Investigated whether actors and observers differ in their beliefs about what features of an individual best reflect his/her "authentic self." Results indicate that actors' views differed significantly from observers'. Friend raters believed that their friends' dispositional traits were better indicators than what their friends actually did,…

Examined normative expectations regarding changes in a child's physical custody following divorce. Subjects (n=309), responding to a vignette about a divorced couple and their 16-year-old son, yielded no significant main or interaction effects. However, themes in open-ended responses, such as the child's wishes should prevail, were apparent. (RJM)

Examines the advice being given to today's college graduating classes in commencement speeches and compares it to that given in early premodern society. It shows how the old advice centered on basic skills and virtues that empowered youth to create an independent and worthy life, but today, youth are mostly getting adults' guilty conscience and…

Community service learning combined with ethics education can enhance students' personal and moral development as well as their academic performance. Components of a successful community service learning program include student-implemented community service projects, discussion of real-life moral issues, personality development interventions, and…

Argues that, because technological change has accelerated greatly, schools must prepare students for forces that will impact their lives and future occupations. Offers 10 precepts of technology for guidance. Includes the nature of technological change, timeliness and cultural fit, irreversible societal change, and slowness of institutions to…

Study examined the extent to which commitment to teaching related to students' professional orientations, including motives for entering teaching, perceptions about appropriate teacher behavior, and personal and social values. A factor analysis revealed three underlying orientations: a sense of calling, a service ethic, and perceived legitimacy of…

Examination of educational reform efforts in the United States and United Kingdom suggests that, although both seek improvement, approaches differ greatly. The British tradition of high academic standards for the elite is being extended to all ability levels, whereas the United States approach is to strengthen testing without compromising…

As higher education institutions increase their use of distance teaching methods and materials, they will be increasingly accused of bias in selection of materials and design of curriculum and therefore of misrepresentation of content issues. Such judgments must be made within the discipline and not by administrative or external authorities. (MSE)

Discusses Foxfire implementation in terms of "ecological model" of educational system. Model includes microsystem (interactions with classroom environment) within mesosystem (things outside classroom such as local, state, and national policies that directly affect it) within macrosystem (societal beliefs and values). Foxfire position…

Presents a sampling of the citations in the ERIC database dealing with democratic participation. Includes works on citizenship, teaching about democracy, citizens' roles, civic education in the schools, sources for materials, and the proper role of schools in preparing students for active citizenship. (DK)

Responds individually to Shoenfeld's objections that Ohlsson, Ernst, and Rees' model is unclear; that the hypotheses about learning are unjustified; that the models have not been tested against extant data; and that it is unclear whom the model models. (MDH)

To teach critical thinking, teachers should (1) define critical thinking liberally enough to encompass affective responses, creativity, and flexibility; (2) respect their students; (3) discuss values and accept shifting values; (4) be receptive to change; and (5) be able to explain the epistemology of a subject. (GFW)

Discusses correlations between children's academic competence and parents' values, beliefs, behavior, and knowledge of child learning and development. Offers goals for parent education. (BC)

Examines origins and implications of consumership ideology (belief that market-driven governance policies alone can solve the U.S. education crisis) as related to the school choice movement. If consumership replaces citizenship as education's ethos and driving force, the public school system will vanish. Self-interest and competition will triumph…

A survey of engineering students (436 responses) who participated in either an academic research or a cooperative work program found that both programs strongly influenced participants' skills, job values, and life objectives. Cooperative employment influenced students' skills and career decisions, and research experience influenced values and…