Education & Pedagogy

One of a series of studies on the development of technical and vocational education in the member states of UNESCO, this report profiles the educational system in Nepal. The four parts of the document provide general information about the following: the country; the history, goals, and structure of the educational system; vocational technical and polytechnic education; and issues and human resource development. Appendixes cover the growth of the education sector since 1951 and statistics about training programs under the Department of Cottage and Village Industry and Training Centers under the Department of Labor. Some of the highlights are as follows: (1) Nepal is primarily an agricultural country that has been handicapped in economic development because it is landlocked; (2) the Eighth Five-Year Plan puts more emphasis on an open-market economy, with the private sector producing goods and services and the public sector focusing on developing the physical and social infrastructure; (3) the school structure includes primary grades 1-5, lower secondary 6-7, secondary 8-10, higher secondary 11-12, and specialized institutes of higher education and universities; (4) the Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) is the policy formulation and coordinating body for technical education and vocational training in Nepal; (5) at present there are 6 training institutions operated under the CTEVT, with plans for 23 more by the year 2002; (6) although most education is the responsibility of the federal government, the private sector also plays a small role in technical education; and (7) increases in technical and vocational training are necessary to meet human resource demands for development. (KC)

One of a series of studies on the development of technical and vocational education in the member states of UNESCO, this report profiles the educational system in Iran. The six parts of the document provide information about the following: the country; the educational system; fundamental change in the new system of secondary school education, including technical and vocational education; a snapshot of the educational system in August 1993; the historical development of the technical vocational education system; and non-formal training by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Some of the highlights include the following: (1) the education system in Iran is undergoing revolutionary reform in terms of philosophy of education with its aims, goals and objectives, administrative and management structures, curricular design and development, with major implications for the future; (2) the present system consists of 1-year kindergarten, 5-year primary school; 3-year guidance school, and 4-year secondary academic school as well as secondary vocational and technical education; (3) under the new system, secondary education will be 3 years long; (4) there are two types of higher technical and vocational institutions, which select their students among graduates of technical and vocational high schools and offer post-diploma certificates to their graduates; (5) the teaching staff usually have industrial training and workshop instructors have long industrial experience; and (6) there is flexibility for students to move from one stream to another in the new educational system. (KC)

This report contains nine chapters: "A New Beginning"; "The Heart of the Matter: Three Kinds of Development"; "Special Knowledge for Educators"; "Participating in Policy Development"; "Commitment to Diversity"; "Human Resources: Making People Matter"; "The Core of Learning: What All Educators Must Know"; "The Professional Development School: Integral to Tomorrow's School of Education"; and "New Commitments and New Kinds of Accountability for the TSE." To correct the problem of uneven quality in the education and screening of educators for U.S. schools, the report proposes an altered mission for schools of education. Knowledge development, professional development, and policy development lie at the heart of the mission. To fulfill this mission, the 250 Holmes Group member institutions are challenged to raise their quality standards and make important changes in curriculum, faculty, location of work, and student body. Among the challenges are the following: the education school's curriculum should focus on the learning needs of the young and development of educators at various stages of their careers; university faculties should include teachers, practitioners, and other individuals who are at home working in public schools; programs that prepare school personnel and teacher educators need to actively recruit, retain, and graduate a more ethnically diverse student body; faculty and students in schools of education should work predominantly in professional development schools rather than on college campuses; education schools should join together to form an interconnecting set of networks at local, state, regional, and national levels to ensure better work and accountability. (IAH)

This paper describes the characteristics of Botswana's remote area dwellers (RADs) and the government's related rural development policies. RADS live a nomadic lifestyle, live outside the traditional village structure far from basic services, rely heavily on hunting and gathering, have low levels of literacy and little access to education, and frequently speak a language other than the national language. In 1989, an estimated 24,800 RADs lived in approximately 131 small scattered settlements. The government's Accelerated Remote Area Development Programme encourages RAD participation in various economic activities: agriculture, hunting and wildlife management, food processing, livestock production, beekeeping, salt production, and marketing of handicrafts and food products. All these activities require training. Only 33 schools and 24 health posts are located in RAD districts. A household survey in one village containing a primary school and an adult literacy program revealed that of a total population of 1,254 persons, 828 were enrolled in school or the National Literacy Programme (NLP) or had completed NLP. No secondary education was available, indicating the need for appropriate correspondence education or other distance education. In four other remote areas, 86 percent of respondents had no schooling or exposure to NLP. At present, the following educational programs are available via correspondence or radio broadcast: primary, secondary, and higher education programming; farmers' broadcasts; health education; adult literacy; women's development concerns; conservation of natural resources; and general economic and social issues. (SV)

This publication is intended to assist Holmes Group institutions of higher learning in designing and implementing more effective programs to recruit and retain minority candidates in teacher education. Information from many sources, including the literature, was synthesized, and certain principles emerged as keys to diversifying the teaching force--ideas that became the framework for this document. Following a preface and a discussion of equity and diversity as a commitment of the Holmes Group, the report is organized into five chapters. The first, "Rationale and Conceptual Framework: Understanding and Addressing the Need," discusses changing demographics in America, underrepresentation of minorities in higher education, declining minority enrollment in teacher education, understanding diversity issues, and the challenge to teacher education. Chapter 2, "Recruitment: Bringing Prospective Teachers to Campus," examines the status of minority student recruitment efforts and principles of successful recruitment. Chapter 3, "Retention: Maintaining Diversity in Teacher Education," focuses on retention research in teacher education and principles for retention of minorities. Chapter 4, "Induction Years: Succeeding on the Job," deals with common problems of beginning teachers, impact of the school environment, need for administrative support and principles of successful induction. The final chapter, "Roles and Responsibilities: Applying the Principles," concentrates on administrators in public schools; campus level administrators in institutions of higher education; deans and directors of schools, colleges, and departments of education; faculty; and students. (Contains approximately 175 references.) (LL)

This monograph presents four papers on the interaction of the market and higher education institutions in relation to the evolution of management and administrative patterns according to the requirements of new political and economic situations. In particular, the papers discuss the changes which a market ideology has brought to European higher education in the recent years. The first paper, "On Preparing for the Market: Higher Education in Western Europe. Changes in Systems' Management" by Guy Neave, looks at the ways in which systems management is changing Western European higher education and suggests that the expansion experienced during the years of mixed welfare state economies may not be sustainable after a conversion to market forces. The second paper, "Flexibility Production and Pattern Management: Two Basic Instruments of Strategic Planning of Higher Education Institutions" by F. A. van Vught considers features of strategic planning for higher education institutions based on the literature on planning and on the fundamental characteristics of higher education institutions. The third paper, "Higher Education, the State and Markets," by O. Kivinen and R. Rinne analyses several countries and their higher education systems in relation to markets and government including the United States, Western Europe, and Finland. The final paper, "The Management and Evaluation of the Entrepreneurial University: The Case of England" by R. Cowen looks at the process of alteration in the nature of the English university over the past 100 years. Each paper offers extensive references. (JB)

This report presents findings from two institutional-based postsecondary education fall enrollment surveys conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics: the Higher Education General Information Survey, and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) surveys. The report includes eight tables (80 percent of the report) that summarize fall enrollment information. Tables 1 and 2 show enrollment trends for institutions of higher education by racial/ethnic categories and by selected institutional characteristics (by control of institution and by type of institution), biennially for fall 1982 through fall 1990, and 1991. Tables 3 and 4 provide data on total enrollment in institutions of higher education by racial/ethnic category and by selected student characteristics (by sex and by level of study) from biennially, fall 1982 through fall 1990, and 1991. Table 5 shows final fall 1990 enrollment in institutions of higher education, by state and by racial/ethnic category. Table 6 shows final fall 1991 enrollment in institutions of higher education, by state and by racial/ethnic category. Table 7 shows the rates of response to the IPEDS fall 1991 enrollment survey, by state. Finally, table 8 shows the percentage of student enrollment that was imputed for each sector by state (fall 1991). Among the findings it is revealed that: (1) larger numbers of women enroll in higher education than men; (2) undergraduate enrollments in higher education increased from 1982 to 1991 across all racial/ethnic groups; and (3) enrollment by minority groups increased at a higher rate than for white, non-Hispanics. (GLR)

This serial issue contains five articles relating to career exploration for middle school youth. The first article makes up most of the publication. It explains the concept of Future Options Education, basic tenets of which are the following: (1) career and college preparatory interventions need to be age and stage appropriate; (2) effective learning strategies for young adolescents need to incorporate the themes of "high expectations, high content, and high support"; (3) schools and employment programs need not wait for total school reform to begin to address career education; and (4) there is no one best approach to career development. Future Options Education promotes the use of horizon-broadening learning experiences that include an activity base, self-exploration, adult reinforcement, and a sense of belonging to a group. Future Options Education includes five topic areas: activities that introduce students to the world of work, activities that show the relationship between postsecondary education and good jobs, activities that introduce some key realities of postsecondary education or training, activities that investigate ways to pay for education or training after high school, and activities that keep the door open for future options. Keys to a successful Future Options Education strategy are individualized assessment and the development of an individual Future Options Education Plan. Two case studies of Future Options Education in action and lessons from middle school career programs are included in the report. A list of 15 suggested resources is provided, and reports on projects in progress at the Center for Human Resources, Brandeis University, are included. (KC)

This proceedings contains nine conference papers, as well as abstracts of an additional seven papers, on research related to outdoor education. A preface, "Building a Research Community for Outdoor Education" (Anderson B. Young), describes the role of the Coalition for promoting information exchange and cooperation among outdoor education scholars. Full-text papers are: (1) "Outdoor Education Research: Implications for Social/Educational and Natural Resource Policy" (Alan Ewert, Leo McAvoy); (2) "Methods, Measures, and Madness: Possibilities for Outdoor Education Research" (Karla Henderson, Karen Fox); (3) "The Influence of Outdoor Education on Curriculum Integration: A Case Study" (Bert Horwood); (4) "Outward Bound: The Congruence of Principles and Practice" (Cheryl A. Estes); (5) "Multicultural Education through Shared Adventure" (Alan N. Wright); (6) "The Great Outdoors and Beyond: Common Threads in Leadership Training on Land, in the Air, and in Space" (Cheryl Irwin, Maurice Phipps); (7) "Learning about Ethical Outdoor Leadership" (Karen Fox, Mark Reed); (8) "The Relationship of Continuum Scaling Scores and Certainty Scaling Scores on the Outdoor Situational Fear Inventory" (Anderson B. Young, Thomas Quinn, Thomas W. Steele); and (9) "The Status of Evaluation in ACA Accredited Camping Programs" (Karla A. Henderson, M. Deborah Bialeschki). Abstracts (2-3 pages in length) cover such topics as moods of participants in short-term and long-term outdoor courses, anxiety and performance in outdoor adventure activities, effects of wilderness leadership training on decision-making abilities, the spiritual dimension of outdoor travel experiences, development of environmental empathy in secondary school students, and evaluation of environmental education. (SV)

Educational hub refers to centres of excellence in higher education and research whose aims are to provide high-quality education for both national and international students to enhance the competitiveness of the country. These educational hubs provide an opportunity for knowledge exchanges and innovation in local regions through education and training. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, rapid shifts were made towards online learning in education around the world. Although the lockdown is over, remote learning will likely play an increasingly prominent role in education. The adoption of scaled remote learning during the pandemic provided evidence of the importance of online learning. They offer an insight into global society, helping prepare students for an increasingly interconnected world by facilitating links between different regions. Educational hubs can be tied to distance learning and are successful in attracting international students when offering a combination of distance learning methods and innovative programs. This paper examines the phenomenon of educational hubs in higher education for international education through online learning with digital technology. New opportunities for online and distance learning within the definition of educational hubs are analyzed, and three online and blended learning models that reflect the development of educational hubs based on COVID-19 conditions of education are offered. In addition, the successful cases and experiences of distance learning hubs in China and Iran in recent years are described.

A philosophy of inclusion, based on the fundamental principles of human rights and equal opportunities for all, has become central to the education of students with special educational needs (SEN) in an inclusive education system, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (UN, "United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities." https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html, 2006). However, the role of the special school, in terms of its value and purpose in an inclusive education system, is currently challenged in international policy, which fundamentally supports the practice of inclusion in mainstream school settings. This paper is based on a study which sought to capture the voice of the special school principal in the dialogue on inclusive education in Ireland. In considering a definition of inclusive education as 'a process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to reach out to all learners' (UNESCO, "Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education." Paris: UNESCO, 2009, 8), the key finding of this study is that inclusive education must firstly acknowledge and be defined as the response of the entire education system, including the special school sector, in reaching out to all learners. The voice of the special school sector must be included in the dialogue on inclusive education, in order to challenge the conceptual misinterpretation and architectural symbolism of inclusion.

It is aimed to compare the countries of South Korea, Finland and Canada, which are highly successful in PISA exam, and Turkey in terms of the transition system between educational levels. Document analysis method was used in the study. In the universe of the study, there are thirty-eight countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Turkey and the countries of South Korea, Canada and Finland which are profoundly effective in PISA, constitute the sample of the study. According to the results of the study, it has been determined that there are no exams in transition from pre-school education to primary education in Turkey, Canada, Finland and South Korea. There is a strict examination in the transition system from primary to secondary education level in South Korea, while there are no central exams in Canada and Finland, and transition to secondary education is made according to secondary school student success. In Turkey, a central examination is held for the transition from primary to secondary education level or students are accepted to secondary education by local placement, considering the addresses of the students according to their success. In Turkey and South Korea, a central exam is applied in the transition system from secondary education to higher education. Beneficial practices in nations successful in PISA can be integrated into school systems, taking into account cultural components.

As a result of the great earthquake disaster in Turkey, mathematics education in universities was reorganized as distance education after the pandemic period. This article aims to identify the barriers to distance education practices in higher education. In line with the aim of this study; Q methodology was used to help determine the perceptions and perspectives of faculty members regarding the barriers to distance education in the process of teaching mathematics in higher education. Q methodology aims to reveal the internal frame of reference of individuals through their preferences. According to the findings of the study, participants identified barriers under 3 factors. These 3 factors, in order of weight, represent student, curriculum and technology barriers. In general, it was seen that the 4 factors revealed by the methodology in the study yielded results compatible with the literature. However, it was determined that the barriers arising from the teacher did not carry a factor load in the study. Another unique result was the identification of barriers arising from the nature of mathematics. It was understood that there are unique obstacles specific to the field of mathematics due to pedagogy and curriculum. In this respect, investigating the barriers to field-specific extended education will provide more accurate findings. In this study, which was conducted with Q methodology and supported by qualitative data, the identified barriers to distance education were consistent with the general literature. Q methodology reveals that it is a compatible tool for various research in similar situations.

Fieldwork is an integral phase of occupational therapy education, bolstered by a small but growing evidence base. A broad understanding of the state of that evidence base is necessary to inform the directions for future growth. The purpose of this work was to establish the current state of occupational therapy fieldwork literature, map that literature to recognized criteria for educational research, and identify gaps in the existing literature. Authors followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines to conduct a mapping review of articles with a primary focus on fieldwork education of occupational therapy (OT) or occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students in United States (Accreditation for Occupational Therapy Education)-based programs. Mapping criteria included level of education [OT, OTA], level of fieldwork [Level I, Level II], and categories of the AOTA "Education Research Agenda -- Revised" (2018). Sources included four databases (Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, ERIC, PubMed) and one additional journal (Journal of Occupational Therapy Education). A total of 1,619 articles were identified, with 67 articles meeting inclusion criteria. The 67 included articles disproportionately focused on Level II OT fieldwork (53%, n=36), with sparse representation of Level I OTA fieldwork (1.5%, n=1), and addressed only two categories of the Education Research Agenda (2018; 80%, n=54). Level I fieldwork, occupational therapy assistant programs, and large swaths of the association's Education Research Agenda (2018) were dramatically (or completely) underrepresented in fieldwork education research, suggesting important priorities for the immediate future of occupational therapy fieldwork education.

Novice special education teachers often face challenges in developing high-quality Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals for children with autism. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, has shown potential in supporting teachers in IEP development. This study aimed to investigate the impact of ChatGPT on the quality, content, and time spent on IEP goal development for novice special education teachers. Moreover, impact of previous training on IEP and goal development was examined. 22 novice special education teachers were randomly assigned to either the ChatGPT group or the control group. Participants developed IEP goals for five children with autism, and the quality of the goals was assessed using the Revised IEP/IFSP Goals and Objective Rating Instrument. The use of ChatGPT significantly improved the quality of IEP goals developed by novice special education teachers, regardless of previous training status. Moreover, novice teachers who used ChatGPT spent significantly less time developing IEP goals compared to those who did not use ChatGPT. Furthermore, the IEP goals developed by the ChatGPT group were more comprehensive, addressing specific strengths and needs of children with autism, in comparison to the goals developed by the control group. The findings suggest that the use of ChatGPT can be a valuable tool in supporting novice special education teachers in developing high-quality IEP goals efficiently. The study highlights the importance of providing training on IEP development and the potential benefits of AI tools in general and special education practice.