Education & Pedagogy

The aim of this article is to interact critically with Matthew Clayton and David Stevens's recent critique of non-confessional religious education, constituted as a separate, compulsory subject in the school curriculum. Three different critical arguments are considered: the contention that religious education is an unsuitable vehicle for fostering toleration and mutual understanding; their framing and application of an 'acceptability requirement' to religious education, which states that government principles and policy should be justified by reasons that cannot be rejected by reasonable citizens, and which they believe religious education fails; and finally, their rejection of the view that religious education fulfils a democratic purpose in providing pupils with the competences to consider and assess religious claims to truth. Religious education is defended against all three charges.

Government spending on higher education is a perennial research theme, but empirical evidence from China is relatively rare. Based on panel data of local higher education institutions in 31 Chinese provinces from 2003 to 2016, this paper investigates the determinants of general appropriations and quantifies their relative contributions in consideration of socioeconomic, political, and higher education variables. The results of two-way fixed effect modelling reveal that province GDP per capita, government size, percent of education spending, total enrolment, and tuition fees are five major determinants. Further, the results of Shapley decomposition show that these five determinants jointly contribute to 56.793% of total R[superscript 2]. Drawing on Chinese practices of higher education expansion in the last two decades, this paper concludes with policy implications for sustaining higher education funding.

This study explores the online education action for defeating COVID-19 in China from the perspectives of the system, mechanism and mode. In particular, the policy development of online education in China during the epidemic includes the education informatization policy, the online education system, and the online education mechanism in China. The online education and teaching mode during the epidemic involve the synchronous live class-based teaching mode, asynchronous recording and broadcasting teaching mode, online flipped classroom teaching mode, and online tutoring-based teaching mode. Both characteristics and trends of online education in China during the epidemic have been explored in this study. In addition, the problems, discussions and remarks are also offered.

Higher education institutions in the United States with graduate-level educational leadership programs traditionally do not offer professional learning opportunities in integrative STEM education. The objective of this paper is to share our journey to prepare and implement a course designed for P-12 educational leaders to build knowledge and skills to lead impactful integrative STEM programming. Results of the demand survey indicated a high amount of interest in an integrative STEM education course. Findings from interviews and the modified Delphi study informed our decisions for the development, objectives, assessments, and outcomes of the course to enhance integrative STEM culture in educational settings.

This article examines how recent policy reforms in Nova Scotia, Canada, encouraged and constrained distributed leadership in the provincial public education system. The study found the language of newly enacted legislation and policies encouraged distributed leadership by endorsing collaborative team processes for school improvement and special education/inclusive education. However, distributed leadership was constrained by the elimination of elected school boards, the reduced authority of school advisory councils, the altered duties of educational leaders, and the failure to enact essential supports for distributed leadership. Overall, this analysis found that recent policy reforms strengthened the control of the provincial ministry of education at the expense of local, democratic participation in education. The need for new organizational structures and processes for citizen participation in twenty-first century education was identified.

Framed by a wide range of factors, doctoral education has undergone a deep transformation, especially in the last two decades. The aim of this systematic literature review was to ascertain the dimensions in which the transformation of doctoral education has been revealed. The ultimate purpose was to understand how this transformation is related to and reflects the idea or concept of doctoral education, i.e., what this is or should be. The systematic review process involved the collection, systematisation and analysis of scientific texts on doctoral education to achieve a comprehensive picture. The analysis suggests the multidimensionality of the transformation in doctoral education, evidenced in aspects related to its foundations, objectives, methods, expertise, organisation and process. This seems, in turn, to indicate the coexistence of different ideas or concepts of doctoral education.

This handbook offers school districts a suggested framework for planning the implementation of a sex education program with minimal funds, using existing teachers, and building on existing support among parents, students, faculty, and administrators. In the first section of the guide, the planning and implementation process is briefly described, clarified by a chart which suggests a timeline for implementation. Sections 2 through 6 cover the following topics: assessment of readiness for development of a sex-education curriculum; building community involvement and parental support; building administrative involvement and support; developing an effective and acceptable curriculum (sex education matrix); and teacher selection and training. Appendixes include the following materials: a sex education survey; the Arizona State Board of Education Rule; a sample parental consent form; sex education resource materials; and sample questions for evaluating a sex education program. (JD)

This paper looks at some of the characteristics of the information society, assesses its implications for government policies on education, and highlights certain challenges and opportunities for education. Four questions are raised and discussed: (1) whether the role and general goals of education should be adapted to meet the challenge of the emerging information society; (2) what order of priority should be assigned to the New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT) and media-related curricular objectives; (3) how to incorporate these objectives in the curriculum, and (4) how the NICT and the media may best serve the goals of open and distance learning. The conclusion of this paper discusses more practical aspects of integrating the NICT into a curriculum with a special emphasis on software development, teacher training, evaluation, and school management training. (MAB)

This listing is a comprehensive survey of 1987-88 funded projects for students of limited English proficiency in New York noting district, number of participating pupils, grade level, language or type of program, grant amount awarded, and project director or contact person. Sections present this information on Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII transitional bilingual education programs, special alternative instruction programs, developmental bilingual education programs, special populations programs, fellowships, staff training programs, support services centers, New York 1981 Education Consolidation and Improvement Act and Education Law 3602 for pupils with special education needs, state limited English proficiency aid, state bilingual categorical programs, the transition program for refugee children, the emergency immigrant assistance program, and special legislative projects funded under the governor's deficiency budget. (MSE)

Explanations are provided about Maine's special education, vocational education, vocational rehabilitation, and eye care programs and services, to assist teachers and counselors to understand better the mission, eligibility requirements, and service resources each brings to the planning process for students with handicaps. The guidelines were developed to assist local personnel in designing their own improvement process through local policies and procedures. The first chapter outlines the benefits of collaboration among various services to prepare students for a successful and independent post-school life, and describes the voluntary, democratic nature of collaboration. Separate chapters then focus on Maine's Vocational Rehabilitation program, Division of Eye Care Education, Division of Special Education, and Secondary Vocational Education. For each service, the following aspects are described: mission, referral process, eligibility, programs and services, planning with the student, and closure. (JDD)

The Illinois State Board of Education in cooperation with the Illinois Consumer Education Association produced this lesson plan book as a resource for teachers as they implement the consumer education mandate in secondary schools. Classroom instruction ideas, techniques, and lessons were provided by teachers from Illinois. A committee of consumer education teachers selected 22 lesson plans for inclusion in this publication. The first four sections present lessons in the required components of the consumer education mandate: (1) budgeting; (2) installment purchasing; (3) comparison of prices; and (4) the role of the consumer in the economy. Learning objectives, materials needed, activities, suggested grade level, sources of information, and evaluation for each exercise are provided. The fifth section contains projects and activities that relate to various components of consumer education. Two appendices are included: a list of advisory committee members and contributing teachers and a description of the Illinois consumer education mandate. (NLA)

Abstracts from presentations given at the 1990 International Congress on Education of the Deaf are organized by 12 major topics: development of language skills; communication; instruction; cognition and learning; educational policies and services; organization and administration of schools and programs; students with special needs; psychosocial development and physical/mental health; education and work; college and continuing education; audiological and medical aspects of deafness; and deaf adults in society. Within each topic, the abstracts are organized alphabetically by last name of the presenter or first author. Two appendices provide an index of authors, co-authors, and panelists and a list of presenters and chairpersons. (JDD)

A 5-year study of teacher education and the institutional and regulatory context in which it is conducted reveals that several conditions undermine teacher education. These conditions include: low prestige of education departments; preeminence among teacher educators of scholarly publishing over teaching; and stifling, state-mandated curriculum and credentialing requirements. Nineteen postulates, or presuppositions, are proposed regarding the conditions that will need to be in place if able, dedicated persons are to be attracted to school teaching, well prepared for the challenges they will face, and induced to stay with teaching as a career. The first four postulates outline reasonable expectations for the colleges and universities that assume the responsibility of educating educators. Additional postulates relate to selection of students, state licensing of teachers, clinical training of teachers, university/school district collaboration, and teacher education curriculum. (IAH)

The South Dakota Public Television Overnight Service was created to utilize the late night and early morning hours for the distribution of instructional, informational, cultural, and educational television programming throughout the state, including continuing legal education. Intended to provide a means for members of the legal profession in South Dakota to complete specified amounts of continuing education, the Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program demonstrates the application of distance education methods in a rural setting as it offers self-instructional programs on videotape recordings. The overnight service has a number of benefits for bar members participating in particular programs, the CLE Committee of the State Bar of South Dakota, and the South Dakota Public Television Overnight Service. These benefits include low cost of delivery and use, convenience and frequency of use, and increased awareness of public television broadcasting services. (DB)

The crisis in education that faces the nations of the world at the end of the 20th century requires not only a new approach to the development of education as a social institution, but also the restructuring of the traditional systems of planning and management of education. The democratization of educational planning is called for, in which a flexible and open system would involve all persons and groups of people with a stake in the system, not just educational administrators and bureaucrats. A new system of educational planning and management must put individuals at its center, not some social or economic problem to be solved at the moment. Education also must be seen in terms of fostering lifelong learning. The problem of illiteracy is examined in detail in terms of educational planning and management. (DB)