Education & Pedagogy

This study sampled 268 people involved in natural resource research and management education from every state in the United States to determine what concepts, skills and affects should be included in the National Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) water and water resource curriculum framework. The analysis contains an 80-item curriculum framework to guide the development of educational materials. (Author/AIM)

Describes the successes of a cross-curricular environmental education program in England. Keys to success include tapping into networks of local and national contacts, recognition for student projects and competitions which give students confidence and sometimes help fund extra projects, curriculum audits to ensure that all students receive environmental education, and environmental clubs to maintain student interest and develop networks. (PVD)

Examines efforts to affirm diversity in higher education in South Africa and the United States. Suggests that to achieve a pluralistic approach, higher education must develop a clear understanding of diversity and group ethos, challenge basic ideologies and assumptions, teach healing, promote diversity throughout curriculum and institutional culture, collaborate to achieve unity, and build mechanisms for self-evaluation and accountability. (MSE)

Presents a broad discussion on developing concepts of peace education, noting the importance of including peace education in children's education. Examines peace education and assumptions about child development, the child as creator of a better world, the child and the group (in the classroom and in society), peace education for life, and the influence of gender and culture. (SM)

Describes the difficulties encountered when a college professor of education returned to an elementary school mathematics classroom. Provides excerpts from his daily journal, which is organized by themes (e.g., planning, uncertainties about students' learning, the adult as stranger, classroom management, and teaching skills), and reflects on how this experience informed his work as a teacher educator. (SM)

Discusses liberatory education in the mathematics classroom, focusing on one teacher's experiences and questioning what would be liberatory in a mathematics classroom when the teacher finds a conflict. The paper examines issues of relevance in education, how much mathematics is important, how culture affects education, what is liberatory when priorities collide, and how to make choices between conflicting views. (SM)

Rural Josephine County, Oregon, used federal Enterprise Community funds to revitalize its communities. The elementary school serves as a hub, sharing resources with a parenting and preschool center, a coalition of 26 service providers, and the Enterprise Community organization. Describes how communities cooperate in providing adult education, parenting, summer programs, outdoor education, a family coalition, and a teen center. (TD)

The Broken Hill School of the Air provides distance education to isolated rural students in the far west of New South Wales (Australia). Services include correspondence study, radio lessons, home visits, and minischool meetings. A student teacher describes his 10-week experience with Broken Hill, teaching 15 students in grade 5-6. (SV)

This review of 5 books, 21 articles, and 11 papers on general- and special-education collaboration found that the dominant culture of individualism and balkanization in higher education institutions, the lack of appropriate reward structures for collaboration, and contrived collegiality inhibit the development of collaboration. Characteristics of successful collaboration are discussed. (Author/CR)

Notes that the further education (FE) sector has changed more over the past decade than any other educational sector in Britain; FE colleges are being assigned a central role in the new post-compulsory system designed to develop a "learning society." Outlines a values foundation for the new FE sector and programs. (DSK)

Proposes four formulations of the commonplaces of science based on distinct views of the nature of science, and explores the consequences of each. Argues that although each formulation has strengths, some commonplaces prove more comprehensive than others in capturing the essence of science for the purposes of developing curriculum, educating science teachers, and conducting science-education research. Contains 55 references. (Author/WRM)

Examines trends in urban and rural China, 1949-90, for elementary- and secondary-school enrollments, number of teachers, and educational attainment of males and females. Demonstrates that shifts in the political context of educational policy between a socialist egalitarian agenda and a liberal competitive model have carried real consequences for rural-urban inequities. (SV)

Aims to integrate and expand upon three distinct discourses on humanistic and liberal education. Argues that humanistic education can be classified into four forms--classical, romantic, existentialist, and radical--and that they should be viewed as complementing rather than negating each other. Offers an integrative model of humanistic and liberal education, based on principles such as acculturation, autonomy, and authenticity. Contains 39 references. (VWC)

Chronicles the evolution of management education for the nonprofit sector from the early 1980s, and discusses program design. No one dominant model has emerged, but four scenarios for future development of the field are explored: integration with business administration; integration with public administration; development of a separate field of study; and continued fragmentation. (Author/MSE)

Surveyed middle school principals in port-of-entry communities along Texas-Mexico border regarding preferred preparation experiences and education of potential preservice teachers. Obtained demographic data regarding teachers, students and schools, and improvement suggestions for state teacher-education programs. Found that principals preferred middle school theme knowledge over pedagogical knowledge in beginning teachers. (LBT)