There has been some debate about whether "critical pedagogy," as a field of study, adequately incorporates issues of race and racism into its analysis of schooling and society. Among other things, researchers have suggested that critical pedagogy, with its foundation in Marxist critiques of schooling and society, has privileged issues of social…

This paper offers a systematic critical review of controlled outcome studies of the "Philosophy for Children" (P4C) method in primary (elementary) and secondary (high) schools. Ten studies met the stringent criteria for inclusion, measuring outcomes by norm-referenced tests of reading, reasoning, cognitive ability, and other curriculum-related…

This article contains excerpts from the author's two seminal texts: "Literature as Exploration (New York: MLA, 1938) and "The Reader, the Text, the Poem" (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1978). In "Literature as Exploration," the author first presented her transactional theory of reading as she explored the personal, social,…

This chapter reviews the literature related to the historical, philosophical, and contextual issues that frame why adult education sits at the margins of the academy and society.

George Bernard Shaw famously quipped that "a Catholic university is a contradiction in terms." While the party-line response to Shaw is that the term "Catholic university" is instead a tautology, those who work, study, and teach at such institutions often find themselves pondering Shaw's oxymoron, asking themselves: how are…

Encompassing both the controlled messages of values advocacy and less explicit rhetorical actions such as philanthropy, community programs, and volunteerism, organizational epideictic affirms common values. This essay argues that such common values are problematized by the presence of paradox even in seemingly innocuous epideictic subjects.…

Objective: To explain the global quality of life (QOL) from 2000 indicators representing all aspects of life. Design and setting: Two cross sectional population studies, one prospective cohort study and one retrospective cohort study. Participants: (1) Representative sample of 2500 Danes (18-88 years), (2) 7222 members of the Copenhagen Perinatal…

The treatment of body image has to be multifaceted and should be directed toward the treatment of the whole individual - body, mind, and spirit - with an ultimate culmination of acceptance and compassion for the self. This article presents information on a mindful approach to the treatment of body image as it pertains to concerns with body size…

This author has become intrigued by a debate, underway for some time, which involves museum and gallery directors and administrators, cultural workers, and the so-called Institute of Ideas. On one side are defenders of wider access and social inclusion policies and practices on the part of art galleries and museums; on the other, representing…

McConaghy suggests that improving quality learning outcomes for students in NSW rural and remote schools requires "bold pedagogical solutions ... developed in and for the specific contexts of rural NSW schooling" (2002, p.3). This paper seeks to identify elements of this pedagogical solution that could be incorporated into pre-service…

Ever since its formative years in the USA a century ago, the discipline of education has taken an uneasy stand on its own "scientific" status, not least with regard to the basic issue of the relationships between theory and practice. When a science of education was introduced as a panacea for rational planning in the fields of schooling…

This paper intents to analyze the influence of John Dewey's ideas in the movement that defended the educational renovation in Brazil (named New School) at the end of the 1920s and in the 1930s. For this, it explains two trends of that movement: the first is described by the metaphor of industrial or mechanical efficiency, whose emphasis was in the…

Social scientists have long debated the factors influencing public concern for the natural environment. This study attempts to contribute to this debate by arguing that environmental concern is shaped by both "spiritual" and "ecological" cultural models of nature-society relations and that by distinguishing between these two, we can better…

The author's work as a professor for special and inclusive education in the eastern part of Germany kindled a special interest for Canada for two reasons. First, the result of the international comparative study of students assessment showed Canada as one of the top countries and Germany as one of the countries far behind. Second, the author's…

This article profiles William J. Mathis. In 23 1/2 years as superintendent of the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union in Brandon, Vt., Mathis has built an estimable paper trail--research articles and book chapters, policy analyses and op-ed commentaries that he's composed on sundry aspects of public schooling that together require eight…