Education & Pedagogy

This paper presents a discussion of kindergarten education for 4- and 5-year-old children. The first section provides an historical review of kindergarten education, focusing on Froebel and on the evolution of kindergartens in the United States. This section also includes a review of legislation which has affected the availability of kindergarten education. The second section reviews the goals of kindergarten education and describes the status of kindergartens in the United States in 1978. The third section presents a discussion of current trends in kindergarten education, focusing on current kindergarten populations, changing goals and values, and the problem of inequities in kindergarten education. The final section of the paper focuses on the future role of kindergarten education, describing the responsibilities of the future kindergarten. This section also describes a proposed cooperative program between Indianapolis kindergartens and the Indianapolis Children's Museum. (BD)

The activities of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education for fiscal year 1977 are outlined. The areas reported on are: (1) federally funded programs; (2) activities of the South Carolina Postsecondary Education Planning Commission; (3) new programs approved; (4) review of graduate programs; (5) activities in medical and health education; (6) licensing non-public institutions; (7) student financial assistance programs; (8) higher education management information system; (9) activities of the Computer Advisory Committee; (10) state appropriations for colleges and universities; and (11) capital improvements. A summary of the Commission's expenditures for 1976-77 and a list of publications issued by the Commission are provided. Appendices include statistics on the number of degrees awarded, enrollments, student/faculty data comparisons, and average salaries of faculty. (SPG)

The results of a study of the affirmative action effort in higher education systems is summarized in three parts. Part I, which consists of the first four chapters of this book, presents the results of a historical analysis of the efforts of blacks to obtain an education, examines the extent to which equal opportunity has existed in the higher education community, discusses the findings concerning the legal and constitutional foundations of the public policy of affirmative action, and examines the criticisms of affirmative action. The two chapters in Part II present the results of the analysis of the government's role in affirmative action and examine the current practice of affirmative action within selected institutions of higher education. In Part III there is a discussion of the current position of blacks in faculty employment in institutions of higher education. (Author/SPG)

Many aspects of public relations practice and public relations education are addressed in this paper. Topics dealt with include the roots of public relations practice, the services that public relations should provide, reasons for the failure of numerous corporations in the area of public relations, past and current trends in public relations education at the college level, concerns about the quality of public relations education, the need for business schools to encourage a broad understanding of public relations as a tool of management, and the formation by the Public Relations Division of the Association for Education in Journalism of a Commission on Public Relations Education to make recommendations for the improvement of public relations education. The paper lists the purposes of the commission and notes that its ultimate goal is to contribute to the professionalization of public relations practice in our society. (GW)

This monograph serves as an overview of theory and technique for parent training, most specifically through the implementation of programs led by the elementary school counselor and the school psychologist. This document explores the history, basic assumptions, goals, training procedures, training of trainers, and references and resources from a number of theoretical bases including Adlerian Parent Education, Client-Centered Parent Education, Behavioral Parent Education, and the Rational-Emotive Therapy Model. Brief mention of additional models include Psychoanalytic, Transactional Analysis, Reality Therapy, Preschool Programs, and the Haim-Ginott approach. In the sections "Guide to Getting Going," the authors present a set of guidelines and questions to use in preparation for beginning a parent education program in a school. Ideas on program evaluation and sample letters for use in contacting parents are included. Topic references appear at the conclusion of each section. (JS)

The first section of the business education curriculum guide for grades 9-12 provides brief statements concerning program descriptions, goals, course offerings, and objectives. Section 2 provides detailed descriptions and objectives for the following courses: accounting, advanced typewriting, bookkeeping, business economics, business information processing, business law, business management, clerk-typist, introduction to business, office practice and procedures, personal typing, shorthand, stenography, survey of information processing, typewriting, and cooperative office education. Part 3 briefly discusses contemporary teaching strategies; defines individual, discovery, group, unit, systems, multimedia, cocurricular, and laboratory instructional approaches; enumerates and describes instructional techniques within these approaches; and offers detailed outlines specifying suggested teaching and learning strategies, organizational alternatives, and sample units for the following: basic business courses, bookkeeping/accounting/data processing and related training courses, stenographic and related training courses, typewriting and related training courses, and cooperative office education. (JR)

The paper provides a brief survey of the rationale for and problems associated with performance-based teacher education (PBTE). Reviewing the research and activities of the Center for Vocational and Technical Education (Ohio State), the document identifies five elements that appear to distinguish PBTE from more traditional programs. These elements relate to: student competencies; criteria for assessing competencies; assessment of the student's competency; the student's rate of progress; and the intention of the instructional program. For the implementation of PBTE, six issues, and six strategies for dealing with the issues, are identified and discussed briefly. The issues and strategies relate to: identification of competencies; instructional materials; roles of faculty and students; interaction with various groups, institutions, and agencies; instructional support; and costs. (PR)

The guide presents 15 learning tasks for students preparing to teach business education. Each task contains problem areas, performance objectives, prerequisites, and learning activities. The learning tasks are: orientation to basic business; systematic planning of instructional units; writing objectives for teaching bookkeeping or a basic business course; organizing long term instructional units in a basic business course; teaching a lesson in bookkeeping; selecting and developing materials in bookkeeping or a basic business course; specific instructional approaches in bookkeeping; methods of presentation in bookkeeping and basic business classes; evaluation processes unique to bookkeeping; educational accountability for teachers; contracting as a process for managing individualized instruction; classroom control and behavior modification; verbal learning for teachers of business education; and skill learning. The largest single unit is that on methods of presentation which covers 30 pages. (JR)

The publication's purpose is to suggest procedures and activities for implementing the accommodation phase career education objectives for the Iowa demonstration project. The document is a reference for teachers at the intermediate level and is intended for use in planning classroom activities to meet career education objectives and the needs of students and community. Described are the procedures used by teachers in developing these activities and the steps involved in the development of the career education objectives. Also briefly outlined are suggestions for teachers and career education objectives for three areas of activities: self concept, the world of work, and self and the world of work. The main body of the document (40 pages) presents sample activities organized according to career education objectives, instructional objectives, activities, resource materials, and evaluations. (BP)

The question of the proper mix of liberal arts courses and professional broadcast training courses in higher education is often debated. Many feel that broadcast education in higher education should return to a greater study of humanistic, liberal arts courses with a de-emphasis on the vocational aspects of the curricula. Vocational training is defined as teaching "how to," but not "what" or "why." Conversley, liberal arts education teaches the power of understanding and judgment. Expanded perception and extension of the ability to think logically and thoroughly about any subject, to learn the difference between dogma and reality, to note discrepancies and to acquire the habit of precise and accurate communication--in short, the development of critical thought, which may not be relevant to getting the first job but may be relevant to the survival of our civilization--should be the aim of broadcast education. (Author/HB)

The use of telecommunications was studied as a means of making higher education more accessible to urban disadvantaged adults by using a statewide, closed-circuit, instructional telecommunications network. A comprehensive review was made of telecommunications in higher education, the learning needs and styles of urban disadvantaged adults, and the alternative modes of telecommunications and their applications. It was recommended that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should not establish a state-wide closed-circuit instructional television system, but should consider the use of broadcast facilities to broaden access; videotape or instructional television, fixed service (ITS) systems, and neighborhood learning centers would help make education accessible to disadvantaged adults. Appendixes include the research reports, consultant reports, a design for a neighborhood learning center, brochures, and a bibliography of over 100 items. Figures include maps of the areas and statistical data. (Author/DS)

The purpose of the annual leadership conferences is to establish a continuing forum to stimulate dialogue among special education leadership personnel from the public schools, university training programs, and state education agencies. A critical factor in the selection of topics was the recognition that leaders in the field must design their programs to contain internal change systems that prohibit static programming. Papers included in the first volume were related to the emerging need to develop services and training systems defined as noncategorical and performance-based rather than categorical and etiologically based. The second volume includes papers that deal with the implications of recent litigation and court findings for the development and conduct of special education leadership systems. (Author/MLF)

The four sections in this booklet describe a teacher education program in English at the University of Georgia by outlining the program, describing the three major on-campus courses and field center experiences, and summarizing the evaluation plan. The first section describes such topics as the students in the program, the major functions of the program, major coursework and professional training, and the field experience sequence. The second section discusses preparing undergraduate students by providing English courses which are good background for teaching. The third section discusses some of the problems involved in establishing a field-based training program in public school centers. The fourth and final section discusses various evaluation instruments for the program, including the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory, Conference Observation Forms, Departmental English Education Test, and Teacher-Candidate Program Evaluation. (TS)

The American ideal of liberal education affirms faith in the individual and in the human struggle against intellectual dishonesty and conformity and speaks to the intellectual integrity of education, of graduate faculty, and of the choices open to graduate students. However, humanists disagree on such issues as what the products of graduate education should be; whom graduate English education should serve; what characteristics graduate English programs should have; and who is qualified to make responsible choices without jeopardizing either professional integrity or individual freedom of choice. Graduate education in English should be a strong force for the resolution of social conflicts as it provides for cultural and intellectual diversity; it should provide graduate students opportunities to work toward the resolution of national problems. The format of such a graduate program might include courses in sociology, political science, psychobiology, history, art, and architecture, as well as apprenticeships in public service programs. (DF)

The status of multicultural teacher education curricula in selected colleges and universities is surveyed and appraised in this study. The study was designed to (1) identify the number and kinds of multicultural curricular experiences and programs; (2) reveal the variety of these programs; (3) ascertain the quality of the programs; (4) determine the rationale, purposes, principles, and concepts contained in the programs; and (5) identify current policies and practices in developing, organizing, and implementing multicultural experiences. Information was obtained from a study of previous research findings, personal interviews with students, and data secured from a letter of inquiry to deans of colleges of education. Findings are stated under theoretical headings that note significant aspects of multicultural education. Trends revealed by the study are analyzed. (JD)