Education & Pedagogy

A study examined the position of women in postcompulsory education and training in Wales. Results indicated that many aspects of the position of women in education and training in Wales still compared unfavorably with that of men and the rest of Britain. Two main trends running through the major policy changes in relation to education were the development of consortia and partnerships and the marketization of education and training. Key barriers to unemployed women's participation in education, training, and employment were as follows: lack of affordable child care, lack of transportation, lack of confidence, inappropriate hours, and lack of up-to-date substantive skills. Patterns of participation revealed the following: a rapid increase in retention rates over the past 5 years; women as the majority of further education students; women outnumbered by men studying in nonuniversity higher education, women outnumbering men as undergraduates, and predominance of women in initial teacher training. The gender monitoring of statistics was recommended. A number of good practices were identified in education and training initiatives for women: collaborative working, outreach work, flexible arrangements, confidence-building, long-term guidance and counseling, role models, and women-only training. Also recommended were integration of training policies for women with regional economic development strategies and a lifelong career service. (Nineteen references are listed. A Welsh language version is provided.) (YLB)

This book contains 15 articles about various aspects of community further education (FE) programs in Great Britain, including program rationales/benefits, administration, and delivery. The following articles are included: "Foreword" (Bradshaw); "Commitment to Community Is Good Business and Practical Politics" (Brook); "Can We Serve Communities in the Market-Place?" (Johnston); "The Community Profile as a Key to Growth and Equity" (Powell, Buffton); "More and Different: Funding Regimes and Community FE" (Tuckett, Powell); "Taking Education and Training into the Community: East Birmingham College" (Addey); "Serving Communities that Lose Their Livelihoods: The Miners of South Wales" (Trotman, Francis); "Mobilising Communities for Learning: The Sheffield Black Literacy Campaign" (Gurnah); "Community Access to Further Education through Open College Credits" (Webb, Redhead); "Supporting Visually Impaired Students in Vocational Education" (Connell); "When I Get Old..." (Soulsby); "The College in the Countryside" (Cathles, Fazaeli); "Efficient and Effective--and Serving the Community" (Sawyer); "Ireland: Serving a Divided Community" (Shanahan); "Serving the Community: Community Colleges in the USA" (Evans); and "An Education and an Economy for Survival: Committed to Communities in Latin America" (conversation of Luna, Gardener, and Brook translated by Payne). (MN)

A popular image today is that students are "consumers" and teachers are "producers" and "sellers" of education. Many in academia claim that economic metaphors distort and corrupt the true nature of education and they offer a variety of alternative images of the relationships between teachers and students: traveler/guide, worker/boss, artistic co-creators, etc. Educators seem to resist the new wave of economic imagery as a result of fear and the belief that reconceiving education as a fundamental economic exchange is a misunderstanding of education. But the changes in education toward an economic model have been occurring for some time. Grading, for example, was an invention in the early industrial period that linked competition for employment and status to education. The role of grading highlights two forms of power in education: empowerment, or the acquisition of abilities to ascertain and accomplish one's goals, and authority, either in the "natural authority" of a knowledgeable person or authority based on power over another person. Grades are related to the "power-over" aspect of authority. However, their presence and the presence of other "power-over" relationships reduce education by leading to the undervaluing of empowerment. Education is an exchange, but one that should be thought of more in terms of giving a gift than buying and selling. True teachers remain parts of the beings of students, and students continuously give new life and light to teachers. The gifting metaphor demonstrates an alternative economic image of education that focuses on dynamics, the uncertainties, and most importantly, the relationships of selves involved in teaching and learning. Contains nine endnotes. (TGI)

In 1990, approximately 130 million children ages 6-11 (60% girls) were not attending school, and 1 in 4 adults (two-thirds women) could not read or write. The World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990, was convened to provide educators a forum for reflecting on this inequity in the state of education. The moral imperative of Education for All (EFA) was a basic goal and theme surrounding the conference. Defining countries in transition as all developing countries struggling to meet the educational needs of their people in the context of profound social change, this book summarizes available information about what works in primary education by linking educational approaches to specific local contexts. The book provides an account of the evolving strategies of UNICEF in basic education and presents the various political, technical, methodological, and contextual considerations which must be reckoned with in meeting the challenge of basic education for all. The chapters of the book are: (1) "UNICEF and the Commitment to Primary Education"; (2) "The Context of Educational Development"; (3) "Country Priorities," including criteria for identifying educational priorities and how outcomes and priorities are measured; (4) "Components of Educational Initiatives"; (5) "Policies To Improve Access and Equity"; (6) "Improving Learning Acquisition"; (7) "Management Initiatives for Reaching the Periphery"; and (8) "The Conceptual Heritage," detailing phases and aspects of planning and analysis of educational systems including early developments, progressivism, socialist planning, access and mobility, returns on educational investment, quality, and community participation. Contains an extensive bibliography. (BGC)

This paper describes the views of special education directors in 17 Kentucky school districts concerning effects of a 1990 law, the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which called for systemwide change in education and instituted a finance system, Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK), which uses a pupil weighting system. The study addressed cost questions comparing statewide expenditures with revenues generated for special education services, analyzing special education expenditures and revenues by types of school district, and comparing the three pupil weights used under KERA with actual costs of serving various categories of students. Overall, interviewees viewed the SEEK funding system as an improvement over the previous funding mechanism and approved the greater flexibility resulting from the blending of special and regular education funds. Directors also identified concerns with the new system, including insufficient state and federal funds to support appropriate placements, related services, staff development, materials, transportation, and facility modifications. Continuing issues of concern also included the burden of paperwork, mandated caps on class size, regulations governing the use of technology funds, and reimbursement for transportation. Policies encouraging inclusion were seen as having contributed to better use of special education resources and personnel but also have resulted in increased needs for instructional support and related service personnel, staff development, building modifications, and materials, equipment, and transportation funds. An appendix explains the SEEK formula. (DB)

This study was carried out in Hong Kong to determine: (1) if the aims and objectives identified by various groups of students reflect those set out in official course prescriptions; (2) in what ways these aims are similar; and (3) in what ways they are different from officially stated course prescriptions. Participants included a group of 58 uncertified preservice student teachers in their second or third year of a teacher education course, one group of certificated inservice teachers, and one group of uncertificated inservice teachers. The results of the study indicate that there is a mismatch between official aims and the aims recognized by student participants, and suggest that student teachers may be approaching their studies with a narrow view of education as a product rather than recognizing the importance of the overall education process. While the official aims of the Colleges of Education are to develop students to their full potential and to serve the community, 51 percent of the survey respondents stated practical teaching skills as the overall purpose of a teacher education course. The product-oriented view of education suggests that students do not fully understand the role independent study plays in tertiary education. The report concludes that the challenge for teacher educators may be that students still need to be taught how to learn, not in the sense of old-fashioned study skills, but in terms of monitoring their own learning so that they invest time in actively developing their potential. (ND)

This newsletter includes five articles on gender equity and related issues in education, with particular reference to the education of Hispanic girls. "IDRA's MIJA Program Expands" (Aurora Yanez-Perez) describes a program for sixth-grade Hispanic girls that promotes awareness of science- and math-related careers, provides training in science and mathematics skills and test-taking techniques, and fosters involvement of parents and local businesses. "Women in Education Fields" (Linda Cantu) compares the percentages of men and women who were Texas public school teachers and administrators in 1985-86 and 1994-95. "Administrator's Alert: Sexual Harassment Is Everybody's Business" (Bradley Scott) outlines the legal responsibilities of school administrators in dealing with sexual harassment. An excerpt from a U.S. Department of Education brochure advises students on actions to take when confronted with sexual harassment, grievance procedures, and appropriate responses and prevention measures by institutions. "Achieving Gender Equity in Multicultural Bilingual Education: A Review of 'ESL: The Whole Person Approach'" (Adela Solis) reviews a guide for teacher trainers that promotes equity in education for Spanish-speaking girls. The guide demonstrates how sex equity can be addressed within elementary bilingual and ESL programs using concepts of the whole person approach. "Alice Dickerson Montemayor's Feminist Challenge to LULAC in the 1930s" (Cynthia E. Orozco) describes Montemayor's advocacy for the participation of women and youth in the League of United Latin American Citizens, a Mexican American civil rights organization. Includes a list of World Wide Web sites and other on-line resources on gender equity. (SV)

This publication describes the 12 winning programs and the 9 semifinalists of the 1995 U.S. Secretary of Education's Awards for Outstanding Vocational-Technical Education Programs. The awards program was established in 1981 to recognize excellence in local school-to-work and vocational-technical education programs, services, and activities that carry on the purposes of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act. The winners were chosen by a panel of reviewers from among 54 programs nominated by 34 states. The following 12 winning programs are profiled: Mechanical Engineering Technology Program (Springfield, Massachusetts); Telecommunications Youth Transitions Program (Toms River, New Jersey); Automotive Technology Program (Leesport, Pennsylvania); Swansea High Tech Prep Initiative (Swansea, South Carolina); Health Sciences and Medicine Platform (Flint, Michigan); Agricultural Education/Agriscience Program (Altus, Oklahoma); South Texas High School for Health Professions (Mercedes, Texas); General Health Occupations Education (Council Bluffs, Iowa); Career/Academic Plan (Loveland, Colorado); Serendipity/Diablo Valley College Tech Prep Program in Food Service and Hospitality (Concord, California); Farrington Health Academy (Honolulu, Hawaii); and OPTIONS Teen Parenting Program (Fairbanks, Alaska). The nine semifinalist programs are as follows: Biomanufacturing Technology (Lexington, Massachusetts); Partners in Automotive Collision Technology (Lincoln, Rhode Island); Tech Prep (New York, New York); Hotel/Restaurant Management--Chef Apprentice Program (Arnold, Maryland); A Model Business/Education Partnership (Sanford, Florida); Youth Apprenticeship Program (Rockford, Illinois); Construction Trades/Apprenticeship (Secondary) (Rolla, Missouri); Marketing Education Program (Fargo, North Dakota); and Bethel's Building Bridges (Spanaway, Washington). Three appendixes include criteria for selection, a matrix of the 12 winners, and contact information for all nominees. (KC)

This report offers background information on the restructuring of higher education in New Jersey's State Department and Board of Higher Education in 1994, focusing primarily on the substance of the proposals, components of the legislation, and the process through which the changes were developed. Political debates and dimensions are not addressed except as they relate to the substantive issues raised by the new structure. During the 1970s and 1980s, New Jersey's higher education structure had features of comparatively decentralized institutional governance and strong State regulatory control. Prior to the Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994, the autonomy of state colleges was even more limited than that of state universities because of overlapping authority and roles; the state's higher education structure was classified as a strong regulatory coordinating board state. The new structure eliminated the Board of Higher Education and the Department of Education and placed greater governance responsibility and authority on each public college's and university's board of trustees. The Commission on Higher Education was created, composed largely of lay members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. An advisory board of all state public and independent college and university presidents was also created. Lessons and observations learned that may be relevant to other states are summarized. An appendix includes a side-by-side comparison of the highlights of New Jersey's previous and new higher education structure. (NAV)

This monograph includes the final report of the International Expert Meeting on the Promotion of Equal Access of Girls and Women to Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and country discussion papers. The final report is composed of an introduction that proposes that many Member States require special measures to ensure genuine equality of opportunity for males and females; description of the opening ceremony; and "Synthesis of the Country Experience" that highlights patterns that emerged. "Discussion on the Major Issues" separates strategies for future actions into four areas: TVE aspects of general education; TVE and training as preparation for an occupation; TVE as continuing education; and employment and social environment. A "Statement for the Beijing Conference" is followed by a participant list. The 14 country discussion papers submitted by participants describe "Promotion of the Equal Access of Girls and Women to Technical and Vocational Education" in each country. The countries and authors are as follows: Botswana (Marianne Nganunu); Kenya (B. Wanjala Kerre); Australia (Miriam Daley); China (Yu Zu-Guang); India (Arun Mishra and others); Japan (Suzuko Oki); Malaysia (Maimunah Ismail); Republic of Korea (Young-Hwa Kim); Czech Republic (Fratisek Bartak); Germany (Helga Foster, Angelika Puhlmann); Sweden (Nils Friberg, Marianne Lindberg); Turkey (Saban Yildirim); Argentina (Irma C. Briasco); and Brazil (Sonia Ana Leszczynski). Appended is the paper, "Barriers to Participation of Women in Technological Education" (Karen Evans). Some chapters and the paper contain references. (YLB)

The literature on business involvement in education in Canada, the United States, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and other European countries was reviewed. Special attention was paid to the following topics: workplace trends/changes; skill requirements/deficits; youth employment/unemployment; integration versus separation of vocational and academic curricula; education spending; school leavers; organizations interested in school-to-work transitions; apprenticeships; vocational/career guidance/counseling; government role in education for work; cooperative programs; continuous learning; industry-based education; training of teachers/trainers and teacher education/development; and assessment of skills/knowledge. The literature regarding the Japanese and continental European experience identified a history of cooperation among business, labor, and government in developing/delivering high-quality youth training that was not present in Canada. Like Canada, however, the other countries studied were struggling with the issues of global competitiveness, faltering economies, social tensions induced by immigration, high unemployment, long-term welfare dependency, and a changing workplace. It was concluded that Canadian policymakers and educators must develop a school-to-work transition system possessing the following traits: responsive to the concerns of industry; flexible; committed to quality; and oriented toward integration of academic and vocational education and provision of career education, guidance, and support and opportunities for lifelong learning. (Contains 88 references.) (MN)

This paper discusses the preschool component of the Educational Agreement presented to the Portugal Parliament in May 1996 to improve the quality of the educational system. Among the 10 Action Commitments in the Agreement is the creation of a national network for preschool education. The context of the inclusion of preschool in this Agreement is discussed, including the results of research documenting the need for preschool education in Portugal, such as low literacy rates and high secondary drop-out rates. Discussion of the current plan for expanding preschool education includes: (1) the changing role of governmental ministries in preschool education to consist of regulation, supervision, coordination, and compensation; (2) the need to respond to cultural diversity in preschool programs; and (3) new legislation, such as the Public Law on Preschool Education, which affirms the principle of social partnership for the expansion of the preschool program and delineates priorities for support and finding for preschool education. The development of curriculum guidelines and contract-programs with the state are part of its regulatory role to enhance educational quality in preschools. A new inter-ministerial Office for the Expansion and Development of Preschool Education will coordinate the initiatives for the development of preschool education. There is increased recognition of the need for training for early childhood educators at the university level, for providing inservice training for all current preschool teachers, and for preparing preschool teachers in adult education. The early childhood educator should be a professional with a sense of her vocation. (Contains 16 references.) (KDFB)

This report, containing both English and Portuguese text, describes the historical background and current state of preschool education systems in Portugal, and presents recommendations on guideline consolidation in the implementation of a common preschool education policy. Part 1 of the report, "Historical Background," discusses the social, economic, and cultural factors contributing to the development of preschool education in Portugal. Part 2, "Present Situation," describes child care and education within formal and informal contexts and presents a typology of current services. Part 3, "Preschool Education Organizing Principles," defines the objectives of preschool education; differentiates kindergartens operated within a socio-educational perspective by the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Security (MSSS) from those with a strictly educational perspective, operated by the Ministry of Education (ME); describes the administration of preschools; and discusses teacher and support staff training. Part 4, "Contexture of Educational Work," examines pedagogical models used, the need for curricular guidelines, and potential contributions from research of preschool education. Part 5, "National Network of Preschool Education," presents preschool coverage rates and network growth figures gathered by the ME and MSSS. Part 6, "Educational Policy Measure," discusses governmental goals for expanding the availability of preschool education and the state's role in preschool education. Part 7, "Considerations and Recommendations," provides basic reference principles and guidelines for future development and expansion of preschools. (KDFB)

This document presents statistical data about vocational-technical education (VTE) in Ohio in 1993-94 and summarizes the mission and 1993-94 activities of the Ohio Council on Vocational Education (OCOVE). Presented first is a fact sheet on VTE in 1993-94. The next sections explain the structure and purpose of the OCOVE and summarize its involvement in vocationally related conferences, on- and off-site program evaluation/review, statewide planning, and evaluation. OCOVE's recommendations to the Ohio General Assembly, Ohio State Board of Education, and other state agencies responsible for VTE, correctional, and career education and vocational rehabilitation are presented along with the various organizations'/agencies' responses to OCOVE's 1994 recommendations. OCOVE's research and publishing efforts during fiscal 1994 are reported. Presented next are statistical data on the following: employment outcomes of secondary and postsecondary VTE completers; enrollment in secondary, postsecondary, and adult VTE; VTE for special populations; tech prep programming; and investment of resources. Tables detailing the 1994 VTE budget and allocation/use of federal and other resources for VTE are presented along with lists of objectives of the Ohio state plan for VTE and accomplishments by the end of fiscal 1994. Concluding the document are summaries of OCOVE's coordination activities and evaluation responsibilities. (MN)

Texas required a curriculum review of all subjects in 1979. From this review came major changes in the state's educational system. This document reports on the status of the mathematics and science education reforms that took place in Texas from 1979 to 1993. The first section, "National Education Reform," includes a chronology of reform events and descriptions of the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. The next section, "Texas Education Reform," discusses several levels of state government involved in education reform: Texas State Legislature, Texas State Board of Education, Texas Education Agency, and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The third section, "Standardized Testing," discusses results from state basic skills tests and national standardized tests for Texas students. The next section, "Educational Outcomes on the Classroom/School Level," discusses class time spent on mathematics and science at the elementary level; average class size, course enrollment, and advanced courses at the secondary level; and teacher preparation. Next, "Partnership Programs," through which adults assist in the daily operation of local schools, are discussed. Finally, suggestions for resolving problems of assessment of educational programs are given: identify measurable educational goals; create assessment tests based on educational goals; provide minimal and measurable requirements for schools; and provide educational workshops for school and community leaders in the area of partnership building. An appendix includes a directory of 76 mathematics and science partnerships, programs, and projects in Texas. Contains 25 references. (MKR)