Education & Pedagogy

Early notions of life skills in Africa did not take into account the importance of a flexible and portable set of skills that would enable youth to adapt to changes in the world of work and lay the foundations for productive well-being and behaviour. Rather, life skills education in many secondary education curricula in Africa started with an emphasis on developing specific technical vocational skills considered essential for employability or self-employment. Using Ghana as an example, this paper shows how secondary education curriculum reformers recommended shifts that embraced a new interpretation of life skills focused on 21st-century skills. This gradual move also reflected the difficulty that secondary education in general has had in networking with the world of work to provide work experience that would lead to the development of work-related skills and enhance employability. The author's main argument is that although the reconceptualisation of life skills in secondary education to reflect 21st-century skills is a welcome shift in the African context, this needs to be accompanied by reforms in teacher education. Classroom teaching and learning need to be adapted in a fundamental way in order to ensure that youth fully benefit from the inclusion of 21st-century life skills in secondary education curricula. Such reforms must include pedagogical practices which nurture communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills.

Globalization is profoundly altering the education policy landscape. It introduces new problems in education agendas, compresses time and space in policy processes, and revitalizes the role of a range of supra-national players in educational reform. This deterritorialization of the education policy process has important theoretical and epistemological implications. Among others, it is forcing comparative education scholars to pay more attention to the politics and dynamics involved in the "policy adoption" stage. Policy adoption is a moment that has acquired a great deal of strategic significance in current education reforms. Looking at the adoption stage has the potential to introduce new perspectives in the study of global education policy (GEP), as well as to disentangle several aspects of the global policy debate that, in comparative education, have been often captured by the convergence-divergence dilemma. In the first section of this article, author Antoni Verger reviews the different traditions in education and globalization studies, and justifies the necessity of looking more explicitly and systematically at the policy adoption stage. In the second section, he reviews how different theoretical approaches in social sciences can contribute to analyze the role of ideas in GEP change, and in policy adoption in particular. In the third section, he systematizes a range of contextual dimensions that are more decisive in processes of education policy adoption.

The discourse on the internationalization of higher education emphasizes revenue generation while neglecting other diverse rationales pursued by governments and institutions. For countries that are seeking to venture into a knowledge economy or accrue greater competitive advantages under globalization, many policymakers view cross-border higher education as a platform for developing human talent. In this pursuit, education hubs stand out as large-scale initiatives supported by extensive planning and investment. By comparing the developments of Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong as education hubs, three distinct objectives are apparent: to develop local talent, to attract foreign talent, and to repatriate diasporic talent. Despite the attention directed at the recruitment of international students, developing local talent remains a fundamental goal among education hubs. Talent development includes manpower planning as well as more inclusive provisions that support the diverse interests among local students. On the other hand, education hubs do not share the goals of attracting foreign and repatriating diasporic talent. Contextual factors such as distinct political economies and ethnic sensitivities mediate the recruitment of external talent. Comparing the policy rhetoric of talent development against the realities of implementation reveals sharp misalignment in some cases. More importantly, the political inertia in Singapore and Hong Kong exerts a gravitational pull that is increasingly turning sentiments against some foreign talent.

In May 2009, the Board of Commissioners of the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. (NCHEC) established policies to award the Master Certified Health Education Specialist certification. As with any new licensure, registration, or certification in a profession, policy makers need to consider how to provide quality assurance of experienced practitioners. Thus, an Experience Documentation Opportunity (EDO) process was created to validate whether active Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) were practicing health education at an advanced level. The process included a review of an applicant's resume, explanation of experience in advanced-level health education within the past 5 years, and testaments of practice by 2 individuals. In the process of reviewing the applicants' materials for certification, NCHEC officials were afforded a unique opportunity to assess how current CHES understood, applied, and articulated advanced-level subcompetencies. The results of this review showed that some in the profession were unable to clearly define and provide documentation that they were practicing at an advanced level. This article serves to stimulate dialogue in the field of health education on how to assist health education specialists in clearly understanding the purpose and use of subcompetencies. Furthermore, by identifying the competencies for which CHES lack clarity, continuing education providers can plan more meaningful and useful opportunities to close the gap in understanding the advanced-level subcompetencies.

In this paper, I argue that aesthetic music education philosophy, which undergirds many current music teacher education programs, textbooks, practices, and networks, fosters assumptions that are not applicable to rural settings. I outline and critique the main principles of this philosophy and demonstrate the ways in which music teachers' habits and assumptions, informed by aesthetic music education philosophy, might change due to doubts and reflection incurred by experiencing the structural and dynamic realities unique to rural music education practice. My viewpoint is derived from my personal experiences, conversations, and observations as a music educator in rural British Columbia over a sixteen-year period. I explore the themes common to Aristotle's conception of praxis, pragmatist philosophy, and praxial music education philosophy that might better inform British Columbian rural music teachers' practice and inquiry, and teacher education programs. I specify the ways in which rural music educators, by adopting a praxialist orientation, might consciously interact, deliberate, and make imposed structural and attitudinal boundaries more porous and less potent (Doll, 2006), thereby setting the stage for the ongoing transformation of their educational practice to better suit their rural context. Finally, I suggest that music teacher education curricula adopt a praxial music education orientation that will assist music teacher candidates to comprehend the notion of "enabling constraints," the importance of developing relationships and networks, and the vital role of community in rural education.

Education in the United States is facing a crisis of completion and performance, both at the secondary and postsecondary levels, with high dropout rates and a significant number of students ill-prepared for further education and careers. These problems are even more acute in America's urban schools. Today's CTE is on the cutting edge of connecting students to their futures through relevant education. These programs engage and prepare students for postsecondary education and a range of career opportunities by providing core academic, employability and technical skills through an integrated, applied and connected curriculum. While CTE cannot claim to solve the structural problems that exist in urban schools, such as budget and staffing issues, it can address the issue of student engagement and connect more urban students to positive educational experiences. CTE programs engage urban students by providing rigorous and relevant coursework, fostering positive relationships, establishing clear pathways, and connecting education and careers--fulfilling a unique and positive role in today's urban education system. The net effect of CTE programs in urban school districts is higher graduation rates and improved academic performance, leading to well-educated and trained individuals ready to succeed in both postsecondary education and their careers. Policymakers and education leaders in urban areas will be well served, and will serve their students well, by considering widespread adoption of CTE programs and strategies. (Contains 5 endnotes.)

Conference proceedings and descriptions of 62 projects funded through Project QUILL (Quality in Liberal Learning) are presented. Project QUILL, which began in 1978, awarded small incentive grants to higher education institutions to encourage new approaches to the integration of traditional disciplines, professional education, and the needs of adult learners. QUILL grants funded one-time efforts at curricular experimentation as well as first steps in the development of large-scale programs. These projects ranged from interdisciplinary courses in agriculture, American Indian studies, science and society, and theories of the mind, to examinations of the nature of ethical behavior in law enforcement, medicine, business, and science. Continuing education projects examined such topics as liberal arts for health professionals, business administration students, and reentry women. Strengths and weaknesses are described of 28 projects that cross disciplinary boundaries, 10 projects that improve continuing education, and 24 projects that combine career education and liberal learning. Additional contents include: three papers from a 1980 QUILL panel on innovation in creating new programs in liberal learning; 13 papers from a 1981 conference on improving quality in liberal learning; and brief descriptions of eight QUILL II projects on liberal learning for leadership. Among the topics addressed by the 1981 conference are business/industry and liberal learning, and liberal learning in continuing education. (SW)

This paper discusses ways to ensure sex equity in teacher education. Teachers, teacher education, textbooks, and the materials teachers choose to use in the classroom tend to stereotype and discriminate on the basis of sex. Teacher educators have a responsibility to try to intervene. Such intervention is especially appropriate since research has shown that nonsexist teachers and nonsexist teaching materials can have a positive effect on students' attitudes about appropriate roles for themselves and others. The paper describes various intervention programs designed to promote sex equity in preservice teacher education programs. Quality preservice materials that have been developed and field tested are described. The best single source for these materials is the Women's Educational Equity Act Publishing Center. To date, the extent to which sex equity has been included in programs has to a large extent depended on individual teacher trainers. With the new National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Standards, effective since 1979, this situation is changing and training in sex equity is becoming a nationally acknowledged and enforced standard. The new NCATE standards include multicultural education, which is defined to include the study of sexism, as a criterion. Of the institutions reviewed by NCATE in 1979, not one of the basic programs denied accreditation was cited for weakness in multicultural education. The paper concludes with suggestions for action for teacher educators. (Author/RM)

This training manual, one in a series of eight, has been developed to help state and local supervisors and teacher educators in technical education to conduct a workshop on sex equity, as it relates to their future programs, for vocational education teachers and administrators in the technical education service area. The workshop's intent is to help these professionals to infuse the concepts and practices of sex equity throughout technical education programs. Following an introduction which provides background on the issue of sex equity and outlines the manual, the guide contains five exercises for group participation. First, with the chance to examine "what is" in a program, participants complete descriptions focusing on their communities and educational agencies. Then, through a "what if" exercise, three alternative scenarios for the future are provided with discussion questions for relating these possible futures to sex equity and technical education. Once the participants have considered "what is" and "what if," a group exercise for brainstorming needs and possible goals for sex equity is provided. This is followed by an individual planning exercise for achieving those goals along with a resource listing of current sex equity publications. A review of the legislative basis for sex equity is included in the appendix. A facilitator guide accompanies this manual. (KC)

The document contains a copy of Subpart 200-2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education of the State of New York covering the purpose of the Regents' Hearings on education of handicapped children and a revised timetable for action by the Board of Regents. Fourteen subsections address the following topics: definitions; board of education responsibilities; committee on the handicapped; procedures for referral, evaluation, individualized education program development, placement, and review; procedural due process; program standards for education programs for students with handicapping conditions being educated in private schools and state operated or state supported schools; state reimbursement to private schools and special act school districts educating children with handicapping conditions who have been enrolled pursuant to Article 89 of the Education Law; reimbursement to certain state operated and state supported schools for blind, deaf, and severely handicapped children pursuant to Articles 85, 87, and 88 of Education Law and Chapter 1060 of the Laws of 1974; reimbursement to schools approved to provide educational services to deaf infants pursuant to Section 4204-a of the Education Law; admission to public schools of children residing in facilities of the Office of Mental Health and the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities; state assistance for the transportation of handicapped pupils pursuant to Section 4405 of the Education Law; and educational programs for autistic pupils. (SB)

Industry, labor, and educational institutions are entering a new period of enthusiasm for mutual cooperation and alliances within communities. Local collaborative councils bringing together leaders from business, labor, government, and education are demonstrating anew the community-level leadership that is essential to create and establish a new national consensus about the purposes and functions of education institutions. But, according to this study, conducted through a review of literature and an examination of local collaborative councils, these are still pioneer activities without well established structures. Basic findings of the study are that (1) existing relationships between education institutions and the business sector are complex, while relationships with the labor sector are being built from a very limited base of prior contacts; (2) attention to the needs of collaboration with education is being given by business leaders especially as a focus on the elementary and secondary schools; (3) gradually, more interaction among education, business, and labor is leading to new patterns for education and training; and (4) career education and career development activities have been the focus taken by local collaborative councils. Recommendations are made for improvements in the collection and dissemination of information essential to the creation of effective programs of industry-education-labor collaboration nationwide; for improvements in the leadership of collaborative activities; and for federal and state government actions encouraging such collaboration. (KC)

The current status of education for 1999 is presented as an indicator report, analyzing key data that measure the health of education, monitor important developments, and show trends in major aspects of education. Each year, about 60 indicators are selected that represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education at this time, tempered by the availability of current and valid information. The report first presents an overview essay of the information in the individual indicators. Following are the indicators organized into five sections: (1) learner outcomes; (2) quality of education environments (elementary/secondary); (3) quality of education environments (postsecondary); (4) social support for learning; and (5) educational participation and progress. The report includes the text, tables, and charts for each indicator plus the technical supporting data, supplemental information, and data sources. Appendices comprise over half of the publication and contain supplemental tables and notes, estimates of standard errors for the statistics, data sources, a glossary, an index, and a list of selected publications of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (MLF)

This paper examines Japan's current educational reform and discusses its impact on student learning. Section 1 describes the main features of the reform efforts, which focus on choice, diversity, flexibility, competition, and excellence in education. Section 2 looks at Japan's changing system of teacher education, noting the dropping rates of teacher employment and the resulting cuts in preservice student enrollments and reductions in numbers of teacher educators. Citizens are demanding quality education but criticizing schools and teachers in their inability to cope with problematic behaviors in schools. As a result, the government has declared that all preservice teachers must take a course in psychological counseling. In 1998 the Ministry of Education decided to revise the teacher certification system. The change is designed to be incremental and melioristic, though many teachers consider it dramatic. Japan's teacher education system is cognitively oriented and knowledge centered. The educational reform is working to upgrade the quality of inservice education, and more graduate programs are being developed. Section 3 discusses the impact of inquiry-based learning on student learning, noting the effect of adding inquiry-based learning into the curriculum. It examines the importance of colleges and universities playing a major role in the reconstruction of elementary and secondary education. The paper notes that Japan's ongoing educational reform will be strongly influenced by U.S. education. (Contains 25 references.) (SM)

This report focuses on key findings, recommendations, and cross-site analysis of a study of vocational education practices that support welfare reform by preparing individuals for workforce entry. An introduction describes study methodology. Chapter 2 provides an overview of differences between vocational education under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 as amended in 1998 (Perkins III) and vocational education and training services under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act. It describes benefits vocational education can offer to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recepients and strategies that 12 selected programs used to increase this population's access to vocational education services. It provides recommendations to increase the role of vocational education in welfare reform. Chapters 3-7 present the cross-site analysis in which data were examined from all 12 sites, and themes were generated that correspond with the study's research questions. The analysis is based on a five-part conceptual framework consisting of program context, organizational structure, program participants and services, resources, and outcomes. Chapter 8 provides abstracts that describe each case study program, with emphasis on the most promising practices. Appendixes include a glossary and literature review on the practice of using vocational education to train and place welfare recipients into the workforce. The attached case studies comprise about one-half of the report. (YLB)

This paper presents a policy framework for the implementation of goals for special education in Michigan. The first part of the paper is a memorandum that recommends the policy framework. Attachment A presents goals for providing a support system to students with disabilities to foster their progress in the general curriculum. Goals include: (1) aligning administrative rules for special education with federal regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), including Parts B (preschool services) and C (early intervention); (2) supporting provision of inclusive preschool services; (3) integrating planning and service delivery for schoolwide models of early intervention for at-risk students; (4) having individual student characteristics guide the individual education program planning process; (5) supporting teachers and practitioners; (6) ensuring current research and proven practices guide personnel development; (7) supporting parent involvement; (8) supporting administrative flexibility; (9) using standards of quality for delivery of early intervention and preschool services; and (10) holding schools accountable for effective service delivery and student performance. Detailed steps are provided for reaching each of the goals. A sampling of current contexts and findings related to the policy framework are presented in Attachment B, and goals for early childhood special education and transition and adult services are provided in Attachment C. (CR)