Background/Context: Although progress has been made since members of the Conference on College Composition and Communication passed the Students' Right to Their Own Language resolution (1974), there still remains a demand to examine youth perceptions of language. Such examinations can help teachers and researchers improve curricular choices, honor…

Contemporary perspectives in psychology and education characterize ideal students as rational and in control of their thinking and actions. The good student is often described as intentional, cognitive, metacognitive, critical, and reflective. I begin with a brief history of control and rationality to establish how "The Tradition" is deeply rooted…

Background/Context: Educational researchers have long sought to understand the factors that enable or constrain persistence in non-formal family literacy and adult education programs. Scholars typically posit three sets of factors influencing persistence: situational (learners' life circumstances), institutional (programmatic factors), and…

Background/Context: Ever since the Enlightenment, there has been a strong tendency in educational theory and practice to think of education as the "production" of a subject with particular qualities, most notably the quality of rationality. This way of thinking has deeply influenced the theory and practice of democratic education and has led to an…

Background/Context: Over the past half century, scholars in a variety of fields have contributed to our understanding of the relationship between higher education and social stratification. We review this literature, highlighting complementarities and inconsistencies. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: We situate our review of the…

Background/Context: Although theories of human development often play a central role in K-12 pedagogical practices, evidence suggests that developmental theories have not been used extensively to understand the college transition process or to develop programs to support students during these transitions. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus…

Background/Context: Discussion in classrooms has been cited as an activity integral to active participation in a democracy. Much research into classroom practice reveals that recitation, not discussion, is the most common form of classroom discourse. How teachers conceive of discussion, what they actually do when they attempt discussion with…

Background and Context: The context for this study is the American legislative landscape covering the past 35 years, which witnessed a shift in political philosophies concerning the role of government in ensuring the social welfare of its citizens--from a focus on a "safety net" to a focus on "individual responsibility." We frame these contrasting…

Background/Context: Most people who study the history and philosophy of education have heard of essentialism, but few people know the story behind how, when, and why the movement came to exist. This paper tells this story for the first time. Purpose/Conclusions: This essay has three purposes. First, it provides an introduction to the life and…

Article discusses the New Town movement and garden city planning and the combination of urban and rural values. (MM)

Background/Context: This study draws on the voluminous research on teachers' workplace orientations and especially on Dan Lortie's documentation of conservatism, individualism, and presentism among teachers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study investigated a school reform network of over 300 secondary schools entitled…

Background/Context: As the economy grows ever more tight, the school (K-16) is increasingly important in relation to life choices and outcomes, and researchers who focus on youth culture, often in and out of school contexts, can no longer afford to ignore such traditional educational institutions. If school credentials do not "guarantee" social…

Background/Context: Student motivation typically has been studied as it relates to extrinsic (e.g., reinforcement) or intrinsic (e.g., personal choice) sources of influence, with scant attention to sociocultural context. This article builds on a previous article in this special issue that (1) addresses the role of opportunity in the motivation of…

Background/Context: As a case study in minority language restriction, the German example provides a useful historical counterpoint to more recent debates regarding the place of non-English languages in American schools. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study and Research Design: This historical analysis examines the role of education…

This article (1) recommends how psychological anthropologists might more effectively influence educational research; (2) delineates likely priority problems for such research; and (3) takes up a fundamental criticism that might appear to argue that psychological anthropology would not further the study of education. (MM)