This study explores the primacy of developing a critical pedagogy appropriate for art museum education, with particular reference to the curriculum in the Singapore Art Museum (SAM). To create conditions for a pedagogy which is meaningful to the experience of visitors, the art museum curriculum needs to empower visitors to construct and reflect about issues of identity and culture. The role that critical pedagogy might play in addressing the educational approaches in SAM is presented. Finally, the implications for practice are explored in the form of community-based art education. Together, it is argued that collaborative and interdisciplinary educational experiences should be the purpose and outcome for developing the Art museum as a vehicle / site for community empowerment.

The article discussed basic concepts of the evolution and characters of family education. It introduced the Chinese and international views on family education evaluation criteria, analyzed the principles of constructing these criteria. Family education evaluation criteria consist of dominant and recessive family education factors. The former one includes the concepts, contents, methods and strategies of parent education. The latter one includes the human relationship inside the family, the parents’ moral, cultural and living quality, living conditions and life styles.

Another political story, a narrative about political depression. We are 45 days out and counting from the 2004 election. Bush is leading Kerry in every poll. I despair. Nothing is working. Yesterday the New York Times devoted the entire Op Ed page to advice for the Kerry campaign. "Get a Message" seemed to be the message, and stay on it. Fifty percent of the American public think the country is headed in the wrong direction, and Bush is still leading Kerry by 13 points.

The cracks in the history of this administration have been exposed. The Bush Presidency has trashed the environment, welfare, education, the economy, turned the rest of the world against us, and over 10,000 Iraqi's and 1000 Americans have died in his dirty little Middle Eastern war. There are more than 100 anti-Bush books, and still counting. Bush's lies have been catalogued, documented and analyzed (Corn, 2003; Dowd, 2004; Ivins, 2003; Moore, 2003; Pope, 2003; Powers, 2003). There were no weapons of mass destruction. The Iraqi' do not love us. Bush was warned in advance of 9/11. And yet none of this seems to matter. Bush's handlers have turned fantasy into reality. Sixty percent of the voters still think Saddam supported Al Qaeda.

Critics assert that George Bush is a liar, a "President who knowingly and deliberately twists facts for political gain" (Hersh, 2004, p. 367; Corn, 2003). Turning intelligence estimates and wishful thinking into statements of fact has become an art form in this administration. Even Karl Rove knew, if Bush didn't, that arguments about Saddam's WMD program were based on "estimates full of judgments, not absolute certainties" (Woodward, 2004, p. 219). Indeed, Rove understands the difference between a fact and intelligence Paraphrasing Woodward, "If its a fact, is not called intelligence." (Woodward, 2004, p. 219).

But to call Bush a liar assumes that his lying indicates "an understanding of what is desired, what is possible, and how best to get there. A more plausible explanation is that words have no meaning for this President beyond the immediate moment, and so he believes that his mere utterance of the phrases makes them real. It is a terrifying possibility" (Hersh, 2004, p. 367). Indeed!

In today’s global world, it is no longer uncommon for people to live in several different countries or socio-economically and culturally different communities, or move between two countries frequently during their lifetime. Negotiating Bilingual and Bicultural Identities provides a unique opportunity to examine the development of bilingual and bicultural identities of students who spend their adolescent years in a host country and then return to their home country.

The book presents findings from a longitudinal study of four teenage Japanese students who spent several years in North America and then returned to Japan to attend university. Using narrative inquiry and communities of practice as a theoretical framework, the author, Yasuko Kanno explores the intimate link between language, experience, identity and culture by analyzing the narratives of the Japanese students who are the sons and daughters of Japanese businessmen. The focus of this longitudinal study is mainly on how identities of young bilingual “returnees” (called kikokushijo) and their relationship to their two languages and two cultures change as they move from adolescence to young adulthood. According to Kanno, the study is significant and unique in that three characteristics of it differentiate it from other studies on bilingual and bicultural identities. First of all, this is a longitudinal study in which Kanno had followed the same bilingual students over a long period of time. And as oppose to the other studies, Kanno mainly focus not only on how learners grown-up as bilingual and bicultural individuals, but also on where they decide to place themselves between two languages and cultures. Second, this study documents student voice, which is lack in bilingual research in general. Third, although studies on bilingual and bicultural identities focus mainly on immigrants who move to a new country and stay there, this study focuses on the bilingual students who go back to their home country. It is also striking that the book is written in a language accessible to a wide readership.

Ruddell’s book, Teaching Content Reading and Writing, is an excellent source to find information about content reading and writing, especially adolescent literacy, new technologies, and instructional strategies. The book has 12 chapters and they link together in a logical manner. After the preface and acknowledgement, readers can see instructional strategies and their chapter numbers. I think giving the specific chapter numbers of the each strategy makes the book more accessible for the readers. They can easily find and read the strategies. At the beginning and at the end of the each chapter, Ruddell gives Double Entry Journal Activity (DEJ) for the readers. According to Ruddell, Before Reading Journals help readers to stimulate their ideas about the main topics of the chapters, and After Reading Journals help readers to extend their understanding of the text. I think before and after DEJ activities are excellent methods for active reader participation. Connecting the chapter contents to schools, classrooms, teachers, and students is the main idea in these journals.