Based on a pilot research project conducted in the Spring of 1985, this report on an investigation of the use of television within different families, and how television material is interpreted by its audiences, begins by discussing the project's central thesis, i.e., that the changing patterns of television viewing can only be understood in the…

This colloquium draws on recent cross-cultural research undertaken in Brunei exploring the transition of the child from home or nursery school to preschool, which is mandatory for all children in their fifth year. Preschool classes are a part of primary schools in the Bruneian education system and are administered by the Ministry of Education.…

The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of analyzing educational and cultural factors associated with the vocational success of graduates of a large boarding school for Navajo Indians (i.e., the 1964 graduates of Intermountain School in Utah). In order to locate these graduates, letters were sent to the parents or guardian. When…

Educator and author Tom Armstrong talks about events that influenced his radical educational philosophy; the interconnectedness of spirituality, culture, and the inner learner in all of us; the difficulty of linking spirituality to education in light of the First Amendment; attention deficit disorders and the medicalization of education; and the…

The founder of "New Moon," a magazine dedicated to empowering girls and edited by girls aged 8-14, discusses girls' truths, how the magazine is run, sexual orientation, the media and women's need for change, strong female role models, assumptions about beauty and gender roles, and the role of schools in gender-role socialization.…

Explored the influence of demographic, sociocultural, and risk proneness indicators on age at first intercourse, number of lifetime sexual partners, and number of pregnancies among Latina adolescents. Found gender role orientation delays first intercourse, but following that, acculturation and substance experimentation are more important…

Religious institutions in Asian immigrant communities are in a unique position to confront the challenges of the HIV epidemic for the populations they serve. However, there has been little research on whether these institutions are willing or able to take a role in HIV prevention. This article reports on findings from a qualitative study of three…

There is a tendency in academic literature concerning children from diverse social and linguistic background to concentrate on failure within the school system. It is only in recent years that this is beginning to change. In this article the author argues that if we are to motivate children towards success we need to have a clear picture of the…

This paper explores whether any of the traditional aspects of Chinese culture discussed in the marketing and cross-cultural literature still apply to today's generation of Chinese students in the seemingly westernized location of Hong Kong. It finds that most of the traditional cultural beliefs are still endorsed although Hong Kong students also…

Since 2002, the Center on Education Policy (CEP) has been studying state high school exit examinations--tests that students must pass to receive a high school diploma. Each year, a national report has been published with findings about the 26 states that have or will soon implement exit exams. In addition, occasional reports have been published…

Beginning with the question "How would you define wisdom?" interviews with five Native elders focused on Native American world views or philosophies. Four themes emerged: the concept of respect, spirituality as a cultural principle permeating all aspects of life, family relationships including extended family, and various educational…

In this study on schema theory, interviews were conducted with three adults to identify the schema for particular words or phrases (pencil, making a hot drink, talking), which required identifying all those dimensions of meaning involved implicitly and explicitly in how the word/phrase is used. Results revealed that subjects described their ideas…

This study examines two concepts--the relationship between different types of television viewing as evidence of viewer selectivity, and the structural relationships between television viewing and experiences derived from a subculture and location in the social structure. A review of the way mainstream research has characterized the viewing…

Four experiments were designed to identify socioeconomic differences in preschool locus of control, develop a measurement technique for differentiating between internal and external locus of control in preschoolers, and study the effect of four kinds of preschool programs on locus of control. During the first experiment, the Stephens-Delys…

The purpose of this investigation was to make a cross-cultural study of the abilities of Anglo-, Black-, and Mexican-American young children of low status parents to process a given set of language and thought universals. The 27 subjects (nine subjects in each ethnic group) were divided into three subgroups according to age-grade levels, 5, 6, and…