This speech presents a review of research concerning the nature of play. Some of the formal characteristics of play are: (a) it is distinct from ordinary life in its "temporariness" and its limitless location; (b) there is an element of tension in play that leads to uncertainty concerning the outcome but at the same time provides the opportunity…

Self development is conceptualized as surrounded by a series of ego rings that spread out from its center. Erikson's first five psychosocial stages are used as the developmental framework within which self-concept, self-esteem, and ego boundaries are viewed as component parts of the self's growth. Counseling implications are used. (Author/BL)

Discusses the role of the teacher in helping students achieve self-actualization. (SB)

Based on Dembo et al. (1956), it was predicted that in comparing high acceptors of their disability with low acceptors, the latter would (a) rate a non-disabled negative evaluator as more likeable, (b) perceive themselves as more similar to him, and (c) suffer more as a result of exposure to him. The hypothesis was confirmed. (Author/BY)

To become human is to become different and distinguishable. This raises paradoxical questions concerning self-fulfillment and incompleteness for the individual and the race. (JH)

In longitudinal study of female college graduates, self-definition, measured by freshman-year Thematic Apperception Tests, predicted problem-solving and coping behavior 14 years later. Women who viewed their problems in ways that facilitated effective coping scored higher in self-definition. Women who took instrumental actions to solve their…

Argues for a constructivist theoretical approach to the developmental study of the self, an approach which focuses on self-other differentiation and acquisition of categories of self. (SS)

In recent years the theme of voice has emerged more prominently in research and practice in education. In practice in schools it has been found in such developments as circle time, the emphasis on emotional literacy and emotional intelligence, peer-led counselling, buddying, and the revival of school councils, while in further and adult education…

The current study examined gender and identity status differences in late adolescents' possible selves. The intent of the study was to clarify conflicts between theory and research on gender differences in identity by investigating the content of participants' possible selves. Participants completed measures of identity and possible selves. The…

Teachers rely on their vision of literacy and literacy education to guide their teaching and influence the ways they view their students' literacy learning. This article describes what happens when a career teacher senses that her vision is limiting her teaching and her students' opportunities for learning. Kid watching and careful study of…

A striving for something beyond ourselves is one way of defining spirituality, and, although spiritual and religious motives have traditionally impelled students to learn to read, the intersection of literacy and spirituality has gone largely unrecognized by scholars. Six women were interviewed about how they use literacy in their spiritual lives.…

This article discusses the planning and implementation of a high school course to (1) help students find their identities through the arts, and (2) help teenagers cope with today's society by looking at life's basic questions and examining answers provided by the world's great philosophers. (RC)

Based on the assumption that "existence preceeds essence", this article argues that individual potential rather than external prescription should be the criteria by which one measures himself and that educational institutions, therefore, should be concerned with the individual as investigative subject rather than manipulative object. (JC)

Argues that reading is an essential means of acquiring knowledge, understanding, ideas, feelings, attitudes, expectations, and values. (RB)