The paper provides a cross-national analysis of the term 'vocational education and training' in relation to the progressivist economic, social and political approaches to its definition. A wide spectrum of opinions brightly illustrates existing disparity in its understanding within international scientific community. Special attention is given to…

Through the influences of our social environment, both boys and girls learn their sexual norms, specific rules and values from the early childhood. Hence, children grow up in the world of distinct sexual duality. In their efforts to act according to their sexual stereotypes, children adopt these widespread stereotyped conceptions in developing…

The social dimension of Web 2.0 penetrates our society more thoroughly with the availability of broadband services. Aim of the following paper is to analyze the students' view on the relationship between social dimension of Web 2.0 technologies and e-learning within education. The meaning of the key concept of social dimension of Web 2.0 is…

This paper chronicles the stages in the history of career counseling and development in the United States, noting that each stage has been presaged by major societal changes and has had profound effects on the lives of individuals. In the first stage (1890-1919), placement effects on services were offered for an increasingly urban and industrial…

The study examines the acquisition of gender constancy in children as it relates to cultural, socioenvironmental, or individual differences. Gender constancy refers to the stages from simple identification of biological sex of self and others, to the understanding that one's sex is stable over time, and to comprehension of one's sex as consistent…

Previous studies of mass media consumption behavior within cultural boundaries have yielded important information regarding the selection of communication channels to obtain information by members of specific cultures. However, the selection of mass media information sources in a cross-cultural setting has received little attention in the…

This study compares and contrasts the classroom social norms of two Korean and two U.S. second grade teachers who aspired to implement reform. Despite similar social participation structures, the two classes within each country were remarkably different in terms of sociomathematical norms. In one class in each country, students experienced…

This paper considers cross-cultural definitional issues and research directions in the area of child maltreatment. Vulnerable categories of children and circumstances in which children are at greater risk of maltreatment are identified. The embeddedness of child rearing in social networks and the impact of rapid change are discussed. (JDD)

Studies of relative levels of psychological distress among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites have found mixed results, possibly due to cultural differences within Mexican American samples which may confound potential ethnic differences. The hypothesis that differences in psychological distress between Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic…

Noting that one means of better understanding the nature of cultural differences is to elucidate the cognitive differences between members of differing cultures, this paper examines Alexander Luria's sociohistorical theory of functional cognitive systems. The paper first describes Luria's notion of functional systems, the crux of which postulates…

In 1974, David H. Weaver used path analysis with data from 137 countries during four periods between 1950 and 1966 to test relationships between government control of the press and six other societal characteristics. The present study, which extended the time period of the original analysis by adding recently available data from 1979, constructed…

This paper documents the development of community mental health (CMH) in New Zealand and makes comparisons with the United States. It is argued that the present New Zealand situation bears some similarity to that existing in the United States during the 1960's. The ideology of 'community mental health' is gaining popularity among professional and…

This paper reports on research designed to explore the status of children and the relationship of patterns of child care to social structure and social change. The study is based on interviews with scholars and government officials, an analysis of statistical data and research reports, and visits to day care centers, playgrounds, and other…

During the past decades, studies have begun to look at individual differences within groups of minority children, and at the psychological impact of discrimination, oppression, and political violence on their lives. This paper presents conditions that facilitate the well-being of minority children around the world and that seem to transcend…

This paper explores how a set of curriculum reforms in the United States and England over the past 20 years may be interrelated, according to conclusions drawn from ethnographic investigation and informed by historical reflections. The discussion centers upon the case of informal, open, or progressive education, which has enjoyed a 40 plus--year…