Examines common assumptions concerning the interrelationship between power and knowledge, and considers four ways that the power/knowledge argument can go awry: power as the cause of social inequity, categorization as discrimination, reason as repression, and the system as responsible. The paper encourages greater thoughtfulness in talking about…

Explores the utility of focus group methodology as a tool for community service and student community-based learning through a service learning college course. Concludes with a discussion of how the group's focus aids student comprehension of sociology. (Author/KDR)

Composite state-level data from four national sets were used to compare 1991 and 1997 higher education participation of adults over 24. Variations in state structural factors significantly affected participation variance. Factors at one point in time substantially affected future participation. State policymakers had an influence on access and…

Focuses on using digitized maps in historical research and their possible contribution to it. Uses a research case study of an Austrian settlement, Pischelsdorf, at the beginning of the nineteenth century as an example. Explains that the study is based on the land register of 1822. Includes references. (CMK)

Argues that children's life experiences as members of families, schools, and the wider society provide understandings that must be taken into account if they are to appreciate the principles and purposes that underpin democratic practices. Investigates the perceptions of children (n=27) on their constructions of power and politics. (DAJ)

Resistance to schooling of characters in 10 works of fiction was analyzed and findings applied to traditional literacy/adult basic education (ABE) programs. The results suggest that resistance occurs when values clash. Since ABE programs tend to reproduce the values of the dominant culture, they contribute to the resistance of those outside the…

Although bureaucratic decentralization lies at the heart of educational restructuring, many state-level reform strategies adopted since 1983 perpetuate the regulatory orientation of school improvement. This article assesses the restructuring movement, exemplified by the Coalition of Essential Schools, and the overall politics of American…

Conference workshops on gender, experiential learning through the lifespan, and action research provide examples of methods of enhancing understanding of social structures and political interventions in academic and professional communities. One challenge in this method is the unpredictability of the outcomes of experiential events. (SK)

Interviews English parents who had at least one child who had finished compulsory schooling about their school choice and experience of compulsory schooling. Examines different significances that parents attached to discipline and why. Argues that power relations between adult/child and resulting from social location are relevant to understanding…

Discusses the paradigm of aging and society and explains how life changes and changes in the surrounding social structure influence one another. (SNR)

Describes the "sociological imagination," which suggests an ability to create possible reconstructions of larger social forces which affect peoples' lives, through a story about Muhammad Ali. Discusses the importance of stories and their role in society. Utilizes three more stories to address various issues in relation to literacy…

Outlines some future research directions in anthropology and education as they relate to gender issues. Studying how gender and education can be linked to more general values embedded in social organization seems an important area to explore. An example would be exploring how the teacher-student relationship reflects gendered relations of…

Drawing upon a programme of comparative studies in three European countries, England, France and Denmark, this paper discusses some of the particular issues and problems that can arise in comparative research. It outlines some ways in which the research has attempted to resolve these and to shed light on the complex interplay of factors--personal,…

Network structures both enable and constrain the development of social relations. This research investigates these features by comparing the development of commitments in structurally enabled and structurally induced exchange relations. We integrate ideas from the theory of relational cohesion and the choice process theory of commitment. In an…

In this dissertation, I study how Taiwanese vocational students as an oppressed group within the higher education system perceive, interpret, adapt or resist, and struggle to change the inequitable social structure. The theoretical framework in this research is constructed from Paulo Freire's ideas in "Pedagogy of the Oppressed,"…