This paper is part of a research project designed to look at questions of giftedness and exceptional ability in the arts through a case study of three world-class artists. Examination of the childhood art of Picasso, Lautrec, and Klee reveals no common subject preferences nor any real anomalies in graphic development. This paper focuses on the…

Explores problems concerning operation of Chinese libraries from 1949 to present, discussing library services in four periods--1949-57, 1958-65, 1966-76, and 1976-81--to illustrate how development of Chinese libraries has been affected by political, economic, and cultural conditions. A brief chronological context and 72 references are included.…

Offers a critical reinterpretation of the development of Finnish popular adult education from 1890 to 1939, a period marked by great turbulence. Breaks with traditional analyses by presenting a sociohistorical contextualization of the conceptual relations expressed in ideological discourses and cultural practices associated with popular adult…

An overview of libraries in developing nations examines in general terms their historical development during their colonial and post-independence periods and discusses the more salient factors affecting development. These factors include language, distribution of population, topography, poor communication, level of formal education, illiteracy,…

The overarching theme of this monograph is how a Russian intellectual, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, saw himself in the European context. By reference to various of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's romanesque works, the monograph proposes an account of the development of the European awareness of an author nevertheless greatly attached to his native land, and of his…

Until the eighteenth century, doctors were reluctant to use chemicals to alleviate pain because they accepted the religious/moral beliefs of their day, claiming that pain was beneficial for the body. Traces technical developments in the control of pain, discussing relationships of anesthesia to social, cultural, and scientific factors and…

Demonstrates that literacy practices may be more usefully viewed when situated in the larger contexts within which they exist. Examines the impact of social, cultural, and linguistic factors on oral reading in China's elementary schools. (SR)

Focuses on school boards as sociocultural systems. Asserts that boards' decision-making processes operate within a cultural context and have, over the centuries of their existence, developed a culture of their own. Proposes that culture dictates a decision-making output that is not as responsive or immediate as would be expected. (Author/MK)

In this collection of essays, the content of mathematics is dealt with in general terms, concentrating on cognitive organization, modes of thought, and the way that mathematics interacts with the sociocultural setting. Chapter 1 compares features of Sumero-Babylonian, ancient Greek, and Latin medieval mathematics. Chapter 2 traces the specific…

Provides a broadened historical perspective on literacy instruction in Russia by focusing on the development of the Russian "bukvar," the first text typically placed in the hands of Russian children as they begin schooling. Discusses origins of the bukvar; religious, social, and cultural influences; pedagogical and scientific influences;…

Earlier generations of developmental psychologists, seeking to make their discipline a normative science, stressed experimental study of children, method over subject matter, and fundamental laws underlying behavior. By contrast, the generation of psychologists after 1970 is inclusive in its research methodology, concerned with the connection…

To move composition research forward into the 21st century, research conducted at the National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy will benefit by continuing to be inclusive--of a diverse population of learners, taught by a diverse population of teachers, using approaches that allow for a diversity of ways of learning. The initial theory…

Three articles on the history of higher education are presented: (1) "Teaching the History of Universities," by Jurgen Herbst, concerns the need for teaching the history of higher education and suggests the broadening of efforts to introduce the history of higher education to different populations. (2) "On Writing 'To Advance Knowledge'," by Roger…

Focuses on the parochial school as a supportive agent of ethnic socialization in Buffalo's Polish immigrant communities. Describes diverse motives for development of the parish school system as an alternative to the public schools and summarizes the distinctive, communal functions of parish schools. (CMG)

Discusses foreign language school controversey in Hawaii, initially precipitated over the general quality of Island education and policy. Addresses various issues and court decisions, and legislation related to the schools, including the issue of Americanization of Hawaii's Asian immigrant population in the wake of World War I. (Author/JN)