CONCEPT GROWTH AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILD

The growing numbers of analytical or literary studies demand a careful evaluation of objectives, procedures and the analysis of the results. The author presents a check‐list of criteria for assessing the value of such studies. His check‐list for evaluating empirical and experimental studies in educational research appeared in Educational Research, 11, 1.     

THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD IN THE COMMUNITY

Religious education needs to anticipate changes in our culture if long‐range planning is to be effective     

NO CHILD IS AN ISLAND: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN

In this essay Olivia Newman critically examines two opposing rights claims: the liberal claim that children have a right to become liberal choosers and the fundamentalist claim that children have a right to not become liberal choosers. These positions reflect differing views regarding the value of critically choosing, rather than simply accepting, a way of life. Given their assumptions regarding preference formation, both of these rights appear untenable in light of recent scholarship in psychology: we can neither select a way of life independent of our social milieu, as liberals often imply, nor can we predict how different experiences will affect our preferences, as fundamentalists assume. Nevertheless, each position points to important concerns. Children have a substantive right of exit from constraining social milieus, as liberals purport, as well as a right to respect in public institutions, as fundamentalists insist. When liberals and fundamentalists assert these more modest rights claims, educators can and should strive to satisfy both.