This article elucidates criteria which might be helpful in evaluating praxis-related research. The authors explore both sides of the research and development (R & D) project. They examine different ways of understanding contributions to knowledge through research but more especially exploring ideas about contributions to changing praxis. Changing…

The South is arguably the most generous region of a generous nation. Southerners give to their universities and schools, to their soup kitchens and homeless shelters, to the community United Way, to relief agencies responding to natural disasters, and most specially to their churches and other religious institutions. As a whole, Southerners give…

Visual research is reemerging across the social sciences as a significant, underutilized resource producing unique lines of inquiry and sparking innovative pedagogies. Stanczak's edited volume crisscrosses disciplines in ways that highlights the multiple manifestations of this newer interdisciplinary trend. As such, this volume will be useful as…

This paper describes the role of gender in the politics of American education, as carried out in Philadelphia and its suburbs from 1905 to 1930. It discusses volunteerism as a way of life for middle-class American women in the 19th century, particularly within the realm of education. Women were able to act as advocates of school reform through…

Although it is true that education is an investment, there are risks associated with relying too strongly on the metaphor of education as investment. The main problems with the investment metaphor are as follows: (1) it pushes aside the notion of education as a consumption good that people want for its own sake; (2) the human capital approach can…

Empowering grassroots efforts in literacy is paramount in the literacy education movement. Six issues face literacy work, research, and policy in the United States today: (1) although there are many exciting and innovative literacy projects being conducted, their lessons are unexamined and they are not part of a larger organizing strategy; (2)…

Cultural and institutional influences on Chinese Americans' use of legal services are examined. General background information was gathered on clients who used the local office of a federally sponsored legal services program (LOLSP) in a major western city during 1978. Data were also collected through intensive interviews with LOLSP Chinese…

In recent years, strategies for multicultural education and human relations have been applied to progressively younger preschool children. This paper identifies five approaches to multicultural education, then goes on to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the predominant human relations approach. Challenging issues encountered in applying…

Voluntary organizations have filled the gap to provide social and community services in Ecuador in areas where government or profit-making agencies were absent. There was a proliferation of activities for the poorest sector of society in response to government neglect. Activities focused on economic and social progress through community…

To focus national attention on early childhood issues, the National Governors' Association's Committee on Human Resources and Center for Policy Research and Analysis sponsored a conference, "Focus on the First Sixty Months." Through keynote addresses and panel presentations, information was shared on the needs of young children and state programs…

The college's role in promoting community service activities and in developing students' sense of civic responsibility is addressed in two articles: "Community Service and Higher Education: A National Agenda," by Governor of Virginia Charles Robb and Brown University President Howard Swearer; and "Community Service and Higher…

Over 1,200 references are cited in this bibliography of literature representing two major areas of citizen participation: community organizing and grassroots participation. Materials, most of which were published between 1970 and the present, deal mainly with local citizen activism that operates both inside and outside normal government channels.…

Noting that specific audience reaction to the media coverage of the various stages of an organized protest is seldom documented, this monograph analyzes the consequences of extensive media coverage during the crucial stages of a social protest against the construction of a high voltage powerline. In particular, the monograph considers two…

A discussion of the two predominant theories of power (the juridical-liberal and the Marxist theories) notes the limitations of the two theories, the historical reasons for their common grounding of the analysis of power in terms of repression/sovereignty, and why the theory of sovereignty persisted as an ideology and organizing principle of all…

Research and intervention on burnout have focused on the worker and the work setting. Since these factors are influenced by social, political and economic forces in society, alienation or burnout in the human services requires critical examination in a larger context, especially the history of the human services prior to 1976 when concern about…