Describes a panel discussion on the acceptability of fiction in academic discourse. Gives advice to scholars wondering whether fiction should be considered as knowledge: stop taking yourself so seriously; embrace "scholartistry", the application of the artistry of imaginative powers to scientific inquiry; know that truth changes; explore…

Examined the relationship between academic performance and various contextual factors for urban, African American high school freshmen. Survey data indicated that gender, peers' church attendance, and percentage of relatives completing high school were significant in predicting positive academic outcomes. Perception of neighborhood deterioration…

This paper discusses contextual issues unique to First Nations and Aboriginal (FNA) undergraduate counselor education. Although FNA and non-FNA student counselors share similar educational experience and needs, significant differences between these two groups require consideration and accommodation. Explores important features that influence…

In addressing the theme of transition in learning languages, describes aspects of three projects. Data are drawn from the projects to highlight issues in context, culture, and communication and principles that support transition and continuity in learning languages. (Author/VWL)

Discusses variables related to task performance in the solution of the water-level problem, where subjects were asked to indicate the water surface orientation in a tilted vessel. Subjects ages 7 to 15 years participated. Suggests that field effects and the kind of rules in use contribute to the differences in performance, which can be shown even…

Focuses on the exploitation of conversation analysis in business telephone calls and underscores the decidedly situation-dependent nature of ethics in applying linguistics. Notes that because of the interdependence of language and its use with myriad aspects of social context, the consequences of individual language applications cannot be…

Examines the types of readings students are likely to encounter in the "real" world and how they will interact with them. The four approaches discussed include reading in a daily-life context, reading for information, reading for pleasure, and participatory reading. (21 references) (Author/CK)

Examined whether generalization about prosocial style of well-accepted children applies to conflicts involving rights infraction. Interviewed fourth- and fifth-graders about strategies for handling situations in which a peer infringes on their rights. Found that well-accepted children were neither aggressive nor particularly prosocial in conflict…

This paper examines ways to evaluate the potential efficacy of educational innovations and offers strategies for assessing the potential success of borrowing ideas or practices from another setting. Also examines an alternative school system, the Waldorf Schools, and discusses how to move between contextual frameworks and become aware of aesthetic…

Explores history of Head Start and, to create another way of conceiving of the organization, shifting definitions and conflicting interpretations of parental involvement and staff development. Also draws on interviews with women involved with Head Start and concludes that the certainty and stability characterizing public policy since Enlightenment…

Discusses the growth of educational institutions and the need for new paradigms of learning to keep pace with change. Topics include context; communication; the use and adoption of different technologies; shared knowledge; and the personal nature of the learning experience. (LRW)

Analyzes autobiographical narratives and uses the collective story as a format to tell personal stories of learning and teaching English in different sociocultural contexts. Discusses how local, socioculturally-situated knowledge can contribute to the knowledge of the discipline and a re-visioning of the field. (Author/VWL)

This article demonstrates how individual differences in scripts are found in verbal reports of everyday activities as well as memory for new events, those commonly used in language placement. It is concluded from previous research that in any assessment not actively discouraging idiosyncrasies individual differences will naturally result. (PB)

Major life changes and role transitions, though often treated as stressors necessitating adjustment, in fact produce a wide range of effects on mental health. Focusing on the role context within which transition events occur, finds that life transitions can be nonproblematic or even beneficial when preceded by chronic role problems. (AF)

This study showed that the Elementary Perceiver and Memorizer (EPAM) can explain letter recognition phenomena earlier simulated by the connectionist Interactive Activation Model of word perception. EAPM, a model of learning and recognition in the form of a computer program, has previously explained many aspects of learning and perception. (TJH)