"Globalized E-Learning Cultural Challenges" explores the issues educators, administrators, and instructional designers face when transferring knowledge and skills to other cultures through e-learning. Most e-learning courses have been designed in Western cultures, but the largest and fastest-growing consumer groups live in Eastern…

In contemporary life and education, the local is marginalized in favor of large-scale economies of consumption that are indifferent to ecological concerns. The consequences of neglecting local human and natural communities include a degraded habitat, loss of wilderness, alienation, rootlessness, and lack of connection to communities. Critical…

The diversity and interdisciplinarity of computer science and the multiplicity of its uses in other sciences make it hard to define computer science and to prescribe how computer science should be carried out. The diversity of computer science also causes friction between computer scientists from different branches. Computer science curricula, as…

Verbal and non-verbal communication interactions have a strong influence on the social construction of gender. Therefore understanding the classroom interaction structures and the subsequent socio-cultural context is a vital commitment for any teacher. Furthermore, since gender is constructed in the day-to-day interactions of children's lives,…

This article recounts the battle in the "math wars" that took place in Massachusetts, United States in 1999-2000 over the scope, content and teaching of the state's K-12 mathematics curriculum. Harsh controversies arose between the partisans of a "reform-math" movement stressing an undefined "conceptual understanding"…

In this article, the authors reply to the arguments of Professors Nagel and Ladwig on the article "The logic of convergence and uniformity in teacher production". Professor Ladwig's review of their article is particularly valuable in two respects. First, it highlights the need for an institutional level of analysis to explain fully and…

In this response to commentaries by Ali Sammel, Jhumki Basu and Alberto Rodriguez, I present my perspective on three important issues raised by the commentators. These issues relate to the role of a researcher in her field settings and society, the critique of science and science education as oppressive dominant discourses, and co-opting…

The author discusses the 1990s trend in schools in Lipetsk Oblast to back away from previous policies of including social, cultural, civic and moral training for students. During the same period, says the writer, parents began to show less interest in the effectiveness of instruction and upbringing. These combined trends resulted in increased…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Response to Intervention: A New Approach to Reading Instruction Aims to Catch Struggling Readers Early (Nancy Walser); (2) Getting Advisory Right: Focus and…

This book fills in the gaps in the research of nationality, regarding "national education" in its double meaning: compulsory national education for all and creating opportunities for fostering national consciousness. Studies in the field have emphasized the importance of a national language, compulsory education, curricula of the…

This paper proposes that problem-based learning (PBL) can serve as a cognitive apprenticeship in administrator-preparation programs. The paper presents an overview of PBL and its application in the administrator-preparation program at the University of Connecticut. The initial training in group processing for students enrolled in the program is…

This position paper presents a discussion of "academic child abuse," defined as the use of practices that cause unnecessary failure of groups of students in foundation skill and knowledge areas. Part 1 articulates the fundamental problems with the decision-making practices of school districts and other agencies charged with teaching children.…

This paper focuses on the elements of brain-compatible learning theory and instruction, noting its significance for students with developmental disabilities. The paper proposes a learning program for children (with and without disabilities) which is "brain-compatible," defined as "absence of threat." Eight elements are seen as critical in…

This essay presents components of the debate between liberals and communitarians, discusses how this debate centers around policies affecting market economies and the role of government, and points out implications for school reform. The chief criticism communitarians aim at liberalism is that it promotes obsessive individualism, and in this…

Part 1 of this paper briefly describes the Service Learning 2000 partnership that joined Stanford University, K-12 schools, and community organizations in a collaborative effort to promote service learning throughout California. In part 2, the paper examines how the Service Learning 2000 Center has established a niche for service learning at the…