Education & Pedagogy

Maintains that in the United Kingdom's educational policy, changes are threatening the status of geography in the curriculum. Notes the decision to exclude geography from the 14-19 core curriculum. Suggests greater dialog and joint school/higher education cooperation to ensure continuity and progression in the curriculum. (MJP)

Examines the attitudes of master's-level education students towards students with disabilities. The graduate students were given a questionnaire before and after completing a university course on teaching music to special education learners. Results showed an increase in participants capability but a decrease in willingness to pursue this work. (MJP)

Investigates the acceptability and possible role of virtual reality (VR) in environmental education. Among the principal findings were that the sample population of environmental educators indicated an acceptance of VR as a teaching tool. VR applications that allow students to have an experience not available in the physical world were perceived as beneficial to environmental education. (AIM)

Gail Kelly's research on women's education in developing nations enriched scholarship on improving women's quality of life through education. Main strands of inquiry examined how school processes and curricula affect women's educational outcomes (versus men's), the false bifurcation of private and public spheres of women's lives, and how women's education affects their lives (rather than families or national economies). (SV)

Advocates public policy education in higher education and student involvement in state public policy. Discusses ways to incorporate public policy education in university courses in family and consumer sciences curricula at the introductory, advanced, and graduate levels, including writing briefing reports, participating in professional organizations, conducting focus groups, and lobbying legislators. Describes impact of such education on students. (KDFB)

Describes the efforts of St. Petersburg College (Florida) to offer teacher education baccalaureate degrees in elementary education, special education, and secondary education in math and science. States that community colleges seeking to offer the baccalaureate degree should be aware of the demands posed by funding, curriculum, marketing, student services, and staff and faculty resources. (CB)

Discusses historical and contemporary influences on changes in special education assessment, emphasizing three persistent themes: accurate classification, fairness to minority students, and special education outcomes. Dunn's contributions to each theme are discussed, along with other influences such as legislation and litigation. Current dynamics leading to significant changes in special education assessment are discussed, particularly in the category of specific learning disabilities. (Contains references.) (SM)

Investigated current levels of faculty supply and demand at 752 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education member institutions. Survey data indicate that demand is greater than supply, shortages are more critical in some program areas than others (e.g., early childhood and special education), the percentage of minority hires has increased, and other educational institutions and K-12 salaries are drawing applicants. (SM)

Technology and the Internet pervade higher education, forcing universities to change how they deal with growing technical needs of these organizations. Sixty-six professors were surveyed to determine their preparedness for the integration of technology into their curriculum. Findings suggested that faculty did not have the technical skills necessary to conduct distance education. (Author/AEF)

This article reviews six texts published between 1998 and 2002 that might be used in introductory courses in early intervention and early childhood special education. It offers an analysis of distinguishing features of each book, a comparison of components across texts, and suggestions for choosing an appropriate text. (Contains 6 references.) (CR)

Reviews the development of preservice education for Malaysian Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) within the sociopolitical and sociocultural context, highlighting the pursuance of conformity within the context of cultural diversity and showing how institutional forms and processes frame the teaching profession's response to the basic sociocultural process of learning to teach.(SM)

Discusses forces behind the pressure for teacher educators to comply with California's State Bill 2042 (which emphasizes standards and accountability for teacher education), examining the role of the Business Roundtable (BRT) in education reform and noting why corporations should instill this form of accountability. The BRT proposes nine essential components of systematic educational reform, currently focusing on state content standards, state mandated tests, and sanctions/rewards. (SM)

Investigated the treatment of gender and gender bias in recent teacher education textbooks. Although most texts included some coverage of gender issues and the role and contribution of women, coverage was minimal and not always positive. Foundations texts provided about 7 percent of content to gender issues, and methods texts averaged about 1 percent. Nonetheless, the texts had a generally supportive tone for the idea of gender fairness in education. (SM)

Describes teacher education in Scotland, examining three competing influences on it: those derived from economic globalization, those derived from the requirements of a new knowledge economy, and those emanating from the culture of difference and inequality which now typifies many developed societies. The paper asserts that while teacher education is becoming standardized, there are few signs of an official endorsement of a productive pedagogy for the new knowledge economy. (SM)

If British Columbia education policy wanted to promote growth in numeracy and mathematics, the curriculum would provide opportunities to use mathematical concepts in social situations and give students time to move from concrete to abstract thought. Instead, the curriculum emphasizes extensive mechanical understanding and algorithmic manipulation and is difficult. It appears that math curricula are used to determine who enters college. (TD)