Suggests that Canadian early childhood professionals perpetuate aspects of their own professional problems. The field must address the restrictions it has placed on itself; in particular, the perpetuation of a history that is neither ennobling nor enabling. (CB)

Considers how literary critic, George Steiner, explores the failure of Western Civilization to humanize humanity. Analyzes Steiner's ultimately elitist model of culture to shed light on implications of his brutal paradox in which Nazism's death camps are juxtaposed to high culture. Theorizes about the possibilities of a culture inclusive of all…

Questions the belief that expository prose is the basic skill that underlies the ideal of academic discourse. Suggests that expository prose and traditional academic discourse are constrained and distorted by ideological values and false conceptions of gender. Argues that writing will seem a much different and richer subject once those values and…

Discusses several alternatives to traditional teaching methods, focusing on contract grading and student-centered teaching. Notes that these changes create a new framework within which teachers can continually learn how to teach. (MM)

Questions the origin of design history and its relationship to art history. Maintains that design historical knowledge is produced, and it must be acknowledged that there are design histories and not one monolithic body of knowledge. (KM)

Discusses how quality art education can be fostered in primary schools. Suggests that curricula emphasizing disconnected activities and entertainment should be avoided. Maintains that nonart specialists have difficulty understanding art specialists but that this could be alleviated by using terms familiar to both, such as skills, knowledge, and…

Action research can take on different characteristics because underlying it are differing epistemological assumptions, which in turn shape methodological choices as well as how problems are formulated. This article examines three perspectives, and their accompanying methodologies, common to action research: positivism, interpretivism, and critical…

This interview with Berthold Lowenfeld focuses on his educational and professional background, his contributions to the education of blind children, and the contributions of other educators in the field. Lowenfeld comments on the role of residential schools, least restrictive environment, and teacher training. (JDD)

Raises a central issue in music education: whether performance is an end in itself or whether it is ancillary to something else. Discusses the traditional aesthetic education notion of musical performance and develops a new concept of the nature and values of music performance in music education. (KM)

Discusses Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" and its implications for higher education. Examines Bloom's analysis of historical changes that involved universities in societal pressures, thereby weakening them. Supports Bloom's mandate that universities delineate their function and measure achievement against the fundamental…

The president of Frontier College (Canada) uses examples from the program to elaborate the central philosophy of student-centered, individualized learning. Basic points are that labels often prevent marginalized people from making contributions and that literacy should be a tool for empowerment and inclusion in the community. (SK)

Discussed are the motivations of geology teachers, a definition of teaching, and the meaning of geology. Stresses that teaching is a matter of providing opportunities for learning. (CW)

Summarizes the reconceptualists view of curriculum building. Responds to the critique that the reconceptualist view point is overly theoretical. Draws upon Paulo Freire's model of pedagogy to illustrate praxis based on a process of curriculum development that takes seriously the reconceptualist view of the social, historical, and political…

Contemporary educational philosophy's efforts to assimilate Nietzche's thought and adapt it to educational theory and practice often overlook or underestimate the sinister and repugnant aspects of his philosophy. In this regard, a key concept of Nietzsche's, self-surpassing, is examined and discussed in relation to his philosophy and contemporary…

When viewed as a criterion of distribution within a broader philosophical theory of the just allocation of educational resources, equalizing educational outcomes in the name of equal educational opportunity is not only coherent; it is also more conducive to a just allocation than the alternatives. (IAH)