Education & Pedagogy

Early childhood is a period of rapid development and growth, and regardless of physical, psychological, and social abilities, young children at this stage have great plasticity and strong imitation ability. Childhood is a critical period for individual learning; so preschool teachers must provide young children with appropriate moral education at this time. This paper is to discuss the importance of moral education for young children in Taiwan, analyze the relevant literature, and review the teaching concepts and methods of moral education. Moral education of young children is important because the ultimate goal of early childhood education is to shape the character of young children; so its content must focus on moral education, which cultivates moral values in young children. Moral education also develops an understanding of empathy and social responsibility for young children. This paper argues that preschool teachers must (1) respect young children's moral subjectivity; (2) understand that early childhood is a critical period in which moral behavior is shaped, and (3) organize young children's moral teaching from the concrete to the abstract. In terms of the optimal teaching methods, this paper proposes that preschool teachers use: (1) moral storytelling, (2) instructional media, (3) picture books, (4) discussion of moral issues, (5) peer learning, (6) moral narratives, (7) modeling moral behavior, (8) incorporate young children's life experience, and (9) invite young children's parents to participate in moral education. This study contributes to the literature on early childhood moral education and provides an insight into the praxis of moral education for young children in Taiwan.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries have had to review their education policies and make adjustments accordingly. In this regard, distance education has been adopted in universities in Turkiye, and each university has created its own distance education strategy. Distance education, once only a complementary to education, replaced traditional education when the pandemic turned out to be unlikely to end in the short run. Although some universities are experienced in distance education, this sudden pandemic has caused disruptions (digital inequality, technological infrastructure problems, etc.) and unprecedented situations catching most universities off-guard. One of these is the emergence or the change of alienation seen in academic staff due to distance education. The aim of the study is to identify the work alienation of academics during the COVID-19 pandemic and reveal the underlying reasons, with the help of semi-structured interview technique within the framework of the phenomenological approach, one of the qualitative research methods. For this purpose, interviews through the Google Meet application were held with 12 academics. Content analysis was applied to the data obtained from these interviews. As a result, it was found that the interviewed academics were adversely affected by the distance education method and they were not competent enough to use it. It was also revealed that they were unable to identify their demands regarding their economical and technical needs yet at the same time they were not satisfied with the support provided by their institutions.

In the paper, the authors discuss the first research effort to explore the transition from traditional teaching into distance teaching in Polish primary schools enforced by COVID-19. The first research question was addressed to primary school students and was dedicated to furnishing them with ICT equipment for crisis-prompted distance informatics learning. According to the obtained results, almost all Polish students during the pandemic have a technical opportunity to participate in distance learning and to use digital devices to develop their digital competences. Hence the second research question was addressed to the experts, demystifies whether the accessibility and the availability of ICTs could increase students' informatics learning outcomes in out-of-school primary education settings. The obtained results reveal the significant importance of out-of-school informatics education in pandemic time. Moreover, in the first wave of pandemic, distance informatics education had the same or similar effect as if students learn informatics by themselves, without school lessons and teachers' support. The obtained results should strengthen teachers and school leaders in making informed decisions during the shift into distance informatics education. Also, by investigating participants' informatics learning outcomes and teacher preparedness and choices when implementing distance education, authors hope that the study may be helpful for policy-makers with the progressive changes in education and government support for informatics, especially in Poland, in making informed decisions to aid the transition into distance education as well as developing preparedness plans for future pandemics.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the educational impulses and effects of Indigenous dialogue with the settler colonial state. Taking the "Uluru Statement from the Heart," devised in May 2017 by a convention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as a starting point, and contrasting this with the 1967 Referendum campaign for constitutional reform, the paper explores the role of multiple forms and contexts of education during these processes of First Nations dialogue with the settler state. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws on historical accounts of the 1967 Referendum and the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart. Findings: The paper demonstrates how education provided by the state has been used by First Nations peoples to challenge education systems and to dialogue with the settler state for Indigenous recognition and rights. It also illuminates the range of views on what education is and should be, therefore, contesting the neat and settled conceptions of education that can dominate policy discourse. Finally the historical cases show the deficiencies of settler state education through its failure to truthfully represent Australian history and its failure to acknowledge and confront the entirety of the consequences of settler colonial practices. Originality/value: This paper seeks to bring issues of education, politics and justice together to illustrate how the settler state and its institutions -- specifically here, education -- are part of an ongoing project of negotiation, contestation and dialogue over questions of justice.

The quality of life for individuals with disabilities depends on access to quality services and employment opportunities. It is also important that the disabled be accepted as participating, contributing, and cherished members of the community. Distance and isolation, which typify rural areas, directly impact each of these issues. Individuals with disabilities have significant contributions to make to rural communities, and education of the rural disabled has a twofold purpose: (1) to increase their skills and knowledge as individuals; and (2) to educate communities about their potential. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142) established that public education has a responsibility to provide education for all children and required substantial and system-wide changes in providing such education. These changes have had a disproportionate impact on the budgets of rural schools and have created problems. Small, rural schools need waivers from categorical funding requirements so that all children experiencing problems in school can benefit from the skills, technologies, and processes developed by special education. Pull-out programs need to be replaced by specialized support and consultative help from itinerant specialists for classroom teachers. Small schools have few self-contained classrooms and need permission to experiment with model programs. Computers and augmentative communication boards need to be provided by PL 94-142 to rural schools. These waivers and special provisions to PL 94-142 would enable rural schools to educate the disabled to be productive in the rural community. (ALL)

In response to Legislative Resolve 47 of the 1989 Alaska Legislature, the Alaska State Board of Education prepared this report on efforts to improve school performance and recommendations for legislative action. In the past year, the State Board met with educators, parents, Native leaders and organizations, nationally known experts, and appropriate legislative committees; appointed task forces to examine four major areas; and drafted legislative proposals. These proposals recommend that the legislature appropriate funds to: (1) restructure educational services in grades K-4, emphasizing language development and integration of curriculum content; (2) develop business and school partnerships aimed at preventing dropout; (3) create incentive programs to encourage high risk students to stay in school; (4) provide early childhood education and parenting programs; and (5) develop an evaluation and research agenda to focus on Alaska's education problems. The Alaska Department of Education will form partnerships with colleges and universities to strengthen teacher education programs and to recruit Native and rural residents. The Department of Education will develop pilot projects aimed at improving student performance in low performing districts. The State Board of Education will adopt a statewide school improvement plan featuring standards for educational outcomes, objectives for low performing districts, and an assessment and monitoring system. Appendices contain information on: (1) factors contributing to poor student performance; (2) the extent of Alaska's at-risk problem; (3) common characteristics of the 20 low achieving school districts; (4) state standards for outcomes of public education; and (5) State Board of Education long-range goals for school and student performance. (SV)

This report provides information about special populations in Illinois as well as information about services and programs designed to serve these targeted groups. It addresses the needs, services, and resources for making vocational education programs accessible to the populations identified at both the federal and state levels for targeted emphasis. Introductory sections discuss responsibility for access, the Illinois population, and educational facilities and enrollments. Information is provided on these specific populations: economically disadvantaged; incarcerated population; minority populations; dropouts and potential dropouts; work force members needing retraining; single parents/homemakers; and disadvantaged, handicapped, and limited English speaking persons. For each population, this information is given: a description of the population in need, number served, and services provided. Results are then provided of a survey of 61 vocational education delivery system administrators and 49 community college deans that assessed their perceptions of recent events that affected access to vocational education. Respondents (85% of the individuals surveyed) gave comments and registered their ratings on Likert-type scales regarding the following developments: (1) federal funding for special populations via the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act; (2) school reform initiatives, including increased high school graduation requirements; and (3) Illinois' Education for Employment Policy. A final section makes recommendations and suggests actions by the State Board of Education to continue to emphasize access of vocational education and populations, monitor the results of programs in place, and plan for the needs of future workers in Illinois. Twenty-four references are appended. (YLB)

This study compares vocational education programs in seven countries in order to evaluate the different elements of a comprehensive approach to education for work that reaches beyond isolated skill training. Despite their divergence in scope and intention, a common feature of these programs is that they endorse the approach of lifelong vocational development. The study's hypothesis is that effective education for work has to be based on a comprehensive approach to a meaningful articulation of these different specifications of learning experiences. Following a synthesis by Gert Loose, the report contains the following chapters: "Nonformal Vocational Training in Venezuela" (Fuenzalida et al.); "Hibernia School: Analysis of an Integrated Curriculum Embracing Vocational Development" (Heyder, Schneider); "Vocational Development through the Education Programme of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka" (Perera); "Analysis of School and Out-of-School Education for Vocational Development in the Perspective of Lifelong Education in Poland" (Nowacki); "In-School and Out-of-School Curricula for Vocational Development in Tanzania" (Athumani); "Using Career Guidance to Support Career Development: The Career Planning Support System (CPSS) as an Illustrative Innovation" (Miller, Campbell); and "Learning by Participation: A Renewal Project in the Dutch Education System" (van Donk). Each case study is preceded by a description of its profile, aspects of cross-national transferability, and distinctive features by Loose. Most chapters include tables, figures, and a bibliography. (KC)

Many countries have recently launched massive programs to promote nation-wide adult literacy, but while these efforts have been commendable, it has been observed that neo-literates who acquire literacy through such programs have great difficulty in retaining it; hence an urgent need to develop suitable programs of post-literacy and continuing education has been felt. In 1980, Unesco's Institute for Education initiated a major research project designed to respond to this need. The research was carried out within the broad framework of lifelong education, and resulted in the series of case studies of which this volume is a part. It includes the following reports: "The Development of Learning Strategies for Post-Literacy and Continuing Education in Kenya in the Perspective of Lifelong Education" (David Macharia); "Post-Literacy Activities and Continuing Education of Adults in Nigeria" (Charles O. Akinde); "Learning Strategies or Post-Literacy and Continuing education in Tanzania" (Zakayo J. Mpogolo); and "Strategies for Post-Literacy and Continuing Education at the Basic Level in the United Kingdom" (Arthur Stock). Each report includes some or all of the following components: background information on the country and its educational system; an analysis of techniques and learning strategies used; a summary and conclusion; and tables and figures. The United Kingdom (U.K.) report also includes nine specific case studies which are illustrative of post-literacy efforts in general in the U.K. (CML)

Students with special needs living in rural areas face a difficult challenge as they prepare for employment and adult life. Access to vocational education in rural areas may be limited by isolation, problems in teacher recruitment and retention, curriculum and instructional deficiencies, and weak financial support. In addition, program relevance and student outcomes are negatively influenced by outdated program offerings, lack of quality, limited relevance to the local job market and industry needs, lack of local job experience opportunities, and lack of recognition by rural educators of vocational education's role in decreasing both the likelihood and impact of worker layoffs or job displacements. Vocational education can play a key role in the economic growth of rural areas. The school can act as an agency of rural economic development; skill-specific vocational education can prepare students with special needs for the job market. If skill-specific vocational education is reduced, vocational educators must encourage special-needs rural students to pursue further education. Vocational education in rural areas can be improved by strategies placing an emphasis on support services personnel, guidance and counseling, involvement of a variety of public and private service providers, more effective use of existing community resources, and modification of existing employment opportunities to address rural conditions. Improvements can also be made by forming cooperative programs, taking administrative action, using mobile facilities, using electronic technology, forming school-business partnerships, and training for entrepreneurship. (28 references) (KC)

These proceedings contain the following 14 papers: "Relationship between the Training Needs of Sales/Marketing Trainers and Their Career Stages" (Isaac B. Owolabi); "A Report of a Marketing Education Professional Development Activity to Provide Training for Teachers in the Use of the Nominal Group Technique" (Stephen R. Lucas, Benton E. Miles); "The Perceptions of Secondary, Marketing Education Students Regarding Ethical Behavior in Business" (Ralph D. Wray, Rodney Davis); "A Research Study on Current Advertising Strategies Used by Certified Public Accountants" (William Cooper, Lawrence Gulley, Benton E. Miles); "A Study of Texas Banks to Determine Business Plan Components for the Entrepreneur Planning to Start a Small Business" (Jerry W. Moorman, Cynthia G. Hess); "Perceived Benefits of Being a State DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) Officer" (Don E. McNelly, Gary Searle); "Researching the Need for Computer-Aided Curriculum Planning for Pennsylvania Marketing Education Teachers" (D. Frank Palmieri, John W. Schell, Lee Miles); "Job Satisfaction of Secondary Marketing Educators in Northwest Ohio" (Robert G. Berns); "The Use of Videotape to Increase Student Productivity" (Sharon Saenz); "Marketing Education for Marina Operators" (Allan J. Worms, Carolyn L. Worms); "Accessibility to and Enrollment in Secondary Business and Marketing Education" (Michael J. Littman); "The Training of Teachers as Advisors" (Michael Barry); "Marketing Educators' Readiness to Improve Students' Reasoning Skills: Report of an Exploratory Study" (Robert L. Fritz); "An Assessment of Instructor Behaviors in a Graduate Satellite Entrepreneurship Course" (LeVene A. Olson). Each paper includes an abstract. (KC)

A worldwide review of literacy and basic education for adults and young people led to the following conclusions (among others: (1) returns on basic education are high; (2) universal participation in primary education is still far off; (3) carefully designed programs for adults and young people can pay off in increased retention of skills, compensation for deficiencies in primary schooling, and improvement in primary school effectiveness; (4) no society has come close to achieving universal literacy through primary schooling alone; (5) universal learning strategies must rely on both primary and adult literacy education; (6) programs for adults and young people need to be flexible, relevant to context, and responsive to changing needs; (7) sufficient research exists for effective literacy programming; (8) many past inefficiencies in the provision of literacy can be explained by the application of a single model of literacy; (9) many varying rationales have been successfully applied to literacy and basic education programs; (10) mass campaigns can be effective as policy options, but they run the risk of denying the diversity so essential for success; (11) literacy has to be taught in context to adults; (12) measurable economic outcomes are possible through literacy education; (13) effective international programming presupposes intellectual openness and an active link between theory and practice; and (14) effective aid to education requires long-term commitment. (126 references) (KC)

This paper advocates giving urgent attention to improving the education and training of educational administrators and managers, realizing the need to respond to rapid and far-reaching political and social change worldwide, and to consequent change within national educational systems. The improvement of administrative structures and the development of human resources through effective educational leadership are seen as complementing strategies. It is argued that if administrators rely on their own previous experiences and on learning by trial and error, disastrous mistakes can occur when managing education in periods of unpredictable change. There is a strong case both for pre-service and for continuing in-service education and training. An overview is given of the education and training provision as it has developed in the twentieth century in the U.S. hemisphere and elsewhere. Achieving a creative and productive relationship between theory and practice is presented as an essential requirement of effective administrative training. The planning and the provision of programs of quality are considered, beginning with the identification of the training needs for different groups by means of appropriate research. The powerful, potential contribution of distance education is noted, taking account experience already gained by UNESCO and other bodies, and of promising technological developments. Finally, it is argued that the time is ripe for an imaginative new initiative, building on what has already been achieved by UNESCO and other agencies. A 39-item list of references is included. (DB)

This report lists recommendations made to the state administration, legislature, and various education administrative bodies, addressing the education of Indian people in Montana. The State of Montana and its education entities are asked to establish specific objectives, action plans, and evaluation strategies to complete the validation process of an educational sequence for American Indians in Montana. Problems include low educational attainment, high drop-out rates, high poverty rates, and high unemployment rates. Separate goals and suggested actions are recommended to the governor, the legislature, the Board of Regents, the Board of Public Education, the Office of Public Instruction, and the Local Boards of Trustees. The set of recommendations to each body includes statements of goals and suggested actions associated with each goal. The Montana Advisory Council for Indian Education conducted a statewide forum to gather information about the educational needs of Montana Indians. This work was followed by a retreat that developed strategies to address issues identified by forum participants. Additional input was gathered by the Montana Committee for American Indian Higher Education. Extensive appendices include a map of Montana reservations and tribes, policies pertaining to American Indian Education, mission statements and philosophies of various tribal groups, a definition of American Indian, and statistical data about Indian students in Montana from the Office of Public Instruction, the Montana University System, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Lists of participants in the three meetings conducted to gather information for this report are also included. The glossary contains frequently used acronyms. (KS)

This report is intended to provide instructors and designers concerned with training for the National Guard and Army Reserve (the Reserve Component--RC) with a practical review of research findings on the successful implementation of computer-mediated communication (CMC) for distance education and a reference guide to international resources and literature that will be of use to both researchers and practitioners. The first of two parts of the report, a literature review, provides instructors and instructional designers with practical knowledge on the design and implementation of distance training with CMC, including relevant knowledge about specific needs of distance education students. Topics covered include frequency of feedback, effective design and implementation of group activities, shifts in instructor role for a distance education environment, characteristics of successful distance students and instructors, and recommendations for the pacing of students and instructors. (125 references). Focusing on international resources in CMC and distance education, the second part provides lists of resources and overviews on educational and industrial applications of CMC, information on computer conferencing software, and reference information for distance education and CMC. This part includes lists of selected distance teaching institutions, descriptions of distance education graduate programs, information on educational and communication applications of CMC, an overview of teleconferencing computer software with a directory of software vendors, lists of distance education journals and international clearinghouses for distance education resources, an extensive bibliography of references on distance education and CMC, and a summary of the two parts of the report. (DB)