Character education is a contentious and fractionated topic, yet one that has been revisited with stubborn persistence in the history of American education. To explore the complexity of the character-education debate, this theme issue presents interviews with three national figures. First, a broad perspective is provided by Theodore R. Sizer, who…

This book examines faculty socialization at American colleges and universities and presents the results of a study on the effects of promotion and tenure on community and socialization in academe. It is based on a study of institutional socialization and faculty peer review carried out at 12 colleges and universities in the United States,…

This paper addresses the correlation between educational policies and political conditions as an indicator of socialization in the nation and state building process in Pakistan. Because of the discrepancies between official statements and the level of ethnic conflict, this study seeks to analyze the standard national social studies curriculum for…

In an attempt to address the gap between multicultural reformers and school practitioners and policymakers, this review essay discusses four overarching conceptions or ideologies of multicultural education: (1) cultural fundamentalism, an approach which generally aims at socializing diverse peoples to mainstream society; (2) cultural conservatism,…

This collection of essays addresses the role of culture in the functioning of families and the socialization of children. Following an introduction by Irving Sigel, the 15 essays are: (1) "Parent-Child Interactions in Urban Indian Families in New Delhi: Are They Changing?" (Jaipaul Roopnarine and Ziarat Hossain); (2) "Chinese…

Schools serve as agents of socialization, that help adolescents to become self-governing adults. In addition to the school's academic program, cocurricular activities function as mechanisms for attaining necessary goals of student development, such as self-esteem, interpersonal skills, and leadership. This document presents the rationale for…

This descriptive study analyzed the portrayal of females as protagonists in adolescent literature published 1989-1993. A review of literature showed that 85 percent of main characters in stories for young children were male and that sexism still existed in books for young people. For this study the literature survey instrument used in the initial…

This paper explores one approach to principal evaluation based on the interaction of principals with the social system of schools. The paper examines some dynamics that shape a social-context/student-achievement connection and their application to principal evaluation. The first part provides a brief background on current principal-evaluation…

Research and theory on language acquisition and language socialization are examined and compared. The language acquisition perspective is that the central question is how children acquire forms and patterns of language, with syntax at the core, so early and so rapidly. From the viewpoint of language socialization, the issue is not only of…

A discussion of distance learning looks at the ways in which it does or does not address issues of cultural pluralism and the needs implied by this. Introductory sections look at the way in which current telecommunications socialize individuals of all ages and at the difficulty of research into this process. Media technology applicable in the…

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, legal and sociopolitical sectors began to view children as a social group of their own, and European countries passed laws for the protection of children and introduced compulsory school attendance. This paper asserts that measures like these led to a far-reaching new definition of childhood on a…

A pilot study interviewed 8 part-time faculty members at universities or colleges in Northeast Ohio to investigate the socialization of part-time faculty members in academic settings. Results showed that part-time faculty: (1) often feel isolated and lament not being able to establish professional and personal relationships with peers; (2) believe…

Relying upon the conceptual constructs from international relations, politics, and sociology, this study analyzes education policy and political socialization processes in the developing multiethnic/national societies with specific reference to Pakistan. The paper descriptively analyzes Pakistan social studies curriculum as an instrument of…

An in-class survey of a sample of 345 (266 male and 79 female) college students enrolled in agriculture classes at a midwestern university was taken to determine whether different socialization patterns played a role in their decision to enroll in agricultural education. The survey included questions on attitudes toward men and women in society,…

This paper provides a critical analysis of African American adolescents who achieve academically and explores the coping strategies these individuals employ to achieve academic success. It is hypothesized that African American adolescents achieve because they possess intrinsic values such as persistence and patience, or perhaps they are socialized…