Education & Pedagogy

The purpose of this conference was to bring expertise in the field of technical education to bear upon the identification and resolution of problems inhibiting the expansion of programs at the junior college level. Sixty-four participants were involved. The conference focused upon the relationships of technical education to: society, college administration, curriculum and instruction, and student personnel services. The first four papers presented are: "Technical Education and Society" by Edmund J. Gleazer, "Technical Education and Administration" by F. Parker Wilber, "Curriculum and Instruction in Technical Fields" by Norman C. Harris, and "Student Personnel Services for Technical Education" by Clyde E. Blocker. "Reactions, Recommendations, and Research Proposals" for each of these four papers were presented respectively by Robert E. Kisinger, Vernon L. Hendrix, Michael Brick, and Ken August Brunner. Other papers include: "Technical Education and the U.S. Office of Education: Conference Implications" by David Bushnell. "The Midwest Technical Education Center" by Douglas F. Libby, and "American Association of Junior Colleges' Occupational Education Project" by Kenneth C. Skaggs. (JK)

This study involved all distributive education state supervisory and teacher education personnel in the United States, 48 distributive education teacher coordinators and 400 distributive workers at the entry, supervisory and management levels. Specific objectives were to determine: (1) basic beliefs concerning distributive education, (2) critical tasks of the distributive education teacher coordinator, (3) professional competencies needed to perform these tasks, and (4) technical competencies needed by the teacher coordinator to develop worker competencies. This document includes a philosophy of distributive education, critical tasks of the high school distributive education teacher coordinator, the professional and technical competencies needed, and a cross tabulation of competencies needed by selected distributive workers. Volume II, department stores, variety stores, (VT 005 974), Volume III, food stores, service station, wholesaling, (VT 005 975), and Volume IV, hotels-motels, restaurants, (VT 005 976) include the critical tasks of selective distributive workers, competencies needed to perform the tasks, and a cross tabulation of competencies needed by workers in selected categories of business. Volume V (VT 009 085) includes final reports of Phases II and III of the study. (MM)

The role and extent of adult education in community colleges were examined in this paper. The literature indicated no common definition of adult education except that it involves lifelong learning. One source identified five forces causing adults to seek further education. They are: basic education, degree objective, occupational training, homemaking education, and avocation and geriatric courses. Unfortunately, development of adult education programs at community colleges is often frustrated by such factors as resistance by those presently controlling evening adult schools, apathy resulting from the usually limited offerings of vocational or college credit courses, and the problem of defining the community's needs. There is considerable variation in the offerings of adult education programs at community colleges; some offer only regular, credit courses while others offer non-credit, short and/or special-interest courses as well. One aspect of these programs currently being developed is community service, which attempts to solve problems of both persons and organizations by involving both college and community resources. It was concluded that, while the community college is the institution best suited to meet the challenge of adult education, most colleges are primarily concerned with the transfer function, and thereby prevented from developing their unique and innovative role in the lifelong learning of the community. (MB)

This book contains 10 papers selected from those presented at the 1968 regional conferences of the NEA National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards (NCTEPS) on differentiated staffing: "Teacher Education: Analysis and Recommendations," John Macdonald, chairman, Department of Education, Sir George Williams Univ.; "New Perspectives on Relevance in Education," Daniel C. Jordan, professor of education, School of Education, Univ. of Mass.; "Peopling Education," Laurence D. Haskew, professor of educational administration, Univ. of Tex.; "Images of the Future II," J. Lloyd Trump, associate secretary, National Assn. of Secondary School Principals; "Staff Support for Innovative Teaching," Eugene R. Howard, president, Nova Learning Corp.; "The New Teacher Education: Prospects for Change," James L. Fisher, vice president and dean for information and research services, Ill. State Univ.; "Where Are We Going and How Can We Get There?" Kevin A. Ryan, director, Master of Arts in Teaching Program, Univ. of Chicago; "Educating Teachers Through Differentiated Roles," Donald C. Roush, academic vice president, N.M. State Univ.; "Major Impediments to Educational Change and Improvement," John J. Horvat, executive officer, National Institute for the Study of Educational Change, Ind. Univ.; "A Possible Dream: A New Education and New Models of Teachers," Roy A. Edelfelt, executive secretary, National Commission on Teacher Education and Professional Standards. (JS)

Major speeches and reports of workshop sessions at a seminar attended by 90 state and city vocational education directors, U.S. Office of Education personnel, and city school superintendents are presented. The major purposes of the seminar were: (1) to identify and analyze problems confronting vocational education related to effectiveness of inner-city youth for job completion, (2) to exchange ideas and examine trends that make vocational education the vehicle by which training can be translated into getting jobs, and (3) to develop strategies of action leading to improvement of quality vocational-technical education. Workshop report topics include: (1) Development, Placement and Follow Up of Youth on Jobs, (2) Financing Expanded Programs of Vocational Education for Disadvantaged Youth and Adults, (3) Program Development for In-School Youth and Dropouts, (4) Program for Hardcore Unemployed Adults, (5) Residential Vocational Education Programs for Inner-City Youth of Major Cities, and (6) State and Local Relationships and Guidance for Inner-School Youth. The reactions of Office of Education Personnel to these reports are also presented. (FP)

Assuming that schools, colleges, and adult education programs cannot alone produce significant rural improvement in developing nations, this booklet presents argument for educational policy that is part of a total planned rural policy and that incorporates an indirect rural bias. It is argued that if education with a rural bias is to be acceptable to parents and to children, it must not come as part of a drive to keep people on the land against their will; rather, it should be a gentle innovative but coordinated effort at comprehensive rural development which utilizes rural teachers, trainers, and extension workers as key factors in a total rural development program aimed at an industrialized and modernized cash economy. Citing the input of new knowledge as the most productive of all investments to be made in an agricultural economy, this booklet addresses an imagined 'norm' in an underdeveloped country and presents general rural education principles which are illustrated via a multidisciplinary approach and examples in general, vocational, extension, and adult education and teacher training. General recommendations call for manpower planning, international exchange of ideas, and coordination efforts under a centralized rural education agency. (JC)

This report represents both an attempt to update the two previous U.S. inventories on research in postsecondary education and a further plea for a regular and consistently-supported vehicle for collecting information or research in postsecondary education. Unlike previous research inventories, this effort is more selective in scope and content. It is centered on the current research activities of professors and graduate students in the field of higher education as listed in the 1973 Association of Professors of Higher Education (APHE) Directory. The central purpose of all these various attempts to inventory postsecondary education has been to disseminate information about current or recently completed research in higher education to bridge the information gap between the initiation of a research project and the publication of a report on the project in the literature of the field. It was hoped that such efforts would decrease the unnecessary duplication of effort and increase cooperation and collaboration among researchers. The inventory is divided as follows: How to use the inventory; the Inventory of Postsecondary Education Research; Research Index; and Topic Index Statistical figures accompany the text. (Author/PG)

This guide, designed for teacher use, focuses on the evaluation of environmental education experiences. The guide, which is based on a doctoral study, is structured around three basic evaluation questions: (1) What kinds of environmental education learning experiences can you evaluate?; (2) What outcomes of environmental education learning experiences can you look for?; and (3) How can you determine the extent to which the outcomes have been achieved? This guide is divided into three sections which deal with the evaluation questions. The first section considers the goals of environmental education. The three phases of the environmental education process (discovery and inquiry; evaluation and problem identification; and problem solving) are considered. The relationship between what a person knows and feels in relation to his value system, and how environmental education can affect and change this relationship is discussed to answer question 2. Section three deals with the third question; behavioral objectives as tools for evaluating skills in discovery and inquiry, evaluation and problem identification, and problem solving are examined. Sample test items are included. The appendices include evaluation considerations, a unit outline example, and the results of an evaluation. (TK)

More than eight million adult education students were serviced by almost 230,000 instructors in fiscal 1969; more than nine million students were taught by 250,000 instructors in fiscal 1970. For both years, the programs were offered by public elementary or secondary schools or by community or junior colleges. The nationwide survey identifies which of 27 specified or other Federal adult education programs schools participated in, additional programs at other governmental levels, and whether any were sponsored by other organizations. Each program was assigned to one of five categories: basic education, high school equivalency or General Educational Development test preparation, occupational training, general academic or college subjects, and other adult education. Information flow is from identification of adult education in each State or area, to enrollments, staff, and program purpose. Statistics are given for governmental level of sponsorship, 27 selected Federally funded programs, four Office of Education programs, community and junior college programs, and cooperatively offered programs. Enrollment and staff figures are for full-time, part-time, part-time as percent of total, and change between years. (Author/AG)

The statement reflects Canada's growing interest in adult education. Lifelong learning is viewed as necessary for coping with a complex and rapidly changing society and additional benefits of adult education can be seen in terms of cost benefits and the use of existing educational structures. Social factors influencing the need for adult learning opportunities include the knowledge explosion, computer technology, and the trend away from strictly youth-oriented schooling. Five areas of individual need are: pursuit of life-long interests; professional, vocational, and career upgrading; coping with the information explosion; identifying and resolving community problems; and life enrichment. Canadian citizens and provincial educators are indicating more interest in adult education. Many feel that the concept could better be served by a restructured Department of Education with support and coordinating services for an adult education program; cooperative action at regional and community levels through decentralization, already begun in the province; and by new methods of need assessment, coordination and delivery of services. Appended are: a Canadian policy for continuing education; adult education in British Columbia; and tables illustrating growth of adult education in British Columbia. (MDW)

The purpose of this nine-chapter book is to (a) ferret out ideas and recommendations for revitalizing and reconceptualizing inservice education, and (b) replicate or adapt the Workshop on Reconceptualizing Inservice Education for which the first seven chapters were written. Chapter 1 examines the historical forces which have developed and now characterize inservice education, and examines future prospects. Chapter 2 describes Washington State's experience with process standards adopted in 1971 for the preparation of school professional personnel. Chapters 3-5 discuss concrete experiences with collaboration in Washington State and abstract considerations of inservice education. Chapter 6 questions traditional practices, functions, and terminology regarding certification and inservice education, and considers new roles for teacher organizations in a changing political context. Chapter 7 presents a discussion based on a preworkshop reading of chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 8 reports on the discussions of 87 selected people who read the first seven chapters, examined the purposes and assumptions stated earlier, and developed recommendations for rethinking inservice education. Chapter 9 is one person's reflections on prior chapters, observations from listening to the 87 people as they deliberated, and perceptions of necessary next steps. (Author/PB)

The resource guide offers a comprehensive description of the career education program in Maryland, from pre-school to adult, which could be adapted to programs in other States. It describes in detail the characteristics, components, and goals of career education. The five components: the family; career development; the classroom teacher; vocational skill development; and the community-at-large, are examined, with explanations of each one's role in the career education process, and suggestions for ways of increasing each one's input into that process. Names and addresses of resource persons in the Maryland school system are included for each component. The second section of the guide deals with the special career needs of girls and women and of handicapped persons. The position and potential of these groups in the work force is discussed, and suggestions for the career education of such groups, along with separate specialized bibliographies, are included in this section. A concluding section deals with the development and evaluation of career education programs and explains specific standards which would be useful to the administrators of such programs. A concluding 15-page bibliography covers: career education bibliographies; books, periodicals, newsletters; and an annotated section on curriculum, program, and other resources. (JR)

This document salutes the winning programs of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education's 1975 Distinguished Achievement Awards competition. The programs cited are the following: (a) Memphis State University's Project Memphis, an educational model providing handicapped infants service; (b) Indiana University's field-based Alternative School Teacher Education Program, which assists teachers in obtaining skills and experiences necessary for teaching in alternative public schools; (c) St. Edward's University's Bilingual-Bicultural Teacher Education Program to improve the educational achievement of Mexican American children in elementary school through the preparation of their teachers; (d) The University of Alabama in Birmingham's First-Year Teacher Pilot Program to maximize success of beginning teachers through establishment of a collaborative support system; and (e) The University of Michigan's Teaching as a Psychological Process, a field-based teacher education program to assist future teachers in applying psychology to the classroom. Certificates of recognition went to the following programs: (a) Austin College's Texacoma Cooperative Teacher Center; (b) College of Saint Teresa's Competency-Based Curriculum for Preservice Elementary Teachers; (c) Iowa State University's Models for Career Education; (d) The Ohio State University's program in Industrial Technology Education; and (e) the University of Pittsburgh's Middle School Teacher Corps Project. (JS)

This two-part document explores the person-centered approach to performance-based teacher education as used by Project Change at the State University of New York College at Cortland. Part one discusses the program and its evaluation. Developed as part of a graduate program in early childhood education, the project is characterized by the following features: (a) students direct their own learning; (b) courses are practicum-centered; (c) the program is performance-based; (d) the program is developmental; and (e) the program seeks to develop teachers who are open to change and capable of fostering change in others. Evaluation of the program is conducted by three methods (a) constant process evaluation with feedback from staff and students; (b) comparative evaluation comparing project courses with other education courses at the college. Included in the evaluation are measures of student products and attitudes, and teacher behavior beyond the classroom; and (c) the Open Classroom Observation Inventory which documents the degree of openness in a teacher's classroom. Part two discusses philosophical and operational principles and competencies for a person-centered teacher education program based on a theory of human growth. A chart indicating competency objectives, assessment procedures, and illustrative student performance is included. (JS)

The Bureau Regional pour L'Education en Afrique (BREDA) survey, published partly in French, assembled data on the activities of adult education institutions in Africa in order to identify and develop future regional documentation centers. This draft copy of the survey is the first step towards improving international collaboration among documentation centers serving adult education. The survey was formulated through personal staff visits, questionnaires, and studies of the documentation available in Regional Offices of Education. The centers in Cameroon (6 centers), the Congo/Zaire (3 centers), the Ivory Coast (5 centers), Dahomey (1 center), Ethiopia (1 center), Ghana (3 centers) Kenya (3 centers), Madagascar/Malawi (5 centers), Nigeria (22 centers), Sudan (3 centers), Tanzania (8 centers), Uganda (3 centers), and Zambia (6 centers) are covered in the areas of activities, financial resources and publications. The activities section describes the nature of the centers as either those with strong documentation programs, training programs, or information and research programs or as agencies concerned with general or special aspects of adult education. The scope of the adult education programs cover literacy, vocational training, social work, health, agriculture, cooperatives, regional planning and economic development, village studies, language study, and general and continuing education. (JB)