(2008). Private Faith and Public Education. Journal of Beliefs & Values, v29 n1 p87-92 Apr. Must faith be privatized? Taken at face value, this could seem a curious question, since no one is in a position to \sell off\ any religion to private interests, in the way that, for example, British Rail was dismembered. Yet the question is an important one in a contemporary society, characterized as it is by a significant divergence of views about religion. In the face of a growing diversity of belief, and a recognition that religious freedom is one of the most precious and most basic rights, the temptation must be for a state to stand back from all religion, and to refuse to favour, or even to give any public recognition to, one religion in distinction from the rest. In a free society people should be able to meet together to pursue their interests, but it is no business of the state to give recognition, encouragement and endorsement to one group over another. In this article, the author talks about private faith and public education, contending that the impact that religious… [Direct]
(2004). The Role of Human Parietal Cortex in Attention Networks. Brain, v127 n3 p650-659 Mar. The parietal cortex has been proposed as part of the neural network for guiding spatial attention. However, it is unclear to what degree the parietal cortex contributes to the attentional modulations of activities of the visual cortex and the engagement of the frontal cortex in the attention network. We recorded behavioural performance and haemodynamic responses using functional MRI from a patient with focal left parietal damage in covert visual orienting tasks requiring detection of targets at the attended or unattended locations. While the patient's reaction times to left visual field stimuli were speeded by valid relative to invalid cues, attention to LVF stimuli was associated with enhanced activities in the right extrastriate cortex, right parietal and cingulate cortices, and bilateral frontal cortices. However, the patient's behavioural and neural responses to right visual field stimuli were not influenced by cue validity. The results are discussed in terms of the role of human…
(1972). Major Legal Aspects of Sex Education. The legal status of sex education in the public schools in the United States as it existed at the close of the 1971-72 school year was investigated. The investigation included surveys, analyses, and interpretations of statutes, significant rules and regulations of state departments of education, and court holdings as they applied specifically to sex education. Investigation and analyses of the court cases involving sex education indicated that the courts are not in accord on the question of an inherent parental right to instruct in matters of morality and religion. It appears that the courts will support the right of school authorities to establish curriculum in sex education, family life, or human sexuality so long as it is not arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, or in violation of state or federal laws or constitutions. The courts will also uphold the individual constitutional right to excusal from such instruction on the grounds of invasion of religious freedom or personal… [PDF]
(2006). Podcasting: Co-Opting MP3 Players for Education and Training Purposes. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, v9 n3 Fall. Podcasting and podcatching provide trainers and teachers with powerful, personal tools for delivering exactly the right content to learners at teachable moments–anytime, anywhere. The strength of podcasting lies in the potency of voice communication, which cuts through the dense text of the Internet and offers a human connection during distance training. In addition, podcasting offers the ability for learners to multitask and to time-shift content. Trainers, professors and librarians have already begun using podcasting for myriad training and learning situations, and new tools are making podcast production possible for novices. Copyright, security, searchability, archival, and diversity are some of the current concerns podcasters must address as they develop this new instructional avenue…. [Direct]
(1982). The Right Brain: An Active Partner in Written Literacy. The human brain is composed of two interdependent systems, the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. While the left brain analyzes sequentially the phonemes of our language and names or reads words, the right brain produces the images, feelings, and associations connected with the words. Current educational systems, however, are doing little to use and nurture the potential strengths of right hemisphere involvement in learning. Curricula that stress the "3 R's" educate only one half of the brain, but children whose predominate cognitive style is right hemispheric need nonverbal visual-spatial strategies as part of their reading and writing training. A graphic configuration called a "web," a visual-spatial network with nodes and emanating lines representing the connections among ideas in our mind, has been developed to provide reading and writing activities that integrate the processing power of both hemispheres. Webs have been used to help students visualize…
(2006). Early ACCESS Procedural Safeguards Manual for Parents (Parental Rights in Early Intervention). Iowa Department of Education Early ACCESS is a partnership between families and their young children with special needs (birth to age three) and providers from the Iowa Departments of Education, Public Health, and Human Services and the University of Iowa Child Health Specialty Clinics, and other community agencies. The purpose of this partnership is to work together to identify, coordinate and provide needed early intervention services and resources that will help families assist their infants or toddlers to grow and develop. Parents have rights, known as procedural safeguards, which apply to every aspect of the early intervention process, such as evaluation, access to records, and Individualized Family Services Plan (IFSP) team participation. State and federal laws and regulations outline what needs to happen for eligible infants and toddlers with conditions or developmental delays to enhance their growth and development. This document serves as a procedural safeguards notice and will help parents understand… [PDF]
(2004). Responsibility beyond Rationality: The Case for Rhizomatic Consequentialism. International Journal of Children's Spirituality, v9 n2 p219-225. A key challenge for education is to encourage children to act responsibly. If \spiritual literacy\ does not involve an autonomous, rational soul capable of \reading and writing the world as God intended\, it must refer to ethical (and perhaps religious) capacity in relation to contingent actions in a context free of moral absolutes. In relation to the former, Kant's Categorical Imperative supposed that actions are either right or wrong according to an absolute reason derived from the most basic templates of human sense making. According to Kant, therefore, right is rational irrespective of the apparent consequences of specific actions. In contrast, in an age lacking Kant's beliefs in both God and absolute reason, it is tempting to see an unethical pragmatism as the only alternative to the Categorical Imperative. However, it is possible to instil responsibility through a consequentialism based on a broader conception of relatedness, inspired by Deleuze and Guattari's notion of the… [Direct]
(1977). Rights and Responsibilities–A Look Ahead. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Western Gerontological Society (23rd Denver, Colorado). In major presentations in these proceedings, national leaders discuss futuristic ideas about aging. An awareness of the present and future rights and responsibilities of older persons and the personnel working with them is developed in the variety of topics presented. Topics include: current practices, education, housing, law, creative life styles, income and employment, volunteerism, delivery of human services and a special interest session of programs in operation. (BN)…
(2002). Ray Bradbury's "The Kilimanjaro Device": The Need To Correct the Errors of Time. Eureka Studies In Teaching Short Fiction, v3 n1 p83-94 Fall. Asks students reading "The Kilimanjaro Device" to focus on how it illustrates a most central idea about the human condition: how to best live in time so that our lives are happy, fulfilled and right. Presents background for "The Kilimanjaro Device," discusses Bradbury's rescue mission, and the principle of good timing. Concludes by pointing out the value of teaching "The Kilimanjaro Device." (SG)…
(1973). Public Information in Modern Society: Secrecy and Privacy. There is a need for ethical guidance in the communications professions sharpened by the advancement of knowledge and technological capability. For communication to be all-encompassing in space as well as instantaneous in time is a mixed blessing reaffirming the need for balance between \secrecy\ in arriving at decisions and the public's need and right to know about judgments which affect them. We need to be reminded that judgment is a reversible act, taking human time, while transmitting that judgement with modern technology is an irreversible act, taking essentially no machine time. Under the excuse of the public's right to know, the very act of communicating (if the communications are premature) may be substituting for human judgment, by being irreversible. \Privacy\ or the confidentiality of professional information can move from a claim of individual accountability to one which affects others. This fuzziness where private individual confidences impinge on the public weal can be… [PDF]
(1976). Corporal Punishment of Children in the Schools. Statement. In a statement issued to the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Rights of Children and Youth the speaker addresses the issue of corporal punishment of children in the schools. He offers personal views on the issues of the use of corporal punishment, and poses three suggestions for consideration: (1) opposition to corporal punishment is a value position based on moral considerations and a particular ideal of human behavior; (2) corporal punishment is generally an inherent part of our school serving education objectives related to socialization and conformity; and (3) a legal or regulatory approach to corporal punishment is likely to impede both learning and human contact in the schools. (YRJ)… [PDF]
(2009). Advancing Social Justice through Primary Prevention. Communique, v37 n8 p6-8 Jun. A commitment to social justice is integral to being an effective school psychologist. While social justice is a term that is not easily defined, professionals in school psychology have characterized it as the idea that all students are entitled to be treated with fairness and respect. Though individual conceptions of social justice may vary, a recent study revealed a preference for a definition that highlights equal protection of rights and opportunities for all students. Social inequities permeate the nation's schools; therefore, school psychologists should be encouraged to respond as advocates. This is a familiar mission of school psychologists, but less is known about exactly how to advocate for social justice within the schools. One way that school psychologists can aspire toward a commitment to social justice is by implementing school-wide primary preventions that support all children. Inspired by the mission of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Social… [Direct]
(2009). Are They Really \Your\ Teachers?. Principal, v88 n4 p58-59 Mar-Apr. In this article, the author clarifies why his use of the term \my teachers\ in a lunch meeting–a term that is open to interpretation and one that principals should use with great care–had given him a nagging feeling. When a student says \my teacher,\ there is a clear meaning. The student is literally referring to his or her teacher, usually with respect. However, his use of the term \my teachers\ was inappropriate because he used this term in a way that he believes many and perhaps most teachers find disparaging. Recognizing teachers as professionals and as equals in terms of their teaching knowledge will contribute more to improved instruction than expressions of power denoted by the pronoun \my.\ However, there is one powerful context for the use of the term \my teacher\ by a principal. There are times when a principal learns from a teacher, or from teachers, in the school. In this context, it is absolutely appropriate for the principal to refer to this person as \my teacher.\ In… [Direct]
(1996). "They Can't Even Play Right!" Cultural Myopia in the Analysis of Play–Cultural Perspectives on Human Development. Using the framework of cultural context analysis, this paper examines how cultural myopia can lead to inaccurate generalizations regarding play and development among children in diverse sociocultural groups in the United States. The paper argues that analyses drawing causal connections between playing with particular toys or in certain ways and the development of specific behaviors and attitudes are too simplistic. Play with action figures by working-class children of color is misinterpreted because analysis focuses on the manifest symbols and aggression and underplays children's understanding of the objects as symbols and how they are used. Careful analysis of play should not impose one's own meanings on to props, such as assuming that Barbie dolls are objects signifying sex identification. Mental representations drawn upon in play include rules, behavioral codes, and social constraints from the social and cultural context of the child. Although Vygotskian and Piagetian theories…
(1993). Free Speech for Public School Students: A "Basic Educational Mission.". Noting that recent Supreme Court decisions (including Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier and Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser) moved markedly away from protecting students' First Amendment rights, this paper examined justifications for granting public school students freedom of expression. Rather than looking at where students' First Amendment rights stand, the paper's focus is on where they should be. The paper notes that courts have granted students expressive rights (such as the case of "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District"), but then essentially withdrew them on legal (public forum) and educational (inculcating the majority's values) grounds that can lead only to continually diminished protection for students' freedom of expression. The paper argues that the approach should have been–and should be–utilizing freedom of expression rationales which are advocated for society at large. Arguing that the First Amendment is instrumental in… [PDF]