Education & Pedagogy

A model is described that utilizes collaboration between sending and receiving programs to support parents through the transition from infant intervention to public preschool special education programs. Included are a timeline for parent services, a parents' worksheet to develop their child's individualized education program, and a list of parent resources. (Author/JDD)

The article describes optimal roles and responsibilities for professionals and parents as states and localities develop preservice and inservice personnel preparation programs and local interagency task forces for transition services (including special education, vocational education, case management, parents, and transdiciplinary/interagency approaches) for young adults with severe disabilities. (CB)

Comparison of three countries' general concerns that appear to underlie their educational policies found that 3600 education personnel from the three countries indicated that about 66 percent of about 100 items represented common concrete issues, including "market-like" mechanisms in education, traditional values in schools, social goals in the schools, and the roles of teachers, parents and top education administration. (Author/CB)

Presents problems encountered by the Curriculum Development Committee in Hong Kong in efforts to reform the sixth-form science curriculum. Examines curricular movements in the United States and United Kingdom. Proposes a Curriculum Inquiry Framework which will conceptualize and broaden science teaching. Contends that science education should be humanistic and address the information age. (CH)

Reported is a summary and review of over 300 research papers published in 1988. The review is organized into 10 sections: (1) "Professional Concerns"; (2) "Teacher Education"; (3) "Programs"; (4) "Curriculum"; (5) "Instruction"; (6) "Conceptual Development"; (7) "Problem Solving"; (8) "Achievement"; (9) "Attitude"; and (10) "Epistemology". (KR)

Considers how multicultural art education should be approached in the classroom. Uses African art to help distinguish between appreciating art from different cultures and understanding cultural contexts. Discusses benefits and shortcomings of five multicultural approaches. Shows how the NAMES project (AIDS Memorial Quilt) could be used in the social reconstructionist, multicultural approach. (KM)

Reports findings from a Shanghai (China) region survey assessing college faculty views on conditions and trends in Chinese education. Identifies professors' chief concerns: financial support, governmental action rather than propaganda, and sound policy formation. Related professors' understanding that educational reform is linked to national social, political, and economic reform. Addresses professors' security concerns. (CH)

Finds Protestant fundamentalists and Muslims in England, Australia, and the United States turning away from government schools, finding official policies antithetical to their beliefs. Argues that traditional Judaeo-Christian beliefs have been replaced by the antinomianism of those opposed to any universal moral law. Suggests that the present system indicates the supremacy of moral relativism over traditional norms. (NL)

Considers the ways in which the media constructs and represents information, particularly in relation to subjects defined by class, race, or gender. Compares conceptions of the "public" by John Dewey and Walter Lippmann with current postmodernist thinking. Recommends that citizenship education incorporate a critically-oriented media education into its curriculum. (MJP)

Summarizes national studies relating staff education/training to child care quality. Finds that more training/education yields higher quality, but no study identifies the most effective dimensions of training/education for improving teacher behavior or child outcomes. Suggests that a common nomenclature for education/training is needed for improved interpretation of research results. Makes recommendations for policy and practice. (KDFB)

Surveys of all U.S. state teacher certification bureaus examined whether they required educational law courses or the study of legal issues affecting teachers. Researchers also examined Louisiana teachers' perceptions of educational law content in their teacher preparation programs. Results indicated there was a paucity of preparation in educational law and suggests such a course be required in teacher education programs. (SM)

This study explored how preservice elementary teachers experienced coursework and field experiences that fostered commitment to socially and pedagogically progressive teaching, especially development of against-the-grain perspectives. Interviews and observations indicated that against-the-grain perspectives evolved from complex interactions of several influences. Students all desired to move beyond traditional education. (SM)

This study of British primary and secondary teachers and higher education faculty examined teachers' and administrators' responses to government reforms in preservice teacher education. Results indicated that predictions of collapse and major disruption have not materialized, but that systemic instability and fragility raise questions about quality. (SM)

Predictions made in 1978 about Australian higher education are re-examined. Very inaccurate enrollment predictions are attributed to unforeseen demand and supply influences. The end to the binary system of higher education, a major change in 1989, was not predicted. However, early analyses of relationships between education, employment, and growth; manpower forecasts and educational planning; and credentialism were predicted with relative accuracy. (MSE)

Discusses the professional partnership between the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and a local school system that led to the establishment of a successful program of support for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards teaching candidates and for teacher leadership opportunities. The paper focuses on four key issues: practice, decision making, change, and structure. (SM)