A broad base for understanding what critical literacy is can be created by understanding three views of critical theory: critical social theory, feminist theory, and child advocacy. When each is brought to bear on the schooling rituals associated with literacy instruction, interesting commonalities among the three views emerge. Critical approaches…

A comparison of mainstream and feminist theories to explain women's attainment of education in developed and emerging countries as it relates to individual achievement and life chances is presented. The questions of access to schooling and the years of education attained have become two critical indicators of women's progress. Mainstream theories…

A multiparadigm perspective of educational administration is offered in this paper, which offers a conceptualization of administration as a heuristic device for considering multiple views of education. The first section describes the work of Sirotnik and Oakes (1986) whose "critical inquiry" multipardigm approach comprises three paradigms:…

Teacher educators must begin a process of re-education to gain insights necessary to teach about teaching from a feminist perspective. According to a feminist world view, society is dominated by a patriarchical system which perpetuates the subservience of women. Traditional educational theory, influenced by Freud, Erickson, Piaget, and Kohlberg,…

A recent international symposium on radicalizing feminism explored ways of developing a dialogic feminism that emphasizes working in different settings under the common goal of including women who have been invisible in the dominant feminist literature by furthering theories and practices based on the principles of dialogic feminism. The seminar…

This paper asserts that whether the issue is teen pregnancy, sexual harassment in schools, or the underutilization of women's leadership in schools, little funding goes to research or programs putting women at the center of these issues. At first glance, the deliberations of school boards, deans, judges, lawmakers, and professional associations…

This paper explores the insights of five social theorists regarding families, schools, and parent-teacher relations. The five theorists are: (1) Urie Bronfenbrenner, a child psychologist and advocate of public policies that support families, who argues that frequent, positive communication between parents and teachers creates the optimal…

This paper lies at the interpretive intersection of several lines of research, some of them quite familiar to mathematics educators, and some of them probably less so. Among familiar discourses are cognitive constructivism, social construction, situated learning, and the psychological study of differences between groups defined by gender, race,…

This conceptual analysis discusses how Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" theorizes the transformation of the oppressor. This work has played a major role in the creation, maintenance, and reinvigoration of critical pedagogy. The paper describes Freire's theory for transforming the oppressor and critically assesses his theory.…

Factors in the development of empowerment through ethical leadership are discussed in this paper, which draws on feminist and humanist theories. A review of literature describes the conditions in patriarchal societies that lead to and lessen the exaltation of power and control; conditions of temporary and permanent inequality; ways in which…

The Gender Equity in Recreation Services Policy for the City of London (Ontario, Canada, November 1996) was the first municipal policy of its kind in Canada. It followed the development of the Sport Canada Policy on Women in Sport and the Ontario Policy on Full and Fair Access for Women and Girls in Sport and Physical Activity. It resulted from…