This article argues that computers, at least in their common or prevalent uses, constitute an important undermining influence on people's ability to tell, enjoy listening to, view, and read good stories. We discuss the centrality of narrative in defining our humanity and in educating our children, and justify the emphasis on "good" stories,…

This response to Al-Haj's article, "National Ethos, Multicultural Education, and the New History Textbooks in Israel" argues for three theses: (1) history textbooks and the public and academic debates about their objectivity, truth, and bias fulfill a semantic function for the adults of the society; (2) contradictory ethnic narratives cannot be…

The hidden curriculum of schools gives students an image of science in which scientific truths are seen as a collection of facts, scientists as clever people, scientific explanations as true because they "make sense," and reality as consisting of observation. (Author/DCS)

Using the ideas of Paul Ricoeur and Clifford Geertz, this article develops the notion of education as a "text" and analyzes the "hidden curriculum" of that text as it is read by all members of the society. The hypothesis is proposed that education becomes a text about society's myths and sacred beliefs. (TE)