Schools in the United States have historically banned many different things. From clothing to weapons, from cell phones to books, schools have implemented various types of censorship and restrictions on their students for a variety of reasons and with a variety of results. This book's purpose is to describe the various things banned in schools, the reasons behind attempts to ban such things, the types of people who approve of censoring those things and the types who do not, the outcome of representative cases of censorship, and suggestions for school personnel about how to cope with bans. Each chapter addresses the same sequence of topics: a particular type of ban's domain and historical background; representative cases of the ban's application; ban supporters and their methods; ban critics and their methods; and ways of resolving conflicts over the ban.

While some may argue that cell phones are necessary in today's school setting, others would suggest they are disruptive. While some may argue "The Catcher in the Rye" should be banned, others may say it is essential reading for American students. More recently, some schools have banned all of the Harry Potter books from their library shelves. Few would argue that a ban on weapons is a bad thing, but who determines what should be considered a weapon? In some schools, restrictions are placed on Web access, but who decides what to allow and what not to allow? Where do the lines get drawn? Here, Thomas reviews the many areas of censorship in our schools and helps readers draw their own conclusions.

In Algonquin Indian lore, Manitou is a supernatural power that permeates the world, a power that can assume the form of a deity referred to as The Great Manitou or The Great Spirit, creator of all things and giver of life. In that sense, Manitou can be considered the counterpart of the Christian God. From early times, the belief in Manitou extended from the Algonquins in Eastern Canada to other tribal nations--the Odawa, Ojibwa, Oglala, and even the Cheyenne in the Western plains. As European settlers made their way across the land, the confrontation between Christianity and Native American religions revealed itself in various ways. That confrontation continues to this day. In Manitou and God, Thomas describes American Indian religions as they compare with principal features of Christian doctrine and practice. He traces the development of sociopolitical and religious relations between American Indians and the European immigrants who, over the centuries, spread across the continent, captured Indian lands and decimated Indian culture in general and religion in particular. He identifies the modern-day status of American Indians and their religions, including the progress Indians have made toward improving their political power, socioeconomic condition, and cultural/religious recovery and the difficulties they continue to face in their attempts to better their lot. Readers will gain a better sense of the give and take between these two cultures and the influence each has had on the other.

Many Americans may believe that religion in the schools is a controversial subject only in the United States. But around the world, the subject has gained widespread notoriety, media coverage, and attention from governing bodies, school administrations, and individuals. In France, conflict erupted when a young girl wore a headscarf to her public school; the government there got involved to reassert the rule that no outward display of religion will be tolerated. In India, a panel was appointed to remove Hindu religious beliefs from high-school textbooks. In Pakistan, the government passed a law to make the curriculum of Islamic religious schools more secular in its approach. Here in the United States, debates abound regarding the Pledge of Allegiance, the posting of the Ten Commandments, prayer in school, and other familiar arguments. But why do these controversies exist? What prompts them? Why do particular conflicts arise, and what attempts are made to deal with them? How have solutions fared? How are the controversies in one country similar to or different from those in another? In Religion in Schools, R. Murray Thomas uses case examples from twelve countries around the world, covering all regions of the world and all the major religions, to examine and answer these questions. He reveals the complexities of the conflicts, and shows what brought them about. For example, in France, the conflicts often arise out of that nation's desire to remain intensely secular. Using case examples and applying a uniform approach to analyzing each country's particular focus on religion and education, he is able to show what these conflicts have in common, how well solutions have worked, and what may lie ahead.

To help readers gain a better understanding of conflicts over the proper role of religion in American public schools, this book focuses on the seven major types of conflicts that have become particularly confrontational. Thomas does not take sides; rather, he lays out the arguments, their historical and cultural contexts, and the groups that debate them and their goals. Anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the controversies surrounding religion in American schools will find here not just a review of the issues, but a deeper consideration of the causes, consequences, and future of the debates. Conflicts over the proper role of religion in schools-and particularly in public schools supported by tax monies-are frequently featured in news reports. For example, in the United States there currently are conflicts over the teaching of evolution, inserting the word God in the pledge of allegiance, conducting school holiday celebrations, posting the biblical Ten Commandments in schools, and praying at school functions. People who are interested in such controversies often-or, perhaps, usually-fail to understand the historical backgrounds to the conflicts and therefore do not recognize the very complex factors that affect why the controversies become so heated. To help readers gain a better understanding of such matters, this book focuses on the seven major types of conflicts that have become particularly confrontational during the first decade of the twenty-first century. The cases on which the chapters focus concern issues that currently are being hotly debated in America. Controversies are described in relation to their historical origins and the author shows how the history affects current understanding of the issues. Thomas does not take sides in the arguments; rather, he lays out the arguments, their historical and cultural contexts, and the groups that debate them and their goals. Anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the controversies surrounding religion in American schools will be happy to find here not just a review of the issues, but a deeper consideration of the causes, consequences, and future of the debates and the role of religion in our public schools.

The problem of violence in schools has not gone away despite radical reductions in violent crimes throughout the country over the last decade. Students continue to harrass, haze, and harm each other in a variety of ways, disrupting classrooms and whole schools. In the wake of the Columbine massacre, many focused on the worst kind of school violence: deadly assaults with dangerous weapons. But other forms of violence are more persistent, common, and just as destructive in many ways: fighting, sexual abuse, carrying weapons to school, vandalism, and assorted other crimes that happen behind the closed doors of elementary, middle, and high schools across the country. The consequences range from violent victimization and death, to the disruption of learning and fear among student bodies and teaching staffs. Here, Thomas provides a foundation for understanding why the violence occurs, preventing it from happening, and treating both offenders and victims after it happens. Using scores of case descriptions to illustrate the types of school violence and their treatment in recent years, the author skillfully shows readers how the problem of violence and crime in schools is an insidious issue that cannot go untreated. He offers both tested and proposed methods for dealing with a host of violence issues and a guide to planning treatment of the problem and its associated consequences. He answers the questions: What are prominent types of violence in American schools? What conditions contribute to those types of violence? What methods can be applied in an effort to reduce school violence? Readers will come away from this book with a greater understanding of the scope of violence in America's schools, and the myriad ways of addressing it.

Moral Development Theories--Secular and Religious introduces readers to 13 secular models and 13d religious theories in a wide-ranging comparative study of the roots of moral development. The secular models include attribution theory, cognitive-structural views, social-learning and social-cognition approaches, Freud's psychoanalysis (plus Erikson and Fromm), Marxist beliefs, a composite theory, Hoffman's conception of empathy, Anderson's information-integration view, Gilligan's gender distinction, Sutherland and Cressey's explanation of delinquency, and Lovinger on ego development. Religious theories represent the Judaic-Christian-Islamic line, Hinduism and derivatives (Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism), Confucianism, Shinto, and four minor theories drawn from the belief systems of the Navajo, Zulus, Vodou adherents, and Okinawans. The description of each theory is designed to answer a common set of questions introduced in Chapter 1. The closing section of each chapter evaluates that chapter's theories in terms of a series of assessment standards described in Chapter 2. The book's final chapter inspects all of the theories from the viewpoint of five desires that people often hold in relation to their conceptions of moral development. The desires are: (a) for immanent justice; (b) to understand the causes of the consequences that result from people's behavior in moral situations; (c) to become immortal; (d) to enjoy a happy life, and (e) to understand the moral-development process in order to help others who need moral guidance.

Prevent, Repent, Reform, Revenge is a study of the aims that people intend to achieve by the sanctions and treatments they recommend for wrongdoers. The book is designed to answer two main questions: What kind of analytical scheme can profitably reveal the nature of people's reasoning about the aims of sanctions they propose for perpetrators of crimes and misdeeds? In the aims that people express, what changes in overt moral reasoning patterns appear between later childhood and the early adult years? The authors conducted interviews with 136 youths between the ages of 9 and 21 to find out what sanctions and aims they felt were appropriate in three cases of wrongdoing. The resulting information provides an important insight into adolescent moral development. LC 95-16145.

This study analyzes the reasoning process through which individuals determine what consequences are appropriate for those who do wrong. The authors presented six cases of wrongdoing to a large number of teenagers and young adults. This sample was asked what consequences would be appropriate for the wrongdoers and why those proposed consequences would be appropriate. On the basis of the data obtained from the participants, the authors constructed a taxonomy to use in categorizing features of moral reasoning. The authors then applied the taxonomy to compare group and individual modes of moral decision making. The study is significant in its reliance on original data and on its analysis of the thought processes involved in moral decision making.

Being aware of thesis and dissertation pitfalls can help the graduate student make efficient use of resources available to him or her and bring precision to research and writing of that important project. The authors present 61 cases cast as an envisioned conversation between a student and a professor whom the student consults about a problem.

The cases are presented within ten chapters that proceed through a sequence of typical stages in the production of a thesis or dissertation. Chapter titles include Choosing and Defining a Research Topic, Searching the Professional Literature, Developing a Proposal, Getting Help, Devising Data-Collection Procedures, Organizing the Collected Information, Interpreting the Results, Writing the Report, Defending the Finished Product, and Publishing the Study.

While conducting research into crimes, the treatment of crimes and the aim of these treatments, Thomas was frustrated by the lack of an available classification system that organized this material. This book was written to end that frustration. By looking at existing and potential misdeeds, sanctions and the stated goals of these sanctions, Thomas discovered a method to organize this information. Classifying Reactions to Wrongdoing provides three comprehensive taxonomies for categorizing (1) crimes, sins, breaches of custom, and other misdeeds, (2) sanctions and treatments which people recommend perpetrators of misdeeds should experience, and (3) the aims of such sanctions and treatments. This unique book would be of interest to psychologists, sociologists, criminologists, philosophers, and others interested in ethics, law, and moral development.

The 1990s opened with dramatic readjustments in the world. Nations that had been governed for decades by single-party socialist regimes were suddenly rejecting their traditional systems of socioeconomic development, and new leaders were searching for modes of planning and management that could bring their people economic prosperity and political freedom. These events are of particular concern to educators who have been concerned over the past four decades with the effectiveness of the educational provisions inserted into national development programs. Such interest is not limited to Eastern bloc communist countries, but extends as well to other nations, socialist and capitalist alike, that have adopted centralized national planning.

This book identifies the place that education has been assigned in the national development programs of a varied selection of nations--large and small, capitalist and socialist, industrialized and agrarian, Eastern and Western, Northern and Southern. The authors consider the problems these nations (Soviet Union, German Democratic Republic, Pakistan, Egypt, People's Republic of China, South Korea, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, and Zaire) have encountered in managing educational components, and assess the effectiveness of the plans and of the measures adopted for solving the educational problems.

Emphasizing the comparative aspects of research, this introduction to educational research traces the process through five stages--choosing what to study, including specifying the research problem; collecting information; organizing and summarizing information; interpreting results; and reporting the outcomes. Each of the stages offers diverse options available to researchers for solving the problems of that stage, and a research project checklist at the end of each chapter guides readers in applying the chapter's contents to their own research studies. In much educational discourse, comparative education has referred solely to the study of educational similarities and differences between regions of the world or between two or more nations. This book uses the broader definition of the term to encompass a large body of research including studies focusing on comparisons between local educational systems, schools, classrooms, language groups, religious denominations, genders, social classes, and individual students. Students who are planning research projects as well as staff members of such organizations as ministries of education, school systems, bureaus of educational research, and educational aid agencies will find this volume indispensable.

This book traces the development of Haiti's combined Vodou-Christian religion from 1500 to the present and explains how this combination of distinct faiths coalesces in a coherent belief system. What are the historical reasons for the popularity of two contradictory worldviews in Haiti, Vodou and Catholicism? What elements of Vodou and Catholicism are alike, and how are they drastically different? What is the connection between indigenous African religions and Vodou? And why has religion in Haiti evidenced an accelerating rate of change in recent decades? Roots of Haiti's Vodou-Christian Faith: African and Catholic Origins answers these questions and more in its examination of the highly unique and often-misunderstood religious practices in Haiti. Reaching back half a millennium to the European conquest of the island of Haiti, author R. Murray Thomas inspects the origins and nature of these two competing and complementary religious traditions: the traditional African faiths brought by the slaves who were imported to Haiti to labor in the fields and mines, and the Catholicism promoted-often violently-by Spanish and French colonial authorities. Following a historical background, the subsequent chapters focus on the organization of Haitian religion, spirits, creation belief, causes and ceremonies, maxims and tales, symbols and sacred objects, sacred sites, religious societies, and the future of the Vodou-Christian faith. Provides a history of Haiti's unique religious tradition that explains how Spanish and French colonizers established Catholicism in Haiti and identifies how the connections between Vodou and African indigenous religions formed over the past five centuries Proposes seven "principles of accommodation" that enable Vodou-Catholicism to be regarded as a cohesive, rational system by the vast majority of Haitians Presents information culled from hundreds of references from the professional literature as well as interviews with two university professors who are both authorities on Haitian Vodou-Christianity and practitioners of the faith

How-and why-do humans develop as they do? This book clearly explains the key components of human development theories and describes how to compose novel theories regarding this age-old puzzle. As college students progress through bachelor's degree programs and then advance to their master's degree theses and doctoral dissertations, they are bombarded with studies of countless theories, often adopting some author's theory for interpreting information about human development, even when the theory does not precisely meet their needs. One way to solve the problem-a way especially tuned to the current classroom push for creative, critical thinking-is for the student to create his or her own theory. Unfortunately, even students as high as the doctoral level often don't understand how to create a well-ordered, workable theory of their own-a crucial gap in their "critical thinking" skillsets. This book is the solution to that specific problem. In these pages, in clear and detailed steps, is a complete explanation for developing a theory. The book addresses key topics such as attention to need, population, basic assumptions, key terms, causes and stages, interpreting evidence, and applications. Author R. Murray Thomas-a well-known and highly respected elder in the social sciences-also details five illustrative theories, covering their history and providing insights about how they were developed. This work will be valuable to students of psychology, human development, child development, and theory as well as those in other disciplines seeking an understanding of theory building. Succinctly describes the theory-construction process in language free from technical jargon that is accessible to college students or general readers interested in the nature and structure of theories Identifies the essential components that comprise theories-scientific explanations-of the human-development process, allowing readers to see how different thinkers address common concepts in their well-known theories Offers five new theories built according to the guidelines proposed in the explanation of human development theory components

Drop that Chalk! A Guide to Better Teaching at Colleges and Universities is designed for those planning to teach - or already teaching and hoping to improve instruction - in colleges, universities, or other institutions of higher education. This book delineates the process of planning a course from designing course objectives to creating a syllabus, selecting course materials and technologies, determining which teaching strategies to employ and how to best implement them, to creating assessments, course evaluations, and assigning grades. Advantages and disadvantages of teaching and assessment techniques are shared, along with research-based guidance for effectively implementations. Guidelines for creating effective on-line courses are presented. This book also explains thirteen aspects of student diversity to help teachers understand their students, more effectively plan instruction for them, and shares a range of other suggestions to help maintain positive and effective learning environments that ensure students' success. The techniques and myriad examples shared in this book are based on the authors' over sixty years of combined teaching experiences, and on current research in educational psychology and related disciplines.

Drop that Chalk! A Guide to Better Teaching at Colleges and Universities is designed for those planning to teach - or already teaching and hoping to improve instruction - in colleges, universities, or other institutions of higher education. This book delineates the process of planning a course from designing course objectives to creating a syllabus, selecting course materials and technologies, determining which teaching strategies to employ and how to best implement them, to creating assessments, course evaluations, and assigning grades. Advantages and disadvantages of teaching and assessment techniques are shared, along with research-based guidance for effectively implementations. Guidelines for creating effective on-line courses are presented. This book also explains thirteen aspects of student diversity to help teachers understand their students, more effectively plan instruction for them, and shares a range of other suggestions to help maintain positive and effective learning environments that ensure students' success. The techniques and myriad examples shared in this book are based on the authors' over sixty years of combined teaching experiences, and on current research in educational psychology and related disciplines.

Becoming a Professor is designed primarily for graduate and undergraduate students and others - instructors, lecturers and new tenure-track professors - contemplating careers as professors in post-secondary education at colleges, institutes, and universities. The book identifies kinds of higher education institutions, and types of teaching positions along with the nature of each position's responsibilities and advantages and disadvantages. It explains how graduate students can promote their future as faculty members while they are still in graduate school and suggests ways to find suitable faculty positions and succeed at the application and interview process. The book also addresses a range of other matters that influence careers in higher education once a candidate is hired in a faculty position - such matters as the tenure and promotion process and how to succeed in other aspects of the professorial role (research, service, teaching), and as well as how to avoid pitfalls (political and ethical aspects) in such positions.

Becoming a Professor is designed primarily for graduate and undergraduate students and others - instructors, lecturers and new tenure-track professors - contemplating careers as professors in post-secondary education at colleges, institutes, and universities. The book identifies kinds of higher education institutions, and types of teaching positions along with the nature of each position's responsibilities and advantages and disadvantages. It explains how graduate students can promote their future as faculty members while they are still in graduate school and suggests ways to find suitable faculty positions and succeed at the application and interview process. The book also addresses a range of other matters that influence careers in higher education once a candidate is hired in a faculty position - such matters as the tenure and promotion process and how to succeed in other aspects of the professorial role (research, service, teaching), and as well as how to avoid pitfalls (political and ethical aspects) in such positions.

The problem of violence in schools has not gone away despite radical reductions in violent crimes throughout the country over the last decade. Students continue to harass, haze, and harm each other in a variety of ways, disrupting classrooms and entire schools. In the wake of the Columbine massacre, many focused on the worst kind of school violence: deadly assaults with dangerous weapons. But other forms of violence are more persistent, common, and just as destructive: fighting, sexual abuse, carrying weapons to school, vandalism, and assorted other crimes happen behind the closed doors of elementary, middle, and high schools across the country. The consequences range from violent victimization and death to fear and the disruption of learning among student bodies and teaching staffs. Thomas provides a foundation for understanding why violence occurs, preventing it from happening, and treating both offenders and victims after it takes place. Using scores of case descriptions to illustrate the types of school violence and their treatment in recent years, the author skillfully shows readers that the problem of violence and crime in schools is an insidious issue that cannot go untreated. He offers both tested and new methods for dealing with a host of violence issues as well as a guide to planning treatment of the problem and its associated consequences. He answers the questions: What are prominent types of violence in American schools? What conditions contribute to those types of violence? What methods can be applied in an effort to reduce school violence? Readers will come away from this book with a greater understanding of the scope of violence in America's schools, and the myriad ways of addressing it.

Conflicts over the proper role of religion in schools-and particularly in public schools supported by tax monies-are frequently featured in news reports. For example, in the United States there currently are conflicts over the teaching of evolution, inserting the word God in the pledge of allegiance, conducting school holiday celebrations, posting the biblical Ten Commandments in schools, and praying at school functions. People who are interested in such controversies often-or, perhaps, usually-fail to understand the historical backgrounds to the conflicts and therefore do not recognize the very complex factors that affect why the controversies become so heated. To help readers gain a better understanding of such matters, this book focuses on the seven major types of conflicts that have become particularly confrontational during the first decade of the twenty-first century. The cases on which the chapters focus concern issues that currently are being hotly debated in America. Controversies are described in relation to their historical origins and the author shows how the history affects current understanding of the issues. Thomas does not take sides in the arguments; rather, he lays out the arguments, their historical and cultural contexts, and the groups that debate them and their goals. Anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the controversies surrounding religion in American schools will be happy to find here not just a review of the issues, but a deeper consideration of the causes, consequences, and future of the debates and the role of religion in our public schools.

The federal government's No Child Left Behind Act has thrust high-stakes testing (its goals, methods, and consequences) into the educational limelight. The four-fold purpose of this book is to: 1) describe the nature of high-stakes testing; 2) identify types of collateral damage that have attended the testing programs; 3) analyze methods different groups of people have chosen for coping with the damage; and 4) suggest lessons to be learned from the high-stakes-testing experience. The six groups of people whose coping strategies are inspected include: a) politicians and their staffs; b) educational administrators and their staffs; c) parents and the public; d) test makers and test administrators; e) teachers; and f) students. Importantly, the author avoids aligning himself with the test-bashing rhetoric of those who oppose high-stakes testing, especially the No Child Left Behind Act.
Key features of this outstanding new book include:
*Illustrative Cases. The book offers more than 350 cases of collateral damage from high-stakes testing--and people's coping strategies--as reported in newspapers over the 2002-2004 period.
*Background Perspectives. Part I examines the influence of high-stakes testing on: 1) what schools teach; 2) how student progress is evaluated; 3) how achievement standards are set; and 4) how test results are used.
*Participant Responses. Part II, which is the heart of the book, devotes a separate chapter to the coping strategies of each of the major participants in the high-stakes testing movement: politicians and their staffs, educational administrators and their staffs, parents and the public, test-makers and test-givers, teachers, and students.
*Summary Chapter. The last chapter (Lessons to Learn) offers suggestions for minimizing collateral damage by adopting alternative approaches not used in the creation of our current high-stakes testing programs, particularly the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act.

This book is appropriate for any of the following audiences: students taking evaluation or administration courses in schools of education, inservice administrators and teachers, policy makers, and those members of the general public who are concerned about the fate of schooling in America.

The federal government's No Child Left Behind Act has thrust high-stakes testing (its goals, methods, and consequences) into the educational limelight. The four-fold purpose of this book is to: 1) describe the nature of high-stakes testing; 2) identify types of collateral damage that have attended the testing programs; 3) analyze methods different groups of people have chosen for coping with the damage; and 4) suggest lessons to be learned from the high-stakes-testing experience. The six groups of people whose coping strategies are inspected include: a) politicians and their staffs; b) educational administrators and their staffs; c) parents and the public; d) test makers and test administrators; e) teachers; and f) students. Importantly, the author avoids aligning himself with the test-bashing rhetoric of those who oppose high-stakes testing, especially the No Child Left Behind Act.
Key features of this outstanding new book include:
*Illustrative Cases. The book offers more than 350 cases of collateral damage from high-stakes testing--and people's coping strategies--as reported in newspapers over the 2002-2004 period.
*Background Perspectives. Part I examines the influence of high-stakes testing on: 1) what schools teach; 2) how student progress is evaluated; 3) how achievement standards are set; and 4) how test results are used.
*Participant Responses. Part II, which is the heart of the book, devotes a separate chapter to the coping strategies of each of the major participants in the high-stakes testing movement: politicians and their staffs, educational administrators and their staffs, parents and the public, test-makers and test-givers, teachers, and students.
*Summary Chapter. The last chapter (Lessons to Learn) offers suggestions for minimizing collateral damage by adopting alternative approaches not used in the creation of our current high-stakes testing programs, particularly the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act.

This book is appropriate for any of the following audiences: students taking evaluation or administration courses in schools of education, inservice administrators and teachers, policy makers, and those members of the general public who are concerned about the fate of schooling in America.

This book guides students through the process of planning, researching, and writing the final version of theses and dissertations. Five major stages of the process are illustrated with multiple examples from the social and behavioral sciences, humanities, and such allied fields as education, social work, and business administration. The first stage, Preparing the Way, describes problems and alternative solutions in working with faculty advisors and in searching the professional literature. Stage 2 explains how to find good research topics and define them clearly for presentation to faculty advisors.

Stage 3 describes problems often encountered in data collection and suggests solutions for those problems. At Stage 4, students learn ways of organizing and interpreting information, including classification schemes, verbal and statistical summaries, and methods of deriving meaning from data. The final stage, Presenting the Finished Product, offers guidelines for thesis and dissertation writing and for publishing the results in such media as books, journal articles, and popular periodicals. Stage 5 also includes a chapter about how students can mount a convincing defense of their work during a faculty committee's final oral examination session.

This book is the framework for a new theory of moral development that combines components from a variety of existing theories of human development with the author's original research. The detailed description of the theory is divided into five sections: (1) foundations of development, (2) long-term memory, (3) the influence of environments, (4) working memory, and (5) progressions and stages of development. Each chapter concludes with an exercise demonstrating the application of the new theory, and the final section of the book employs the theory as a lens through which the moral development of four historic figures can be viewed afresh.

A thoroughly revised and updated classic. This step-by-step guide takes masters and doctoral students through the five stages of writing a thesis or dissertation: preparing the way, choosing and defining research topics, collecting and organizing information, interpreting the results, presenting the finished product. The authors have successfully led hundreds of graduate students through the masters theses and disseration process. This comprehensive guidebook includes helpful checklists, multiple examples, and practical strategies. It covers both qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research.