Explores the possibility that differences in compliance between Japanese and American children are the result of culturally distinct child-rearing practices. Child compliance with adult authority was positively associated with providing opportunities for appropriate behavior and negatively associated with reliance on physical discipline in both…

A review of vocational education trends in Western Europe and Japan covers the following: curriculum and program structure, alternatives, cooperative education, on-the-job training, enrollments, admission, curriculum content, skills other than strictly occupational, mechanisms for curriculum development, and efficiency of training. (MSE)

Factors in organizational climate and structure that enhance innovation include need to respond to emerging market trends and discomfort with the status quo. Inhibitors include negative language used regarding new ideas and lack of strategic organizational direction. As in industry, higher education can use these to involve employees in change:…

Chinese "people-managed schools" began in the 1940s as popular voluntary village schools providing flexible relevant education to rural peasants, but are regarded today as low status and low quality. This change reflects the Chinese Communist Party's incremental move away from both decentralized decision making and populist education to…

Describes alternatives to bureaucratic centralism in the administration of national education systems. Discusses forms of decentralization based on political rationales (liberalism, federalism, populist localism, participatory democracy) and those concerned with quality or efficiency (pedagogic professionalism, management by objectives,…

Presents the results of a study exploring teachers' concerns and observations of how the "Power Rangers" television series affects children in their classrooms. Teachers' concerns focus on violence, aggressive play, confusion about fantasy and reality, obsessive involvement with the Power Rangers, and use of them as role models for…

Mike Davis's book presents a history and current sociology of Los Angeles from a socialist perspective, arguing that inequalities in the distribution of power and wealth underlie the area's serious, growing problems: ethnic fear and discrimination, social disinvestment and withdrawal by the "haves," and an epidemic of youth violence. (SV)

Analyzes the struggle between Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism from an Afrocentric geopolitical perspective. Africans, with Afrocentrism as an intellectual class action suit, are determined to rescue their minds from the suzerainty of Eurocentric miseducation. Afrocentrism represents the most potent challenge to the European power structure of the…

Data from a survey of 230 college sociology departments revealed patterns of employment and academic rank among African-American faculty. African Americans do not necessarily have many African-American colleagues, numerical influence in departments, or equality in rank. African-American student population, school location, and dependence on…

Reports two studies of adolescent perceptions of playful and aggressive fighting. Results suggest that some bouts of playful fighting are used during adolescence to settle disputes about dominance and that aggression may be introduced into playful fighting to settle dominance disputes. (LB)

These books are, in many ways, companion volumes addressed to educators working on curricular issues and educational reform. Both consider how postmodernism, feminism, and cultural studies contribute to contemporary educational theory and social criticism. The authors make a convincing case for critical "border pedagogy" that examines…

Examined the effects of sex of offender and type of behavior on faculty perceptions of student against faculty sexual harassment, using 313 faculty members from 2 universities. Found that, when the student offender was male, subjects saw the situation as harassment, upsetting, and the student's fault. (JB)

Ninth graders explored the theme of power and ambition by reading William Shakespeare's play "Julius Caesar," studying daily life in ancient Rome, comparing the play's plot to the attempted overthrow of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, examining other power struggles, and developing scripts for modern-day "Julius Caesar"…

Describes how, when a vehicle maintenance unit of a public transit agency underwent extensive demographic diversification of its workforce, original workers escalated shop talk and horse play as vehicles of internal power struggles, leading to dysfunction and even violence. Argues that management failed to provide for the need for newly diverse…

Examines the means by which women convey their authority in scholarly publications. Analyzes a sample of women's scholarship in technical communication journals. Considers whether traditional writing features conflict with traits associated with "women's ways" of knowing. Suggests areas for future research. (HB)