Although this author knew very little about the details of "Brown v. Board of Education" as a legal matter when he read about it as a young second-year student at the University of Cape Town in 1954, the Court's verdict had a direct influence on his political perspectives and on his aspirations as a would-be teacher for the rest of his…

The last few years (2004-05) have been filled with commemoration, reflection, and scholarship around the landmark Supreme Court decision, "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954). It was right and proper to take a 50-year retrospective at one of the more significant court rulings of the 20th century. It was also important to look at the…

This article pursues two main lines of inquiry: How might postcolonial theory, feminist and postcolonial translation studies sharpen our critical understandings of the micro- and geopolitics of English language learning? What kinds of pedagogical practice might such new developments ground in order to foster our learners' critical ways of knowing…

The life and work of John Lancaster Spalding focused on the importance of Catholic ideals of life and education in the development of the human person and society in order to fit them to the high purpose of participating in God's reign on earth and preparation for humanity's ultimate end--eternal life with God. Following a brief biographical…

Included in this edition of the "In-the-Know" Access & Equity Newsletter are: (1) State Losing Black Instructors (Gina Smith); (2) Time to Join Together to Seek "Economic Rights" (Darla Moore); and (3) "Advancing Diversity in Higher Education--Diversity Digest" (Mark Giles, Ed.), which is a reprint of an article…

For the past two years at NTU, I have been running a fourth year Bachelor of Education course on science issues. The majority of those doing the course are working primary teachers from a variety of backgrounds. The first part of the course consists of the history and philosophy of science, whilst the second part concerns science issues. The…

This volume of "Let Freedom Ring!" contains the scripts of the 13 national broadcasts of the radio series of that name presented in the spring of 1937 over the national network of the Columbia Broadcast System. In "Let Freedom Ring!" you will find the courage, the struggle, the triumph of men and women who fought to win and safeguard liberties…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach in which students encounter a problem and systematically set about finding ways to understand the problem through dialogue and research. PBL is an active process where students take responsibility for their learning by asking their own questions about the problem and in this paper we explore…

The most blatant discrimination that exists today in schools is that directed toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex students (l/g/b/t/i/q). English and language arts teacher education programs can help foster critical awareness among future teachers of sexuality and gender as well as provide the pedagogical skills and…

In this article, the author shares perspectives on "Brown v. Board of Education" that are not focused only on the immediate aftermath but range across the 50 years since. They are compilations of the perspectives and experiences of students and teachers of color more generally as they have navigated the "mazeways" of promises…

This article makes a contribution to discussion on the neo-liberal reshaping of education in Western Europe. It argues for a greater attentiveness on the part of education researchers to collective social actors such as trade unions and social movements. Making use of concepts from Gramsci and from Poulantzas, it suggests that such actors had a…

There are more than 700 million current Internet users, but the world population is approximately 6 billion (Trend 2001), indicating that computer technology is used by less than one-eighth of the population. Computers are becoming common tools in schools, often viewed as a democratic panacea despite the costs involved and despite the fact that…

The fabric of educational leadership is changing. Murphy (2001) has suggested three new metaphors for educational leaders: moral stewards, builders of communities, and educators for school improvement. However, shifting priorities and contradictions between these metaphors could result in fragmentation within the field. This article discusses…

Two seminal reports on the state of education advantage and disadvantage in so called "rich nations" were released in 2002 by the international agencies OECD (2002a) and UNICEF (2002). These complex reports are brought to the attention of those at the very centre of the education debate, the general public, through the public media. What…

The term "access" is frequently used by property and natural resource analysts without adequate definition. In this paper we develop a concept of access and examine a broad set of factors that differentiate access from property. We define access as "the "ability" to derive benefits from things," broadening from property's classical definition as…