Traditionally, educational technologists have not been concerned with social or philosophical questions, and the field does not have a basic educational philosophy. Instead, it is dominated by a viewpoint characterized as "technical rationality" or "technicism"; the most important assumption of this viewpoint is that science…

Ten American artists were commissioned in 1975 to produce sculptures as rest stops along the Nebraska stretch of Interstate-80 in celebration of the American Bicentennial. The ten commissioned sculptures were selected through a national juried competition that drew 121 initial entries at a cost of $500,000. Despite initial controversy centering…

The article outlines the occupational socialization perspective of the physical education curriculum by exploring 11 primary assumptions which call attention to the relationship among teachers, teacher educators, curricula, and social structure. (Author/CB)

This article explores the notion of knowledge as a freely exchanged commodity in advanced industrial and developing societies. The parallels and differences between the two types of society are highlighted. The distortions imposed in Nigeria upon knowledge as a result of dependency in the world economic order are examined. (MT)

The dominance of curriculum evaluation based on achievement test results is challenged, and a set of strategies that are more responsive to the socioeconomic reality of schools are suggested. Because evaluation places value on an outcome, alternative methods can be developed only by including ideological and economic "functions" of the…

Although the concept of hidden curriculum has been a popular one in writings about K-12 public education, it has not been much applied to higher education doctoral programs. D. Peters and M. Peterson (1987) have discussed the possibility of a hidden curriculum in higher education, focusing on hidden curriculum as unofficial expectations,…

Analyzes the major positions of theories of reproduction and resistance and finds them inadequate as a foundation for a critical science of schooling. Outlines directions for a theory of resistance and schooling that contains understanding of how power, resistance, and human agency can become central in the struggle for social justice. (JOW)

This paper was based on an investigation of how an officially prescribed science curriculum was interpreted and translated by teachers into actual classroom practice in Nigerian primary schools. Mismatches between official and hidden curricula were rampant and often beyond teachers' control. The teacher's role was "policy broker," not…

Discusses the possibility of the development of the content and form of mathematical education as a tool of democratization in both school and society. Summarizes the social argument and the pedagogical argument of democratization. Analyzes the concept "democratic competence" to create materials at the same time open and empowering. (Author/YP)

Reports findings from a participant observation study of 26 kindergartners. Adjustment patterns which children developed in response to classroom expectations are organized in 3 domains: forgetting expectations, using secret communications, and exploring limits. (RJC)

A Dutch study compared two first grade classes with regard to teacher treatment of students and student behavior (dependent variables). One class participated in a national initiative to reduce or eliminate educational inequities. The independent variables included socioeconomic background, sex, scholastic identity attributed by the teacher, and…

Content analysis of 12 Finnish and 18 American primers for grades 3 through 6 published primarily during the 1980s examined story type, plot setting, protagonist's characteristics, dramatic tasks, portrayals of family structure and parental responsibility, and extrafamilial peer and adult relationships. Results suggest that a nation's cultural…

Interviews with and classroom observations of six secondary school teachers of U.S. history examined factors that influenced their approach to teaching history. These influences included teachers' personal beliefs about religion and morality, long-term effects of their college history professors, and teachers' social class and family background.…

Interviews with 26 women of color in a Ph.D. program in sociology revealed two kinds of hidden curriculum in the department: the professionalization process and the reproduction of inequality. There were frequent instances of stigmatization, stereotyping, blaming the victim, exclusion, and tracking. The women found ways to resist and attempted to…

Presents brief guidelines for developing writing assignments based on the author's description (a politicized representation) of postmodern cultural studies. Discusses a composition assignment in which students critique the formal and the hidden curriculum of a class they have taken in the recent past, and in which they also become writing members…