Identifies four issues that will shape the future of U.S. elementary and secondary education: (1) decentralized governance of schools; (2) education of all students and level of achievement; (3) opportunity for educational equality; and (4) cultural diversity and ethnicity. (CFR)

Contrasts two models of instruction: building on ideas in shared endeavors; and transmit-and-test formats. Discusses how these contrasting formats may relate to interactional patterns observed in toddlers and caregivers in a Mayan and a middle-class European-American community; and elementary school children in Japan and the United States. (SR)

This paper argues for the expansion of the knowledge base of TESOL teacher education to integrate greater awareness of the sociocultural and political context of teaching English to speakers of other languages. It is argued that the changing roles of teachers, insights gained from classroom research and recent developments in critical applied…

Graduate students have long expressed difficulties adapting to different expectations graduate schools place upon them. Foreign students pursuing knowledge in the field of speech communication encounter cultural difficulties. Foreign graduate students are students at risk because they become a central locus for cultural tensions in relation to:…

For Kung hunter-gatherers and Fijian fishing people, healing is a central community ritual with significance beyond the cure itself. An enhanced state of consciousness, experienced most intensely by the healer, but also shared by the community, is at the core of Kung and Fijian healing. Although in contemporary Euro-American culture the spiritual…

Because life styles, values, social institutions, and "survival activities" differ in undeveloped rural areas from those in industrial societies, the techniques and approaches used by rural social workers must be adjusted to meet the needs of the population being dealt with. In forager and agricultural societies, social workers and other…

The intent of this manual is to provide counselors with essential background information about alcohol abuse among blacks and with a practical, workable model for organizing and structuring a training program. A general discussion of black self-awareness in relation to alcohol abuse is presented. An approach to counseling and serving the black…

The general purpose of this project was to produce some reliable and valid knowledge of how differences in the non-linguistic aspects of North American and Latin American socio-cultural patterns (concepts, values, beliefs, norms, expectations, and ethnocentrism) act as barriers to cross-cultural communication. The end product was to be…

Patterns of sex and socioeconomic differences in aptitude and achievement were compared among eight countries. A universal pattern appeared in which higher status children scored better than lower status children in aptitude, achievement, and school grades. Peer reputation largely ran the same way, with mild exceptions. The social differences in…

This curriculum guide is presented as a supplement to the text "Learning Spanish the Modern Way, Book 2" (lessons 15-23). Topics included are designed for the level-2 program by the New York State syllabus and emphasize cultural aspects of life in Spain and Mexico. The importance of Spanish, geography of Mexico and Spain, Spanish influence in the…

Nonparticipation in traditional adult basic education programs is an ongoing concern for educators and administrators. Most studies of such nonparticipation have focused on lack of motivation or other psychological deterrents, suggesting that individuals have a choice and that they or their culture are somehow deficient if they "choose"…

Contends that the relationship between developed and developing nations' scholarship may be characterized as a type of ideological dependency. Discusses the different approaches to the use of sociological research and knowledge in developed and developing nations. (CFR)

This paper offers a theoretical comparison of the concept of the individual presumed in modern Islamic educational theory and western moral educational theory, revealing a distinct Islamic point of view on the western educational premise that a moral universe is derived dialectically between individual and society. From an Islamic perspective,…

California has one of the most diverse societies on earth. Ethnic minorities comprise at least one-third of the state's people, and the society is becoming ever more diverse. It is estimated that by about the year 2010, California will have no majority ethnic group. The historical development of this diversity is traced from the arrival of…

This analysis of cultural pluralism in the United States focuses on the central concerns of balancing inequities and cultivating pluralistic values and attitudes. The first chapter reviews the historical background of cultural pluralism and its implications for educators. In Chapter 2, the theory of cultural pluralism is explored, concentrating on…