Edward A. Wynne

Long-Term Trends in Youth Conduct and the Revival of Traditional Value Patterns

A considerable body of data disclosed a long-term deterioration in the conduct of typical adolescents. In the last 5 to 8 years, some of these trends have changed slightly for the better. After presenting the relevant data, the authors examine and assess diverse explanations for the trends and improvement, propose their interpretation, and discuss its implications for education policy.

Transmitting Character in Schools—Some Common Questions and Answers

(1995). Transmitting Character in Schools—Some Common Questions and Answers. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas: Vol. 68, No. 3, pp. 151-153.

Adolescent alienation: Evaluating the hypotheses

Statistics reveal the steady, long-term, increase of self-and-other-destructive conduct among American youths. The conduct involved includes suicide, homicide, out-of-wedlock births, drug abuse and recorded crimes. A variety of hypotheses have been proposed to interpret this conduct — and to indicate possible remedies. Some of these hypotheses are briefly characterized, generally evaluated, and rejected. One hypothesis, the so-called youth bulge theory, suggests that the conduct is due to a disproportinate relationship between the youth population and the adult population; this disproportion — the so-called youth bulge — ultimately led to various modes of youth alienation. The youth bulge hypothesis was tested through a regression analysis which estimated the contemporaneous relationship between a measure of adolescent disorder (the youth suicide rate over time) and the proportion of youths to adults. A statistically significant but small relationship was found between the two variables. The implications of this conclusion are briefly sketched.

Education for Eminence: Some Childhood Traits May Predict Adult Eminence.

M uch research reveals the childhood educational activities 1 associated with later adult eminence (Steinberg, 1988; Fraser & Walberg, 1991). By eminence we mean remarkable and recognized adult achievements in such fields as the arts, politics, business, and science. Research on eminence differs from the valuation investigations of contemporary early achievers by Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues (Bloom, 1985). Their research focused on young people with talents shown early in life, for example, in the fields of mathematics, music, and competitive swimming. Research on eminence, on the other hand, focuses on a wider spectrum of adult achievement. It includes such fields as science, statesmanship, religion, and writing in which attainments and recognition often come in later adult life. We distilled from the research five childhood activities typically associated with adult eminence. With some exceptions, eminent adults tend to work diligently, absorb information, engage othEminence

Pupil Character and Academics—Concurrent Priorities

The recommendations set forth in Developing Character: Transmitting Knowledge, a recent statement signed by promi nent scholars and educators, are reviewed here for principals. The statement focuses on the importance of education for char acter development.

Socialization to adulthood: Different concepts, different policies

ConclusionThis essay has analyzed a number of serious dysfunctions in the socialization arrangements around uppermiddle-class children and adolescents. It seem likely that these dysfunctions will affect a growing proportion of our young people. The policy implications are substantial: the continuance of our society depends upon the appearance of successive cohorts of socialized adults. Evidently, a number of major, long-range R and D proposals are warranted. These proposals will require substantial revisions in school and college policies as well as the involvement of a far greater diversity of persons and institutions in the socialization of our young. Unquestionably, these proposals will demand time for their consideration, planning, and implementation. However, we had better get started; we need all the time we can find.

Ethics vs. Morality: Should the Conflict Come to the Classroom?.

Morality should be taught in public schools. However, ethics—the effort to apply simple moral rules—is too complex a system to teach t secondary school students, according to this author, wh examines the differences between ethics and moralit on these pages.

Education and Socialization: A Complex Equation:

Agroup of provocative and romantic critics (e.g. Illich, 1971; Goodman, 1969; and Reimer, 19,71) have proposed the radical reform, or even total abolition of our school systems. These proposals have excited interest in the press, in journals such as the New York Review, and in some academic quarters. But the proposals have not had noticeable impact on the educational R & D community. Despite the petulence underlying these writings, their authors are addressing a basic problem of all education: the articulation between childhood and adulthood. That is, the child is largely ignorant and undeveloped: how can educators and the education system help him move into productive adulthood? If the educational system is inadequate for the task, we will have, by definition, unhappy adults and an unhappy, unstable society. But the romantic critics are not the only writers who sense that modern learning and socialization systems provide poor articulation between childhood and adulthood. A growing number of historians and sociologists have been concerned with these issues, and have reached conclusions that tend in the same direction as those of the popular critics. This paper surveys these writings, suggests their interrelationships, and presents implications for research.

Youth Alienation: Implications for Administrators.

We know some important things about youth alienation, and principals should have this information and understand its practical implications, according to this writer. Educators have taken some real steps in dealing with long-term increases in youth alienation, he says, but they still have a long way to go.

Heart and Mind Together

There is a growing interest in affective education throughout America. In one sense, it can be seen as a reaction to the focus on science and mathematics that generated the post-Sputnik curriculum reforms. However, such a conclusion ignores other important factors underlying the change, since there are many other forces in American society that augur for such a shift. These forces may be suggested by a quote from the seminal economic thinker, John Maynard Keynes (1932: vi):