Reviews the making of the documentary, "Talk to Me: Americans in Conversation," and expands on some of the major themes. Filmmaker Andrea Simon interviewed people from all walks of life in an attempt to ascertain the defining characteristics of the nation. Includes a national listing of related events. (MJP)

Future physical activity practitioners need to be educated to be sensitive to the problem of socioeconomic inequality and motivated to contribute to social change. Direct community development experiences in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural areas can help raise consciousness, encourage reflection, and promote action for social change. (SM)

Summarizes the responses of 311 Australian and 250 Nepalese university students to the Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Discovers a moderate inverse relationship between depressive symptoms and life satisfaction among the Australian students. Discusses possible reasons for this. (MJP)

Analysis of interviews and time-diary protocols with 48 students (16 blind, 16 low-vision, and 16 sighted), ages 15-21, and their parents focused on four lifestyle areas: academic involvement and performance, daily living and personal care activities, recreation and leisure activities, and work and vocational experiences. Similarities and…

Explores ways that art education projects can illuminate and address issues of sustainable development, ecology, and waste disposal. Describes projects undertaken by a high school art class. Includes references to books concerning ecology, values, and culture. (MJP)

Continues the analysis of a massive survey done in Moscow (Russia) in 1991. Focuses almost exclusively on education, examining parents' teachers' and students' perceptions of the school system and the benefits of an education. Correlates a vast amount of data concerning socioeconomic characteristics and various attitudes. (MJP)

Focuses on education for African Americans in Prince Edward County (Virginia) since the period of school closings of 1959. Interviews with more than 30 citizens and school staff reveal many changes since desegregation, although equality is not complete and discrimination had not been eradicated. (SLD)

A national survey examined opinions of college faculty (n=35,478) on a broad range of issues, including teaching, values, political orientation, and quality of professors' personal lives. Respondents feel a conflict between teaching and research roles, believe their students are badly prepared academically, and think their campuses place a high…

Mapping is a means of experiencing a community's features that engages the mapmaker. Getting to know the community by drawing maps and learning about past and present inhabitants was the methodology for introducing local content into the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom. This model for mapping was used with adult and high school ESL…

Recommends using the work of psychoanalyst and concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl, as a counterpoint and complement to the death camp stories of Tadeusz Borowski. Frankl's work on his own and others' experiences provides a context and approach to Borowski's cynical and nihilistic stories. (MJP)

A discussion of why Asian students rank high on international assessment tests in science and mathematics reveals that Asian schools stress rote memorization and test taking to the extent that children don't have the opportunity to be children. The U.S. educational system's encouragement of critical thinking and nonacademic activities contributes…

Limited sunlight, low temperatures, and slow natural growth make the Arctic environment extremely vulnerable to pollution. Circumpolar nations formed the Arctic Council to cooperate in promoting sustainable development in the region. An integrated approach is required, encompassing social conditions, health, culture, education, and environmental…

Recent research has brought attention to the hardship faced by children of immigrants in the United States, particularly in the Mexican-origin population. In this study, the authors are concerned with the extent to which U.S.-born children of Mexican immigrants who live in unmarried families may face exceptional risks. Using data from the Fragile…

This pilot study (N = 18) explored the effectiveness of focusing and expressive arts therapies intervention on the quality of life of women with breast cancer. The format was a 2-day (7 hours per day) retreat/support group in which complementary treatments (focusing, writing, art, and movement) were provided in an intensive format. Our hypothesis…

The late 20th Century saw the rapid rise of quality assurance and effectiveness measures in most industries and organisations. These trends were very much reflected in education at all levels. An associated emergent trend in primary and secondary education in Australia was growth in the use of standardised measures of student achievement that…