Education & Pedagogy

Intended to aid school board members and administrators in their understanding of career education, this report synthesizes the contents of six regional career education seminars sponsored by the National School Boards Association and the National Association of School Administrators. Focus is on what career education is (the idea that schools should pay attention to what kids know about work), why it should be attempted by schools, and how it is done. In each chapter general discussion of the issues is followed by excerpts from conference presentations by national spokesmen for career education, school board members and administrators from school districts with major career education activity, state career education coordinators, and representatives of business, labor, parents, and others. Topics emphasized in the definition chapter include the need to blend and balance the academic and the practical, to teach adaptability skills and the desire to work, and to define career education locally. A rationale chapter is devoted to the arguments of those supporting career education and one to those opposing it. The final and most extensive chapter deals with techniques in program and personnel development for a school district. Emphasis is on dealing with constituents and sharing power, various means of financing, and implementing systematically with provision for planning and specification of objectives. (JT)

A preservice, competency-based teacher education program is presented in this special education program and curriculum guide. Some of the behaviors required by the competencies include: assessing an individual child's learning abilities; working in a variety of educational settings; choosing a curriculum to teach children with different abilities; creating and using "teacher-made" instructional aids; running actual parent conferences; and designing a myriad of theoretical programs, behavioral management approaches, and curriculum interventions. Each competency has a specific goal that must be met before it can be "signed off" by the professor. Specific requirements center around the following eight areas: (1) observation and practicum in special education; (2) psychology of the exceptional child; (3) psychoeducational strategies in special education; (4) language development in special education; (5) curriculum innovation in special education; (6) diagnosis and assessment of learning abilities; (7) legal rights of the handicapped; and (8) counseling and consultation in special education. The program is designed to build from the knowledge level through the skills level to the performance level. Each specific requirement within these broad areas is set forth with specific goals, objectives, and a teacher evaluation form, and each student must meet requirements to be recommended for licensing. (DS)

The challenge to foreign language teachers at pre-secondary, secondary, and post-secondary levels is considered. Factors which affect the professional tasks of foreign language teachers are students' attitudes toward education and educational institutions, teachers' attitudes toward their jobs, and the public's demands for curricular change, quality education, and attention to special needs. The status of the profession is reviewed in relation to current trends in enrollment, post-secondary entrance and degree requirements, curriculum, certification, and emerging goals. Directions in the professional education of prospective foreign language educators and the status of the continuing education of experienced teachers are described with particular emphasis on the states that comprise the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Broad-based academic and teaching-specialty preparation, broad-based experiential preparation, and competency-based teacher education approaches to the education of new and experienced language teachers are discussed. Appendices provide a Harvard University teaching fellow training model, a model assessment form of student participation and performance in a methods course, and examples of protocol modules. (SW)

A study examined special and mainstream vocational teacher involvement in design, delivery, and review of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for handicapped youth in Vermont. It also assessed inservice and program needs of mainstream vocational educators and Diversified Occupations (DO) lab instructors. Information was collected from 214 mainstream and special vocational education instructors, cooperative education coordinators, and vocational directors in Vermont area vocational centers through on-site interviews and mailed questionnaires. It was found that over one-half of the mainstream vocational education teachers were involved in IEP development. The involvement was essentially through communication with special education personnel; the patterns of communication between vocational and special education personnel were also found during the implementation and review/evaluation phases of the IEP process. Teachers without IEP students seemed to need more awareness-level training, while teachers with IEP students needed more skills-oriented training. DO lab instructors reported direct involvement in all phases of the IEP process. Their inservice needs focused on vocational curriculum and skill development activities and materials. (Appendixes, amounting to approximately one-half of the report, include on-site interview guides, survey instruments, and correspondence.) (YLB)

This catalog identifies and describes 21 exemplary and innovative vocational education projects, courses, and programs in local districts, community colleges, and universities in Florida. Nineteen are classified as innovative; two are exemplary. Each program description contains this information: state course number and title, school district, name of school, teacher(s) and/or administrator(s) responsible for innovation, description of innovation, vocational education consultant or academic dean, and abstract. These programs are included: Auto Mechanics Technology, Automative Mechanics Technology, Basic Employability Skills Training Program, Biological Parks Technology, Business Applications of Mini Computers, Career Exploration Program, Electronics Technology, Electronics Technology-Industrial Option, English as a Second Language, Florida Preservice/Inservice Leadership Training Program for Administrators of Vocational Education Programs, Focus on Career Understanding and Skills, Graphic Arts, Individualized Manpower Training Systems--Health, Livestock Production, Motorcycle Mechanics, Multiple Entry-Multiple Exit Nursing Program, Small Business Management, STIP III--Specialized Training Institute for Progress, Transitional Nursing Program (ADN), Vocational Education for the Handicapped, and Vocational Remediation and Maintenance Instruction: Self-Paced Open Entry Open Exit. (YLB)

This management study of public vocational education in New York City evaluates the delivery of effective programs to students. The first section outlines the goals and methodology of the study and the structure of the vocational education system. The second section discusses administrative difficulties which cause students to have problems with placement, program procedures, and preparation for employment. Section three analyzes the central administration of the vocational education system, and focuses on the lack of administrative coordination between the Center for Career and Occupational Education and High School Division and other units at the Central Board. Duplication of fiscal functions, budgeting, curriculum development and review, and teacher recruitment and retention are also discussed in this section. The fourth section analyzes intergovernmental issues involving Comprehensive Employment and Training Act programs, Youth Employment Training Programs, and the State Department of Education. In section five program and programmatic issues such as supplementary instructional programs, work experience programs, model programs, equipment improvement, and student follow up procedures are studied. Section six discusses relationships with community colleges and potential employers. A summary, tables, and appendices conclude the report. (APM)

This is an evaluation report on the vocational education program in the majority black school system of Oakland, California. An overview of the employment problems in Oakland and a description of the report's preparation are contained in an introduction. Chapter two examines the relationship of the vocational education program to planning, curriculum design and evaluation activities in the general school system. In the third chapter, the transition from classroom to workplace is reviewed, focusing on work experience programs, cooperative education programs, job placement efforts, and two transition programs undertaken in Oakland. The fourth chapter presents the employers' perspective on the vocational education proqram and the prospective labor market. Chapter five discusses federal funding through the Vocational Education Act. Funding for programs designed to meet the needs of disadvantaged students, handicapped students, and consumer and homemaking education is covered in this chapter. The sixth chapter outlines sex equity issues in the vocational education proqram and presents vocational enrollment figures by sex. In the final chapter, recommendations for improving the vocational education program are directed to the Oakland school system, employers in the greater Oakland area, and parents and community leaders. (APM)

The significance of competency assessment for schools of education is explored with emphasis on developments at the state level and in specific teacher education programs. Multidimensional quality indicators of teacher preparation programs are suggested in the first paper. Other papers present an overview of state legislative reactions to competency assessment and case studies of developments in Oklahoma, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida. Competency assessment and testing procedures at Xavier University (Louisiana), the National College of Education (Illinois), and Northern Kentucky University are reviewed in separate essays. In a paper on the implications of competency assessment for historically black colleges and minority students, positive and cautious points are made, and steps for pursuing excellence in minority teacher education are noted. The final article is a futuristic view for assessing competence in teaching in the 1980s written for an imaginary 1990 teacher education journal. In a "futuristic review" of the developments in the 1980s, the 1989 "author" concludes that teachers gained control of their own competency assessment and professional development in the 1980s. (FG)

A study, using both qualitative and quantitative data, examined factors affecting job placement of former secondary vocational education students. The study involved the following four data collection procedures: (1) analysis of existing data concerning educational, social, and economic factors for all 50 states, with a more detailed analysis of data in 584 local education agencies in seven states, (2) questionnaires sent to 22,000 respondents in 62 local secondary education sites in the seven states, (3) a comprehensive review of literature, and (4) case studies conducted in eight local secondary education sites in seven states. The dependent variable for the study was the percentage of former secondary vocational education students from a local education agency employed in a field related to their training. Data revealed eight major categories of factors affecting job placement of these students. The factors are community; labor market; education; philosophy; legislation, regulation, and funding mechanisms; curriculum; teachers; and admissions. Other factors isolated include student clubs and community and school concurrence in viewing vocationally educated students as a valued economic resource. (A selected bibliography is included.) (MN)

During the 1970s, unprecedented numbers of American adults returned to school. The reasons for this growth and what trends in adult education can be projected for the future are the subject of this policy research monograph. The monograph began with the question, "What will the clientele and scale of adult education likely be in 1990 if present trends continue and if there are no marked changes in the way work institutions, education institutions, and American workers behave toward adult education?" The report is a portrayal of the next ten years of adult education, assuming continuation of past trends in participation for various age, sex, race, educational attainment, and income groupings in the population. It assumes no significant change in the way major work and educational institutions value and support worklife education opportunity. These projections suggest a future of widening disparity in educational attainment between majority and minority population, between the more affluent and the less afluent, younger and older adults, and between high educational achievers and those with low prior educational attainments. (KC)

This document contains 10 essays which focus on various aspects of art education in the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational institutions of Australia. Titles are "Art Education in Australia," The Visual Arts and Society,""The Parallels Between Primitive Art and Child Art,""The Mildura Sculpture Exhibition 1961 to 1975,""The Education of Artists and Designers,""The Liberal Education of Art and Design Students,""Art History in Art Schools,""What is a Work of Art?""The Formation of Torrens College of Advanced Education," and "This is the Story of Jonathan Hardly." The first nine essays were written by a college-level art instructor and the final essay was written by an art-school graduate. Topics discussed include the arbitrary divisions in art education between university art departments and art programs in institutes of technology, balance between practical and theoretical elements in art programs, lack of acceptance of the visual arts in Australian society, the anti-intellectual nature of most art education programs, the vitality of art created by untutored children, current concerns of younger artists, ideal role for schools of art in Australia, and a sensitive artist's search for an individual artistic style. (DB)

The relationship between formal education and creativity was investigated in two studies. A reanalysis of Cox's (1926) 301 geniuses indicated that achieved eminence of creators is a curvilinear inverted-U function of formal education. Secondly, a study of 33 American presidents found that dogmatism (i.e., idealistic inflexibility) is a curvilinear U-shaped function of formal education. Since creativity and dogmatism are negatively associated, and may represent opposite points on a single bipolar personality dimension, these findings imply that the optimal amount of formal education for maximal creative potential is a college experience that falls just short of attaining the baccalaureate degree. Up to the junior year formal education has a positive effect, probably through the acquisition of general knowledge and skills, but thereafter the increased specialization required for graduate and professional training seems to reverse creative growth. It is suggested that this result leads to several questions for further research, including possible implications for the design of postgraduate programs. Other questions for additional research include the following: the magnitude of education's effect upon creative development, whether the curvilinear relationship holds equally well across disciplines, and whether differences in native ability or scholastic performance affect the functional relationship between formal education and creativity. (Author/SW)

The joint hearings which are documented in these proceedings were held to enhance the awareness of the Congress, the executive branch, and the private and public sectors of both the potential educational benefits of new information and telecommunications technologies, and the possible social and economic impacts resulting from the widespread use of these technologies in the educational process. A variety of perspectives on these two issues was presented during the two days of sessions. Among the witnesses who appeared before the subcommittees were representatives from the National Institute of Education, the World Institute for Computer Assisted Teaching, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Warner Cable Corporation, and the Educational Testing Service. In addition to these presentations, six workshops were held which focused on the implications of instructional technology for elementary secondary education, postsecondary education, public planning, special education, adult education, and information technology development. The recommendations presented to Congress by the workshop participants are included in this document. (LLS)

A workshop on "Curriculum for Early Childhood Education," held in the summer of 1979 at the Kenya Institute of Education, aimed to familiarize participants with the problems facing early childhood education in Africa. Specific workshop objectives were (1) to familiarize participants with the psychological, social, political, and economic factors influencing the young African child; (2) to enable participants to apply educational implications inferred from the first objective; and (3) to inculcate necessary skills for designing curriculum for early childhood education in Africa. This document, one of two volumes of the workshop proceedings, includes foundation papers, country profiles, working group reports, opening session addresses, and an evaluation of the workshop. Topics of foundation papers include specific African aspects of developmental tasks facing young children, sociocultural environments, traditional forms of early childhood education, teacher training, political and economic realities, and evaluation. Representatives from various countries reported on teacher training, early childhood education, and trends in curriculum development within their respective countries. Working group reports focused on developing language skills, developing scientific, computational, and manipulative skills, and catering for children with special needs. (Author/DB)

Responding to the call for cutting-edge research and reciprocal learning in the field, this book examines global cases to illustrate the range of diversity, challenges, and strategies in community education. The theoretical and empirical contributions of the book are drawn from 12 countries and economies globally, including Australia, Austria, China, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, and the US. Each chapter presents a distinct case study, illustrating how each nation approaches community education in response to its unique challenges, cultural contexts, and policy landscape. This cross-cultural book presents a diverse range of perspectives from a detailed view into the 'Maeul' (village) education movement's role in South Korea or a look into India's commitment to expanding lifelong learning considering the 2020 National Education Policy, to diving into the US's focus on the role of community education in professional growth and quality of life or exploring Aotearoa New Zealand's educational policies. Showcasing vibrant educational practices across different regions, this volume will be of interest to academics, scholars and researchers in the fields of lifelong learning, community education, multicultural and comparative education, and educational policy.