Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is angry about the way education works in New York City and is determined to debureaucratize schools and make them safer. Memories of his own parochial school education inspire Giuliani to hold up the Catholic school system as a possible reform model. He favors school choice and differs with the chancellor over safety and…

Postmodernism is an articulation of a tension between contingency and commitment. Since this commitment is typically pedagogical, education has a strong reason to stay within postmodernism. The paper reviews the feminist debate on postmodernism, examining how postmodernism contributes to the emancipatory interests of education. The public-private…

Argues that communications scholarship has had no significant impact on public policy. Argues that classical political economy offers an intellectual tradition with which the field ought to connect, and shows how certain problems can be approached in an integrated manner. Criticizes the field's failure to recognize multiple versions of critical…

Case studies of six high-level federal government administrators examined their political skills, management/leadership abilities, technical expertise, and personality. Among the ingredients of effective performance were good planning, organizational communication, goal orientation, good interpersonal skills, honesty, and high ethical standards.…

This article presents an article by William Lloyd Garrison that criticize George Peabody, his wealth, his politics, and his motives for philanthropy. The article also presents a response by Franklin Parker which defends Peabody and explains the differences between his viewpoints, motives, and actions and those of Garrison. (SM)

According to a case study of the Tri-Council for Nursing's political strategies during the 1991-1992 reauthorization of the Nurse Education Act, government participants had different perceptions of organized nursing's political strategies than did council participants. Strengths and limitations of organized nursing in national policymaking were…

Feminist researchers have demonstrated that reliable knowledge must include that derived from experiences of individuals and groups; autobiographical methods account for this source. However, only some autobiographical methods are sound: confessional, apolitical, and atheoretical ones are less useful than those that include theory and politics.…

Presents an interview with Emerson J. Elliott, Commissioner of Education Statistics, on the subject of leadership, government service, and the relationship between research and statistics. Some principles of leadership that are distinctive to the federal bureaucracy are addressed. (GR)

Examines German academic librarianship through interviews with German library journals and German librarians. Discusses the German concern with "Bibliothekspolitik," the internal politics of librarianship. Describes a set of initiatives intended to make German professional journals more readily available to American librarians.…

Two perspectives on political correctness, particularly as it occurs in higher education, are presented, with responses. One perspective views the trend as a cult of victimization, to which students are at last responding critically. The second views the trend as a healthy expression of democratic values. (MSE)

Suggests several ways that part-time writing faculty can improve their situation both in the classroom and in their relationship to the college. (SR)

Identifies and evaluates the major subject positions open for educators/teachers, differentiating between competing positions on and assessments of the postmodern condition of knowledge. The essay shows how such assessments prompt different conceptions of education and what it means to be a teacher. (SM)

Presents an interview with Carole Edelsky in which she discusses the political issues that affect the day-to-day lives of children and teachers in the language arts classroom; political aspects of whole language; national political issues and literacy; and political actions teachers can take to improve language arts education. (RS)

Discusses the current global shift from an anthropocentric to an ecocentric worldview that emphasizes cooperation and communion rather than competition and dominance. Suggests that leadership for the emergence of this new perspective of our relationship with the earth can be provided by environmental educators skilled in cooperative social…

Discusses problems with first-year composition in higher education, primarily the marginality and the tenuous hold writing maintains within the academy. Reconsiders the English department's role in serving the general curriculum. (SR)