This volume of essays enables readers to see utility in the practice of social mapping as it opens traditional cartographic representation to multiple perspectives and the play of difference. This book argues that social mapping is useful in constructing more comprehensive and reasonably accurate representations of social and cultural phenomena.…

Critically examines the claims of the Effective Schools Movement, especially those that pertain to the issue of educational leadership. Offers a critique of the traditional school leadership paradigm, suggesting alternative ways to consider both leadership and the Effective Schools Movement through the perspective of critical educational theory.…

Discusses the implications of postmodernism for the field of the history of education, specifically from the point of view of theory and methodology. Briefly reviews theoretical applications and their leading adherents in Britain. Concludes that postmodern theory should make historians more self-reflective. (MJP)

Examines social studies in the twenty-first century from a critical theory perspective. Traces critical reflection's origins from Marxist educational theories to Jurgen Habermas's critical theory. Highlights Fred Newmann's curricular model, "Education for Citizen Action," for developing competent action in public affairs. Advocates…

Argues that, far from being a dangerous and destructive break with the past, various factions of postmodernism actually parallel modernist beliefs. Both movements share groups whose creative revisionists approach seeks a constructive accommodation. Similar parallel destructive approaches also exist. (MJP)

Critical race theory requires the examination of institutional policies, programs, and practices that interfere with Latino students' rights and abilities to receive the best educational opportunities available within higher education. With attention to an ethic of caring and social justice, student services staff can work to undo the effects of…

Compares and contrasts two emerging approaches to educational historical research. Reveals a double-edged sword in that while these approaches open up the field to a wide array of subject matter and styles of inquiry, they also may weaken the epistemological stature of the discipline. (MJP)

Examines changes in the positions and concerns of South African sociologists of education as they move from an oppositional status to a more ambiguous space. These sociologists now face the prospect of choosing between criticism and reconstructive efforts. Reviews themes and issues related to this conflict. (MJP)

Argues that definitions of culture are validated according to various social theories. Examines the contrasting views of culture provided by culture studies and structuation theory. Considers the implications of these contrasts for art educators. (MJP)

Uses the film, "Dead Poets Society," to illustrate and discuss postmodernist issues in education. Although ostensibly a straightforward narrative of individuality versus conformity there are problematic areas in this film that lend themselves to multiple readings. The film reproduces a number of powerful myths without benefit of a…

Provides an overview of the main theories, developments, and literature of critically-oriented sociology. Pays particular attention to the politics of meaning including critical discourse analysis, identity politics, racial formation, and political economy and the labor process. Concludes with a discussion of the tensions between postmodern and…

The author of this article challenges a common assumption made by both critics and defenders of standardized-testing technology (or psychometry), namely that standardized tests "measure" something (culture, ability, etc.). It argues that psychometric practice cannot be classified as a form of measurement and instead is best understood as…

Presents a course on gender, race, and class developed at a White, midwestern university. Describes critical theory objectives through which students learn to analyze racism, sexism, and classism, and construct a model based on their analysis. Includes class assignments, projects, and activities. (NL)

As workers throughout the globe struggle to gain control over the conditions in which they labor as well as the means by which capital is produced, the importance of understanding class struggle, class formation and class consciousness as they relate to education and schooling takes on a new urgency. In the early part of the twenty-first century,…