The Democracy We Need: Situation, Post-Foundationalism and Enlightenment

Postmodernism precludes philosophical justifications for democracy. This undermines the role of philosophy of education and leaves us with weaker reasons for educational democracy than we need. If the 'postmodern challenge' is as Wilfred Carr conceives it, Jürgen Habermas meets that challenge. His work rests on neither Enlightenment essentialism nor foundationalism. Habermas can accept and explain that consciousness is historically and socially situated in discourse, yet still argue to the possibility of emancipation. I defend his conception of rationality from charges of essentialism. Rational thinking can critique its own specific forms, so superior forms of rationality remain universalisable by rational means. A historicising account of such critique avoids situationist relativism. These considerations justify educational democracy and preserve a role for philosophy of education.     

Some Problems of Identity and Education: A comparative examination of multicultural education

This article considers the education of minorities and offers the concept of markers of identity; currently the most notable are nationality and citizenship but these may change, particularly during periods of crisis. Cultures can use minimal markers. Individuals may switch cultures and adopt conspicuous characteristics as a symbol, but culture switching may be incomplete and many are intermediates or have multiple identity. A plural society can be an opportunity rather than a problem for the majority as well as minority groups. If majority populations are to be members of an international community they have to learn how to relate to other cultures. An education system will reflect the norms of the host society and minorities need to learn the language and mores; the harder question is the degree of adaptation required and the compatibility of their own culture. Policies range from assimilation, through limited assimilation and pseudo-pluralism to pluralism. There has been some shift to pluralism but much work remains to be done.     

Counseling-Orientation Preferences: American and Australian Comparative Data

This study investigated counseling-orientation preferences of samples of counselor trainees in the United States and Australia using the Counseling-Orientation Scale. The authors compare the preferences in theoretical orientations and discuss the two major findings primarily in terms of the cultural characteristics of the two nations.     

Regulating Academic Pressure: From Fast to Slow

This paper investigates the impact of publication pressure on the ethics and the scientific integrity in the domain of mathematics and of the arts. Both research fields are specific in their methodology, being that they do not start from a classical hypothesis and researchers in these areas are not knowing what the outcome will be. The research design is open, and creativity is a main part of the research investigation. Both research fields do not rely on empirical cases nor on data collection or data handling. This could be a reason why mathematics and arts seem to be less subject to scientific misconduct. After presenting the (inter)national regulations on ethics and integrity, we will investigate a philosophical analysis in which we consider possible influences from publication pressure that became widespread over all disciplines. We will clarify if and how mathematics and the arts are sensitive to scientific research misconduct or questionable research practices.     

A COMPARISON OF THREE METHODS FOR ESTABLISHING MINIMUM STANDARDS ON THE NATIONAL TEACHER EXAMINATIONS

Minimum standards were established for the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) area examinations in mathematics and in elementary education by independent panels of teacher educators who had been instructed in the use of either the Angoff, Nedelsky, or Jaeger procedures. Of these three procedures, only the Jaeger method requires that normative data be provided to the judges when evaluating the items. However, it was of interest to study the effect such information would have upon the standards obtained using the other two methods. Therefore, the design incorporated three sequential review sessions with the level of normative information different for each. A three-factor ANOVA revealed significant main effects for methods and sessions but not for subject area. None of the interactions was significant. The anticipated failure rates, the psychometric characteristics of the ratings, and other factors suggest that the Angoff procedure, as modified during the second session of this study, yields the most defensible standards for the NTE area examinations.