Education & Pedagogy

Historically, the spread of universal formal mass education in the West is closely linked to emergence of nation-states. This is also true of the Third World. The salient feature of education today is that it reflects a model of society in which citizens, including children, are seen as a potential to be tapped for development of the nation, as well as of its individual members. In Syria, education has expanded tremendously in scope and scale. The importance of education in Jordan can be shown by the simple fact that out of around 4 million inhabitants in 1991, almost 2 million were pupils. Comparison of essays written by students in Syria, Jordan, and Sweden shows that Middle Eastern pupils' essays reflect what they have been taught to see as desired and desirable goals, and the pupils stress unanimously their duty towards national development. Swedish pupils are very different. None seem to have any particular national aspiration; few have any clear educational plan. Pupils in Syria and Jordan are educationally geared toward higher education despite needs in vocational careers. The Middle East has a fairly low participation of its educated women in the work force. Swedish women are, according to educational authorities, too traditional in program choice in higher education. Swedish students are confident in their future plans, but Middle Eastern students feel cheated since jobs suited to their educational levels are not available. (12 endnotes) (YLB)

"The Condition of Education, 2002" is an indicator report, summarizing the health of education, monitoring important developments, and showing trends in major aspects of education. Indicators examine relationships; show changes over time; compare or contrast subpopulations, regions, or countries; or assess characteristics of students from different backgrounds and types of schools. An indicator is policy relevant and problem oriented; it typically incorporates a standard against which to judge progress or regression. This year, 44 indicators were selected that represent a consensus of professional judgment about significant national measures of the condition and progress of education at this time. The report leads with special analyses of private schools and nontraditional undergraduates. The indicators that follow are in six sections: (1) Participation in Education; (2) Learner Outcomes; (3) Student Effort and Educational Progress; (4) Contexts of Elementary and Secondary Education; (5) Contexts of Postsecondary Education; and (6) Societal Support for Learning. The report includes text, tables, and charts for each indicator plus the technical supporting data, supplemental information, and data sources. Appendices compose over half of the publication and contain supplemental tables and notes, estimates of standard errors for the statistics, data sources, a glossary, and a bibliography that includes publications and surveys of the National Center for Education Statistics. (RT)

This report considers lessons learned from a multi-part research investigation into United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) civic education programming. To better understand how and under what conditions civic education contributes to the development of a more active and informed democratic citizenry, USAID initiated the study in the Dominican Republic, Poland, and South Africa to measure the impact of adult and school-based civic education programs focusing on participants' democratic behaviors and attitudes. Results show that civic education programs for adults can have a significant, positive impact on certain key aspects of democratic behaviors and attitudes. Civic education appears to contribute to greater rates of political participation among program participants, particularly at the local level. Civic education programs appear to have minimal effect on changing democratic values, such as political tolerance, and, in fact, appear to have a negative impact on some values, such as trust in political institutions. Findings for school-based civic education programs mirror those for adult programs, although the impact of civics training was generally weaker and more inconsistent for students than for adults. The key finding to emerge, applying to both adult and school-based programs, was that course design and quality of instruction are critical to the success of civic education programs. The report has six parts: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Civic Education, Democracy, and USAID's Approach" (School-based Civics Programs; Adult Civic Education; USAID Programs; Key Variables in Civic Education Programs); (3) "Report Findings" (Adult Findings; School Findings); (4) "Recommendations and Lessons Learned"; (5) "Conclusion"; and (6) "Want to Know More?" (BT)

This issue focuses on how special education fits into standards-based reform and contains the following featured articles: (1) A New Vision for Special Education Accountability (Martha L. Thurlow and Jane L. Krentz) charts the change in special education accountability as it moves from the old focus on Individualized Education Program teams; (2) Challenge and Change of IDEA 97 (Edward Roeber and Ken Warlick) looks at the challenges involved in including all students with disabilities in statewide assessment programs; (3) Beginning Journeys: A New Vision for Early Childhood Education (Mary Beth Bruder) presents a new model for providing early childhood services to young children with disabilities; (4) The Door to Opportunity: Lets Open It for Everyone (Lawrence C. Gloeckler) reviews the positive results of including students with disabilities in the New York State Regents exam; (5) Everybody WINS! (Toni Strieker and Kent Logan) describes the goal of Project WINS to build the capacity of Georgia schools to educate all students within a standards-based environment; (6) Supporting Staff in Inclusive Schools (Gail McGregor) details ways schools can be restructured to help teachers and other staff work successfully with all students in an inclusive setting; and (7) The IDEA Partnerships (Joanne Cashman and Elizabeth Laflin) describes how a national strategy for engaging the major membership organizations is working to foster understanding and improve results in the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. (Each article include references.) (CR)

A second volume compiles the outcome of a program of seminars from 1997 to 1999 that were funded by the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council to reassess and redirect comparative educational research. Eighteen chapters are as follows: (1) "Introduction: The Comparative Study of Educational Policy" (David Phillips); (2) "Education Policy Studies and Comparative Education" (Val D. Rust); (3) "Snakes and Ladders: Learning from International Comparisons" (Joanna Le Metais); (4) "Higher Education: Polemic and Policy Imperatives" (Mary-Louise Kearney); (5) "Introduction: Research, Education, and Development" (Robin Alexander) (6) "Research, Education, and Development: Setting the Scene" (Michael Crossley); (7) "Education and Development: The Neglected Mission of Cross-Cultural Studies " (Cheng Kai-Ming); (8) "The Department for International Development: Knowledge Generation after the White Paper" (Terry Allsop); (9) "Developing a Comparative Approach to the Study of Gender, Education, and Development" (Colin Brock, Nadine Cammish); (10) "Learning from Development Research in Educational Contexts" (Rosemary Preston); (11) "Postscript: Perspectives from the Fourth Seminar" (Michele Schweisfurth); (12) "Introduction: Educational Professionals Compared" (Marilyn Osborn); (13) "Comparing Education Professionals: An Introductory Essay" (Harry Judge); (14) "The Politics of Comparing Teacher Education Systems and Teacher Education Policy" (Theodor Sander); (15) "Chaos and Complexity in the Study of School Management" (Lynn Davies); (16) "Systems Supervisors and Evaluators Compared" (Clive Hopes); (17) "Educational Change and Its Impact on the Work Lives of Teachers in Eight Countries" (Pam Poppleton, Theo Wubbels); (18) "Postscript: Perspectives from the Sixth Seminar" (Marilyn Osborn, Colin Richards, Meryl Thompson, Gerard Bonnet, Phillipa Cordingley). (Contains 430 references.) (RKJ)

The role of adult education in sustaining economic growth and expanding opportunity in Massachusetts was explored. The analysis focused on the new basic skills needed for a new economy, groups lacking the new basic skills, the demand for adult basic education (ABE), funding for ABE, building basic skills through adult education, ABE's costs and benefits, and moving toward an integrated job training and ABE system. The following major challenges to building workers' skills were identified: (1) a language challenge; (2) an education credential challenge; and (3) a new literacy challenge. The following were among the recommendations offered for overcoming these challenges: (1) expand weekend classes; (2) track students' outcomes in the labor market after they leave the classroom; (3) expand developmental education through community college-employer partnerships; (4) expand community college developmental education; (5) create tax incentives for the private sector; (6) provide more job training for workers with the most limited skills; (7) refer workers with weak skills to ABE systems and one-stop career centers; (8) and direct ABE students toward other education and training opportunities. The following items are appended: background information on the ABE system; the education and literacy needs of Massachusetts' elderly and young adult populations; and supplemental tables. (Contains 80 tables.) (MN)

This book explores the relationship between adult education and social change and argues that it is vital for all adult educators to continuously engage radical theory in their teaching, reassess radical adult education's doubting and abandonment of the Marxist tradition in favor of postmodernism and radical pluralism, and seek to reinject the Marxist tradition into radical education. The following are among the specific topics discussed: (1) the context of contemporary interest in social movements and civil society in radical adult education theory and practice; (2) the sociology and politics of social movements; (3) civil society within and beyond the Marxist tradition (the beliefs of John Locke, Adam Ferguson and the Scottish Enlightenment, Georg Hegel, Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, Jean Cohen and Andrew Arato, and John Keane); (4) adult education, social movements, and civil society (the question of whether education can change society; the nature of education in social movements; linking old and new social movements; the politics of social movements, civil society, and adult education); and (5) Gramsci's concept of civil society and its implications for reconceptualization of radical adult education theory and practice (the state and civil society; the political party and organic intellectuals; the limits of spontaneity; hegemony; the importance of alliances). (Contains 304 references.)(MN)

This book defines a good education and offers parents a plan of action for ensuring that their children achieve it. Drawing from the goals that William Bennett enumerated as Secretary of Education, excerpts from Hirsch's Core Knowledge Sequence, and current research, this book sets forth curricula and specific objectives for children from kindergarten through the eighth grade. Also examined are issues such as school choice, sex education, character education, and the phonics/whole language debate. The book encourages parents to become advocates for their children by learning what to look for in a good school, how to talk to educators, and how to push for needed changes. The book is organized in three parts. Part 1 helps parents of preschoolers to prepare their child for school. Part 2 addresses the academic curriculum from kindergarten through eighth grade, outlining important knowledge and skills that children should learn, providing tips for appraising student progress and for deciding whether the school is doing a good job, and suggesting ways to supplement the school's efforts at home. Part 3 examines issues such as character education and teaching children with special needs, discusses how parents can help children succeed in elementary school, alerts parents to issues and problems they might encounter, and considers ways parents can stay involved in their child's education. (KB)

This book explains how and why education research has come to suffer from its low-status reputation. Starting with the establishment of education as a distinct discipline, the book shows how the field, in a misguided attempt to be "scientific," turned away from the holistic and deeply social and pragmatic vision of John Dewey. It portrays the major players (including Dewey and William James), the institutions, and the conflicts that have shaped the study of education. It discusses topics such as curriculum studies and the panic over the Soviet Union's Sputnik, school surveys and testing movements, and the increasing role of the federal government in education. Education research, the book argues, took a wrong turn when it abandoned Dewey's pragmatic vision for an emphasis on quantitative measurement and behaviorally oriented visions of what education should be. Its critical look back at the abandonment of Dewey's ideals and its consequences reveals much about the current state of education research. The book takes the reader into the last half of the 20th century, when the federal government came to see education research as a tool for increasing equality. It argues that its requirements for program evaluation resulted in an improved understanding of the education policy-making process, yet these evaluations provided grist for the mill for the Reagan administration, which slashed federal funding to education research just as it had begun to mature. The book also considers the promising directions education research may be taking in the future. (Each chapter includes extensive notes.) (BT)

The educational journey of modern Indian people spans two distinct value systems and worldviews, as the Native American sacred view inevitably encounters the material and pragmatic focus of the larger American society. In that meeting ground lies an opportunity for the two cultures to teach and learn from each other. The 15 essays in this book are a criticism of the formal and official institutions of American Indian education and constitute an effort to open discussion about what a truly American Indian educational practice would look like. Such an indigenization of the educational system would explicitly explore ways of knowing and systems of knowledge that have been actively repressed for five centuries. Beginning with an essay by Vine Deloria, Jr. and alternating between Deloria and Daniel Wildcat, the essays are: "American Indian Metaphysics"; "Indigenizing Education: Playing to Our Strengths"; "Power and Place Equal Personality"; "Understanding the Crisis in American Education"; "Knowing and Understanding"; "The Schizophrenic Nature of Western Metaphysics"; "Traditional Technology"; "Technological Homelessness"; "Transitional Education"; "Indigenizing Politics and Ethics: A Realist Theory"; "Property and Self-Government as Educational Initiatives"; "Practical Professional Indigenous Education"; "Higher Education and Self-Determination"; "The Question of Self-Determination"; and "The Perpetual Education Report." (Contains 38 references and an index.) (SV)

This book, which is intended as a text for future and experienced adult educators, examines current theories and best practices in adult education. The book consists of 20 chapters written by prominent practitioners in the field of adult education. The chapter titles and authors are as follows: "Teachers Sharing Experiences" (James A. Draper); "Journal Writing for Teachers and Students" (Coral Mitchell, Helen Coltrinari); "Postmodernity and Adult Education" (Jonathan Neufeld); "Critical Reflection in Adult Education" (Michael Kompf, W. Richard Bond); "Evaluating Adult Learning" (Tara Fenwick); "Evaluating Adult Programs" (Lynn E. Davie); "Holistic Learning" (Virginia R. Griffin); "Distance and On-line Education" (Elizabeth J. Burge); "Philosophies Embedded in Adult Education" (James A. Draper); "Experiential Teaching and Learning" (Paul Bouchard); "Cultural Diversity and Adult Learners" (Thelma Barer-Stein); "Processes of Adult Learning" (Dorothy MacKeracher); "Helping Seniors to Learn" (William L. Randall); "Transformative Learning" (Sue M. Scott); "Mentorship" (Leona M. English); "Adult Literacy and Problem-Posing" (B. Allan Quigley); "Adult Education in Organizations" (Marilyn Laiken); "History of Adult Education--Why?" (Michael R. Welton); "The Past, Present, and Future of Adult Education" (Alan M. Thomas); and "Comparison Studies for Adult Learning" (J. Roby Kidd). Each chapter begins with a practitioner's summary that orients its contents to the real world of adult teaching. Most chapters contain substantial bibliographies. (MN)

This report challenges the widely held assumption that education is inevitably a force for good. While the provision of good quality education can be a stabilizing factor, the report shows how educational systems can be manipulated to drive a wedge between people. The report begins by describing the nature of today's armed conflicts, with virtually every conflict of recent years fought within, rather than between, nations. It examines the growing importance of "ethnicity" in conflicts, as clearly seen in recent tragedies such as Rwanda, Kosovo, and Chechnya. The second section of the report describes the two different faces of education: the negative face shows itself in the uneven distribution of education to create or preserve privilege, the use of education as a weapon of cultural repression, and the production or doctoring of textbooks to promote intolerance; the positive face goes beyond the provision of education for peace programs, reflecting the cumulative benefits of the provision of good quality education. While the report recognizes the value of peace education, it stresses that it is only one of many educational measures needed in the midst of ethnic hatred. It suggests that peace education cannot succeed without measures to tackle the destructive educational practices that fuel hostility, and should be seen as one part of a wider peacebuilding education approach. The report examines possible steps toward the creation of a peacebuilding education, outlining guiding principles and goals, including the demilitarization of the mind, the introduction of alternatives to suspicion, hatred and violence, and the value of memory. (Contains 138 references.) (BT)

The relationship between education and the United States (U.S.) economy was explored to identify research needed to inform employment policy in the future. Special attention was paid to the following topics: the state of education in the U.S.; key problems in grades K-12 that must be addressed; student achievement; inequity; costs of special education; and proposed "silver bullet" answers to existing problems. On the basis of the evidence reviewed, it was concluded that mediocre educational results do not threaten economic performance and that major initiatives toward reforming education have had limited success. It was further concluded that research and policy analyses in the economics of education can play an important role in directing educational policymakers toward improved student achievement through better curriculum, instruction, leadership development, and professional development. The following were among the areas of inquiry suggested: (1) using econometric techniques to identify the impacts of programs and initiatives; (2) identifying those interventions that work best with disadvantaged students; (3) assessing the cost-effectiveness of educational initiatives; (4) determining the best ways of using incentives to improve the system; and (5) determining whether financing affects student achievement and identifying ways of improving the equity and efficiency of financing public education. (Contains 15 references.) (MN)

Technology education focusing on technological literacy is provided to Taiwanese students in grades 1-11, primarily through the secondary school subject Living Technology (LT). Taiwan's newly promulgated national curriculum for grades 1-9 has integrated LT with natural science for the key learning area (KLA) Natural Science and Living Technology. Taiwan's national curriculum for grades 10-12 is also currently under revision. The hope is that technology will become an independent KLA. The following are among current efforts to promote technology education in Taiwan: (1) cross-country studies of teaching strategies, learning assessment, and methods of identifying and assessing technological literacy; (2) development of numerous technology unit plans; (3) publication of the practitioner journal "Living Technology Monthly"; (4) implementation of technology teacher professional development workshops; and (5) numerous activities sponsored by the Industrial Technology Education Association, Taiwan, R.O.C. The following issues facing technology education in Taiwan have been identified: (1) technology is not well understood; (2) technology education at the elementary school level is still not universal; (3) further study examinations caused a lack of teaching vitality at the secondary level; (4) differences exist between the curriculum standard and the actual learning environment; and (5) technology teacher education programs are diluting their professional roles. (MN)

Between 1985 and 1995, the progress of adult education in Canada was largely influenced by the restructuring of the economy and the job market; the changing nature of the state; the media and new information and communication technologies; and social and cultural change. Adult participation in education and training increased from 19 percent in 1983 to 28 percent in 1994. These were priority areas: job-related training; those who receive government assistance; customized training; literacy and basic education; and life and work. Awareness of the nature of literacy grew, and involvement in promoting literacy grew significantly. Advances in areas such as access to postsecondary education and lifelong learning showed how training and adult education can create greater equality among persons and groups in relation to the development of Canadian society. A considerable volume of adult education and its funding occurred under federal and joint federal-provincial jurisdiction as labor market, literacy, and vocational training. Corporate, community, trade union, and the private sectors were also involved as were libraries, museums, and community centers. Fields of intervention were equal opportunities for women; citizenship, environment, health, and democracy and the information highway; international cooperation; cooperation between industrialized countries; cooperation for development; and training programs. Lifelong learning is a key for entering the next century. (Appendixes include 112 references and a glossary.) (YLB)