Described are the history of three German-heritage groups settled in Pennsylvania: the Solitary of Ephrata Commune, the Amish, and the Harmony Society. Suggested are pastoral, agrarian, and commercial agricultural analogs to life-support strategies of these groups respectively. Faustian agriculture emphasizing the connection of agriculture to…

Explores the state of the college student community in Moscow (Russia). Focuses on the changes in the social structure, the comparison of the material condition of college students and other social groups, and the problem of students' learning activity, in particular their value orientations and the quality of educational services. (CMK)

Australian teacher education, like the rest of the university sector in Australia, is under significant pressure and highly politicised. In this paper, we examine ethical dilemmas facing teacher educators who, in a context of difficult and eroding work conditions, grapple with literacy needs of pre-service students. We focus particularly on…

"It's all up to the individual!" Most sociology instructors have encountered this response from students who have internalized the dominant ideological perspective of "personal responsibility" and therefore resist their efforts to encourage a rigorous examination of structural forces. A number of articles in recent issues of "Teaching Sociology"…

Louise Erdrich's "Love Medicine" presents a troubled and troubling reimagining of life on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. In analyzing the novel, critics have generally ignored its descriptions of economic structures, class stratifications, and work conditions. In this essay, the author argues that these socioeconomic conditions are central to…

The Upward Bound Project for low income youth in Florida emphasizes humanistic education rather than education based on the capitalistic model of production, consumption, and competition. The project, which can serve as a model for education in developing countries, focuses on creating self-concepts and values to counteract those of an acquisitive…

Research on moral development and behavior has traditionally emphasized person related variables such as level or stage of moral reasoning, individual differences in moral traits and dispositions, or past reinforcement history. The effects of context on moral action and decision, in contrast, have received relatively little attention. It is…

This position paper explores the issue of violence in northern Canadian schools and personal perceptions and reactions to the violent events. Spindler's phrase "sociocultural contextualization" is viewed as placing and examining education and the educative process within the social and cultural environment of the community served by the…

Population studies show that teachers of the 21st century will be educating an urban clientele from a great variety of cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic, and family structures, and probably, more students who are living in poverty. In view of these projections, a Division of Teacher Education has been implemented at the University of Missouri…

This paper describes an experimental teacher education program organized in terms of the "social process model," a theory of educational interaction that stresses: 1) the ecology of social environments; 2) the rules and roles involved in given social episodes; and 3) the status of social episodes as interpersonal games. Classrooms are…

Responses of 5,000 parents to a family background questionnaire were assessed in the belief that social structures of underdeveloped countries must be studied before determining how they influence education. A logistic model is presented to statistically analyze social class and caste, parents' education, income, religion, and language ability.…

This historic overview of Millersville State Normal School in Pennsylvania looks at the separate but equal treatment of male and female students and faculty during the late 19th and early 20th century. Although early school administrators were progressive in acceptance of both male and female students and careful to treat men and women equal in…

Uses a structural deterministic perspective to explain the overrepresentation of African-Americans in the lower levels of the American social system. Discusses the negative impact of racism, classism, and sexism on the Black family and the socialization of Black youth. Urges the formation of community coalitions to provide youth activities and to…

Presents boarding schools as educationally integrative and culturally innovative. Examines historical examples of eastern Hungarian Kollegium, Institutions, England's 18th century public schools, and Israeli youth villages. Boarding schools seen as potential accelerators of change in social structure and culture. Considers schools' autonomy and…

Discusses the sociohistorical approach to tools and change. Explores the possibilities of computer-supported cooperative work. Discusses formative experiments on the educational environment as research opportunities. Illustrates the organizational impact of school technology by describing a project intended to create an environment for…