The role of culture in program improvement

In this article, we draw on work in three Head Start programs over three years to consider how “culture” plays a role in program improvement. Through close attention to discourse we attempt to show how culture takes shape through dynamic interactions in particular contexts, constituting identities, structuring social relations, and privileging particular forms of knowledge. We argue for the importance of illuminating the forces that shape our lives and bringing our own ideologies to conscious awareness, in order to become actors in our social milieus. Articulation between general mandates and local needs and goals would then entail ongoing dialogue in a “culturally situated model of school/program effectiveness” (Fuller & Clarke, 1994, p. 121).     

A Framework for Promoting Mental Health in School

Schools have an important role to play in the promotion of children's mental health, as well as in the identification and treatment of children with mental health problems. This article proposes a framework for a whole school approach to mental health. The framework focuses on four levels of involvement. The most general level is concerned with school ethos, which encompasses the values shared by all staff and pupils. The next level is whole-school organization, which comprises a range of school policies. Then there is pastoral provision, which concerns procedures in place throughout the school. The final level is classroom practice, which involves the practical strategies used by teachers. A model is presented in order to illustrate visually the four levels in the framework for the promotion of mental health in schools. It is intended that the model will provide schools with a useful framework with which to review their provisions for children with mental health problems and consider the issue of mental health promotion.     

White Noise: The Attack on Political Correctness and the Struggle for the Western Canon

This paper provides a critical overview of the debate about political correctness and the status of the Western Canon in education. The paper analyses a number of critical themes in the debate: Who is it under attack? What is the Canon which is to be defended? Why does it need to be defended? And what notions of knowing and learning underlie the arguments of the proponents of the Canon? After outlining the ways in which the arguments of those attacking political correctness and defending the Canon are profoundly flawed, the paper suggests that the case for multiculturalism and diversified curriculum needs to be substantially strengthened if it is to present a viable alternative.