Background/Context: In contrast to cultural constructs that equate education with cognitive development and formal schooling, the Latin American cultural model of educacion encompasses academic knowledge and social competence. Prior scholarship has mainly investigated parental notions of educacion vis-a-vis childrearing and schooling, primarily…

Background/Context: How do we account for the persistence of below-average math test score performance among California Hispanics who are fluent in English, as well as Spanish-dominant English learners? Recent studies have attributed the problem to an overly rigid focus on "what works" in curriculum and fluency in English to the…

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: Conservative jurists and scholars have reached the conclusion that the traditional separation of public funding from religious organizations in K-12 education was "born of bigotry," and inherently anti-Catholic. This claim rests on the misuse of revisionist historical interpretations that emphasize ethno-cultural…

Background/Context: This study draws upon and contributes to sociocultural studies of literacy (a.k.a. New Literacy Studies), sociohistorical theories of identity formation, and practice theories of language interaction to argue that "becoming literate" requires critical inter- and intra-personal identity work accomplished through…

Analyzes current environmental emphasis in light of past efforts in the same area, and suggests that environmental studies'' belongs with the humanities rather than with the natural sciences. (SP)

Examines the potential conflict between an explicit educational manifesto and the implicit, dominant cultural resources that may interfere with the actualization of the manifesto, illustrating, through the qualitative analysis of an educational activity involving Israeli high school students, the dynamics by which an educational manifesto can be…

Background: A critical issue in academic assessment is the effect of children's language and culture on their measured performance. Research on this topic has rarely focused on science education, because science is commonly (though erroneously) assumed to be "culture free." Students' scientific understandings are influenced by the cultural values,…

Background/Context: This review article draws on the growing body of literature at the interfaces of anthropology and education, as well as other educational studies outside anthropology that have relevance to social and cultural frames. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: Drawing together and analyzing anthropological and…

The historical study of words, and particularly of the changes in their meanings, has two benefits. First, it can bring to light our recent and culture-bound perspective on the nature of language, and, secondly, the approach to language needs to be made with a perspective on the future rather than the past. (JN)

This study sought to reveal teachers' personal cultural ideologies as reflected in their conceptions of the curriculum for, and in their actual teaching of, culturally valued texts. The concept "teachers' personal cultural ideologies" refers to their value orientation toward the curricular and teaching contents relating to, in this…

This case study of Southeast Asian women in higher education management investigates culture-specific dimensions of "glass ceiling" impediments to career advancement in higher education. Respondents note that despite considerable training and expertise, Asian values and ideologies demand enactment of a construct of Asian femininity that…

This article disputes psychological test results from the 1920s that indicated low performance by Blacks. Inaccurate experimental research procedures and conclusions of tests are observed. Cultural determinants, heredity, and influence of test instruments on data are examined. (DF)

This article considers whether a distinction should be made between educating for culture and educating for socialization. Views of progressive educators, traditionalists, and modern radical educators are examined. A careful distinction should be made between the two terms, so that neither socialization nor cultural education is sacrificed. (PP)

The study of the nuclear weapons culture and of disarmament must be made central to the curriculum in the humanities, the sciences, and other subject areas. After discussing the contradictions of the nuclear age, the author suggests using consciousness-raising techniques, readings, films, and student research projects as means of reaching…