When the educational system in Ontario, Canada, moved toward a child-centered philosophy, the onus for failure was placed on the child and his or her home environment. This philosophy penalized children from working-class and non-English-speaking homes. Arguments in the nature-nurture controversy are reviewed. (PP)

Examines ways in which current United Kingdom school-choice policies interact with parental pressures on their children to achieve excellence and how these pressures affect the emotional health of their middle- and working-class children as they make the transition from primary to secondary school. Finds serious emotional consequences (exam…

Examines background factors of nineteenth-century education, especially the development of systematic training for elementary school mistresses, and social class. Concentrates on Whitelands College's recruitment of future teachers with reference to their social class. (NH)

Ten white and 10 African American working-class mother-toddler dyads were videotaped during joint book readings and compared. Many similarities between cultural groups were found. Differences included African American mothers who used fewer questioning behaviors; white children who produced more question-related communications; and African…

Reviews the history of La Cabana kindergarten, which provides preschool education and meals for 100 children and sewing classes for mothers in a working class neighborhood in Bogota, Colombia. Describes the implementation of a new curriculum which develops child creativity through free choice of activities around a common project. (AC)

A study of 53 8- to 10-year-old children from African-American and white working- to middle-class families in Chattanooga (Tennessee) supports the hypothesis that, compared to white children, African-American children are less stereotyped in their responses to African-American and white infants. Gender differences are evident for Whites but not…

This paper draws on a systematic review of qualitative research to explore the resilient mothering practices that young, British, working-class mothers employ to care for their children. The synthesis of studies of UK mothers under the age of 20 demonstrates how young working-class women must mother in impoverished circumstances, at the same time…

Ever since George Washington opted for the title of president rather than king, Americans have been uncomfortable with the idea of class distinctions. This article presents an interview with Dr. Janet Galligani Casey regarding the idea of class distinctions. Galligani Casey, who grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts,…

Social class has strongly influenced the development of social policies about adult education. Present policy discourses are a result of weakening working-class interests.

Parents of upper-secondary students in public schools in New South Wales, Australia, gave accounts of their experience of education and their wider thinking about educational issues. Working-class families are bearers of educational histories which are often difficult or truncated, leaving parents with little familiarity with upper-secondary or…

Drawing on data gathered during a fourteen-month study of reading practices among poor and working-class girls, this essay explores the challenges of creating a responsive and critical reading pedagogy across boundaries of class. Set largely in a summer and after-school reading program for pre-teen girls, the study addressed the question of how a…

This paper will present a Marxist analysis of the current function and role of information and communication technology (ICT) in education, with specific reference to schooling in the UK. Over the past five years the UK government has spent in excess of 2.5bn British Pounds on ICT equipment for schools and in "training" teachers to use…

Drawing from data collected during interviews with grade 2 teachers who work in a black working-class township school, this paper explores the meanings that teachers attach to HIV and AIDS education. It is argued that the relationship of many teachers to the subject of HIV and AIDS is inscribed within regulatory forces based on the notion of…

As society becomes more accepting of unfamiliar cultures, Marxism must be reexamined for its relationship to current management styles and its potential worth in training and the work environment. The educational method of Marxism emphasizes discussion over lecture. Marxism proposes that general education is the key to having a classless society.…

Working-class high school girls choose courses for a variety of reasons, both consciously and subconsciously, and use conventional attitudes to justify their choices to themselves and others, according to working-class girls who volunteered to be interviewed during their free periods in Vancouver (British Columbia) high schools. The girls cited…