Mathematics is often portrayed as an "abstract" cerebral subject, beyond the reach of many. In response, research with digital technology has led to innovative design in which mathematics can be experienced much like everyday phenomena. This lecture examines how careful design can "phenomenalise" mathematics and support not only engagement but…

Now in its second edition, "Nature and Young Children" promotes the holistic development of children by connecting them with nature. It offers advice and guidance on how to set up indoor and outdoor nature play spaces as well as encouraging environmentally responsible attitudes, values and behaviour in your early childhood setting. Covering topics…

"Educating for Diversity and Social Justice" foregrounds the personal stories of educators who are engaging the space of schooling as a site of possibility for realizing the goals of social justice. It is a book inspired by a vision of education as a practice of freedom where young people--especially those who are marginalized--can learn…

How did standardized tests become the measure of performance in our public schools? In this compelling work, Mark J. Garrison attempts to answer this question by analyzing the development of standardized testing, from the days of Horace Mann and Alfred Binet to the current scene. Approaching the issue from a sociohistorical perspective, the author…

Fertility rates have fallen dramatically around the world. In some countries, there are no longer enough children being born to replace adult populations. The disappearance of children is a matter of concern matched only by fears that childhood is becoming too structured or not structured enough, too short or too long, or just simply too different…

Now more than ever, bullying has become common among students in American schools and playgrounds. According to the U.S. Justice Department, one in four children is bullied every day. As a result of these incidents, children may suffer from anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem. This book was written for today's parents and teachers who are…

Although the concept of human potential accurately reflects central features of human nature, its current use perpetuates traditional myths of fixity, harmony, and value, calculated to cause untold mischief in social and educational practice. This book aims to demythologize the concept of potential. It shows its roots in genuine aspects of human…

During the mid-nineteenth century, Americans created the functional equivalent of earlier state religious establishments. Supported by mandatory taxation, purportedly inclusive, and vested with messianic promise, public schooling, like the earlier established churches, was touted as a bulwark of the Republic and as an essential agent of moral and…

Based on anthropological and historical inquiry, this book proposes and illustrates a new approach to the comparative analysis of educational policy. It investigates cultural conceptions of human potential as they inform social and economic goals of education by reviewing the transitions of Western countries, Japan, and the People's Republic of…

This book makes available a wide variety of cultural perspectives on education and on economic and social progress. It will help anyone concerned with these issues to overcome the North American and European bias which is all too common in dealing with the Third World and Japan. The focus is on three main questions: (1) How does the culture…

This book introduces the concept of a youth charter -- a communication strategy that can help young people understand the reactions of others to their behavior. Such charters identify a community's standards and expectations for young people's behavior and created occasions for imparting these standards and expectations to the young. The process…

This book examines the issue of sexuality education in the schools. Chapter 1, "Sexuality and Sexuality Education: Implications for the Nature of Society," discusses the controversy over the issue. Chapter 2, "Restrictive and Permissive Sexual Ideologies," provides an analytical framework for clarifying conflicts around human sexuality that…

This book discusses the urgent need for a social relevance perspective for physical education and sport and is designed for students beginning professional preparation in physical education and sport, practitioners, or students wishing to round out their general education. An introductory statement, written by Laura J. Huelster, explores the…

The "Research in Practice Series" is published four times each year by Early Childhood Australia. The series aims to provide practical, easy to read, up-to-date information and support to a growing national readership of early childhood workers. The books bring together the best information available on wide-ranging topics and are an…

The mechanics of McCarthyism are explained via a detailed case study of Alex Novikoff who was fired from the University of Vermont in 1953 after taking the Fifth Amendment in connection with FBI and Congressional investigations of his earlier membership in Communist groups at Brooklyn College. Despite McCarthy's stated commitment to academic…