Education & Pedagogy

The purpose of this study was to identify the initial terms and means of creating and assessing the quality of what the author calls "fear education" (analogous to sex education or health education). Using a review of a random sample of discourses from the educational literature, the author analyzes how "fear" and "education" have usually been discussed and operationalized. This report offers the first known critical summary on the status of fear education in Western society, and probably in the world. The results of studying fear education for the past 13 years casually, and the last four years intensely, have shown that fear education is not yet an entity (or field) self-reflective, never mind critical of itself. According to the author, "fear education" is now as inadequate as sex education was 100 years ago. With such an important topic as fear (and fearlessness), the author also suggests that the lack of systematic study of fear education itself, may be equally as much of a problem to healthy human/global functioning, as fear is. Some recommendations are offered to improve the state of "fear education" in a post-9/11 era. [Published by In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.]

Though much research has been done on the efficacy of correctional education on reducing recidivism rates for prison inmates, there is little research on the effect that information about the efficacy of correctional education has on public opinion. This study examined whether providing additional information regarding the efficacy of correctional education in reducing recidivism rates led to additional public support for correctional education. One hundred subjects, forty-eight males and fifty-two females, were surveyed for this study, and were randomly assigned to either the control group or the test group. The control group received no additional information on the efficacy of correctional education on reducing recidivism rates, while the test group received information on the efficacy of correctional education on reducing recidivism rates. Results were statistically significant and revealed that people would support correctional education, increased government funding, and mandating inmate participation in correctional education programs. This study is an important step in exploring the relationship between public opinion, offender education, and the usefulness of educating the public about the efficacy of said education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Climate change threatens to undo and even reverse the progress made toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and poses one of the most serious challenges to reducing global poverty for the international community. However, the education sector offers a currently untapped opportunity to combat climate change. There is a clear education agenda in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, which require learning new knowledge and skills and changing behaviors in order to reduce the vulnerabilities and manage the risks of climate change. Therefore, investing in quality education to combat climate change is an essential tool in achieving the MDGs. This brief reviews the current policies and actions on climate change and the barriers to engaging the education sector in the discussions on climate change mitigation and adaptation. At present, there is no coherent dialogue on how to expand the climate change agenda to include education as a tool in adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, leveraging education for climate change action is indeed possible through existing international agreements and relevant agendas. The brief presents a framework for the existing communities of practice to mobilize around in order to promote education for sustainable development and also integrate disaster risk reduction, quality learning, and environmental and climate change education. (Contains 27 endnotes.)

This book examines the transition of young adults with disabilities from school to tertiary education and work. It analyses the policy experiences of several OECD [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries and identifies recent trends in access to education and employment as well as best transition policies and practices. Which factors foster or hinder the transition to tertiary education and work? What are the strengths and weaknesses of policies and support given to young adults with disabilities? What strategies exist in upper secondary schools and tertiary education institutions to smooth this transition and what are their strengths and weaknesses? It shows that access to tertiary education for young adults with disabilities has improved significantly over the past decade. However, despite the progress that has been made, the transition to tertiary education is still harder for young adults with disabilities than it is for other young adults. Students with disabilities are also less likely than their non-disabled peers to successfully complete their studies, or to access employment. The book also provides policy recommendations for governments and education institutions. These recommendations are designed to give young adults with disabilities the same success and transition opportunities that other young adults already enjoy and to improve hereby their right to education and to inclusion.

Mounting concern over the seemingly high drop-out rate among the nation's teenagers, coupled with the inability of many high school students to select satisfying careers upon graduation, have prompted a restructuring of the curriculum around the developmental needs of students. A comprehensive educational program having seven basic operational characteristics, career education begins with the entry of the child into a formal school program and continues into the adult years. Job-related information is integrated into the existing curriculum on all grade levels. The lack of a clear-cut definition of career education other than the operationally adopted one has motivated the initiation of an implementation model for use with the program. To be developed by the Center for Vocational and Technical Education at Ohio State University in conjunction with six school districts, the model when completed will consist of components, systems, and packages field-tested in the cooperating school districts. Implications for technical education within a career education context are: (1) The student entering a post-secondary technical program will be a better prepared, more goal-oriented student; (2) Career choices will have been made from better data and will be based on personal needs, aspirations, and abilities; and (3) Because entering students are better prepared, there should be fewer dropouts, transfers, and failures. (Author/SN)

In 1971, the French National Assembly adopted new legislation on Technological and continuing education which attempts to bridge the widening gap between classroom and career by extending effective career education to greater members of French citizens. To interest students in technological and vocational education and to dispel the prejudices against it, the new law provides for better dissemination of information about careers in industry, technology, and the crafts. Other provisions of the law: (1) require that equivalencies be established between diplomas in general academic courses and those in programs of technological and vocational education, (2) state that all teachers of general academic subjects are to enjoy the same professional status whether they teach in academic high schools or technical schools, (3) provide for skilled workers and technicians to receive teaching leave during which they may give courses of instruction, (4) define the role of apprenticeships, (5) provide for career education programs to be offered in two phases--one before students complete formal education and one on a periodic basis after students leave school, and (6) require that industry share a part of the costs of providing programs of continuing professional education. Following the discussion of the legislation are suggested research areas which may be of interest to American educators. (SB)

This curriculum guide for teachers of adult education is divided into three parts. The first offers an overview of adult basic education, the teacher as counselor, testing and evaluation, instructional procedures--physical environment and classroom management, techniques providing variety in instruction--discussions, demonstrations, projects, problem-solving, lectures, role-playing, field trips, community resources, audiovisual material, team study, and evaluation of instructional materials. The second part provides sequential skills for grades 0-3, 4-8, and 9-12 in language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. The third part covers areas of instruction for teaching sequential skills: (1) family life instruction--health and safety, management of food, management of clothing, family business, management of housing, parent-child relationship, marital responsibility; (2) citizenship--structure of government, governmental services, principles and objectives from which government was developed, voting information, tax structure, community participation, rights and responsibilities, current events; (3) occupational education--job opportunities, positive work attitudes, personal development, technique of getting a job, keeping a job, unions and labor laws, Social Security system; (4) consumer education; (5) personal improvement and development; (6) conservation of natural resources; and (7) leisure time. References are provided throughout. (KM)

As in most developing countries, education in Kenya is reported to have developed through three broad, overlapping phases: traditional, missionary, and governmental as influenced by the country's geography, climate, population growth, economy, and striving for independence. In the process, long-range educational goals have evolved: 1) to provide universal primary education; 2) to ensure enough places at the secondary and higher levels for educating those with recognized abilities; and, 3) to organize the educational system for meeting the country's manpower needs, thus stressing expenditures in education as an investment in the Nation's economic development. The structure and administration, finance and government aid, curriculum and examination elements of this formal system are discussed along with educational programs outside the system including youth programs, adult education, professional development programs, and conservation education. Two highlights of the report are: 1) a description of the establishment and development of community self-help or Harambee schools; and, 2) a description of the 1970-74 Development Plan giving rural development top priority and setting a goal for making the secondary school curriculum more relevant to the country's social and economic needs. Curriculum excerpts, a schedule, and selected references are appended; thirteen tables of statistical data on enrollments and expenditures are also included. (Author/SBE)

This collection of readings was assembled and edited for use at the White House Conference on Education in Washington, D.C. on July 21st and 22nd, 1965. Some of the twenty-nine documents of historical value and relevance in today's educational milieu are: 1) Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania, Benjamin Franklin, 1749; 2) The American Scholar, Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1837; 3) The Republic and the School: The Education of Free Men, Horace Mann, 1846; 4) Theory of Education, William Torrey Harris, 1870; 5) Declaration on Intellectual Freedom, Daniel Coit Gilman, 1875; 6) State Schools and Parish Schools: Is Union Between Them Impossible? Archbishop John Ireland, 1890; 7) The School and Social Progress, John Dewey, 1897; 8) Five Evidences of an Education, Nicholas Murray Butler, 1901; 9) Strategy for State Universities: Two Views, Charles Van Hise, 1904; 10) Debate on Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act, 1917; 11) The Aims of Education, A.N. Whitehead, 1929; 12) The Higher Learning in America, Robert Maynard Hutchings, 1936; 13) Toward Equalizing Opportunity, 1947; 14) The Decline and Fall of Progressive Education, Lawrence A. Cremin, 1961; 15) In Support of Federal Aid to Education, Robert A. Taft, 1948; 16) Prejudice and Your Child, Kenneth B. Clark, 1955; 17) Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954; 18) Nationwide Educational Policy, James Bryant Conant, 1964; 19) The Partnership of Campus and Country, Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964. (Author/SBE)

We cannot afford to continue letting 2.5 million young people leave formal education each year without a marketable skill or a career goal. Career education will take time and money, talent and commitment. While the Federal government can provide seed money for innovation and reform, the real thrust and the real money to implement career education must come from State and local commitment and resources. Education's success or failure in making career education an integral and worthwhile part of the learning process is some years away. The true test will come when the 62 million students in our elementary and secondary schools complete their formal education and start looking for jobs. By the end of the 1970's only one-fifth of the jobs will require a 4-year college degree. But most of these jobs will require training beyond high school. Blue collar jobs as we have known them are fast disappearing. Expanded instructional programs for career clusters are now being developed. More than 750,000 children are now participating in more than 100 career education pilot projects. Many State and local school districts are funding career education projects on their own initiatives. So it is clear that career education is indeed alive and well, both in the Office of Education and in the State and local communities. A related document is available as ED 073 307. (Author/MF)

In response to requests from Texas institutions of higher education to establish additional legal education programs, the Coordinating Board, Texas College and University System in October 1972, appointed two groups to undertake a cooperative study to assist in determining whether or not additional opportunities for legal education were needed in Texas and, if so, how that need could best be met. The four broad questions posed to committee were: (1) Is there a need for more opportunities for legal education? (2) Does the State of Texas have need for more practicing attorneys and/or legally-trained persons? (3) What are the employment opportunities for persons with legal education; and (4) What is the present cost of legal education and what would be the projected costs to the State for the expansion of legal education? To answer the broad questions the Coordinating Board had asked, the committee embarked on two major independent studies: (1) to determine how many qualified Texas residents are seeking admission to Texas law schools only to be denied, and (2) to determine the employment opportunities for graduates of Texas law schools, as perceived by members of Texas law firms. The committee also studies: costs of setting up law libraries, costs of law school facilities, status of parttime legal education, law courses offered outside law schools, and accessibility of legal assistance to the poor and the middle class. (Author/PG)

Policies for higher education are under active consideration in most countries. A major issue in such policies in the seventies will be the setting up of structures adapted to a stage of development that has either been or is at the point of being reached in most countries, that of transition to mass higher education. To discuss a number of major issues related to policies for the future development of higher education systems, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) organized a Conference on Future Structures of Postsecondary Education, that took place in Paris in June 1973. Higher officials responsible for education policy, including a number of ministers, attended the conference together with teachers, administrators and participants from trade union and professional organizations. The central concern of the conference was to examine mass higher education in its main patterns and characteristics and to identify alternative policy measures for facilitating the overall structural transformation of the system toward meeting its new objectives in the context of social and economic development. After the introduction, the document contains discussions concerning dimensions of higher education in the United States, education and career choice, and what the highly educated do and what they earn. Tables and charts contain information related to the text. The French text constitutes the second half of the document. (Author/PG)

The paper describes a career education program for educable mentally retarded (EMR) high school students which was developed by Project PRICE (Programing Retarded in Career Education). Recent research relevant to the career education movement is reviewed. Career education is defined as preparation for all aspects of successful community living, its key concepts outlined, and the values of initiating such a program discussed. Three areas of change necessary to implement career education in the total school system (such as a shift from content-based to process-based curriculum) are suggested. Presented is a model program designed to develop 22 competencies in three primary curriculum areas of daily living skills (such as managing family finances), personal-social skills (such as obtaining a positive self-confidence, self-concept), and occupational guidance and preparation (such as occupational awareness and exploration). Academic instruction is considered as auxiliary to skill development. Personnel who should share responsibility with the special education teacher are identified, and ideas for implementing the model are discussed. The changing roles of special educators, regular school personnel, community personnel, and family in a career education curriculum are explicated and postsecondary services are recommended. An epilogue describes topics to be focused on in future Project PRICE working papers, such as career education materials for EMR students. (LC)

Described is the Mountain-Plains Education and Economic Development Project, a Federally-funded project for residential, multi-problemed, rural, disadvantaged family rehabilitation. The project, testing the Fourth National Career Education Research and Development Model (Model 4), is located at Glasgow AF 8, Montana, and serves about 180 families concurrently for an average of 9.4 months. The basic premise underlying the program is that family-oriented career education in a rural residential setting represents an effective way to improve the employability, standard of living, participation in community involvement, and life satisfaction of the rural disadvantaged. Program goals are in these major areas: (1) design and development of the model; (2) evaluation of the effects of the model; (3) provision of guides, methods, procedures, research reports, cost analysis, and learning activity packages; and (4) provision of career education to a significant number of rural disadvantaged within a six-state region. Heads of households spend approximately 40 hours a week receiving basic and occupational education; the spouse spends a minimum of 20 hours in the program. Home and consumer management, counseling, leisure skills, cultural and ethnic understanding, and job placement assistance are parts of the program. (SC)

This document is one in a series of team reports intended to stimulate further dialogue on the subject of international nonformal education from a conceptual and practical point of view. Introductory information is included in chapter 1 and in document SO 008 058. Chapters 2 and 3 define, classify, and analyze the processes of nonformal education and of international interaction. Nonformal education is defined as the education gained in any organized setting apart from a specific school program. Chapter 4 considers the available channels of communication, differentiating between interpersonal and mass media forms. Chapter 5 presents a strategy for developing nonformal education and a case study derived from the introduction of green manuring in rural India. Chapter 6 examines accomplishments of international assistance; identifies trends with respect to the purpose, channels of interaction, and specific programs; identifies shortcomings; and makes suggestions for overcoming limitations. Chapter 7 focuses on the reciprocity of international interaction in nonformal education. Chapter 8 assesses the assumptions underlying past strategies in international interaction and suggests more appropriate strategic approaches for the future. The concluding chapter sums up the strategies of international interaction in nonformal education and offers 69 hypotheses as useful guides to action and as aids to thinking. (DE)