Showing papers in "American Educational Research Journal in 1998"
TL;DR: This paper found that there were significant positive paths from math self-concept to subsequent math outcomes but not to subsequent English outcomes, and that girls had higher scores for all English constructs and math school grades, but they had lower math selfconcepts.
Abstract: Longitudinal causal models of growth in math and English constructs (school grades, standardized tests, academic self-concept, affect and coursework selection) were based on three waves of data from the large (N = 24,599), nationally representative National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Math and English self-concepts had significant path coefficients leading to subsequent school grades, coursework selection, and standardized test scores. Unlike previous studies that did not consider math and English constructs in the same model, we found these relations to be very domain specific (e.g., there were significant positive paths from math self concept to subsequent math outcomes but not to subsequent English outcomes). Girls had higher scores for all English constructs and math school grades, but they had lower math self-concepts. Whereas similar studies conducted over the past 20 years found diminishing gender differences, these data show relative gains for girls in achievement and coursework selectio...
480 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that self-handicapping varied significantly across classrooms and found that boys used handicapping more than girls did and students' grade point average and perceived academic competence were negatively related to handicapping.
Abstract: Some students purposefully use self-handicapping strategies (e.g., procrastinating, fooling around, getting involved in many activities) so that these circumstances, rather than lack of ability, will be seen as the cause if subsequent performance is low. The aim of the present study was to determine whether we could reliably assess fifth-grade students’ reports of their use of self-handicapping strategies and to examine individual- and classroom-level predictors of self-handicapping. Surveys were given to 646 fifth-grade students. The handicapping items formed a single factor with good internal consistency. Handicapping varied significantly across classrooms. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found that boys used handicapping more than girls did and students’ grade point average and perceived academic competence were negatively related to handicapping. Students’ perceptions of an emphasis on relative ability in the classroom (ability goal structure) as well as teachers’ reported use of instructional ...
371 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the relation between parenting and the school performance of fourth-and fifth-grade children (mean age = 10 years, 2 months) in 75 Asian-American, 109 Latino, and 91 European-American families and found that ethnic group differences emerged in parents' expectations for children's educational attainment, grade expectations, childrearing beliefs, perceptions of parental efficacy, and in the relations between these beliefs and children's school achievement.
Abstract: The present study is an examination of the relations between parenting and the school performance of fourth- and fifth-grade children (mean age = 10 years, 2 months) in 75 Asian-American, 109 Latino, and 91 European-American families. Five aspects of parenting were studied: (a) expectations for children’s educational attainment, (b) grade expectations, (c) basic childrearing beliefs (i.e., development of autonomy, development of conformity to external standards, and importance of monitoring children’s activities), (d) self-reported behaviors (i.e., creating an academically enriching environment and helping with homework), and (e) perceptions of parental efficacy. School performance was measured by school grades and achievement test scores. Ethnic group differences emerged in parents’ expectations for children’s educational attainment, grade expectations, childrearing beliefs, perceptions of parental efficacy, and in the relations between these beliefs and children’s school achievement. These results provi...
326 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the various influences on the discourse of participation and the ways it is currently being promoted and implemented by diverse constituencies and analyze how participation becomes a form of public relations to create greater institutional legitimacy for current educational practices, and how participation mechanisms, viewed as disciplinary practices, become more sophisticated technologies of control.
Abstract: Current educational reforms in the U.S. contain a pervasive discourse of participation. Although calls for participation of teachers, students, parents, communities, business, and numerous other stakeholders in schools are central to most reforms, there is increasing evidence that much participatory reform is either bogus, superficial, or ineffective (Beare, 1993; Hargreaves, 1994; Malen & Ogawa, 1988; Smyth, 1993). In this article, I discuss the various influences on the discourse of participation and the ways it is currently being promoted and implemented by diverse constituencies. More specifically, I analyze (a) how participation becomes a form of public relations to create greater institutional legitimacy for current educational practices, (b) how participation mechanisms, viewed as disciplinary practices, become more sophisticated technologies of control, (c) how structures set up for greater participation often become sites for collusion, and (d) how movements promoting parental school choice in an...
307 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how the local school district's non-monolithic character undermines state level efforts to create coherent guidance for instruction of teachers and suggest that what the school district does by way of enacting state policy is not always internally homogenous.
Abstract: This article examines how the local school district’s non-monolithic character undermines state level efforts to create more coherent guidance for instruction of teachers. Exploring two school districts’ responses to a state reading policy, the author suggests that what the school district does by way of enacting state policy is not always internally homogenous: The image of the school district that emerges is one of a non-monolithic agency of instructional guidance. Attempting to unravel and explain the internal variation in the school district’s response to state policy, the author considers the school district’s organizational arrangements as well as the professional specializations and associations of district staff.
273 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the effects of group ability composition on group processes and outcomes in science performance assessments and found that high-ability students generally performed better when they worked in homogeneous groups than when they work in heterogeneous groups.
Abstract: This study investigated the effects of group ability composition on group processes and outcomes in science performance assessments. Students in 21 eighth-grade science classes worked on science assessments first individually, then in groups, and finally individually again. Group composition had a major impact on group discussion quality and on student achievement. Groups with above-average students produced more accurate and high-quality answers and explanations about how to solve the test problems than groups without above-average students. As a result, below-average students who worked with above-average students showed higher achievement than did below-average students who worked without above-average students. High-ability students generally performed better when they worked in homogeneous groups than when they worked in heterogeneous groups. The fact that heterogeneous groups provide a greater benefit for below-average students than they impose a detriment on high-ability students is discussed.
260 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the prevalence, conceptualization, and form of cooperative learning used by elementary school teachers and found that 93% of teachers used cooperative learning to achieve both academic and social learning goals, structured tasks for positive interdependence and taught students skills for working in small groups.
Abstract: This study examined the prevalence, conceptualization, and form of cooperative learning used by elementary school teachers. Responding to a survey, 93% of teachers (n = 85) from six elementary schools in two districts indicated they used cooperative learning. In interviews with a subset of those teachers (n = 21), all indicated having daily cooperative lessons in several subjects. The majority of teachers subscribed to cooperative learning to achieve both academic and social learning goals, structured tasks for positive interdependence, and taught students skills for working in small groups. When we applied criteria for cooperative learning derived from the research literature, few teachers were employing recognized forms of this practice, primarily because they did not tie individual accountability to group goals. Implications for communication between researcher-developers and teachers are discussed.
214 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the role of the early 20th century Russian psychologist Vygotsky and the American phhilosopher/psychologist Dewey in the shaping of individual conduct.
Abstract: Current constructivists’ pedagogies draw on the writings of early 20th century Russian psychologist Vygotsky and the American phhilosopher/psychologist Dewey. This occurs without examining the historical spaces of the past and present in which that knowledge is socially constructed. This emptying of history in systems of knowledge is odd for an intellectual project concerned with cultural-historical theories. To address this omission, the writings of Dewey and Vygotsky are examined as part of the turn-of-the-century human sciences. They functioned to bring the new democratic political rationalities into the governing of individual conduct. Contemporary pedagogical theories that draw on Dewey and Vygotsky maintain this function of governing conduct, but with different narratives and images. The differences are made visible when comparing the “problem-solving individual” in education with the images of the individual inscribed in social theory, state policies, economics, and the military. My moving between ...
208 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship among teacher stressors, active and passive coping strategies, and psychological distress in a sample of Chinese secondary school teachers in Hong Kong and found that the mediational model with coping strategies mediating the effects of stressors on psychological distress represented an adequate fit to the data.
Abstract: The relationships among teacher stressors, active and passive coping strategies, and psychological distress were investigated in a sample of 412 Chinese secondary school teachers in Hong Kong. A direct effect, or stress-distress, model and a mediational, or stress-coping, model were postulated and tested with structural equation modeling procedures. For comparison, a direct-and-mediational model and a moderated effect model were also fitted to the data. The results indicated that the mediational model with coping strategies mediating the effects of stressors on psychological distress represented an adequate fit to the data. Implications for the role of active and passive coping strategies in mitigating the effects of stressors on psychological distress and for teacher stress management are discussed.
195 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined whether over the school year boys and girls equally share in performing the behaviors required of hands-on activities (e.g., manipulating the equipment, directing the activity, observing) in the performance-based science classroom.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine whether over the school year boys and girls equally share in performing the behaviors required of hands-on activities (e.g., manipulating the equipment, directing the activity, observing) in the performance-based science classroom. In addition, we examined whether these performance behaviors accounted for changes in boys’ and girls’ science attitudes (i.e., ability perceptions and task value beliefs) at the end of the school year. The sample included 165 students (53% female, mean age = 12.21) in six Grade 5-Grade 8 performance-based science classrooms where the teachers associated with these classrooms were identified not only as exemplary hands-on science instructors but also instructors sensitive to increasing girls’ participation in science. Our results indicated that being actively involved in the performance-based science classroom predicted students’ end-of-the year science attitudes. However, boys and girls did not participate equally in these classrooms. Moreo...
179 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between parent attitudes, intrinsic value of science, peer support, available activities, and preference for future science careers for science-talented, rural, adolescent females.
Abstract: Relations between parent attitudes, intrinsic value of science, peer support, available activities, and preference for future science careers were examined for science-talented, rural, adolescent females. Two hundred and twenty 9th-12th-grade girls and their mothers responded to questionnaires about science courses, plans for future courses and college majors, perceptions of the girls’ abilities in science, and numerous supports and deterrents for continued interest in science areas. Current intrinsic interest in science was most strongly related to preferring a science career, but previous experiences with science (measured by grade in school, science GPA, friends’ support for science, and extracurricular science activities) and socializers’ attitudes (measured by mothers’ perceptions of the value of science for women and of their daughters’ abilities) were also related. The discussion highlights the importance of providing activities and other supports to maintain girls’ interests in science in a rural ...
TL;DR: For example, the authors found that students with high self-worth evaluated themselves positively in domains of importance, whereas students with low self worth reported much less favorable self-evaluations.
Abstract: Similarities and differences in the domain-specific and global self-evaluations of 235 normally achieving, 118 learning-disabled, and 70 behaviorally disordered adolescents were documented. Factor analysis revealed eight discrete self-concept domains for each group. The importance of success in each domain was similar for each group, as were processes predicting level of self-worth. Consistent with W. James’ (1892) formulation, students with high self-worth evaluated themselves positively in domains of importance, whereas students with low self-worth reported much less favorable self-evaluations. Moreover, those with high self worth were better able to discount areas of weakness than were those with low self-worth. Correlations between specific domains deemed important and self-worth were also very similar across groups. Differences among groups involved the level of scores in that learning-disabled and behaviorally disordered students reported lower cognitive competence and peer likability than did norma...
TL;DR: This paper investigated the effects of strategy instruction on reading comprehension in a large intact high school remedial reading class and found that strategy instruction was superior to traditional reading methods in fostering reading comprehension as measured by experimenter-designed reading tests.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of strategy instruction on reading comprehension. The main objective of strategy instruction is to foster comprehension monitoring. The study examined whether reciprocal teaching methods (strategy instruction) were superior to traditional methods of remedial reading (skill acquisition) in large intact high school remedial classes. This setting was chosen because it is a more natural setting for the implementation of reciprocal teaching than settings used in previous studies. With a methodology similar to that used in the pioneering work of Palincsar and Brown (1984), 53 students in five intact reading classes who received strategy instruction were compared to 22 students in three control-group classes. The results indicated that in this challenging setting strategy instruction was superior to traditional reading methods in fostering reading comprehension as measured by experimenter-designed reading tests. Consistent with previous research, no differ...
TL;DR: This paper examined high-achieving students' interactions and performances on complex mathematics tasks as a function of homogeneous versus heterogeneous pairings and found that homogeneous dyads operated more collaboratively, generated greater cognitive conflict and resolution, and produced better quality work.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine high-achieving students' interactions and performances on complex mathematics tasks as a function of homogeneous versus heterogeneous pairings. Participants were third and fourth graders who had been trained in, and had routinely practiced, constructive peer-tutoring interactions and had experience working individually on performance assessments. We videotaped 10 high achievers working with a high-achieving and with a low-achieving classmate on performance assessments. Results indicated that homogeneous dyads operated more collaboratively, generated greater cognitive conflict and resolution, and produced better quality work. Implications are discussed in terms of optimizing grouping arrangements during collaborative learning activities and preparing students to work productively together on complex tasks.
TL;DR: The ATLAS Communities Project as mentioned in this paper showed that differences in the theories of action held by different people and organizations involved in reform efforts may be a critical source of these conflicts, and that despite considerable funding, broad initial agreements, and good relationships at the highest levels, it was extremely difficult to make decisions and carry work out in a collaborative and efficient manner.
Abstract: School improvement efforts often create controversies and conflicts that can make success difficult if not impossible to achieve. This article suggests that differences in the theories of action held by different people and organizations involved in reform efforts may be a critical source of these conflicts. An analysis of the first 2 years of the ATLAS Communities Project—a collaboration of the Coalition of Essential Schools, Education Development Center, Harvard Project Zero, and the School Development Program—shows how differences in the theories of action of these organizations contributed to significant disagreements over a number of key issues related to the process of change, the nature of the curriculum, and the shape of personal and organizational development. As a result, despite considerable funding, broad initial agreements, and good relationships at the highest levels, it was extremely difficult to make decisions and carry work out in a collaborative and efficient manner.
TL;DR: Clark et al. as mentioned in this paper argued that the unequal benefits that accrue to classroom teachers and academics engaged in research and publication could be surmounted by collaboration in the form of dialogue, and they proposed ways to address the issues they have identified without losing the power of a theoretical analysis.
Abstract: This is a response to “Collaboration as Dialogue: Teachers and Researchers Engaged in Conversation and Professional Development” (Clark et al., 1996), a narrative account of teacher-researcher collaborative research presented in Readers Theater format. The authors identified a powerful value tension in collaborative research—the unequal benefits that accrue to classroom teachers and academics engaged in research and publication—and suggested that this inequity could be surmounted by collaboration in the form of dialogue. Although the authors argued against generalizing from their experience or constructing an integrative theory, their observations are concordant with other collaborative situations where inequality exists. Our response proposes ways to address the issues they have identified without losing the power of a theoretical analysis. We contend that, by looking for commonalities and differences across settings, tasks, working methods, goals, and values, a framework for understanding collaboration ...
TL;DR: In this article, high school students gifted in spatial ability were selected from a large national probability sample and compared to those gifted in mathematical ability, and the groups were compared on multiple measures, including a range of cognitive tests, organizational participation, hobbies, extracurricular reading, coursework, study habits, grades, occupational and academic intentions, guidance received, and family/home environment.
Abstract: High school students gifted in spatial ability were selected from a large national probability sample and compared to those gifted in mathematical ability. The groups were compared on multiple measures, including a range of cognitive tests, organizational participation, hobbies, extracurricular reading, coursework, study habits, grades, occupational and academic intentions, guidance received, and family/home environment. Results indicate that, relative to the students gifted in mathematics, the students high in spatial ability were not fully utilizing their academic capabilities, had interests that were less compatible with traditional coursework, received less college guidance from school personnel, were less motivated by the education experience, and aspired to, and achieved, lower levels of academic and occupational success.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the problems associated with the mischievous ontological distinction between mind and world, a practice which has given rise to a number of other false dichotomies, such as that between subject and object and that between child and curriculum.
Abstract: Self-regulation has emerged as a key construct in learning and motivational theory. From a Deweyan perspective, however, the focus on self-regulation is problematic because it legitimates dualist distinctions within and between the domains of learning and motivation. For example, dualism is evidenced within the learning domain by the distinction between strategy and content; it is evidenced within the motivational domain by the distinction between interest and effort. At a deeper level, these distinctions reflect the longstanding tendency of philosophers and psychologists to ignore the problems associated with the mischievous ontological distinction between mind and world, a practice which has given rise to a number of other false dichotomies—such as that between subject and object and that between child and curriculum, to name two. Problems associated with the adoption of a dualist ontology in the learning and motivational domains are discussed in this article.
TL;DR: The 1990 NAEP transcript data were used to study the number of Carnegie units (CUs) earned by students in seven categories of mathematics courses plus a miscellaneous category as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The 1990 NAEP transcript data were used to study the number of Carnegie units (CUs) earned by students in seven categories of mathematics courses plus a miscellaneous category. On average, students earned 3.11 CUs, slightly more than the minimum of 3 suggested in A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). Fifty-four percent of the CUs were earned in the standard high school sequence (Algebra 1 and 2 and geometry), and 20% were earned in preformal courses (e.g., General Math 1 and 2). Overall, gender and ethnic differences in the total number of mathematics CUs were small, but ethnic differences relative to the type of math course represented by the course categories were large. Gender differences in mathematics course-taking are discussed in light of differences in college attendance patterns and achievement variability. Implications of ethnic differences for school and curriculum reform are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors examined the class formation procedures used in 22 elementary schools from two districts, as well as the influence these procedures had on the class composition of 200 classes, 56 of which were combination classes.
Abstract: This study examined the class formation procedures used in 22 elementary schools from two districts, as well as the influence these procedures had on the class composition of 200 classes, 56 of which were combination classes (classes with students from two grade levels). Principals were interviewed about their procedures for assigning students to classes, and students completed pretest measures. The major finding was that principals, in an effort to ease the burden that combination classes placed on teachers, assigned higher ability and more independent students to these classes, a strategy that raised the ability level of combination classes but lowered it in adjacent single-grade classes. This study suggests that it may be profitable to conceptualize both elementary and secondary school student assignment procedures as the same mechanism, a mechanism that creates particular K–12 curricular paths for students.
TL;DR: This article collected qualitative researchers' narratives about problems encountered and solutions tried while researching, and produced three successive descriptive-interpretive frameworks for understanding researchers' lived experience during the shift from single to multiple research paradigms.
Abstract: For 8 years at national conferences and from academic listserves, we collected qualitative researchers’ narratives about problems encountered and solutions tried while researching. Using an emergent design and analytic induction, and triangulating across researcher perspectives, we produced three successive descriptive-interpretive frameworks for understanding researchers’ lived experience during the shift from single to multiple research paradigms. The data show misunderstanding and resistance affecting these researchers at all levels of practice, suggesting a cumulative effect on knowledge in our field. Despite some positive research contexts, most study participants perceived and internalized conflicted epistemologies. We conclude that our field needs to become more reflective about practice and to develop a more deeply democratic discourse for research, one grounded in principles of academic freedom and supported by the conviction that diversity engenders strength.
TL;DR: For example, this paper found that males are more variable than females on mathematics test scores, and argued that one might expect a gender-by-itemdifficulty interaction such that easy items are easier for females than for males and hard items are harder for males than for females.
Abstract: From the finding that males are more variable than females on mathematics test scores, it is argued that one might expect a gender-by-item-difficulty interaction such that easy items are easier for females than for males and hard items are harder for females than for males. This prediction was tested in two studies using data from nine forms of a basic skills test in mathematics. The hypothesis was generally supported. For each form, there was a negative correlation between the item difficulty differences (males-females) estimated on males and females separately and the difficulty of the item estimated on the combined sample. Males tended to outperform females on the hardest items; females tended to outperform males on the easiest items. A possible explanation is offered for the finding, one which posits a shift in the ability measured as items become more difficult. Implications for the construction of mathematics tests and the conduct of meta-analyses are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the findings from a 2-year study to evaluate the impact of an elite private college education on five mature, returning students (Adas), who were enrolled in Smith College's Ada Comstock Program, a program that draws exceptional female students from community colleges across the country and supports them through scholarships in the completion of a 4-year degree.
Abstract: This article presents the findings from a 2-year study to evaluate the impact of an elite private college education on five mature, returning students ( Adas). The subjects of the study were enrolled in Smith College’s Ada Comstock Program, a program that draws exceptional female students from community colleges across the country and supports them through scholarships in the completion of a 4-year degree. Using open-ended interviews and participant observation, the study seeks to understand in what ways the economically privileged and intellectual environment of Smith College influences the personal ambitions and career goals of individuals who have lived a good part of their lives in vastly different economic and cultural circumstances. The study finds that most participants evolve counter to expectation, choosing to define success, not in terms of social mobility, but rather in terms of capacity to render service. In this sense, the participants in the study come to embody the Jeffersonian ideal for th...
TL;DR: It was found that three process variables accounted for 78% of the variance when prose task difficulty was defined using level scores, and the constructs that define the difficulty levels of prose-task processing were validated.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to validate the constructs that define the difficulty levels of prose-task processing. To accomplish this, this study investigated the extent to which variables from a previous study (Mosenthal, 1996) on document processing influenced difficulty on 165 tasks drawn from the prose scales of five national, adult-literacy surveys. It was found that three process variables accounted for 78% of the variance when prose task difficulty was defined using level scores. The constructs within five levels are specified in terms of a hierarchy of processing difficulty and proficiency. The application of these levels for designing computer-adaptive testing and instruction programs is considered, as are applications for conducting prose research and interpreting literacy policy.
TL;DR: The authors investigated five experienced tutors' personal constructs about students tutored over a significant period of time and found that tutors judged and classified students in terms of two underlying dimensions that were similarly defined, though not exactly alike, across tutors.
Abstract: Studies of tutoring are producing rich descriptions of tutorial dialogue but have not identified constructs that tutors use to classify and discriminate among students for the purpose of adapting tutoring to student differences. This study investigated five experienced tutors’ personal constructs about students tutored over a significant period of time. Several tutoring settings and domains were represented. Constructs used by tutors to discriminate among tutees were identified with repertory grid interviews and interpreted with the aid of cluster analysis. All tutors judged and classified students in terms of two underlying dimensions that were similarly defined, though not exactly alike, across tutors: motivation and intellectual ability. Tutors’ personal constructs and tutorial decisions informed by those constructs are reported, and implications for programming computer-based tutors are discussed.
TL;DR: This paper investigated children's involvement in shared thinking with varying adult support and children's later performance on the categorization task and found that children who received minimal support for determining the categorisation system categorized fewer items correctly, when later asked to sort some of the same and some new items.
Abstract: Two studies investigated children’s involvement in shared thinking with varying adult support and children’s later performance on the categorization task. In the two studies, an adult followed one of several scripts that systematically varied the provision of adult support and the involvement requested of the children, middle-class U.S. 5-year-olds. Children who received minimal support for determining the categorization system categorized fewer items correctly, when later asked to sort some of the same and some new items, than children with whom the adult had articulated the categorization system or children whom the adult had induced to determine the categorization system. If the adult provided little assistance in determining the categorization system, children requested greater assistance from the adult. There were no differences in children’s later performance among the scripts which varied whether the adult or the child was responsible for articulating the category system, suggesting that, as long a...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors of "The Challenge of Studying Collaboration" (John-Steiner, Weber, & Minnis, 1998), a piece written in response to our previous AERJ article, resist some of their suggestions because of their differing sets of assumptions about the appropriate goals and criteria for scholarly inquiry.
Abstract: In this article, we seek to establish a dialogue with the authors of “The Challenge of Studying Collaboration” (John-Steiner, Weber, & Minnis, 1998), a piece written in response to our previous AERJ article (Clark et al., 1996). Although we agree with some parts of their critique, we resist some of their suggestions because of our differing sets of assumptions about the appropriate goals and criteria for scholarly inquiry. The dialectic between our differing approaches to studying, theorizing, and representing collaboration illuminates issues that we hope others may find useful in examining their own assumptions about the nature and scope of scholarly inquiry.
TL;DR: In the summer of 1964, several civil rights organizations, led by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), formed a coalition and conducted a voter registration and educational program in Mississippi which was originally called the Summer Project but became later as Freedom Summer, Continuing the civil rights work that preceded it, Freedom Summer was distinguished by its organized, statewide, and highly public attempt to promote its three-pronged educational program of Freedom Schools, community centers, and voter registration as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the summer of 1964, several civil rights organizations, led by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), formed a coalition and conducted a voter registration and educational program in Mississippi which was originally called the Summer Project but became known later as Freedom Summer, Continuing the civil rights work that preceded it, Freedom Summer was distinguished by its organized, state-wide, and highly public attempt to promote its three-pronged educational program of Freedom Schools, community centers, and voter registration and by the recruitment of several hundred out-of-state student volunteers to implement the program. Adult education played a critical role in the schools, the centers, and the voter registration work and included literacy education, practical skills, and political awareness. Paulo Freire’s work in adult education in Brazil and his paradigm of critical consciousness provide an intriguing historical parallel as well as a useful theoretical frame from which to anal...
Journal Article•