Examines samples from public discourse during the period 1961-1989, which reveal several different symbolic uses of the Berlin Wall. Suggests these differences reflect the never-completed struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. (KEH)

Students at the City University of New York are protesting proposed tuition increases and budget cuts and using newfound confidence and influence to seek a variety of institutional improvements, including day care and campus security. Meanwhile, the institution is facing financial and administrative crisis. (MSE)

Discusses the influence of the research environment on the educational history produced in Great Britain. Points out that a number of historical works are influenced by political circumstances. Concludes that, although the history of education in the context of teacher education courses has become less important, social and political interests…

Discussed is the value of integrating the study of technology and society. Topics include political theory of spontaneous social orders, paradoxical nature of the theory in historical and in contemporary contexts, uses of spontaneous order theory with feedback technologies, and the comparison of feedback technology with two different spontaneous…

The political context of evaluation is described, with positive and negative influences. Strategies are proposed for preserving the credibility of evaluation in political contexts. Researchers must maintain the neutral posture of the basic scientist. (SLD)

Explores the social circumstances of academic writing. Looks at student and professional academic writers and readers as participants in a complex literary genre, with its own conventions, ideological assumptions, and epistemological implications. Argues that academics must become cultural critics. (RAE)

Explores the relationship between urban executive officers and their political environments, first by reporting on how three types of these officers perceive their policy influence upon their urban legislatures and then by developing a paradigm of conflict management in the urban context to explore opportunities for research into social change and…

The current language of educational reform embodies authoritarian and anti-intellectual attitudes of a powerful alliance of New Right ideologues; this language diverts our attention from many of the root causes of our problems, subordinating educational goals to economic goals and creating a two-tier society. (TE)

In a survey, teacher education coordinators (217 respondents) recognized the importance of studying the sociocultural, environmental, political, economic, and ethical aspects of technology. However, there are significant gaps between this recognition and the way student teachers are being prepared. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher…

Some conceptual, empirical, and political limitations of antiracist education are discussed. It is often viewed as too political and reductive, painting stereotypical pictures of racism. Further criticisms are that it is narrow and that antiracist interventions show negligible, or negative, results. (SLD)

The Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) and the Clinton Administration are preparing legislation to transform the federally sponsored corporation into a private business but must negotiate complex political and financial issues. Destabilization of the private student-loan industry and conflict over direct-lending policies are central…

Rational choice theory and its three branches (game theory, collective choice theory, and organizational economics) has altered the face of political science, sociology, and organizational theory. This chapter reviews rational choice theory, examines a small body of work that relies on the rational choice paradigm to study educational politics,…

Discusses the loss of the humanistic ideal due to the politicizing of arts and humanities education, recalls what the humanistic ideal is, and provides a definition of the humanities that accommodates the serious study of the arts. The article also sketches a K-12 excellence curriculum that consists of five phases of aesthetic development. (GR)

Because welfare entitlements are increasingly unpopular, social work advocates need to place greater emphasis on job growth and alternate mechanisms for wealth redistribution, including refundable tax credits for working poor people. The Internal Revenue Code can be an effective weapon in combating poverty if antipoverty approaches in the code are…

Discusses the future of information policies, focusing on information requirements and constraints; problems of a rapidly changing society for policy formation; European and global political concerns; and cultural, economic, and research environments. (Author/AEF)