University professor addresses issues that can inhibit or distort collaborative qualitative research. The article looks at issues of power and authority in collaborative research in a teacher researcher group involving five classroom teachers and the professor. (SM)

Explores the pursuit of equal opportunity for girls in school physical education through liberal reform strategies. Addresses ways in which unequal power relations between the sexes have pervaded the structure, organization, and language of high school physical education. British Columbia's new Physical Education Curriculum 2000 is offered as a…

Explores the legal, educational, and ethical significance of sexual harassment of employees in school settings. A review of case law is followed by perspectives of the sexual harassment experience and difficulties (such as lack of reporting) inherent in obtaining justice. Sexual harassment is a pandemic problem (really a power issue) that renders…

In the Netherlands, the exigency of financial restraint has prompted educational expenditure cuts. Concomitant to these has been a move toward decentralization, with self-regulation at the institutional level. This paper argues that the operation of market forces and the promotion of institutional autonomy requires financial independence.…

It is proposed that, in investigating wrongdoing, the university attorney must determine who has authority to decide the institution's position; when to seek a higher or different authority; and to whom the lawyer may tell what he or she knows. Three hypothetical cases are offered to illustrate these issues. (MSE)

Concepts of authority with regard to type of authority directive and social context were studied for 30 male and 30 female elementary school students in 3 age groups from kindergarten through grade 6. Children conceptualize authority with respect to social position and within the bounds of specific social contexts. (SLD)

Explores responses of 54 academics and 11 senior managers at an Australian university about the attributes of success. The ways in which gender constructs patterns of academic and managerial success within universities are discussed. It is argued that production is privileged over reproduction, and output over process, in a profoundly gendered…

An emancipatory researcher morally committed to reciprocity, or sharing results with study participants, felt extremely uncomfortable when disclosing findings about power definitions to one friend and participant. Clearly, this participant felt betrayed, not emancipated, when findings were applied to her own situation. The researcher learned a…

Discusses how 34 Finnish teachers participating in a teacher-development program view efforts to renew classroom practices--especially alterations of teacher/student power relations. Despite intensive national and institution-level initiatives, teachers tend to retain traditional classroom practices, even when slowly shifting beliefs to a…

Describes the "relevant" curriculum, that students feel is related to their lives, in a high school history class. Traces how "relevant" lessons work on students, how students in turn "work" relevance, and whose relevance is consequential. Argues that the school successfully imposes "relevance," but alienates students in the process. (DSK)

Proposes that one goal in teaching stratification is to illustrate how powerfully stratification shapes society. Discusses an effort to stimulate critical thinking through student research projects. Lists three goals: involve students in research; show how race, class, and gender impact everyday life; and clarify the importance of these issues to…

Examined elementary students' evaluations of decision-making procedures in different social contexts. Found that consensus was preferred in peer and family contexts and authority-based procedures were preferred for school curricular decisions. Older children were more likely than younger to consider how children's limited knowledge and competence…

Investigated how school superintendents defined and used power. Interviews with 47 superintendents nationwide and two other people from each school district indicated that the more strictly superintendents' definitions adhered to power as coming from or with others (rather than power over others), the more capable they were as collaborative…

Reflects on a social studies teacher's experiences during a Fulbright professorship in Ghana. Relates how, as an outsider from the United States, she learned about Ghanian perspectives of history, economics, women's issues, and culture, and was reminded of the dominating power of Western cultural and economic imperialism. (DSK)

Reports on a distance-independent class taught at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and examines the challenges this course posed to existing academic culture. Topics include logistical issues, including scheduling, workload, and credit hours; changing personnel and roles; and changes in power and…