conceptualisation of English as a critical space promoting social justice cannot be ethical or…

Theorists often take a condescending stance when speaking about the educationalization of social problems. Given their confidence with postmodern and poststructuralist perspectives, the educationalization of social problems is easily perceived as a set of questionable interventions by governments into educational practices. In this essay, Bert…

The Dartmouth conference of 1966 has taken on a legendary stature in the annals of U.S. college composition. In the most familiar accounts (Applebee; Berlin; Harris), Dartmouth provided the stage for a trans-Atlantic encounter of the British growth model and the American curriculum-sequencing model, pitting process and personal growth against the…

This article reports research from a qualitative case study of three preservice English teachers who participated in the Web Pen Pals project, a university--secondary telecollaborative partnership which paired preservice English teachers enrolled in the author's young adult literature course with local middle school students in online chat rooms…

Given the extent to which our society values education, it is perplexing to learn that we continue to struggle to provide all children, especially homeless children, an adequate education. This troubling issue is the focus of this paper. Specifically, this paper will center around two basic questions; 1) what has the legal system done to ensure…