The author discusses a number of books and other literature that focus on a future, utopian society. He also examines how close these authors were in their future societies to predicting the present technological society. (CT)

Teachers can expose their students to a variety of beliefs and social systems, raise issues ignored by the curriculum, and take stands as citizens to change society. In the long run, though, all groups must be involved in a long term struggle to build a social and economic democracy. (Author/GC)

Outlines the special characteristics of television that make it a formula-bound, ritualistic, repetitive, and nonselectively used system; concludes that television's social symbolic functions resemble preindustrial religions more than they do the media that preceded it. (GT)

Discusses out-of-home care for children in India including the social, emotional, and cultural challenges of out-of-home care and the need to develop individuation. (RJC)

Data from 56 employees before and after training were collected, stored, and collated in a computerized evaluation system. Results suggest that learning takes place within complex social systems with multiple influential variables. Evaluation strategies should incorporate organizational variables and both qualitative and quantitative measures. (SK)

This exploratory study was grounded in a qualitative framework and used a focus group method to examine the meanings that individuals with disabilities (e.g., permanent mobility impairments, sensory impairments) attach to their experiences of stress, as well as major sources or causes of stress in these individuals' lives. Overall, the data showed…

The field of adult education exists within a context of consumer capitalism, although adult educators have failed to acknowledge how central consumption is to today's society. Traditional consumer education has typically focused on technical skills, and thus positions itself outside the social, political, and cultural realms. In this article, the…

The role played by family background in educational opportunity is a central focus in the sociology of education and stratification. Scholars have long recognized the importance of families in determining their children's educational success and, thus, in reproducing status over the generations. In the United States, children from single-parent…

This project studied four career college and school campuses in Texas that had higher than average graduation rates and lower than average student loan default rates to determine what they did to achieve these positive outcomes. The visits to the campuses found that a conscious, concerted effort to integrate students into the academic and social…

The author describes a classroom exercise that introduces the Socialist Calculation Debate (SCD) to undergraduate economics students. The SCD concerns an issue that remains one of the most consequential of the 20th century--the belief in the superiority of socialism and central planning over capitalism and the free market. The exercise presents…

The discourse of development or modernization and of "national integration" or "nation-building" in India is inseparable from issues surrounding education and culture and their incorporation in definitions forged during colonialism. In this article I look primarily at the Kothari Commission Report (KCR) of 1964-66 and the New…

The purpose of the study was to describe the organizational socialization of assistant principals and consider how that socialization prepares them for becoming principals. Using a case study research design and social systems theory as the theoretical framework, 8 assistant principals in 2 different high schools were interviewed (as were their…

The ancient Greek story of King Midas is well known: when granted a wish, he asked that all he touched would turn to gold. It was bad enough when trees and food were transformed, but great was his grief when his beloved little daughter became solid gold. Many culture critics today would use King Midas as a parable for globalization in its…

This article explores how the so called Nordic welfare state, with its specific institutional make up, handles Lifelong Learning in a time characterised by the challenges of economic globalisation and the hegemonic impact of the neo-liberal agenda. The analysis reveals a high participation in the Nordic countries in Lifelong Learning and, in…

This paper employed a psychological-historical framework for an analytical examination of the Russian identity during the Soviet period through the fall of the Soviet Union and the transitional period that led to an establishment of the Russian Federation. A theoretical model is provided for the analysis of Russian identity that can be generalized…