Jurgen Habermas's theory of communicative action has held much promise for critical theory and its examination of the structure of society. This theory, however, has been accused by some as being limited in regard to other forms of discourse, especially fictional, mythical, and religious texts. Habermas has argued that literature (i.e., fictive…

Disputes the contentions mabe by Bruno Bettelheim concerning the state of reading and reading instruction in the United States. (FL)

Advises teachers of rhetoric and composition of the potential usefulness of John Locke's "An Essay concerning Human Understanding." (RL)

Examines the reasons why so many people have preconceptions about how much "truth" is in fiction. Notes the effects of believing that authors base their fiction primarily on personal, "true-to-life" experiences. (RL)

The author examines the nature of metacritical writing as a distinct form of inquiry within the literature of arts education. He makes a number of generalizations about such writings and maintains that there are several logically distinct kinds of tasks which writers undertake when they theorize about art criticism. (Author/SJL)

Responds to Krull's conclusions (1994) that higher educational attainment is indirectly related to sexual promiscuity through more liberal attitudes toward premarital sex. Criticizes Krull's omission of certain variables, recoding of variables, and assumption of a one-way causal relationship between sexual attitudes and behaviors. Reanalysis with…

Detailed discourse analysis is presented for two articles that suggest that postmodernism has little to offer comparative education and should be resisted. The two texts, focusing on postmodernism as the antithesis of comparative education and on the "lost promise" of postmodernism, demonstrate the use of language to convey messages that limit or…

Asserts that post-structuralism cannot be applied to literary texts because to talk about applying post-structuralism assumes: (1) free-standing subjects; (2) free-standing objects of investigation; (3) free-standing methods; and (4) free-standing interpretation. (RAE)

Presents critical approaches to open and distance learning (ODL) and its role in modern societies based on experiences in the United Kingdom. Topics discussed include a history of correspondence education; industrial and Post-Fordist analysis of ODL; late modernity, the market, and consumerism; feminist approaches; and media and cultural studies.…

Reacts to Jennings and Skovholt's (1999) study on master therapists. Discusses the lack of clear definition of master therapist, lack of meaningful comparison groups needed to infer the distinctive characteristics of master therapists, the incomplete communication of data-analytic procedures, and the formulation of results as a uniform…

Surveys previous approaches to free verse. Proposes a new method of articulating the diversity of free verse. Discusses paired poems to show the kinds of things that this new method gives educators to say when they want to talk about the verse of free verse poetry. (RS)

This article claims that J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series, with its use of magic, frightening storylines, and character ambiguity is beneficial to children who are dealing with issues related to terror and terrorism. The author explains that the scenarios presented in Rowling's series teach children strategies for coping with both physical…

At the dawning of the 21st century, the term "social justice" is appearing in numerous public texts and discourses throughout the field of education. However, and as Gewirtz argued in 1998, the conceptual underpinnings of this catchphrase frequently remain tacit or underexplored. This article elaborates Gewirtz's earlier…

Purpose: Many tools exist to chart the progress of an organisation in its quest to become a learning organization or achieve organizational learning. Aims to expand a tool already developed to include learning organization conditions as they occur through dialogue between individuals within an organisation with an emphasis on social learning…

The Harry Potter series focuses upon the toilet as a site for heroic action and a threshold between worlds as well as a more traditional place for boys to be bullied and girls to weep. This article offers a Kristevan reading of the toilets as abject in Harry Potter, and shows how this concept helps us make sense of wider issues within the series,…