Archaeology Reports: When Context Becomes an Active Agent in the Rhetorical Process

This article explores the writing of archaeologists to argue that the metaphor of context-as-rhetorical-situation may understate the power that context has to shape scientific discourse. The author offers instead the metaphor of context-as-active-agent in the rhetorical situation—one that sometimes reifies values that are dangerous to the archaeologists' belief systems. As scholars of technical writing, we must develop a greater understanding of the subtle but powerful influences that context wields on the writing we read and help to produce.     

The Development of the Ecosystemic Approach as a Humanistic Educational Psychology

This article is a response to the call for further discussion which was recently made in an important paper on the ecosystemic approach to emotional and behavioural difficulties in school (Cooper and Upton, 1990a). It is of a primarily theoretical nature and presents some further perspectives on the development of the ecosystemic approach. Specifically, it shows that ecosystemics has arisen from the need to develop a systems theory which does not contradict the tradition of a humanistic educational psychology.     

Economic Demand for Higher Education—A Sound Foundation for Further Expansion?

Submissions by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and others to the government's review of higher education suggest yet further expansion of undergraduate provision. This article examines the economic rationale for an additional increase in graduate output, and suggests that the economic case may be poor. Data on the employment of the current graduate labour force indicates some under-utilisation, and there is reason to expect that simply boosting the supply of graduates will not, of itself, transform employers'competitive strategies. It is therefore possible that the social, as opposed to private, rate of return on investment in such expansion could well prove disappointing. The use of graduates to fill the'technician gap'is also reviewed. The authors suggest alternative areas of educational provision, such as basic literacy and numeracy support, which might show a more positive cost/benefit than further publicly-funded expansion of undergraduate education.