Recensions / Book Reviews

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1 Recensions / Book Reviews Educational Leadership: The Moral Art By Christopher Hodgkinson New York: State University of New York Press, viii pages. REVIEWED BY CHARLOTTE R.C. COOMBS This is Hodgkinson s third book on the general topic of the philosophy of leadership. His central tenet, that it is misguided to attempt to reduce leadership to a science because leadership is at heart a philosophical and moral enterprise, deserves a hearing in educational administration. However, there are serious problems with a number of his arguments. Educational Leadership is divided into three sections, on education, leadership, and morality, respectively. In the first, Hodgkinson gives a competent account of the historical threads that comprise the fabric of education today. However, his analysis of education is disappointing: he tells us only that it is to be distinguished from training; that it does not consist primarily in the mere transmission of factual knowledge; that it is not normally a matter of conditioning or indoctrinating a person into a set of values; that it is very complex; and that it must ultimately be defined in terms of its ends. Missing is any reference to comprehensive and widely accepted analyses of education by philosophers such as Richard Peters or William Frankena. Hodgkinson views the primary ends of education as aesthetic (liberal education, self-fulfillment), economic (vocational), and ideological, and acknowledges that these are never settled issues but always in contention. However, he appears to believe that once the ends are agreed upon, the means will be relatively straightforward. In reality, it is when we move from general ends to more specific goals and means that conflict is greatest. That is, although we might all agree that education should fulfill persons, help them to become economically self-sufficient, and enable them to function as competent democratic citizens, we are less likely to agree upon how this is to be accomplished. The second section deals with leadership, which according to Hodgkinson is equivalent to administration. Though he views administration/leadership as a moral enterprise, he fails to recognize that unlike administration, leadership in its central usage is a value term: to say that someone is exercising leadership is to say something positive about that person. Ironically, accepting leadership as a descriptive term puts Hodgkinson in the 225 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 17:2 (1992)

2 226 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS logical positivist enemy camp, where value statements are reduced to empirical claims. Equally disturbing is his contention that administration can be described as a generalism: Anyone, in principle, can do administration (p. 52); Administration demands no esoteric knowledge or training (p. 52). According to Hodgkinson, this is shown by the fact that at the highest systemic levels administrators pass easily from one complex organization to another, as when a general becomes a university president or a minister of finance takes up the portfolio of foreign affairs. Granted, Hodgkinson is contrasting administration with management, arguing that expert technical skills may not be necessary at high levels of administration, but he goes too far. It is this assumption that one need not know much about the context in which one is leading in order to lead that may account for the general lament that our leaders lack vision. Why should we expect an army general to be able to set forth an appropriate vision for a university? Although certain qualities may serve one in good stead in virtually any leadership situation, the idea that there are general leadership skills sufficient for any situation is misguided. One needs to have deep and sensitive understanding of the context in which one is leading in order to have vision. Hodgkinson himself acknowledges the problem of what he calls bureaupathology, in which the administrator has to rely upon experts because of lack of knowledge of the organization. In the first section he has argued that education is infinitely complex. Why should he assume that no special knowledge is required at the high end of the system? Much of the final section, on morality, is reiterated from Hodgkinson s two previous books, in which he explicates his value typology. The lowest, Type III values, are based on one s hedonistic preferences. Moving up the hierarchy, Type IIb values are those adjudged as right because they concur with the will of a majority in a given collectivity, that is, they represent a consensus. Type IIa values are arrived at by a reasonable analysis of consequences; they are such as a utilitarian might hold. Type I values are metaphysically grounded: whether they derive from a postulated moral insight, an asserted religious revelation, or an aesthetic sense of individual drama, their common feature is that they are unverifiable by the techniques of science and cannot be justified by mere logical argument. (p. 99) Hodgkinson says these Type I principles are transrational, in that they may conflict with rationality and are based on the will rather than upon the reasoning faculty. Hodgkinson claims his value model will help in resolving conflict. Simply put, when values at different levels of the hierarchy are in conflict, the lower-ranking maxim should be subordinated to the higher. Conflict within levels require different strategies depending on the level. At level III,

3 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 227 the stronger preference wins out. At level IIb, the mode of conflict resolution is dialectic, or talk until some resolution is reached. Level IIa values are resolved by cost-benefit analysis. At level I, there is no mode of resolution, no maxim, no strategy for determining the best value (p. 150). Nonetheless, history has a way of doing away with such conflict, according to Hodgkinson. People die, loyalties change, values atrophy over time. It is frightening that Hodgkinson holds that Type I values are superior, more authentic, better justified, of more defensible grounding than Type II (p. 103; my emphasis), even though he acknowledges that this category includes those who find murder desirable as well as other fanatics. For Hodgkinson, moral integrity, which he defines as being true to one s set of values whatever they are, is at the heart of morality. But the assumption that values are better or worse primarily according to the strength by which we adhere to them is unacceptable. Missing from Hodgkinson s account is some sense of the standards we use in determining which values are better than others. Kohlberg, for example, claims values are better as they take into account a widening circle of persons and embody fundamental principles, such as respect for persons and the dignity of human life. In fact, there are similarities between Hodgkinson s and Kohlberg s hierarchies moving from concern with self to conventional morality to principled morality. However, Hodgkinson s account of principled morality will not stand up to scrutiny. His view requires us to give up our fundamental assumption that there are better and worse values, that rational deliberation has point. Indeed, why does Hodgkinson attempt to persuade us to his view if our values are beyond reason? Or is he merely appealing to our Type II values? In Hodgkinson s defence, it could be argued that if educational administrators consciously reflected and acted on their theoretical knowledge and their values (what he calls praxis), educational organizations would probably be morally better than they are today. However, his only safeguard from the misguided, uninformed administrator who holds his or her values authentically and is deaf to rational persuasion is that persons who hold values opposed to those at the head of the organization may have to resign. In the foreword to this book, Thomas Greenfield cautions that though Hodgkinson s voice may be heard as alien and difficult, the source of this alienation is not in Hodgkinson but in the contemporary field that embraces the science of administration. Although there is a degree of truth in this charge, Hodgkinson s lack of conceptual clarity in his attempt to reconceptualize the field of educational administration contributes substantially to this alienation.

4 228 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS Teaching, Schools and Society: Individualized Instruction Edited by Evelina Orteza y Miranda and Romulo F. Magsino London, UK: Falmer Press, xi pages. REVIEWED BY IVAN CASSIDY, ACADIA UNIVERSITY This compilation of 20 essays by 22 Canadian scholars aims to enhance understanding of schooling by viewing key aspects of it tasks, processes and context from the perspective of the foundational disciplines of history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology of education; and from the insights thereby gained, to promote the improvement of educational practice. The strengths of this book are manifold. It comprises a wide variety of important topics and explores them in depth. Despite its multiple authorship and the broad scope of its contents, one gains an overall impression of coherence and unity. Skilfully crafted introductions to the respective sections provide useful advance organizers. Throughout the text the standard of scholarship is consistently high. The quality of the scholarship is also evident in the bibliographies following the respective chapters: most are extensive, and include pertinent classic references as well as numerous sources representative of the diversity of contemporary strains of thought. Although it exhibits a variety of writing styles, the text is throughout marked by lucid organization and exposition. A number of features of the book are especially noteworthy. The juxtaposition of historical overviews of schooling in Canada and the United States is helpful in orienting the reader to the reality of the contemporary situation, and of the school s need to share in building a consensus to guide our societal and educational direction (p. 19). Not surprisingly, philosophy of education looms large. Several chapters exemplify the analytical mode, for example, The Concept of Curriculum and The Concept of Learning. The less fashionable synthetic approach is also represented; for instance, in chapter 4 it is used fruitfully to develop a conception of rationality both as an instrumental and an ultimate, intrinsic good. Rationality is here defined as the rational conduct of life, which entails individual capacity for intelligent, appropriate response to the demands of living in society. In the recent past, such concepts as autonomy have been treated in too much of a vacuum and confined to the individual s proclivity to deliberate and to decide. By contrast, the author of chapter 6, drawing on existentialist and feminist as well as Kantian sources, relates autonomy to the emotions, and grounds it in a theory of the self that puts it in proper perspective. It is not in isolation but in our relationships with others that moral autonomy is exercised. A community... (say, the classroom) which is characterized by a set of relationships (for example, caring) encourages its members to be committed to

5 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 229 and for others and to respect everyone s individuality and particularity, and could engender resolution toward self-determination and promotion of the social good in short, toward moral autonomy. (pp ) Another important feature of the book is its frequent and explicit linkage of theoretical issues to practical concerns. For example, discussion of the aims of schooling and the forms of knowledge thesis is followed by recommendations for curriculum content and curriculum organization (chapter 8). An outline of stages in the development of prejudice among children and adolescents is complemented by a description of teaching methods that can help to reduce prejudice (chapter 15). A sociological analysis of the culture of the school indicates how teachers may interact more effectively with their students (chapter 16). At the same time, the text does well to remind us of the danger of having a simplistic view of the relationship between theory and practice. Knowledge such as we find in educational foundations is generally better viewed as interpretive rather than applicational. Much of what we find in the social and behavioural sciences consists of theories, laws or generalizations.... Through them, classroom processes and schooling contexts are understood, interpreted and evaluated in such a way that practitioners are enabled to deal with them intelligently, effectively and creatively. (p. 271) One of the unfinished tasks of educational theory is to link theories of human development with both theory of knowledge and theory of instruction. In this connection, had space permitted, useful additions to the book would have included discussion of learning in stages, spiral learning, and learning by discovery. The topic intelligence would also have been relevant, including reference to contemporaries such as Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg, whose research on multiple intelligences and the triarchic mind holds such promise for educational practice. The compactness and conceptual sophistication of much of the book s material will restrict its appeal to graduate students, faculty, and other professional educators.

6 230 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS Social Purpose and Schooling: Alternatives, Agendas and Issues By Jerry Paquette London, UK: Falmer Press, x pages. REVIEWED BY RODNEY A. CLIFTON & DAVID MANDZUK, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA Paquette examines the purposes of education from broad perspectives, arguing that society is changing very dramatically, and as a result, education is also changing. Two such societal changes would be increasing ethnic heterogeneity and spread of technology. Such changes reduce social cohesion and, in turn, raise questions of social equality. From this perspective, he argues learning and socialization are necessary if society is to maintain social cohesion. Specifically, schools impose and maintain cohesion. Thus, ideological arguments about the good life and the good society are often inherent in curriculum and in the way teachers function in schools. In other words, teachers are agents of the state and impose societal policies on unsuspecting students. Paquette mentions among ideologies laissez-faire capitalism, equalitarianism, and structural pluralism, all vital in their impact on education. In his words, What we believe society ought to do for its members and what we believe it ought to become, after all, has everything to do with what we believe about schooling (p. 18). Chapters 1 and 2 develop the basic argument and chapters 3 to 9 develop its implications in a variety of ways. In the final seven chapters, Paquette examines changes in the way work is done in modern societies, various arrangements for schooling, alternative arrangements for learning, problems in the privatization of education, the education of special groups, and possible futures for education in modern societies. Two chapters in this book are particularly well constructed. Chapter 3, Changing the Rules of the Social Policy Game, outlines major social changes that have affected social and educational policy. Among the most important are changes in technology and automation, changing attitudes toward the environment, and the rise of feminism. Paquette s summary of these types of changes provides a useful backdrop against which he examines specific issues in chapter 7, Issues in Conflict: The Principal Arguments. He there discusses generic issues presented by advocates of increased and of decreased privatization of education. The claim-counterclaim format of this chapter immediately engages the reader in the debate whether or not public education is inefficient and whether or not governmental regulation of private schools is a denial of religious freedom. We have three general criticisms of this book. First, it is not clear who Paquette had in mind as his audience. His language is often so opaque that undergraduates, and even graduate students, would have considerable

7 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 231 difficulty understanding what he means. The following quotation illustrates this problem: Unlike true neo-conservatives, conservatives with a neo-liberal [sic] bent see a free-market as the primary and dominant goal of public policy and regard the state mainly as a means to it, while true neo-conservatives stress social order as the end with state control and the free-market, in that order of importance, as means. For equalitarians, on the other hand, choice becomes, like all other social purpose and educational policy objectives, a means toward equalizing opportunity and results across class and other social characteristics. For neo-liberals, however, choice in education is the hand-maiden and symbolic counterpart of choice in a free-market, especially choice for those most likely to contribute productively to a free-market economy. (pp ) Our criticism is that Paquette s writing style often confuses rather than clarifies important issues. For example, it is not really necessary for him to distinguish between true neo-conservatives, conservatives, and conservatives with a neo-liberal bent. These subtle distinctions are particularly puzzling given that these ideological perspectives are not discussed in greater detail later in the book. Second, Paquette uses more complex conceptualization than is necessary. For example, on pages 55 and 56 he presents a typology of education that includes three variables: the types of regulations the state imposes on education, private or public provision of education, and private or public funding of education. Initially, we thought the author would use this typology to identify eight conceptually distinct types of schooling, but he instead gives thirty distinct types of schooling. Again, the distinctions between these thirty types of schooling are so subtle that even the author combines a number of them in his discussion. In his attempt to unravel a complex argument, it is unfortunate Paquette disregarded parsimony an important principle in theoretical and empirical work. Finally, Paquette does not use empirical evidence even when it is available. Rather than give evidence to support his arguments, Paquette often asks provocative questions, then assumes his answers are both self-evident and empirically correct. In some cases his assumptions are true, but in others, questionable. For example, he writes: In some countries and regions [sic] schools that are heavily funded, and sometimes stringently regulated, [sic] by government both claim to be and are perceived to be private (p. 82). When we read these empirical claims we wonder not only about the countries and regions Paquette has in mind, but also about the evidence he would use to support the generalization that the schools and the public both perceive these schools to be private. Has someone surveyed schools and citizens of these countries and regions? If so, he ought to present the evidence rather than simply expect us to accept his interpretation. If there is no empirical evidence to support this generalization, then Paquette should

8 232 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS tell us he is speculating and that we need not accept his speculation as more accurate than our own. Paquette has succeeded in linking schooling to the broad ideological perspectives that shape social policies in modern societies. It is unfortunate, however, that the accessibility of this book is limited by the author s overuse of terminology, his tendency to overcomplicate issues, and his opaque writing style. Much of the book does not engage readers with things they know and care about. Rather, the book professes to readers about things the author thinks they ought to know and care about. Nevertheless, if readers persist in reading the whole book, they will probably learn something about ideology, social policy, and schooling in modern societies. Bilinguisme et enseignement du français sous la direction de Gamila Morcos Montréal: Éditions du Méridien, pages. RECENSION PAR BERNARD LEFEBVRE, UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À MONTRÉAL Sous la direction de Gamila Morcos, six professeurs de la Faculté Saint-Jean de l Université d Alberta ont analysé la situation typique d un étudiant canadien d aujourd hui dont la langue première est le français ou qui, parlant l anglais ou une autre langue, poursuit des études soit en classe d immersion française, soit en langue française. Le bilinguisme y est examiné sous trois aspects différents. E. Aunger le considère à la lumière des réalités politiques, M. Noël en décrit les caractéristiques sociologiques et S. Carey en expose les effets psychologiques. Le phénomène de l apprentissage est envisagé selon des points de vue variés: L. Godbout explique le processus de l apprentissage en fonction de la langue première, R. Leboulanger Salerno traite de l enseignement des langues et de la formation des maîtres et G. Morcos présente une approche didactique pour l enseignement de la littérature en tenant compte des modèles culturels qui ont cours dans le milieu social. Les questions traitées dans les différents chapitres de ce volume soulèveront l intérêt de toute personne qui croit en l importance du fait français en Amérique. Comme il est impossible de rendre justice à tous les auteurs et à tous les sujets traités, contentons-nous de relever certaines idées chocs qui ont émergé en cours de lecture. Soulignons en premier lieu que, s il est permis de s enorgueillir d appartenir au groupe linguistique francophone qui occupe le septième rang dans le monde et avec lequel 7,2% de la population mondiale est en contact,

9 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 233 force est de constater que les minorités francophones du Canada sont susceptibles d une contamination linguistique venant de la langue parlée par la majorité et accaparant en grande partie les échelons supérieurs de la hiérarchie. On rappelle dans cet ouvrage l importance, pour les francophones des provinces de l est et de l ouest du Canada, de continuer à se regrouper en associations influentes au plan politique et culturel, et, si possible, économique pour réfléchir une image avantageuse d eux-mêmes. En effet, ceux qui sont isolés manquent de moyens de valorisation et glissent plus facilement que d autres vers la langue de la majorité, qu ils ne maîtrisent pas nécessairement à la perfection. Plus loin, nous prenons conscience que ceux qui parlent la langue de la majorité comme langue première apprennent la langue de la minorité pour assurer la sauvegarde des postes influents qu ils occupent déjà. Leur sentiment de supériorité et leur formation antécédente les soutiennent dans l apprentissage de la langue minoritaire. Se trouve alors clairement posée la priorité d une langue par rapport à une autre, selon que la classe sociale qui la parle domine au plan économique. On voit également que lorsque la culture de la majorité linguistique est dominante, la réussite scolaire lui est assurée, sa capacité socio-culturelle se transmettant d une génération à l autre. Par contre, les groupes linguistiques minoritaires ont des chances moindres de succès scolaire, car le message éducatif et culturel leur est étranger. Il est alors difficile d oublier qu une langue officielle n est qu un dialecte officialisé pour des raisons autres que linguistiques. Mais au Canada, il y a deux langues officielles, le poids de l une et l autre variant selon les régions! Dans l ouvrage dirigé par Gamila Morcos les considérations concernant l apprentissage des langues sont d une grande opportunité. Enseigner une langue communique aux apprenants la compréhension d eux-mêmes et non seulement l acquisition de connaissances. Il en ressort que la valorisation ou la dévalorisation de la langue première est reliée à l identification personnelle. Enfin, l enracinement préalable de l apprenant dans sa langue première est une condition de réussite aussi bien sur le plan linguistique que sur le plan personnel. Pour ceux dont la langue première est minoritaire, on affirme qu il est préférable de retarder l apprentissage de la seconde langue à un âge où ils sont capables d une formalisation rudimentaire. Par dessus tout, il semblerait essentiel de développer une fierté fondée sur la valeur et l unicité de la langue première ainsi que sur l appartenance à sa communauté d origine. De sages conseils sont ensuite dispensés aux enseignants. Énumérons-en quelques-uns: exploiter la pédagogie de la communication; partir de l oral; tenir compte des besoins langagiers; laisser s exprimer l apprenant et transformer les fautes en erreurs à analyser. On y préconise alors un enseignement pédocentrique, portant sur les besoins, centré sur l activité personnelle de l élève et basé sur le diagnostique pédagogique. Évitant les situations

10 234 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS factices et les questions fausses, il faudrait créer des situations de communication avec les élèves et poser des questions signifiantes. Un chapitre intitulé: Et tout le reste n est-il que littérature? attire particulièrement l attention. Ce titre de chapitre se veut cependant plus qu une esquive, puisqu il contient une mine de directives précieuses pour les enseignants. Quittant les sentiers battus de l enseignement conventionnel de la littérature, on nous recommande de délaisser l encyclopédisme des contenus et d opter plutôt pour un choix judicieux d extraits littéraires du terroir. Il est suggéré toutefois de placer ces derniers dans leur cadre chronologique et historique puisqu à la même période, des oeuvres ont fleuri en France et en d autres pays francophones. Leur comparaison aide à une plus grande sensibilisation. Il ne s agit pas seulement d étudier et de comprendre des textes pour eux-mêmes. Les élèves sont invités à les comparer avec des oeuvres cinématographiques sur le même sujet, avec des peintures ou des compositions musicales. Selon les auteurs, des explications de nature sociologique ou psychanalytique devraient éclairer parfois la compréhension des textes littéraires. Les professeurs de la Faculté Saint-Jean nous remettent en mémoire qu un enseignement actif ne doit pas se contenter de décoder les connaissances; il doit favoriser aussi l expression par des moyens diversifiés comme le scénario, le compte-rendu, les études comparatives, l exposé oral et non seulement la traditionnelle dissertation littéraire. Enfin, ils formulent un voeu qui devrait se transformer en réalité: que la classe de lettres devienne un atelier de démonstration et aussi de création et de production. Suite à la lecture de cet ouvrage, nous sommes remplis d appréhension lorsque nous considérons objectivement la situation des francophones dont la langue est minoritaire. Toutefois, nous découvrons que des éducateurs savent garder espoir et proposent des conditions qui favoriseront le maintien et le développement de leur langue-culture. La fierté, le sentiment d appartenance, les organisations économiques, sociales et culturelles, un enseignement adapté et moderne de la langue et de la littérature française sont autant de moyens qui sont mis de l avant pour que cette langue première contribue de façon originale au patrimoine commun de la culture française. En terminant, soulignons que Bilinguisme et enseignement du français a remporté, en 1990, le prix de l Association des professeurs de français des universités et collèges canadiens.

11 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 235 Multicultural and Intercultural Education: Building Canada Edited by Sonia V. Morris Calgary: Detselig Enterprises, viii pages. REVIEWED BY STEPHEN E. ANDERSON, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO This compilation, the proceedings of the 1987 Canadian Council for Multicultural and Intercultural Education [CCMIE] National Conference at Edmonton, Alberta, begins by inviting business to embrace multiculturalism, then offers six essays on multicultural, Native, and human rights education. One essay is an overview of the purpose and implementation of federal government policy on Indian Control of Indian Education. Three others revisit the federal government s 1971 policy of multiculturalism in a bilingual framework. Another reaffirms francophone Quebec s objections and alternatives to this policy, and yet another legally analyzes the multicultural provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Parin Dossa presents a brief but interesting ethnographic account of how a group of grade 4 Ismaili- Muslim children and parents responded to traditional Christmas celebrations in a public school, thus making a counterpoint to the academic policy papers. Part 3, on Institutional Response/Policy Development and Implementation, includes Keith Sullivan s report on cultural assumptions underlying policy development and deliberations in five Nova Scotia school boards. Sullivan avoided the usual emphasis on officially designated multicultural or race relations policies, examining school board data according to seven tenets of multiculturalism as defined by CCMIE, whether or not boards had official multicultural policy. John Lingard similarly surveyed Saskatchewan school boards, confirming previous findings that board-level multicultural policies may be expressed variously (official multicultural policies, school system goals or mission statements, specific programs and services). Despite variations in labels and philosophical definitions, the practical components of multicultural education are similar from system to system. Although his province-wide study purports to encompass the implementation of multicultural education, the study confuses the adoption of local board policies and programs in the context of provincial policies with their implementation. Parts 4 and 5, on programs and procedures, include a helpful article by Richard Butt. Drawing from research on institutional and classroom context, student needs, teacher needs, and teaching methods, Butt outlines 25 criteria to guide the development of curriculum materials suitable for multicultural education. Yvonne Hébert and Victor Zelinski describe a collaborative project on the implementation of multicultural curriculum materials.

12 236 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS Two papers contribute to inquiry on the impact of multicultural programs at the classroom level. Both are reports of experimental studies on the effect on students of classroom programs designed to promote positive attitudes toward and knowledge about Native Canadian cultures. Allen Melenchuk s study of two grade 8 classrooms showed a significant increase in positive attitudes toward Natives for the experimental group. Judith McPhie reports on a grade 4 program on Squamish Indian culture. Although students and teachers in the experimental group were positive about the program, there were no consistent differences in learning outcomes and attitudes between students and teachers in experimental and control groups. Part 5 includes two papers reporting interview data on experiences of minority students in schools. These studies allow us to hear from students affected by multicultural policies and by perceptions of racism. Unfortunately, neither report provides a systematic presentation and analysis of data or description of methods, leaving the reader to question the validity of the reported findings. Both studies suggest students may experience prejudice and discrimination despite policies to the contrary, and that teachers may profess agreement with multicultural policies while simultaneously expressing belief in assimilation. Such findings are stark reminders that the adoption of multiculturalism policies by no means ensures the quality and outcomes of implementation. A Muslim author s paper on multicultural education in the public school system shows the likely impact if minority groups defined it. Two papers argue against conventional IQ tests and other culturally biased assessment strategies in culturally diverse Canadian schools, and for such alternative strategies as interdisciplinary assessment, and dynamic assessment of learning potential. Several conference-based collections on multicultural education in Canada were published in the 1980s, giving legitimacy to this field of inquiry and practice in Canadian education, and creating a sense of community among scholars, educators, and others interested in the implications and impact of cultural and racial diversity on Canadian social institutions, in particular, education. They satisfied a demand in undergraduate and graduate education classes for texts in this area. They also set high standards. Overall, Multicultural and Intercultural Education: Building Canada does not meet the standards set by prior publications in this field. The editor offers no conceptual or descriptive content overview for the reader. Some articles are much in need of further elaboration. Several papers rehash topics well covered in previous publications. There are numerous editing errors. For a volume devoted to multicultural and intercultural education in Canada, the editing and translation errors in French abstracts of English articles are embarrassing. Some abstracts do not fit the contents of the articles. Some bibliographies are incomplete. Several authors are missing from the list of contributors.

13 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 237 Despite the deficits of this text, individual papers deserve attention. A peer review mechanism would assist in publication of future conference proceedings of this sort, ensuring the technical, practical, and academic quality of the published papers. Education and the Information Society: A Challenge for European Policy Edited by Michael Eraut London, UK: Council of Europe/Cassell Educational, xii pages. REVIEWED BY STEPHEN T. RUSAK, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO The Canadian Council of Ministers of Education recently agreed on a national testing strategy to be implemented in While the pros and cons of national testing are being debated, the Ministers, in concert with the federal Department of Communications, are developing a national strategy on educational courseware. Its purpose is to encourage effective use of Canadian courseware in all schools across the country. Essential to this policy is the creation of a technological (industrial) base to satisfy Canadian demand and to compete in the global marketplace in computer-based learning materials. Education and the Information Society clearly conveys the Europeans determination to do likewise. The scope of the discussion goes far beyond computers to the whole complex of the new information and communication technologies. It is a statement by European ministers of education of how education systems should respond to the challenge of the information society (p. xii). According to the editor, the ministers were in remarkable agreement when they met in Istanbul in 1989 on the aims and role of education in the 1990s. The ministers referred to are the twenty-eight now-signatories to the cultural convention of the Council of Europe, the twenty-four statutory members of the Council along with the Czech and Slovak Republics, the Holy See, Yugoslavia, and Poland. Others are certain to follow. As signatories to the convention, the member states agree to cooperate to implement policy, jointly conceived, in their respective jurisdictions. However, the twelve ministers of education of the European Community are even more directly affected, since the impending union under the Acte Unique impels them to coordinate their policies preparatory to the abolition of virtually all barriers across their frontiers. What we are witnessing is the eventual integration of the many European systems of education, from cooperation, through coordination, to eventual rationalization, all hastened by technological imperative.

14 238 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS The book s three parts offer an overview of the current thinking among Council of Europe ministers of education and their senior administrators on what comprises the information society. A second part, by academics and experts commissioned by the ministers, considers the topic, and the third is an assortment of five case studies of implementation and experimentation in various countries. The foreword is mandatory reading for an understanding of what constitutes the Council of Europe. For most North American educators this is terra incognita. Although referring occasionally to American and Canadian experience, the authors emphasize the European situation, coming to terms with new technologies, conscious as never before that their societies and systems of education are in for radical change. It takes on the dimensions of a paradigmatic shift, placing informatics at the very centre of the new evolving society as an organizing principle of social life. The word information is thoroughly dissected. The cliché that when citizens of any country have access to full and objective information, then democracy will triumph is assessed critically and found wanting (p. 106). Francis Balle, Rector of the University of Paris VII, stands the argument on its head, stating there is no automatic brotherhood through electronics. Whereas professional optimists confuse community and communication, he avers that community precedes communication and not the reverse. At a recent international conference in Toronto on The University and Democracy, John Mitterer and Kelvin O Neill stated that By the single criterion of privacy computers would almost certainly have to be judged a disadvantage to democracy. Further, we should aim... to put the word information out of use whether it is possible or not for us actually to do so ; and When a word [information] is resorted to so often,... it may contain some dubious metaphysics. There is obviously deep suspicion, here and abroad, that information and its dissemination by electronic digital communication needs judicious handling. Perhaps the most interesting case study is Italy: Schools and the Media, : Social and Cultural Dimensions of Educational Policies. It indicates the distance to be traversed before media and technology become an integral part of that country s educational system. Purported to be the most extensive empirical sociological-anthropological research ever carried out in Italy, its conclusions are arresting. Secondary school teachers consider the media, especially television, to have a deleterious effect on young people, whereas students hold a quite different opinion they have no strong feelings at all about the media. Teachers consider the media their arch foe and regard two of the other major socializing agencies, the family and the peer group, as negative influences in education. In the words of the researchers, the teachers feel relatively powerless in the face of the contrasting mixture of influences to which their pupils are exposed, and focus their attention on the media, which they make the scapegoat for all their difficulties. Teachers are reluctant to have anything to do with the media.

15 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 239 It is not the students who need reorientation, it is the teachers who need counselling: the phrase schizophrenic educational atmosphere is apt (p. 269). One might legitimately question why a book on European education should be reviewed in a Canadian education journal. In light of the European strategy to make porous national boundaries and to re-affirm local identity, the very notion of nationality is being seriously challenged; our Canadian situation is currently being re-evaluated in the light of that fact. The European Community has recently agreed (the U.K. abstaining) to effect financial integration, by accepting the ECU as its basic monetary unit. It is evolving toward a more closely integrated political union. It will soon become the world s largest fully functioning economic union. Member countries of the Council of Europe are lined up to join the Community so that it can only increase in size and influence, as a federated state. The Council of Ministers of Education of this anticipated federation are now discussing that evolution, of which technology and media are an integral part. It might be prudent for Canadian educators to take note. L histoire d apprentissage d une enfant sauvage par Aimée Leduc Brossard: Behaviora, pages. RECENSION PAR RAYMON PAQUIN, UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À TROIS-RIVIÈRES Le cas des enfants privés d attention, de soins physiques et, en un mot, d éducation dès leurs premiers mois d existence suscite inévitablement l intérêt populaire. Un tel sujet a toutefois été récemment l objet d une recherche scientifique menée par Aimée Leduc, professeure à l Université Laval de Québec. La conception du développement cognitif de l enfant selon le béhaviorisme paradigmatique, théorie élaborée par le professeur Arthur Staats, a servi de cadre théorique à l ensemble du projet d intervention réalisé. La première partie de l ouvrage offre une explication originale du développement de l enfant qui tente de concilier et de rapprocher les théories traditionnelles du développement de l enfant avec les conceptions modernes portant une attention particulière aux facteurs personnels internes de l humain. À la suite de la recension des écrits sur les enfants qui ont souffert d isolement social, l auteur présente d une façon concise le relevé des études les plus remarquables sur ledit sujet depuis les cinquante dernières années, études classées selon le critère de la récupération réalisée par les enfants.

16 240 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS Cette originalité apporte un allégement dans la lecture des cas en évitant au lecteur de faire la démarche de discrimination généralement pratiquée pour une meilleure compréhension. L histoire de Dominique, une enfant qui a été socialement isolée dès le jeune âge, apparaît dans la troisième partie du volume. On y expose la situation problématique de la petite Dominique, de son enfance à la dernière séance d apprentissage, au moment de son hospitalisation. L enfant était alors âgée de dix ans. Les parties quatre, cinq et six constituent le coeur de l étude pour laquelle la responsable s est entourée de plusieurs collaborateurs et collaboratrices, de décembre 1982 à janvier Dans un premier temps, on traite de l évolution de Dominique, de l évaluation de l intelligence et de la compétence sociale de la petite. La cinquième partie décrit l entraînement; les caractéristiques générales et même les intervenants. Les résultats et leur interprétation apparaissent à la sixième partie; on couvre le bilan des acquisitions de Dominique relatif aux habiletés cognitives, mais on ne fait pas mention des acquis de la compétence sociale. Quant à la possibilité de généraliser les résultats à d autres enfants carencés, ce qui constitue le deuxième objectif de la recherche, l auteur tente de répondre à cette question en comparant les résultats d études expérimentales limitées et menées dans des contextes rapprochés avec le bilan des acquisitions de Dominique. La comparaison des résultats semble démontrer qu il y a possibilité de généraliser à d autres enfants puisque Dominique apparaît un cas extrême de carence. L interprétation des résultats est bien soutenue par une correspondance au cadre théorique et à certains relevés issus de la recension des écrits. Cette partie de l étude se présente comme une conclusion enrichissante grâce à l application de la conception béhavioriste paradigmatique du développement de l enfant. Ces diverses sections sont présentées d une façon sobre, sans longueur, en fournissant toutes les informations nécessaires pour reprendre une intervention semblable. La dernière partie du volume présente des réflexions précieuses aux personnes préoccupées par la réhabilitation des enfants à risque. Suite à diverses expériences, l auteur aborde quatre thèmes: la formation des intervenants, l intégration et la normalisation des conditions de vie, la psychiatrisation des enfants, et les droits des enfants. En référant à des études comportementales et aux cas semblables à celui de Dominique, les opinions de l auteur dépassent le simple point de vue sur une question de société; on est placé devant un témoignage concluant rempli d espoirs. L appendice de l ouvrage contient les sept études expérimentales qui constituent le corpus de la recherche concernant l aspect généralisation des résultats obtenus. Les diverses études sont présentées en fournissant tous les détails qui s imposent. Il ne fait aucun doute que la parution de cette monographie est une contribution importante aux sciences de l éducation. Ce qui impressionne,

17 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 241 dans cette réalisation, c est la démonstration du caractère prescriptif de la conception béhavioriste paradigmatique et les résultats positifs de son application. On notera un plan rigoureux et cohérent pour offrir une alternative aux praticiens de la réhabilitation d enfants qui ont subi des retards dans leur éducation et leur formation. Enfin, le questionnement concernant la psychiatrisation des enfants constitue un des intérêts majeurs de cet ouvrage. Le lecteur est convié, une fois de plus, à une sérieuse réflexion sur les traitements en milieu psychiatrique. Framing the Past: Essays on Art Education Edited by Don Soucy and Mary Ann Stankiewicz Reston, VA: National Art Education Association, pages. REVIEWED BY ANN E. CALVERT, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY The recent wave of interest in the history of art education may indicate the establishment of the field s disciplinary identity. If so, then Framing the Past: Essays on Art Education will clarify that identity, and support the tradition of debate and diversity in art education. This series of thirteen separate studies of events and personalities in art education history contains new stories, re-interpretations, and some new connections. They embellish a growing field of study and provide a valuable source of information for Canadian art education audiences. Students in curriculum theory classes in art education sometimes are asked to reconcile key ideas in the field with their own experience. Students question the dominance of American art education literature, programs, and issues, and ask how the Canadian perspective might be different. They lament the marginal status of art in school programmes, and seek a solution for what they see as conflicts of purpose between personal, developmental, and subject-centred approaches to art curriculum development. The essays in Framing the Past show why these complaints persist. As a compilation, the book offers no integrated explanation of events, but rather a series of stories embodying different approaches to historical research. The close connection between Canadian and American approaches to art education can be traced not only to the often-cited hegemony of American research bases and publications, but also to common philosophical roots in British drawing and design instruction beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. Recurrent references to The South Kensington National Art Training School, and to the writings of Ruskin, Read, and Morris present recognizable commonalities in the very beginnings of organized art instruction in both countries. These figures are important elements in the essays of Wood

18 242 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS and Soucy, Chalmers, Stankiewicz, and Rogers, and serve to help explain our common emphases on education through art, the predominance of drawing as a touchstone of art learning, and the concern with natural abilities, creative growth, and individuality as goals of art learning. The relationship between education, art, work, and class is repeatedly analyzed. Several essays consider the classic dichotomy between instrumentalist and essentialist rationales for art education. Bolin s new interpretation of Massacheusetts nineteenth-century industrial drawing mandates, Wood s and Soucy s review of the link between moral education and art education in Nova Scotia, and Amburgy s analysis of progressive reforms around the turn of the century all bring new interpretations to the social history of art education. Amburgy s insight into the early purposes of art education provides answers about the persistently minor status of art in most school programs. The book also serves as a sampler of approaches to historical research. There are closely focused biographical views of influential characters in art education history: Elizabeth Peabody s career in transcendentalism and Froebel s theory by Saunders; Marion Richardson s career and influence by Swift; the ministry of Alexander Forrester in Nova Scotia by Wood and Soucy; and the early art masters of New Zealand (Chalmers) and British Columbia (Rogers). Tracing the transfer of theory from one place to another, Chalmers outlines colonial New Zealand s desire to reproduce the British drawing system, and Thistlewood describes the reproduction of ideals of public education from New York s Museum of Modern Art in the London Institute of Contemporary Arts. Other authors track the life of an idea from one era to another, as in Amburgy s chronicle of Progressivism, and Stankiewicz s analysis of the evolution of design education. Broader, inclusive accounts describe histories in terms of time periods, as in Lemerise s and Sherman s cultural analysis of French and English art education in Quebec between 1940 and 1980, and Rogers account of the political factors that impeded curriculum implementation in B.C. between the two world wars. Around these carefully described vignettes are placed a few broader, more general portrayals of art education in relation to concurrent educational events and influences. Soucy s historiographic account of the legacy of an early art education historian, Isaac Edwards Clarke, gives a background for understanding the new wave of art education histories of the 1980s and 1990s. Efland s overview of conflicting concepts of art educational purposes, and Korzenik s reinterpretation of concepts of child development as reflected in their historical context, both give wide, but new perspectives of ongoing debates in art education theory. These essays were the substance of an international symposium on art education history held in Halifax in As the conference proceeded, delegates must have noticed the importance of themes about changing ideas in social contexts. As I read, I wished for a synthesis of the continuities and connections they perceived. Aside from an introductory description, the book

19 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS 243 lacks any such observations or thematic analyses. The organization of the sections of the book into time periods (the nineteenth century, turn of the century, and twentieth century) seems arbitrary and suggests a chronology that is not a dominant feature of this collection of vivid, but unevenly-sized portions of history. Framing the Past: Essays on Art Education takes a qualitative, case-study approach to art education history corresponding to a similar research trend in the field as a whole. As such it will not serve as a general survey of the discipline for students; but that was not the editors intention. The book s international conception of the development of art education will be appreciated by Canadian audiences. Its scope is timely, given the culturally reflective tone of much current art education theory, and the identity-seeking thrust of much current art education policy. The book will be an excellent contribution to art educators understanding of work done to bring the field to its present theoretical stage, and what has still to be accomplished. The Foundations of Adult Education in Canada By Gordon Selman and Paul Dampier Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing, pages. REVIEWED BY DEO H. POONWASSIE, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA The formal study of adult education in Canada has a short history, witness the few publications in the field. This book is a useful addition to the literature. Selman s and Dampier s introduction defines the field, showing how it may be a force for social change. They give an historical account of it from its beginnings as a social movement, to its contemporary practice as provider of professionalized and institutionalized service. The book touches on history and biography, functions and philosophy, public policy, participation, program development, and the contemporary scene (p. 291), the authors drawing on such Canadian writers as Kidd, Draper, Farris, Thomas, and Welton. Although the first author is an historian, the book might have been more balanced and deserving of the word foundations if sociological, psychological, and economic aspects of adult education were given substantial consideration. Each chapter can stand by itself. The beginning student or practitioner of adult education will find chapter 1 ( Definitions and Boundaries ) of particular interest. The authors are lucid and up-to-date in discussing standards for adult education. Chapter 5 ( Elements of Design in Programs ) reviews

20 244 RECENSIONS / BOOK REVIEWS several approaches to program planning, pointing out essential steps in them, while isolating problems in program implementation. The strength of this chapter lies in its illustration of adult education at work for social change. Although Selman and Dampier apologize for not including Quebec (p. ix) and other French-speaking areas of Canada in their book, this exclusion is unpardonable and regrettable, especially in the current political climate. The authors (who I assume felt incompetent to write on philosophical considerations ; pp in chapter 2) were able to consult with a specialist in philosophy. I argue that the same could have been done for the Frenchspeaking areas of our country. Chapter 9, The Contemporary Scene and Future Prospects, omits two crucial areas. The first is the contributions and roles of women in adult education and their influence in the future. The second is the role of adult education in meeting the needs and influencing the direction of our multicultural society. Despite omissions and an excessively historical emphasis, the book will serve as an important introductory text in the study of adult education; it will also provide a perspective for practitioners. This book will be welcomed most by those involved in academic adult education. Education for Work, Education as Work: Canada s Changing Community Colleges Edited by Jacob Muller Toronto: Garamond Press, pages. REVIEWED BY PAUL GALLAGHER, BRITISH COLUMBIA HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT Many browsers, particularly college administrators, will be inclined to dismiss this book as the exaggerated ravings of a small minority of ultra-left, disaffected college instructors and observers. Editor Muller quickly puts his cards on the table, noting in the introduction that the understanding of social relations is based on the work of Marx and Engels... as the contributors critically analyze management s ongoing changes to the colleges, changes intended to dovetail with industry needs. The basic thesis is in this vein. College instructors originally were self-directed professionals with reasonable workloads (a position that does not ring true). They have been turned into educational technicians with much heavier workloads (a position that, in some cases, seems not far from the truth) by a conspiracy of government bureaucrats and institutional