In investigating the place of consumption in education it is necessary to question both critical theory's language of manipulation and neo-liberalism's language of rational action as ways of explaining the significance of consumption in people's lives and where it has assumed a central status in the contemporary social order. This paper argues…

Presents a student response to an undergraduate psychology assignment where students constructed a dialog from the discipline's history. The playlet consists of two actors in the roles of William James and Hugo Munsterberg. While they expound on their contradictory positions, two actors standing behind them examine the subtext. (MJP)

Maintains that the continued acceptance of market principles combined with reductions in government services has created a selfish citizenry. In education, this is personified in the activist parent who is interested in his own child's education but indifferent to others. Discusses how civic education can respond to this. (MJP)

Asserts that the sociology of education is fraught with noncommunicating paradigms. Outlines this paradigm split from a critical theory perspective. Discusses the use of history to support education reform efforts. (CFR)

Examines the concept of popular culture in social and educational theory in the context of developing nations, particularly Latin America. Using a poststructuralist literary theory, the article elaborates a notion of the popular that offers a new conceptualization by incorporating a sense of competing identities and ideologies that form it. (SM)

Constructing an arch of social dreaming means developing a politics of difference that actively contests the devaluation of persons relegated as "others." In this connection, features of critical pedagogy, the role it plays in the struggle against current neoconservatism, and the importance of language are considered. (SLD)

Asserts that Lawrence Kohlberg's purely "formalistic" conceptualizations of moral judgment and associated measures may misrepresent the true nature of moral thought. Identifies logical inconsistencies in Kohlberg's reliance on the "form" of moral judgment and argues for a reconceptualization in terms of content. Discusses the…

Uses a review of Peter E. Langford's, "Approaches to Moral Reasoning," to posit a broad critique of the moral reasoning theories of Lawrence Kohlberg. Summarizes Jean Piaget's stance on moral reasoning and its contributions to Kohlberg's work. Suggests a series of new approaches for research methodologies and subject matter. (MJP)

Past attempts to develop an explanatory model for African-American school achievement have focused disproportionately on failure. But if one considers the long and persistent denial and limiting of educational opportunity to African Americans, from slavery to the present, and African Americans' corresponding achievements, the historically and…

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the Western Australian Calculus Tertiary Entrance Examination (TEE) papers for 1996-99, two years before and two years after the introduction of graphics calculators on the examination. Changes in the questions that asked students to graph rational functions and students' answers to the corresponding…

Reviews the career and contributions of George Combe, an Edinburgh lawyer who proselytized for the cause of using phrenology in education. Although dismissed today as pseudoscience, phrenology (attributing various character traits to specific locations in the brain) was taken seriously as a science during the early 19th century. (MJP)

Examines the work and philosophy of Harry Lowerison, a turn-of-the-century London teacher and socialist. Specifically, recounts his development of the Ruskin School Home, an experimental and communal school for boys and girls. Discusses the school's policies, curriculum, admission requirements, and educational philosophy. Reprints handbills and…

Questions Lawrence Kohlberg's complexity hypothesis that individuals exhibit higher stages of moral judgement in complex socio-political surroundings. Tests the moral judgements of adolescent students from The Netherlands and the former German Democratic Republic. Results of the tests failed to support Kohlberg's hypothesis. (MJP)

This book examines some of the main problems arising in the sociology of education, and seeks to shed light on the methods that are frequently employed to study them. An attempt is made to distinguish the formal level of education from the real level of education. On the basis of the formal level of education researchers can divide populations…

This paper identifies two broad types of "critical" ethnographic research. One type attempts to empower social actors by providing emic-oriented accounts which tend to emphasize the integrity of their constructs, thus laying the groundwork for a redistribution of social power. The other type attempts to combine analysis of phenomenal, micro-level…