Maintains that, over the past two decades, postmodern theorists and critics fundamentally have challenged many of the basic tenets of aesthetics, education, and art criticism. Discusses how postmodernism questions long-held realist assumptions of nature, truth, beauty, and human nature. (CFR)

This collection of 26 essays examines the historical position of Harvard University as one of the nation's most influential institutions. Included are: (1) "Introducing Harvard: A Social, Philosophical, and Political Profile" (John Trumpbour); (2) "How Harvard is Ruled: Administration and Governance at the Corporate University"…

Elaborated as a response to a traditional set of secondary school poetry examinations that are called "sterile and outmoded," this report resulted from a series of seminars held in England by literature educators. The report offers extensive guidelines for modernizing the exams, examples of student critical writing about particular poems, and…

This monograph presents an overview of experiential learning from five perspectives. Following a history of experiential learning in 20th century adult education, the essay first offers a summary of the reflective constructivist view of experiential learning. The constructivist approach is taken by educators seeking to enhance the process of adult…

Attempts a redefinition of spirituality and an incorporation of this into art education. Argues that symbolic and spiritual consciousness plays a crucial role in the works of artists as disparate as William Blake and Frida Kahlo. Criticizes the preeminence of scientific theory as a modern belief system. (MJP)

A response to ideas set forth in J. Brien O'Callaghan's article, "School-Based Collaboration with Families: An Effective Model for a Society in Crisis," this article applauds and discusses school-based collaboration. Areas of concern are unfounded diagnostic assumptions, questionable ethical behavior, and limited breadth and scope of suggested…

This publication presents manuscripts and research reports by graduate students. Accompanying papers from their mentors establish a context for the student papers. In this double volume the works are organized by sponsoring university. Student papers presented are: (1) "Looking, Talking, and Experiencing Art with Preschoolers" (Shari…

A close relationship exists between children's capacity for learning in school (especially learning to read) and the amount and kind of reading aloud done by parents and teachers to children. Children's literature, especially the illustrations and the language contained in fine picture books, has the potential to provide six benefits that…

A course at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis offers students the opportunity to learn argumentative writing, while becoming aware of scholarly discourse in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Students realize that what once passed for a simple argument in everyday life becomes more sophisticated as they learn about research…

Arguing that summaries of 562 studies from 1985 through 1994 reveal that almost no attention is paid to the cognitive effects of Head Start programs, this report criticizes Head Start as being steadily and more generously funded without evidence that it helps children's scholastic achievements. The report criticizes available studies as practicing…

The findings of the Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes (CQO) study in Child Care Centers, the largest and most visible child care research conducted in the 1990s, were widely publicized and used to promote increased spending on initiatives to improve child care quality, the redesign of subsidy systems to provide quality incentives, more stringent…

This book challenges the widely held view that relations between dominant and subordinate groups can be unmarked by histories of oppression, as many cultural diversity theorists, educators, and legal practitioners presume. In this view, problems of communication are mere technical glitches caused by cultural and other differences, and educators…

Explores approaches to art-making, art criticism, and aesthetics as applied to conceptual art. Describes a one-day workshop with gifted secondary students to analyze socially critical art. Illustrates how artworks initially classified as provocative or prohibitive in the classroom can become more comprehensible to students. (CFR)

Current concepts of critical thinking need to be reconstrued into the much broader concept of "critical being" and applied to higher education. Under this construct, critical persons (students) become more than just critical thinkers; they engage critically with the world and with themselves; they not only reflect critically on…

If young readers (adolescents) are introduced to a range of story structures and less structured texts (or "deviant narratives"), it may encourage the development of more diverse and accommodating schemata and the capacity to make inferences about the link between discourse units. It is, after all, a basic principle of recent narrative…