Jack L. Nelson

Political Restraint in the Socialization of Student Teachers

Abstract Schools are political as well as educational institutions. Among their political activities is the control of knowledge. This can occur through the selection of what is taught, in what context, by whom and for what purposes. Studies of restraint in the schools show that topics considered controversial are often viewed outside the realm of teacher and student business. This study investigates perceptions concerning selected factors of political restraint of three successive graduating classes of pre-service teacher education students in the school in which the students had worked as student teachers.

The Early History of the College and University Faculty Assembly of NCSS: A Personal View

Abstract CUFA, the College and University Faculty Assembly of the National Council for the Social Studies, was formally established as an NCSS affiliated organization in 1969, Prior to that date, social studies educators from colleges and universities met at NCSS annual meetings, starting in 1965. This essay is a personal history of events leading to the establishment of CUFA and its refereed journal, Theory and Research in Social Education. Set in the contexts of the the professionalization of subject field education and the school reform movement of the 1960s, the establishment of an organization for college level social studies educators to communicate about their common interests seemed a natural development. Although there was considerable support in many quarters for such a group, there were tensions and obstacles that created difficulties. Traditions of internal conflicts between scholars and teachers, subject specialists and educators, and school and university faculty members of NCSS created prob...

Contemporary Social Education Literature: An Essay Review

The present article is an examination of recent social studies literature. The author describes the liberal-progressive roots of social studies education, and argues that the mainstream literature of the field has largely ignored such origins, reflecting instead the sociopolitical climate of the nation. In the 1950s and again in the 1980s, calls for school reform were based upon traditional conceptions of history and standards-based learning grounded in conservative thinking; these shifts toward conservative orientations, however widespread ai the time, are viewed largely as interruptions in the general long term trend toward progressivism in the social studies.

ERNEST KURTZ. Not God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous. Pp. xiii, 363. Center City, MN: Hazelden Educational Services, 1979. No price

as a concept and term in this historical study of the development of an organization. Research for this work was undertaken at the Hazelden Foundation at Center City, Minnesota, a treatment center, and at the Rutgers University Center for Alcoholic Studies. Except for writing style, there is the appearance of a doctoral dissertation about the book. It provides rich documentation and interesting, scholarly footnotes. The most interesting sections are the appendix and the footnotes, where broad issues of paradox are highlighted and fascinating detail of conversations and intellectual ferreting from sources are shown. Issues about the spiritualist base of AA and its conflicts with non-believers among some alcoholics are identified in the appendix along with internal battles over which religion should dominate the AA program. The notes section provides insights into the ideas of the founders, their peers, and their underpinnings. It also provides a sense of the author’s background in religious, psychological, and historical reading. The writing style through the main portion of the book, however, is often labored and excessively dramatic. Although it did begin as a doctoral dissertation, as the author’s introduction indicates, the book under review is a major revision of the dissertation and an attempt

Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English. For Her Own Good: 150 Years of Experts' Advice to Women. Pp. x, 325. New York: Doubleday, 1978.

masters of our own destiny, that we have talent enough and time to redesign our environment, and that all problems are solvable. Mr. Ehrenfeld’s displeasure has many targets. His account of them is a litany of Murphy’s Law-that if anything can go wrong it will-and of the unanticipated and dire consequences of puiposive social action. He rails against those who believe that some children are hyperactive, that the world needs a central source of energy, and that public opinion can be read in polls; against those who practice psychohistory, cliometrics, and the psychological testing of small children; and who advocate personality inventories, genetic engineering, gene transplants, moveable icebergs, and space colonies. He is upset in general by those who in the name of science and technology tamper with the universe and try to control the uncontrollable, predict the unpredictable, and know the unknowable. All of these are conceits of humanism, destructive forces that, if left unattended, will lead us all to a deplorable end. The author is clearly entitled to his opinions. He may, in fact, be right. The trouble is that &dquo;humanism&dquo; is for him a canopy word, a synonym for everything he finds reprehensible. Thus, it covers not only &dquo;all of the above,&dquo; but his dislike of nuclear weapons, defoliating chemicals, television, computers, machine worship, interference with ecosystems, and ultimately the creation of an artificial world that is neither pleasant nor safe. Finally, humanism is responsible for such political faiths as communism, capitalism, and liberalism. It is time to discard the delusions of humanism and restore the dignity of mankind. The author is obviously occupying a pulpit here, and not a laboratory or a classroom. And who can refute a sermon?