According to author Allan Bloom, problems in today's university stem from lack of belief in the university's vocation. The paper evaluates his Socratic solution which states the country must recover a belief in and response to the university's primary calling (the promotion of discussion and speculation in a Socratic manner). (SM)

Observes that the humanities first came under attack immediately after their development in ancient Athens. Describes the fifth-century Sophists who developed an education designed for democracy. Urges support of the humanities today as a training in free citizenship, speech, and thought. Warns that technology cannot solve the problems facing…

Illustrates how science fiction can encourage students to reflect on the interaction of science, humanism, and literature, and on how this interplay causes permutations in human thought. Suggests thematic teaching approaches based on writings dealing with ethics, biological determinism, science and society, and science and the humanities. (RDS)

The quality of the student-teacher relationship is critical in opening the heart and mind. The highest form of learning occurs when the teacher loves and accepts the student so fully that the student feels safe enough to go within to see himself/herself and emerge with new answers about his/her life. (MSE)

Our higher education system does not nurture the inner lives of students or help them acquire the self-understanding that is the basis for a satisfying life, nor does it provide the safe and nurturing environment people need in order to grow. What is needed is a more holistic way of conceiving education, one that accepts the importance of…

This article discusses the importance of affective education in fostering emotional development and leadership skills, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences, and the affective needs of gifted and talented students. The teacher's role in integrating an affective component in the curriculum is described and strategies are provided, including…

The great naturalist Edward O. Wilson's (1998) recent plea for the "consilience" of knowledge should strike a chord in the heart of every generalist. Invoking the unfinished agenda of the Enlightenment, Wilson has called for a rapprochement among the several branches of learning so that they can be viewed as interrelated and constituting a whole.…

Why do some teachers demonstrate great cultural sensitivity in their work with children while others seem mired in stereotypes, perpetuating a view of diversity as exotic or denying that race is an issue in their classrooms? Why is it so difficult to change these dispositions of teachers? And what can we do in teacher education to further the…

Individual learners' affective factors are very important for foreign language learning. In China foreign language learning mainly happens in the classroom. Foreign language teachers are the organizers and carriers of language classes, and thus they inevitably influence the students' affection. This study explores how EFL teachers influence…

Previous studies using the Pupil-Control Ideology Scale (PCI) have found that in general, secondary school teachers have a more custodial attitude toward pupil control than do primary school teachers, and that public school teachers have a more custodial attitude than do religious school teachers. Teachers with custodial attitudes tend to distrust…

This study examined 14 sixth grade teachers' opinions about classroom management, gathering information from an online discussion group conducted during the summer of 1997. Researchers selected and analyzed the teachers' opinions using content analysis according to the tenets of three classroom management theories: (1) the non-interventionist…

This packet summarizes the ideas, concepts, suggestions, and speculations growing out of a think tank which explored the uncharted region beyond cognitive learning. The packet contains: (1) an alphabetical list of 1991 and 1992 participants; (2) a list of participants' interests according to key terms; (3) summaries of small group discussions…

This book is a valuable resource for those concerned with alternative approaches to education, and for such courses as educational theory or philosophy. Drawing on elements of progressive education, existentialism, feminist pedagogy, and values education, critical humanism combines the holistic-psychological concerns of humanistic education with…

This packet summarizes the ideas, concepts, suggestions, and speculations growing out of a think tank which explored the uncharted region beyond cognitive learning. The packet shows that participants were divided into groups to discuss teaching, research, bibliographic information, theoretical ideas, and professional issues. The packet contains:…

Engineering students can use a humanistic research project on the poetry of Walt Whitman as the basis for a technical report. Students must first become familiar with the scientific method so that they will have a general procedure for gathering and analyzing data for the project. To use the scientific method, students isolate the problem, observe…