Noting that while the literature clearly states a need for colleges and universities to teach students critical thinking skills from a liberal arts perspective, this paper points out that there are few descriptions of how these skills can be taught. Using the canons of classic rhetoric, the literature is reviewed to discover the skills that arise…

This paper describes the folkloristic and literary theories centered on the traditional narrative that have a bearing on the Turko-Danish Fairytale Project. These theories were incorporated into the Fairytale Project because traditional prose tales (of which the fairy tale is one of the most prominent forms) are a genre that exists in both oral…

A historical overview is provided of the development of community and junior colleges in the United States. Following introductory comments on the influences affecting the character and growth of the two-year college, the origins of the community college are traced. Emphasis is placed on the Morrill Act of 1862, views of 19th and early 20th…

In the 1960's Max Rafferty, a conservative California teacher, principal, and superintendent of public instruction, expressed many ideas which the New Right has been able to put into effect in the 1980's. The influence of political and religious conservatives is seen in movements for public school prayer; advancing private over public education…

This study reveals that John Dewey and his theory of education had an influence on the beginning of progressive education in Eretz Israel in the first and second decades of this century, even before it had influenced the kibbutz educational system--the communal way of life, and other schools in the Jewish labor movement in Israel. This influence…

The purpose of this paper is to present a brief review of the various streams of constructivism in studies of education, society, science and technology. It is intended to present a number of answers to the question (what really is constructivism?) in the context of various disciplines from the humanities and the sciences (both natural and…

Drawing upon a Hegelian-Marxist critique of political economy that underscores the fundamental importance of developing a philosophy of praxis, the author theorizes a revolutionary Freireian critical pedagogy which seeks forms of organization that best enable the pursuit of doing critical philosophy as a way of life. The authors argues that the…

Fifty years after John Tracy Ellis challenged the quality and character of Catholic intellectual life, much work remains to be done. This essay explores Ellis's original assertions and places them in an overarching historical context that involves Flannery O'Connor and Thomas Merton.

The split brain theory states that the right hemishpere of the brain controls intuitive, holistic, and simultaneous operations (such as creative imagining) and the left hemisphere controls linear, sequential, and verbal operations (such as reading and calculating). This booklet summarizes current brain research and examines its implications for…

Drawing on his extensive and varied experiences in developing and administering large programs for the agricultural education of masses of adults unfamiliar with farming, preceding and following World War Two in Europe, Latin America, and the United States, the author makes suggestions for the development of successful adult education programs.

The author raises six serious doubts about the directions adult education is taking toward a society mistakenly termed "learning society," which is in fact an "instructional society." An ominous vision of "womb-to-tomb" schooling is evoked by the author's quotations from prominent adult educators who criticize this…

This document presents guidelines for kindergarten programs and identifies goals based on the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social development of children 4 to 6 years of age. Separate chapters briefly focus on the kindergarten child's brain development; the role of play in children's learning; the teacher's role in guiding play; the…

This study is concerned with certain features of the curriculum decision-making process including ways in which alternatives are argued, the types of reasons entertained for preferring one option over another, and the basis on which some proposals are ultimately accepted and others rejected. It is argued that, with respect to these features,…

This anthology contains 50 outstanding articles published in the "Phi Delta Kappa" journal over the past 25 years. Topics by which the articles are organized include controversial topics in education, educational change, criticism, leadership, the education profession, British imports (the open classroom and teachers' centers), urban…