Discusses Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind," focusing on Plato's influence on the problems which Bloom sees facing the university and democracy and on his proposed solutions. The paper describes Bloom's four related theses about the university and democratic life, noting some problems which his Platonic approach creates.…

Some critics believe Allan Bloom is wrong about many issues in "The Closing of the American Mind," which discusses failures in the contemporary university. The paper analyzes why the book is so popular, claiming Bloom is wrong about the history of the university, the sixties, race, class, and gender. (SM)

Reviews "Re-making Teaching: Ideology Policy and Practice" (Smyth and Shacklock), which focuses on the relationship between social ideologies, policies, and the work of teachers, highlighting timely issues concerning worldwide educational reform movements and the ensuing changes in teachers' roles. Suggests that the book has a gloomy outlook that…

Barbie is presented as the perfect cultural site for interrogating margins, borders, and contradictions in females' lives. This article illuminates such issues by interrogating the "cumulative cultural text of Barbie." Texts criticized are: Barbie collector cards; "Barbie" and "Barbie Fashion" comic books;…

Examines the dark analyses of modern higher education presented in Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" and Northrop Frye's "On Education." The University of Toronto proposes an Integrated Studies (Unity of Knowledge) program which would involve students in interdisciplinary studies in humanities, social sciences,…

Reviews "The Tact of Teaching," Max van Manen; "Practice Makes Practice," Deborah Britzman; "Teacher Education and the Social Conditions of Schooling," Daniel Liston and Kenneth Zeichner; "The Teacher: Theory and Practice in Teacher Education," Allen Pearson. The books focus on social influences and context, cultural pedagogy, educational theory…

John Willinsky's two concerns in his book "The New Literacy: Redefining Reading and Writing in the Schools" are: (1) to make school children's reading and writing into a process-oriented and productive enterprise; and (2) to change the teacher's practice from passive/autocratic to active/democratic. However, the book: (1) expects…

Reviews volume on social contexts' influence on individual adolescent development. Describes book's four sections: (1) pathways in adolescence and processes that enhance or inhibit developmental continuity; (2) how social contexts specifically affect African American adolescents; (3) effects of interrelations among contexts; and (4) intervention…

Reviews the growing body of work that examines reading as a process occurring within a social context and having social consequences. Three categories within this literature are examined: studies of literacy and its sociocultural role; the history of the book; and the meaning of reading as an activity. Notes and a bibliography is appended. (15…

Reflects on Allan Bloom's book "The Closing of the American Mind," discussing critics' opinions and the book's links or discords with various philosophers' ideals. Identifies weaknesses in Bloom's work, but sees it as a warning about U.S. democratic future. (DMM)

Reviews four books on early childhood education: "Understanding the Nursery School" (David Hartley), which examines Scottish Nursery Schools from a sociological standpoint; "Teaching Media in the Primary School" (Adrian Emerson); "Learning Difficulties in Primary Schools: Delivering the Whole Curriculum" (Kevin Jones…

Allan Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" illuminates how liberal education relates to the conditions of individuals and community that make it possible. The article examines Bloom's treatment of how conditions of the soul cooperate in liberal education, identifying dubious aspects of Bloom's understanding of the philosophic…

According to author Allan Bloom, problems in today's university stem from lack of belief in the university's vocation. The paper evaluates his Socratic solution which states the country must recover a belief in and response to the university's primary calling (the promotion of discussion and speculation in a Socratic manner). (SM)

Maintains that the studies presented in this collection combine cultural with political analyses to illuminate educational processes. Elaborates on the key constructs, including contextualization with agency, sociopolitical dynamics in designing school practices, and personal self-definition in relation to sociocultural context. (Author/KB)

This book assembles a wide range of research on children's language development, interprets it with analyses of how bilingualism affects that development, and, above all, breaks the myths surrounding bilingualism and bilingual education. The urgency about introducing language minority children to English immediately in schools, and about…