Describes one secondary educator's experiences teaching in Belfast, Northern Ireland, noting differences in education practice between Northern Ireland and the United States. The article highlights the pastoral system (in which teachers monitor students' welfare), the national curriculum, and changing schools (schools are beginning to try an…

Argues that holistic, transactional views of the reading process have been uprooted and replaced with what has been labeled "balanced" instruction. Presents a brief outline of the California requirements for instruction incorporating phonics. Concludes by encouraging whole language teachers to stand together because their beliefs are…

Describes how teacher unions influence public-school policies through collective bargaining; local, state and national politics; and opposition to certain school-reform initiatives such as school choice. States that unions pursue policies that benefit teachers rather than students. Suggests that as school choice spreads, power of teacher unions…

Presents an examination of the metaphorical language used by President George Bush about educational reform, specifically with regard to "America 2000," his proclaimed education strategy for the nation and the major educational reform bill he sent to Congress. Concludes that his discourse did not come together to constitute a coherent,…

In the years following Paulo Freire's death in May 1997, there has been no shortage of published material on his work. From brief tributes and biographical accounts to full-length critiques in academic journals and books, much has been written about this influential scholar and activist. Part of the explanation for this ongoing interest lies in…

I examine fundamental elements of the cultural and relational environments of the organizations that produce electoral forecasts in the Spanish parliamentary elections. The analysis reveals how these elements shape the interests and decisions in a collectivity of organizations that share a common technology. I investigate the reasons for the…

During the past 30 years, the author has served as a management consultant to companies that wanted to achieve revolutionary change to become more successful. He has worked with companies as small as 100 employees and as large as General Motors, IBM and Amgen, the world's largest biotechnology company. More recently he has worked (as a pro bono…

This article aims to provide both an account and an assessment of the most significant policies adopted by New Labour on primary schooling since its victory in the election of 1997. A secondary intention is to determine what these policies reveal about New Labour and its political project. A key policy objective in New Labour's two terms of office…

This article is concerned with the founding purposes and justification of natural science in the statutory school curriculum. It offers a critique of the strand of argument and the proposals for reform which have developed after the report "Beyond 2000" focused on a particular usage of the term "scientific literacy". Two lines of argument are…

At this writing former President Reagan has just been interred with much pomp, plus hours of nationally televised praise. Some enthusiasts have even proposed carving the former president's countenance into Mount Rushmore. History will decide whether or not Mr. Reagan ranks as a great, or even good, president. But the indecorous rush to laud his…

Current attempts in industrialised countries to regulate teacher education in increasingly prescriptive ways raise profound social, ethical and pedagogical issues. This paper looks at the challenge such prescriptions pose and suggests that such regulation serves the democratic state less well than a more autonomous form of education. The…

Most Forum Theatre practice encourages as many 'spect-actors' as possible to intervene directly on stage as part of the investigation of an oppressive social situation. Such practice is in line with Boal's advice (in "Games for actors and non-actors") that 'the keener the desire to take action, the more the spect-actors hurry on to the stage'.…

This paper considers the politics of neo-liberal reform of education and training in the specific context of social partnerships. Social partnerships are hybrid social spaces formed when a range of interests/partners work together for mutual benefit. Partnerships are one of a series of hybridized social spaces which have been formed as a…

After meeting as a community to set policy on schools and other matters since 1766, residents of Deerfield, New Hampshire, are altering that democratic process to make room for modern demands. This article describes the decision in Deerfield to discontinue holding the traditional New England annual school district meeting. Instead, by a thin…

This paper examines the relationship between policy and politics in relation to the development of public-sector primary education through Breton and Gaelic, considering closely the patterns of power through which such provision is delivered. Brittany and Scotland present many similarities as culturally distinctive territories, contained within…