Neutrality and impartiality in public education: the French investment in philosophy,teaching about religions,and moral and civic education

In France, there is no religious education in state schools. ‘Convictional education’ appeared by drawing its perimeter around three educational subjects: philosophy, teaching about religions, and moral and civic education. Today, the French school is facing new challenges in a highly secularised society on which religion is laying new claims. As an institution, it is not neutral insofar as it proceeds from a political philosophy that evolved from the French Revolution. It is within the operative framework of this philosophy and with specific teaching practices that it intends to combine unity and plurality within itself.     

Public opinion on innovation in France

A survey of French public opinion towards innovation and technical progress was undertaken in March 1975. It creates an artificial way of life, threatening the life of the next generation, and turning men into robots. Artificial needs are created to sell new consumer products. But innovations transforming production methods are beneficial to both management and labour. Technical progress will contribute in future to improving production methods, to raising levels of income, to helping developing countries, and to solving the energy crisis; it will not contribute to the reduction of unemployment, the reduction of risks of war, increasing harmony with nature, or giving a poetic sense to life.Major priorities for innovation in the next few years should be the reduction of waste of all sorts, the exploitation of new energy sources, the improvement of working conditions, and the protection of nature. These severe judgements by French public opinion of the industrial way of life and of technical progress have been presented to industrialists, who questioned the validity and the utility of this sort of inquiry.     

The psychological ecology of the neglectful mother

Interviews were conducted with 152 neglectful mothers and with 154 non-neglectful, who were matched on race, economic status, urban/rural status and other life circumstances. The neglectful mothers reported less support available from informal networks; they also described their neighborhoods as less friendly and helpful than did the controls. However, the conclusion that neglect is related to living in settings that are socially impoverished was not supported by independent interviews with neighbors. Rather, it appeared that neglectful mothers are often isolated by those around them. Because they are seen as deviant and unlikely to reciprocate help, they do not have access to such support as there may be in their ecology. A new model is presented for preventive, community-based intervention, based on the findings of the research.     

Science,technology and innovation policies in small and developing economies: The case of Central America

In the last decade, there has been an increasing recognition among Central American policy makers of the central importance of science, technology and innovation (STI) for inclusive and sustainable economic growth, based on higher productivity. This paper aims to study current STI policies in those countries and explore whether this increasing acknowledgement has come along with new and more active policies. Empirical evidence collected through questionnaire-based interviews with high-level government officials in each country shows that Central American governments have built public organisations and institutions to support STI, such as laws, national plans and a wide variety of policy instruments. Yet available science and technology indicators illustrate that the results are still meagre. This paper identifies eight barriers faced by these governments when designing and implementing STI policies.