Ideas from postpositivist thinking have been particularly challenging for comparative education scholarship and its metanarratives. Analysis of articles in major comparative education journals in the 1990s examines the integration of ideas from 10 poststructuralist thinkers and explores in detail the appropriation of Foucault's ideas and…

Examines the recent development of educational policy analysis as a research field within Scottish education. Discusses "inside" and "outside" approaches to policy analysis; the value of theoretical models for making sense of source material; the potential of discourse analysis, illustrated by reference to Foucault and Lyotard;…

Investigates the language choice and code switching behavior of the councilors and officials in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during 1991-95, within the context of the upcoming transfer of sovereignty in 1997 and the challenges to the old political power relationship. Points out that code switching behavior is part of the negotiation…

Election of a new executive director for H-Net, a humanities and social sciences mailing-list network, is marked by controversy over the large role of Michigan State University in the network, due to the incumbent's faculty status there, and over the extent of his authority. The conflict has extended to how open the network should be to diverse…

The theoretical structure of the concept of "legitimacy," the combination of value and authority ascribed to the existing system, is examined and applied to the governance of higher education in South Africa. It is argued that the concept is unfairly given a political connotation because of its association with policy formation, which…

In the early 1980s, public school teachers in Chiapas, Mexico, organized themselves in a dissident mass movement aimed at democratizing their participation in union affairs and restructuring the relations of domination and subordination affecting their work lives. Macro-level analysis focuses on union corruption situated within an authoritarian…

Reviews the nature of a genuine multicultural perspective and the need to establish and sustain this perspective. Details how language shapes perspective and wields power as domination. Language change and tolerance for language diversity are suggested as techniques to disarm the language-as-power phenomenon and to aid the counseling process. (RJM)

Uses a developmental perspective on social interaction to trace gender differences in adulthood to relationship patterns that emerge in childhood. Summarizes results of: (1) experimental studies and naturalistic studies of workplace interaction in mixed-sex task-oriented groups; (2) same-sex interaction; (3) adult friendship; and (4) heterosexual…

Examines the meaning of power differentials that exist between key interest groups in education, discussing the movement to foster educational collaborations between families, schools, and community institutions, particularly in low income, urban areas. The paper explores how differences such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and culture…

Examines the literature on minority experiences in optometry and other health professions, which reveals intolerance in the form of harassment and discrimination, and inequalities in the patterns of practice, power, and economics. (EV)

Analyses of how African communities use language show that indigenous languages coexist with metropolitan languages in complex configurations of speech practices. Argues that these practices should suggest a rethinking of the purpose, function, and methodology of teaching languages in developing African contexts, building on the ways that local…

A review of research on college student motivation and its relationship to learning looks at popular views of motivation, extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation, the effects of extrinsic rewards, similarities to learning orientation and grading orientation, evaluation methods, and the power structure in the classroom. (MSE)

Few administrators fail to become leaders because they lack technical skills. The problem is lack of people skills and inability to exercise good judgment. Administrators can minimize failure by valuing honesty, objectivity, delegation, and feedback and by respecting chain of command and the limitations of power. Other potential pitfalls are…

Examines the work of feminist theorists in philosophy and politics who are creating new epistemological and theoretical approaches to the history of women teachers. Discusses the ways in which these approaches have been applied to women's history and how they can be employed to illuminate changing ideological views of the schoolteacher. (JS)

Explores policy formation in school councils and its implications for the future of educational decision making in Victoria, Australia. Focuses on the importance of agenda construction, utilizing theoretical works of Giddens, Bachrach, and others. Results suggest that human beings produce, reproduce, and transform the social realities enveloping…