Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), founded on the seminal work of Vygotsky and evolving in the subsequent work of Leont'ev and Engestrom, continues to emerge as a robust and increasingly widely used conceptual framework for the research and analysis of the complex social mediation of human learning and development. Yet there remains…

Provides sociological analysis of recent documents on social education in Scotland. Argues that sociological theory underpinning prescriptions for social education takes no account of social inequalities and social conflict in both education and society. Explores contradictions between social education and meritocratic individualism. Discusses…

Takes issue with Lawrence Walker's literature review on developmental and individual differences in moral reasoning which found no consistent evidence for sex differences in moral development. Argues instead that the source and specific nature of these differences have yet to be established. (HOD)

While the capacity to recognize and appreciate beauty may be inborn in all of us, participation in the arts as an audience or artist usually involves a learning process. What is the relationship between childhood and early adult experiences with the arts and later participation? In 1982, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the…

After the Second World War, the field of cultural anthropology underwent an explosive development. Sociologists, psychologists, educators, and economists all added to the increasing interest in a discipline which began by assuming that culture is the foundation of social structures and that every institution manifests itself as a system of…

The analysis presented here focuses on different problem situations extracted from everyday interactions in which individual developmental changes of the child interfere with well-established interaction patterns of the family. These problem situations require conjoint mastery of two objectives: (a) successful integration of the child into the…

Maintains that although Canada's private schools attempt to reproduce dominant cultural ideology, meritocracy and recruitment have created paradoxical effects. Academic competition results in fewer private school graduates being admitted to top universities. Further studies reveal no correlation between private school and financial success. (MJP)

Maintains that social science mistakenly has emphasized symmetry (social forces that correct disequilibrium and maintain balance) over asymmetry (antithetical forces that support and embody divergent thinking). Calls for a more open, intuitive, and creative approach to research and methodology. (MJP)

The norm of "universalism" determines maintenance of science in society by preventing restriction of access to the field on grounds other than competence. Inferences for this theory are made on the basis of a test-case of the proposition that differential socialization predicts entry into the scientific talent pool. The Early Childhood Women in…

This paper presents a critique of various theoretical traditions in the study of schooling. Both the predominant liberal tradition of social and educational theory, with its roots firmly in structural functionalism and human capital theory, and the more radical reproduction tradition, which builds largely on Marxian and Weberian analyses of…

Presents a historical overview of the social and educational theories popular in 19th-century Russia. Educators and reformers constantly argued over the contradictory efforts to raise educational standards without threatening the status quo. Identifies preeminent educational movements and their leading adherents. (MJP)

Attempts a reevaluation of Emile Durkheim's contributions to the sociology of education. Considers Durkheim's influence on the pedagogical theories of John Dewey and vice-versa. Concludes with an examination of Durkheim's theories as they relate to the conflict between resistance and socialization. (MJP)

Taking the perspective of environmental psychology, this paper interprets the influence of educational settings upon children's socialization. The physical environment and the social structure it reflects determine the nature of information acquired during socialization. Socialization functions, long assumed by institutions such as schools, are…

Discusses the character and contributions of Thomas Jesse Jones, an early 20th-century educator and a pioneer in social studies and black education. Jones's inconsistent philosophy (he supported limited black education but believed in white supremacy) grew out of an unlikely combination of progressive Christianity and deep conservatism. (MJP)

Formulates a pedagogical position that articulates religious experience as complementary to formal-rational thought. Recent postmodernist criticism has located secular thinking as a coequal position to subjective religious experience on the now-leveled philosophical playing field. Explores what this newfound (academic) respectability means for…