A major problem with the proposed approaches to national service is that they may draw attention away from the real causes of and the feasible solutions to critical problems. Community action should involve young people in sustained, long-term empowering activities, not in one-time experiences or in work that does not challenge current power…

The social psychological determinants of adolescent sexual activity were examined using survey data from 288 teenagers and drawing on a power-dependency theory in a social exchange framework. The model was a good predictor of factors associated with the sexual activity of males but not females. Racial differences were also examined. (SLD)

Ways are discussed that education and the discourse practices it authorizes can routinely repress, dominate, and disempower language users whose practices differ from the norms that it establishes. The ideas of two key theorists, Bourdieu and Bhaskar, are linked and applied to such issues as schooling, high status language, and minority discursive…

Tasmania's history of reforms in state education administration were inspired yet pragmatic responses to social, political, and economic crises. A progressive devolution of managerial responsibility to schools and colleges between 1982 and 1989 resulted in little movement of governance powers. Hughes's state corporate managerialism has not proved…

On college campuses, the diffused authority system makes positive and appropriate response to sexual harassment difficult. Student affairs personnel can assist by identifying and educating influential faculty, organizing universal campus education and prevention programs, encouraging student participation in program creation and administration,…

Examines decentralization of the development function in research universities and the impact decentralization has on the balance of power among university academic leaders; the ability of universities to set their own priorities; the communication between academic units and the central development office; and the relationship between faculty and…

Responses from a survey of university sociology departments in 1979 (n=111, 93 percent) and 1984 (n=134, 91 percent) identified predictors of higher representation of women faculty: institutional prestige, research orientation, large size, public sponsorship, nonurban setting, and faculty growth. The political economy of a department is a…

Every college should have a campuswide computer publishing policy. Policy options include (1) centralized publishing; (2) franchise, with a number of units doing their own publishing; or (3) limited, with the publications office producing the basics and assisting other units when feasible. To be successful, the policy must also be enforced. (MSE)

Highlights ideas of Paulo Freire that are relevant to the meaning of democratic teaching. Freire believes that the traditional curriculum leads teachers and students to conform, and he advocates "conscientization" or a democratic approach to teaching in which the learner actively participates in understanding and defining the personal…

Argues that the management of organizational culture is the key to successful innovation, drawing on empirical studies of Britain's Technical and Vocational Educational Initiative (TVEI). Embedding an innovation such as TVEI across a curriculum requires a new management style that transforms an academic-driven curriculum to one supporting and…

Proposes sociological models about dominance and intergroup dynamics as feasible theoretical supplements to psychological models to explain the sources and significance of organizational-level change. Proposes substantive sharing of power with diverse or nontraditional employees hitherto marginalized in U.S. organizations as one potentially…

In an examination of power in speech, the linguistic practices of Japanese men and women giving directions to subordinates were studied. Explanations of gender differences are discussed in terms of a general theory of politeness and the culturally specific strategies for encoding politeness and authority in Japanese. (43 references) (Author/LB)

A major goal of a curriculum that fosters multicultural literacy should be to help students know, care, and act in ways that will develop a democratic and just society where all groups experience cultural democracy and empowerment. (SK)

Investigated representation of females in computer education texts for grades K-12 published within last decade. Females were found to be under represented in positions of power and as active computer users although overrepresented as passive in relation to the computer. In general, females were well represented in the test, but the roles in which…

Schools are examined using a common sociological perspective. Relationships among key groups in school organizations are discussed from a micropolitical frame of reference. School micropolitics are considered in terms of teacher autonomy, order, time, and school administrators and the organization. Implications for future micropolitical research…