A critic of Deborah Tannen's book "Gender and Discourse" responds to comments made about her critique, arguing that the book's analysis of the relationship of gender and discourse tends to seek, and perhaps force, explanations only in those terms. Another linguist's analysis of similar phenomena is found to be more rigorous. (MSE)

The socioeconomic importance and fierce competition related to high school and university entrance examinations in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea lead students and their parents to seek spiritual support through prayer and religious rituals. Japanese students leave donations and written prayers and promises to the gods at Shinto shrines…

Sketches out the argumentative strategies used by three 17-year-old boys to interpret the disagreement presented to them. Shows that they were inclined to adduce current ideas about science--framed according to a realist, empiricist epistemology--but that there are grounds for thinking that high school students would be capable of actualizing…

Investigates meanings of an innovative, reform-based curriculum (Active Physics) in various contexts. Explores how meanings of the curriculum transformed as it traveled across space and time. Discusses how aspects of the context enabled innovative science and those that constrained the potential of the curriculum. Demonstrates potential for…

Investigates 15-16-year-old students' interruptions in participation in mathematics class. Focuses on how the students construe normative meaning for the classroom episodes and how they value others and the knowledge construed. Indicates that some interruptions in the students' participation can be understood as an active contestation to the…

Rural/urban differences were studied in self-reported stress, coping, and behavioral problems in adolescents. Levels of stress and ways of coping were similar between the two groups. However, urban males reported more conflict and externalizing behaviors than females and rural males. Results suggest that adolescents may utilize many coping…

Responding to Hayley Davis' view of gender in discourse, asserts that she misinterprets Deborah Tannen as claiming that all men are well-intentioned and misunderstood, and that this misinterpretation is a theme appearing throughout Davis' review of Tannen's collection of essays, "Gender and Discourse". (29 references) (CK)

Uses ideas about nature held by four high school science teachers to illustrate how any abstract notion of a scientific worldview does not adequately describe the perspectives of scientifically knowledgeable individuals such as competent secondary school science teachers. Effective science education helps students develop an understanding of…

Suggests that debate on cultural issues in mathematics provided by the critique of ethnomathematics must be based on contemporary writing in the field and should not focus on extreme views within the political justification for ethnomathematics. Addresses philosophical questions raised by Rowlands and Carson and comments on preliminary results…

Introduces a theme issue that challenges the dominant discourse surrounding pedagogy which is predicated on individualistic accounts of achievement and solutions to enhancing achievement that rarely consider the relationships between thinking and the cultural, institutional, and historical situations in which it occurs. The articles show, through…

Notes that sociocultural theory establishes that understanding the concepts that govern discussion in particular contexts is crucial. Considers which different instructional arrangements might affect students' conceptions. Asks students to write about the discussions they had during a unit on contemporary poetry. Varies the format of the…

A sociocultural approach takes into account how literacy is acquired and used in social contexts. Socially determined meanings of literacy practices and the different ways cultures are valued reflect tensions between practical consciousness and official or dominant consciousness. Literacy education should recognize literacy as a cultural practice…

Outlines demographic dimensions of the work force: aging, gender, race, sexual orientation, immigration, language, religion. Suggests a workplace pedagogy that is sensitive to sociocultural context and includes the concept of workplace learning as a lifelong process, socioculturally sensitive policies, equal opportunity development, and diversity…

Examines from various perspectives three important issues raised by Arthur Lloyd's March 1987 "Counselor Education and Supervision" article "Multicultural Counseling: Does It Belong In A Counselor Education Program?" Offers suggestions for resolving these issues. (Author/CM)

Data from a sample of 66 countries were analyzed to investigate 4 hypothesized societal-level correlates of the divorce rate: socioeconomic development, female labor participation, the sex ratio, and dominant religion. Regression analyses revealed that all factors except religion had a significant effect on the crude divorce rate. Theoretical…