The purpose of this article is to report on the importance of providing pre-service and in-service teachers with experience and specific training in critical thinking skills. The essential concepts in elementary mathematics curricula can be augmented to include and cultivate critical thinking skills that have tremendous ramifications for future…

Based on a qualitative study on young Korean immigrant children's interpretation of American popular culture, this paper reflects on the researchers' role by examining the research challenges faced. Prior to discussing the research obstacles in conducting the study, we begin with briefly describing its methodology and design. Next, we discuss the…

This article presents a critical review and analysis of key studies that have been done in science education and other areas on the effects and effectiveness of using diagrams, graphs, photographs, illustrations, and concept maps as "adjunct visual aids" in the learning of scientific-technical content. It also summarizes and reviews those studies…

In China, legislation exists which requires compulsory schooling for all students of school age. This article examines the functions of and the constraints on using law to institutionalize equality in basic education. It argues that, in China, law is a last resort, holding governments of various levels accountable. Law can be a device of social…

Archetypal psychology suggests the possibility of a punishment archetype representing the unconscious preferences of human beings as a species about what constitutes appropriate ways for leaders (students, teachers and educational leaders) to correct followers who do harm to others. Mythological analysis compared God's process of punishment, in…

Assessment of students' learning in school is deeply implicated in teaching for social justice. Yet classroom assessment is neglected relative to other aspects of curriculum and pedagogy in the literature on teaching for social justice. Some books have a relatively clear theory of anti-oppression education at their core but do not provide details…

This article explores the question: Why are students of worth? Educationally, an answer often involves a Kantian response: They are of worth because they are always ends and never means. This response is usually connected to a notion of autonomy interpreted as individual, rational self-determination. The article argues for a different answer. The…

The thesis of this essay is that globalization is a phenomenon that humankind must be educated for understanding as a process of global evolution. The new world evolving is being defined as requiring a new sense of collective cooperation amongst the peoples of the Earth, if we are to continue to exist on the planet. Educators are in the midst of…

Though a psychologist by training, Jerome Bruner has always been, and still is, one of the leading figures in education. His theory of education in the 1960s and the 1970s directly influenced the programs of education formulated during those decades. The influence of his theory after the 1980s seems to be less direct, and some who read his 1996…

The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development signals an unparalleled opportunity to link education with sustainability. But in the age of corporate globalization, will education bow to the external pressures that have always sought to subordinate it to vested interests, or will it reach beyond these narrow confines to the…

The paper by White in this issue of Interchange contains an interesting model for a global educational perspective based on the writings of Aurobindo and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. White proposes a foundation for this new perspective based on the synthesis of Aurobindo's and de Chardin's theories of global, social, and conscious evolution. In our…

In this essay the importance of spirituality (or ethics) in the life of a research scientist is explored. The following four questions are considered: a) Why should the problem be studied? What are the benefits? and For whom? b) How should we approach this problem? c) What if the results of this investigation contradict other theories? What should…

In this commentary, some remarks are offered on David Pimm, Mary Beisiegel, and Irene Meglis' article "Would the Real Lakatos Please Stand up." The commentary focuses on relatively recent developments in the philosophy of mathematics based on the work of Lakatos; on theory development in mathematics education; and offers critique on whether…

This article is based on results from a research project which focused on chemistry teachers and student narratives from lived experience. The purpose was to find a way to make abstract chemistry more meaningful. The project began with six experienced teachers who used narratives and stories as a didactic tool. These narratives stemmed from the…

A teacher and a college student explore experimental science and its history by reading historical texts, and responding with replications and experiments of their own. A curriculum of ever-widening possibilities evolves in their ongoing interactions with each other, history, and such materials as pendulums, flame, and resonant singing tubes.…