Examines two adolescents' narratives collected when evaluating a multicultural arts festival held at a middle school located in an isolated, economically depressed, Christian fundamentalist, rural southern community. Students' complaints about teachers' racist, uncaring behavior represent not a cynical, negative derision of schools, but a…

Provides an overview and an examination of educational didactics in Sweden. In this context, didactics refers to the study of what content is chosen and how it is taught. Some theorists have extended this to include how students conceptualize what they are taught. Discusses the conflicting schools of thought. (MJP)

Analyzes three different types of discrimination. Individual and institutional discrimination refer to actions intended to have a negative impact on women and minorities. Structural discrimination refers to policies supposedly neutral in intent but that produce negative effects. Provides concrete examples of each. (MJP)

Discusses a rationalist approach to curriculum and the inherent underlying organizational premises. Outlines a critical approach to the culture of an educational organization. Considers curriculum as a component of culture and provides data from two postsecondary institutions. Discusses implications of a critical view of the organization and the…

Outlines two reasons that issue-centered discourse will be legitimized in the schools. Contends that the impact of societal problems will force schools to deal with social issues, and that the recognition of the hidden curriculum's influence will impel schools to capitalize on the learning taking place within their walls. (SLM)

World War II has been seen as a marker, not a period, in the history of education. This misconception persists in two recently published histories of U.S. school curriculum. Wartime curriculum history is a story of both change and prewar continuity in curriculum emphases, organizations, assumptions, and legitimations. Both change and continuity…

Analysis of taped utterances of New Zealand sixth graders show how children perceive and respond to subtle cultural and gender biases in curriculum and teachers' presentation. Children construct their own knowledge as they attempt to make sense of classroom culture that may undermine their gender and racial identity. (SK)

Reviews introductory sociology texts from 1950-89. Reports that heterosexual biases are embedded in sociology as taught. Argues that goals of sociology texts should include the recognition and exploration of difference rather than the homogenization of sexuality. Concludes that, although introductory sociology texts have made advances in…

Reports on a case study of meaningful science learning in two African-American female high school students. Finds that complex cultural factors that permit cognitive passivity, confidence-without-competence, and attention to behavior over learning contribute to cognitive disengagement and ultimately to the blocking of intentional, meaningful…

Examines technology in education as social engineering that discourages intellectual development and accustoms children to accepting without question a hidden stranger's mind-altering drills. Relates this perspective to Greek philosophers Thales and Heraclitus' differing thoughts on the purpose of education: solving the universal human dilemma of…

Considers relations between the official pedagogy of the writing program that the author administers and his administrative practices, to come to terms with the hidden curriculum of his situation. Argues for a shift from thinking about administration as masterful organization and implementation to conceiving of it as relational and receptive, a…

Describes and discusses a wide range of responses by college students to innovative or alternative assessment techniques. Generally, students appeared to understand and adapt to new assessment requirements, but case studies indicate they do not respond in a fixed or simple way. Individuals are active in reconstruction of the messages and meanings…

Asserts that formal education should impart tacit knowledge--a complex set of understandings one must possess to live and function successfully in society--as well as traditional disciplines, theories, and cognitive skills. Discusses modeling attitudes, values, ways of life, and democracy to students, and what should be expected of a particular…

This study, using data collected from 18,817 college students by the American Council on Education and the Higher Education Research Institute, addresses the extent to which college impacts students' sense of the importance of promoting racial understanding. Multiple regression analysis is used to study the manner in which various background…

Major aspects of political education in Zimbabwe (Africa) as they have developed from the colonial period through the Chimurenga, or war of liberation, to the period following independence in 1980 are explored. The focus is on political themes such as power, inequality, community, and ideology. (RM)