This paper provides an Australian perspective on the question of the name that should be given to people who work as information specialists in schools. The paper reviews metaphorical analysis as a research tool and outlines a qualitative research project employing the metaphor technique in an attempt to discover the conceptions that stakeholders…

Twenty-four French-speaking students in a northeast Ontario (Canada) elementary school were administered an intelligence test in grades three, five, and eight. Significant differences among the three testings raise concerns about the practice of intelligence testing among cultural minority populations. Such tests should not be administered to all…

This article looks at the way in which the language used in relation to special education needs has changed and evolved since the 1960s, based on articles published in the British special education literature. Vocabulary, images, and attitudes are discussed in the context of political correctness and its impact on behavior. (DB)

Language standards of 26 disability organizations in 4 English-speaking countries (United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and United States) were surveyed for similarities and differences. Usage of terminology such as "mental handicap,""learning disability,""mental retardation,""developmental disability," and…

The socially constructed binary of "First Nations" and "non-First Nations" (with various related names and labels) is concerned with issues of belonging, entitlement, representation, and autonomy. Although necessary to explain longstanding geopolitical, spiritual, and economic injustices, the binary obscures nuanced…

Examined predictions of 48 four- and five-year-old (mostly European Australian) children concerning the sex of persons carrying out common activities or occupations on television. Responses reveal strong gender stereotyped expectations, which were strongest for masculine stereotyped activities. Stereotyped judgments also increased with age. (SLD)

This paper urges the radical restructuring of specialized education in South Africa through discussion of two issues: (1) exclusionary and disabling identity-construction; and (2) the educational needs of the many poverty-stricken children and those for whom English is a second language. (DB)

Notes trends in definitions and theories on learning disabilities as recorded in articles in Canadian journals from 1989-2000. Examines current definitions of learning disabled (LD) used by ministries of education and compares them with proposed changes in current research. Discusses the shift in LD identification practices away from IQ cutoffs…

A study examined recent developments in adult basic education (ABE) in Great Britain in relation to students with learning difficulties and issues about the ways in which programs seemed to be moving. Information was collected from ABE staff and students in case study sites in northwest England from the following sources: semistructured interviews…

To discover how far judgments about need are consistent across schools, a national sample of special needs coordinators was asked to say how many children with reading difficulties existed in their schools. Responses from schools where mean levels of reading were high were compared with those where mean levels were lower. Analysis indicates that…

Current methods of classifying moderately educational subnormal [ESN (M)] children do not distinguish between organic and cultural causes of moderate retardation. Two experimental studies, based on the techniques of Vygotsky, are described as an attempt to move toward redefinition of this classification. (Note: Page f...=fiche numbers.) (BW)

The Tamang of the Kathmandu Valley have an agrarian society with little demand for literacy and schooling, yet they recognize and label mental retardation. The criteria for labeling are based partially upon insufficiency of intelligence and behavioral adaptation but primarily upon speech incompetence. (Author)

This article discusses progress in the integration of the Victoria, Australia, school system following a 1984 ministerial review. Fundamental principles behind the effort such as school-based services and noncategorization of disabilities are reviewed along with resultant policies, structures, and services. Barriers to mainstreaming are identified…

Examined are the political, historic, and economic influences in England and Wales affecting the categorization and labeling of pupils with special educational needs. The paper concludes that adoption of a non-categorical classification system has been unsuccessful in abolishing labeling, but has obfuscated statistical information reported by the…

Offers a poststructuralist analysis of the UK higher education sector's academic division of labor, exploring some new contradictions from a contract researcher's standpoint. Raises political, social, and methodological questions about these divisions by exploring their class and gender dimensions. Too many academics remain silent about adverse…