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The evolution of cadre (political elite and bureaucratic functionaries) education in China from 1949 to the present was evaluated in terms of leadership development and the underlying interests of the Chinese Communist Party as it integrates more fully into the world economy. Historic achievements include: (1) increased knowledge about market economies; (2) increased use of management theory and practice; and (3) improved work performance efficiency. In 1998, to correct ongoing cadre problems (such as corruption, favoritism, and lack of civic responsibility) and to improve the governance capacity of cadres (to create greater social stability), the federal government initiated Three-Emphasis Education (emphasizing theory, study, political awareness, and work ethics improvement), an integral part of which was interviews with 1500 cadres. Findings included the following: (1) the hierarchical nature of the program prevented rapid improvements and public access to program evaluation; (2) poor systemization into cadre's daily work caused corruption to resurface once education was complete; and (3) the lack of an educational objective to change the Chinese bureaucracy (the current objective was to change individuals only). Inclusion of the public in the process of cadre political education is recommended in order to strengthen educational outcomes. (The bibliography lists seven references). (AJ)

This paper explores the concept of post-Communist identity, particularly in the countries that make up what was formerly referred to as the Eastern Bloc. It examines previous work in the field about the development of minority identity through language and provides a historical background about Eastern Europe and Hungary. It describes some of the options for identity formation in post-Communist Eastern Europe and illustrates these options using examples from Hungarian college students' writings and class discussions (the return to nationalism, the realignment with the West, and becoming citizens of the global village). The paper suggests using the notion of minority identity to view a post-Communist society. It concludes that Hungarians are very aware of their need to construct new identities vis-a-vis their relationships to their own history, to both the east and the west, and to the global village. They are also aware of the role that language (both their own language and foreign languages such as English) plays in that identity construction. (SM)

This paper describes the effect of cultural context on the content of kindergarten curriculum in Poland, chronicling the historical changes from Communist to post-Soviet, capitalist cultures. Soviet cultural influence on early childhood education from 1945 to 1989 is described as affecting a single obligatory curriculum, strict government control, limited parental involvement, direct instruction, nationalist activities, and ideological indoctrination. The paper notes that the developing pluralism of the 1970s and 1980s did not affect the uniform state cultural policy in the schools because of strict tutorial control, limited parental involvement, and a parental belief in the survival of Polish family values--which was encouraged by the Church. The paper presents changes in the educational curriculum in kindergartens in the 1990s, including policy documents that became invalid and changes in minimum standards for education. The general assumptions and program content, including physical education, child/family/environment relations, and cognitive and creative development, of these new education standards are outlined. Changes are reported in classroom instruction, particularly greater communication between teacher and students, more small group and individual work, and less formal discipline. Also noted are the increasing role of religion in the schools, greater parental participation, and new civic schools, including Jewish schools. Finally, the paper briefly describes a study of teacher attitudes, revealing a mixture of hope and anxiety, and mixed feelings about the loss of state control, greater teacher autonomy, and parental participation. (Two hundred and nine teachers participated. (JPB)

In the first half of the 20th century, the social functions of the indigenous languages in Chukotka, in northeast Asia, increased due to the development of written languages, local press, and broadcasting on radio and television. From 1933 to 1989, the local press of indigenous peoples in Chukotka was used for Communist Party propaganda. However, it also improved the indigenous peoples' lives and the development of educational institutions. The local press in Chukotka, published only in the Chukchi language until 1989, was an important forum for maintaining the social functions of indigenous languages. In the 1950s, language assimilation increased because of the language policy and influence of the Russian majority. Indigenous children had to attend boarding schools and were educated in the Russian language. Now the oral traditions are being lost because indigenous families speak mostly Russian and because Native languages are losing their function as transmitters of indigenous culture. The recognition of that loss by indigenous people caused them to found local cultural societies whose aim was to preserve indigenous languages. In the early 1990s, the Murgin Nutenut newspaper was published in three indigenous languages and Russian by a group of Native journalists and writers whose goal was saving their traditional culture and language. Now the paper is a supplement to a Russian newspaper and publishes material in two indigenous languages twice a month. (TD)

Rhetorical norms of early McCarthyist discourse reveal a reliance upon images of chaos and the body. Through such metaphors, rhetors crafted a model of discussion that feminized "democracy" and "tolerance" to support anti-Communist measures and de-legitimize their opponents. Political variety was coded as deviant to national identity. "Tolerance" became a warrant for the argument to contain political freedom. The paper's examination of congressional deliberations of contempt of Congress citations, the Subversive Activities Control Act, and Senator McCarthy's own rhetoric shows the development of the rhetorical norms of McCarthyism. (Includes 84 notes; contains 45 works cited.) (Author/NKA)

Defining civic education reform in the Czech Republic since 1989 in terms of its post-communist transition, this paper contends that the breadth, depth, and range of educational reforms proposed or already adopted in Central and Eastern European societies is extensive, involving most areas of education (curricula, educational legislation, management, new types of school and university institutions, and the system's overall structure, administration, and financing). The document includes explanations of Czech Republic education reforms from political, historical, and sociological perspectives: "Character of Our Educational Reform"; "'Anomie' and 'Crisis'"; "The Heritage of the Communist Regime"; "The Role of Pre-war Models and Traditions"; "The Influences of Political Doctrines";"The Legislative Framework"; "The Role of Public Opinion and the Media"; "General Principles and Main Problems of Curriculum Reform"; and "Conclusions." After a seven-year transitional process that has opened up the education system to local and individual initiatives with relatively minor State involvement, the next phase of reform in the Czech Republic (and Central and Eastern Europe) requires collaborative discussions on the goals of education and curriculum content. (CB)

This paper examines education in China from 1949 to 1979. Education plays a key role in Chinese society. The main goal of Chinese educational policy is to produce workers with both socialist consciousness and culture. The Chinese conception of education is very broad and includes the regular school system, work-study education, and informal mass education. The paper quotes significant points from the "Common Program," the first tentative constitution adopted in 1949. The educational achievements in China between 1949 and 1966 are then reviewed and assessed. In 1949 China declared war on illiteracy. Efforts were undertaken to make the Chinese written language easier to learn. Romanization was used as a tool to aid pronunciation of the Chinese characters. The written Chinese characters were also simplified by reducing the number of strokes. Nurseries, kindergartens, and primary and secondary school education were expanded. Vocational and specialized schools were opened. In 1949 there were 207 higher educational institutions. By the mid 1960s there were 400. On May 7, 1966, Mao issued the famous "Directive on Education" which has served as the basis for all subsequent revolutionary activities in education. The reforms and innovations which occurred between 1966 and 1976 are described. For example, the down-to-the-countryside program was launched in 1968 and continues to be one of the key policies of China. The dilemmas encountered during the Cultural Revolution decade are also examined. The paper concludes with a description of the contemporary revised educational approach, 1977-1979, and the national emphasis on the "Four Modernizations." (RM)

In this essay, Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory (which seeks to explain how individuals try to reconcile holding two inconsistent beliefs at the same time) is used to explore the nature of expectancy effects and what possible roles they play in the thinking of the radical right. The paper first defines expectancy effects and explains how they work by discussing three variables in the expectancy process: senders' disposition, reinforcement, and correspondence bias. The theory of expectancy effects is then used in the paper to examine three of the groups who supported Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to show that even though the beliefs that each group holds may be false, when each group looks for ways to resolve this tension between beliefs, they create an additional false predisposition. The groups are the pseudo-conservatives (so-called by Richard Hofstadter), certain ethnic groups, and small businessmen. Next, the paper examines how the rest of the expectancy process works with the radical right. The paper concludes that expectancy effects are a useful tool for explaining the implications of the tension reducing strategies described by Festinger. (Twenty notes are included.) (MS)

This essay traces the liberal to conservative changes in U.S. political attitudes and the effect these changes had on progressive and essentialist theories of education from the 1940s to the present. Focus is on the role Arthur Bestor played in these developments. Bestor was a leader of the anti-progressive movement during the 1950s and the most widely read educational reformer of that time. Initially the main difference between Bestor and his opponents was the relative place he gave to social problems and the liberal disciplines, but he grew increasingly conservative in his vision of educational reform, promoted essentialism in education, and called for a national commitment to liberal education. Bestor's educational background, ideologies, theories of curriculum, and opponents are discussed. Debates regarding teaching mainstream culture versus cultural pluralism, issues which divided Bestor and his progressive opponents during the 1950s, continue to divide liberal educators today. The document argues that because the Cold War is over and the political crisis that inflamed educational differences between progressives and essentialists is gone, it is time for progressive educators to acknowledge the value of Bestor's ideas and bring the educational Cold War to an end. Contains 153 references. (MM)

National periodicals constructed their retellings of McCarthyism in problematic ways. They failed to remember the numerous actors who contributed to McCarthyism, and instead focused on Senator Joseph McCarthy as someone who took the necessary anti-Communism to an extreme. Periodicals held realist world views and clamored for objectivity in retelling the story of McCarthyism. This metonymical public memory supported a passive "tolerance" for McCarthyism. This memory is problematic, for it is a creative forgetting of the aspects of history which did not mesh with the orthodox view of the past. (Contains 71 notes and 73 references.) (Author)

In the last 6 years, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been undergoing fundamental political reinvention. Scholars of language, literacy, and rhetoric can learn much from the study of rhetorical histories. Accordingly, a brief rhetorical history of these upheavals, particularly those in Poland, reveals the extent to which they are very much about the language of politics and public debate. According to literary professor Michal Glowinski, the major characteristic of Communist rhetoric in Poland was the dominance of simple, direct evaluation over sense. Such evaluations were always based on clear oppositions and polarizations: us vs. them, friend vs. foe, good vs. bad. It was thus a language that was already overinterpreted; each work, each expression, had one meaning and one meaning only. Because of this semantic reduction it did not tolerate synonyms or alternative ways of expression. Another major characteristic of this language was its strong "magical" quality: its orientation not towards describing reality but towards bringing it about. Desirable states were talked about as though they already existed. In the 1980s, public frustration and demands for real dialogue and meaningful reforms, coupled with a deteriorating economy, led to an acute rhetorical crisis. Ironically, Solidarity entered the elections with a program whose articulation painfully resembled, in spite of the differences in substance, the traditional rhetoric of propaganda. One problem continuing to face Poland is the persistence of the polarizing, valuative rhetoric, which originated in totalitarian discourse. (TB)