The State of the Art

The Blackwell Companion and Blackwell Guide to the philosophy of education, edited respectively by Randall Curren and by Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith and Paul Standish, are potentially field-defining volumes. The present essay moves back and forth between the two books to assess the overall impression they provide of the 'state of the art'. Whilst both texts can be criticised for failing to engage sufficiently with non-philosophical work on education, these are otherwise estimable volumes, containing many fine essays that can be read with profit.     

死亡网络

"Pro-choice" suicide sites come under legal scrutiny(详细审查) After her grandmother died, 21-year-old Julie Veteto sank into a severe depressions. Still, her family was stunned the afternoon her husband, Roger, came home to find her body dangling(摇摆) from a dog leash in their bathroom doorway. The couple's computer was still connected to the Internet. On the screen: a Web site with detailed information on suicide by hanging.     

The changing role of the secondary principal in the United States: An historical perspective

This paper reviews the historical development of the secondary principalship in the US and examines how the current role of the principal is a result of historical forces. The authors consider a preferred future for the principalship and present recommendations for change.     

Primary school teachers’ ability to recognise resilience in their students

This study investigated teachers’ knowledge of, and capacity to identify resilience, in 92 primary school children in Far North Queensland. It was found that although teachers’ knowledge of resilience was apparently strong, and they reported a significant level of confidence in their ability to assist children in building resilience, their capacity to identify levels of resilience in their students was lacking. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.     

Gender,culture, and geography: A comparison of seating arrangements in the United States and Taiwan

The present study describes and compares seating preferences among Taiwanese and American respondents. Using a questionnaire method, seating preferences were obtained for 75 male and 100 female college students from the United Slates, and for 29 male and 54 female teachers of English in Taiwan. Responses were obtained for all possible combinations of sex of interaction partner, location (task or social), and six interpersonal activities. Results were summarized in the form of proportions of respondents choosing each of four possible angles of interaction: corner, opposite, diagonal, and side seating. Comparisons were made using Chisquare tests for independence.In general, results showed that Taiwanese respondents, when compared to Americans, are more likely to prefer side seating and less likely to prefer corner seating. Culture, sex of respondents, and sex of interaction partner interact in influencing preferences. In the United States, seating preferences function to unite males with females and to separate same-sex partners, while the opposite is true in Taiwan. Results are interpreted in terms of implications for intercultural communication.     

The acceptability of nontraditional degrees: Illinois' Board of Governors Program as a case study

The development of external, nontraditional degree programs has stimulated discussion as to the usefulness of the diplomas received through such programs. Questionnaires completed by 686 graduates of Illinois' statewide Board of Governors Bachelor of Arts Degree Program measure the extent to which the degree is acceptable to graduates and their employers, the degree to which student goals were met upon graduation, the quality of program services, and the success rate of students applying to graduate schools. The results are overwhelmingly positive, suggesting that non-traditional degrees are gaining general acceptance among a wide variety of groups.For assistance in collecting, tabulating and analyzing data for this article, the authors are grateful to C. Edward Gilpatric, Judith Hofstrand, Elizabeth Stanley, and Donald Tedder.