Explores the relationship among forensic, deliberative, and epideictic modes of rhetoric in the cold fusion controversy. Shows the interactions between three modes of rhetoric. Examines the ways in which the modes have shaped the emerging scientific consensus. Supports Robert Sanders' contention that rhetorical practices interact with scientific…

Describes the way one English teacher designed a course by creating discourse community and thereby producing a group publication for a specific audience. Shows the steps by which a large group produced and revised copy for the publication. Argues for the efficacy of such courses. (HB)

Provides a critical ethnographic account of how members of a small design company experienced a work environment riddled with ambiguous communication. States that although management's objective in providing vague goals was to spark creative freedom, employees experienced the environment as paradoxical and constraining. Contends that interplay of…

Explores the impact of PRForum, an Internet newsgroup, on the public relations community by examining the nature, function, and content of online exchanges. Finds that PRForum is used for three functions: to facilitate the exchange of information; to create a forum for debate on issues; and to cultivate a sense of self-validation on personal and…

Studies the socialization processes of two writers new to an organization in terms of writing tasks, writers' social roles, and methods of socialization. Reveals 15 different writing roles depicting a continuum from novice to expert. Argues the implications of this study are relevant to current school-based approaches to writing instruction. (NH)

This paper seeks to outline different strands of the reconfiguration of the social and spatial perspectives on the countryside in Russia in the last 20 years. The country's transition implied changes in the production of knowledge, including the re-examination of research topics and bringing new theories into rural studies. The article strives to…

This paper reports on attempts to develop a new learning in the workplace degree based upon an online learning community approach. The paper describes the use of individualised learning plans, shared electronic portfolios and collaborative reflection on practice. Online strategies such as "hotseating" and the use of workplace advocates are…

Teacher researchers in a Professional Development School context identify two important shifts in traditional school cultures in order for teacher inquiry to thrive as a means for teacher development: a shift to community and a shift to uncertainty. PDS teachers in this study spoke about their need for supportive learning communities where they…

One of the current education "buzz phrases" speaks to the creation of professional learning communities to build the capacity of staff. Learning organizations are described as "where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where…

The previous report in this series discussed how collaborative tools can be used in the development of formal and non-formal online communities. The current report describes the specific development of an online community advocacy group.

Distributed leadership in schools is not exclusive to professional learning communities; it is distributed in all schools, for good purposes and for bad, by design and by emergence. In this article, we describe a normative view of distributed leadership that tends to be a leadership of advocacy, and we offer a descriptive perspective that argues…

Research supports the need for schools to operate as professional learning communities fueled by a supportive accurate understanding of collaborative relationships among school stakeholders. These relationships are necessary to build trust and foster discourse focused on improved teaching and learning practices and increased student achievement.…

This article draws on two previous studies by the authors, both based on interviews with European-American individuals, to document white experiences with multiculturalism, race, and cultural differences. We consider recent developments in research on whiteness and offer a perspective on racial identities defined as discursively enacted…

This paper reports on a study that took place in a faculty of humanities and social sciences at a UK university. The institution had recently undergone a radical restructure and the vision for the future presented by the new senior management team highlighted internationalization as one of four major areas for growth. The internationalization…

We report a study of repairs in communication between workers and visiting outsiders (students, researchers or teachers). We show how cultural models such as metaphors and mathematical models facilitated explanations and repair work in inquiry and pedagogical dialogues. We extend previous theorisations of metaphor by Black; Lakoff and Johnson;…