Background/Context: A charge heard repeatedly, especially in contemporary media by neo-conservatives such as David Horowitz and George Will, maintains that there is a "liberal bias" in North American academe. The primary grievance is that students in higher education are being indoctrinated into a left-wing ideology that discriminates against…

There are three types of scholars in schools of education: (1) scientists, who are primarily concerned with instrument development, research design and method, and the application of these to the study of teaching and to nonschool influences on the development of children and youth; (2) theorists, who concern themselves with the philosophy, social…

It is argued that the debate between qualitative and quantitative research for educational researchers is actually an argument between constructivism and positivism. Positivism has been the basis for most quantitative research in education. Two different things are actually meant when constructivism is discussed (constructivism and…

Five papers comprise this book of symposium proceedings. Philip Smith, in "Objectives for American Education," theorizes that the U.S. can afford a sophisticated, dedicated profession to run the schools, and that educational leaders must become dedicated or other leaders will replace them. Francis Chase, in "The Status of Educational Planning in…

Profiles the contributions of Fred Clarke whose lifelong career in international education focused on the the relationship between politics and education in a democratic context. Specifically addresses Clarke's early work with the development of vocational education in British South Africa, his subsequent disillusionment, and the effect this had…

Examines the possible roles and contributions of postmodernist thought to educational research. Models some of these approaches in its consideration of interviews collected during a project reviewing the careers of educational researchers. Provides a number of verbatim transcripts from the interviews and discusses their various narrative and…