If colleges and universities are to compete effectively for the burgeoning adult and continuing education market, they must understand (1) both the urgency and the different individual paces of adult learners seeking education, (2) that the learner is at the center of the learning age, and (3) the varied choices learners now have when making…

When screening potential physical education teachers, principals should be aware of curriculum changes. Today's curriculum encompasses a balance of skills, concepts, games, educational gymnastics, rhythms, and dance experiences designed to enhance the cognitive, motor, affective, and physical-fitness development of every child. Teamwork and…

Examines the dynamic relationship between official school structures and forms of student subjectivity through an ethnographic account of student culture at a Mexican secondary (junior high) school with 1,400 students. Students appropriated the official school structure to fashion a culture of equality that accommodated and denied different…

This study explored individual, family, and school-related factors contributing to underachievement among 56 gifted students (grades four to eight). Comparison of four models found the complex model incorporating all three factors best fit the data. The importance of an ecological approach to problems of underachievement is stressed. Intervention…

Students' preferences for creating potential products were explored through use of "My Way ... An Expression Style Inventory". Analysis of data from 3,532 students allowed examination of content and construct validity for the instrument. The article suggests practical applications for the inventory in talent-development programs such as those…

Most faculty are neither sufficiently skilled nor psychologically disposed to perform competently and find rewards in the range of tasks required of them. Addressing the teaching role alone, the "knowledge transfer" subrole is disaggregated here into four technologies with associated skill sets and personality dispositions; it is argued that…

Explains that education mainly deals with the formation of the intellectual creative power of a subject giving meaning to things and not with the issue of responding to the demands of the world. Suggests that self-referentiality of signs is not an achievement of the educational subject but a loss of possibilities for actively responding to the…

The effective-schools movement as currently promoted by profit-oriented consultants has been contaminated by five fallacies: all children have equal learning opportunities; principals (not teachers) are instructional leaders; standards should be set by exceptions; academic standards should be uniform; and teachers should work smarter, not harder.…

This article first discusses various definitions of "difference" and then reviews some sociological theories providing a general conceptual understanding of the response to difference in today's society. It stresses the need to build communities and schools that support difference and develop cultural citizenship without polarizing…

Explores how the middle school concept is designed to make two seemingly contradictory goals compatible, those of providing a common core curriculum while meeting individual needs. Suggests that, similar to team sports or musical groups, it is possible to allow students to exercise personalized choices of how to meet the common objectives of the…

Focuses on the role of primary school teachers in Hong Kong, especially with respect to their treatment of individual learner differences among students. Looks specifically at how three teachers cope with the demands of attention to individual differences, an emphasis of the new target-oriented curriculum. (Author/VWL)

Reviews evidence on reliability and validity of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ); presents CBQ data on structure of temperament in childhood. Factor analyses indicate three broad dimensions of temperament: extroversion/surgency, negative affectivity, and effortful control. This factor structure also appears in ratings of children in…

Studied the identity of minority third graders through their autobiographies. Findings based on 188 autobiographies from 8 urban elementary schools show a pattern of responses that crosscut psychological constructs, gender, and race. Discusses changes needed in school culture to facilitate the development of well-adjusted children. (SLD)

Evaluated effects on children in Bosnia and Herzegovina of a 5-month psychosocial intervention program of weekly group meetings for mothers. Found that although all participants were exposed to severe trauma, their distress varied considerably. The intervention program had a positive effect on mothers' mental health, children's weight gain, and…

Examined impact of shame and attributional style on adjustment following sexual abuse. Found that once adjustment at discovery was accounted for, shame and attribution style explained additional variation in adjustment 1 year later; abuse severity did not. Relations between abuse severity and subsequent depressive symptoms and self-esteem were…