Education & Pedagogy

This publication contains ten articles concerning the development of human resources in rural areas. It focuses on a broad perspective of rural adult education and the issues facing those who wish to serve rural areas. The articles and their authors are: "Rural Adults and Postsecondary Education" (Jacqueline D. Spears and others); "The Rural Adult: A Portrait of Characteristics, Needs and Styles" (Roger S. McCannon); "Rural Education from a Native American Perspective" (Jacques Seronde); "School-Based Enterprises: Rural Education through Action Learning" (Paul F. DeLargy); "Creating a Rural Mandate: Impacting Institutional and State Policies" (William H. Gray); "The Community Education Model: Learning Opportunities for Rural Adults" (Dawn Ramsey); "Adults and Higher Education: Bridging the Culture Gap" (Maurice Olivier); "The Rural Free University and the Cooperative Extension Service" (Jim Killacky); "Rural Isolation: The Need for Information" (S. L. Ward); and "The Partnership for Rural Improvement: An Approach to Inter-Institutional Outreach" (Robert H. McDaniel and Ralph A. Loomis). (ALL)

This issue contains interviews with adult educators on contemporary topics in the field. "Beyond the Adult Learner's Dependency" (Shannon Whelan) is an interview with Malcolm S. Knowles, who introduced the term andragogy, the notion that teaching adults is fundamentally different from teaching children. "Self-Directed Learning: The Role of the Educational Institution" (Jane Brindley) is an interview with Allen Tough focusing on the motivation that all human beings feel to learn and the effectiveness of learning projects. "Major Trends in Adult Education" (Maxim Jean-Louis) is an interview with K. Patricia Cross. It touches upon the "linear life plan," networking, dangerous developments in adult education, adult education for women, and theories driving the research in adult education today. "Learning and Education: A Crucial Difference" (Virginia Nilsson) is an interview with Roger Boshier. Topics include distinctions between learning and education, the difference between growth and deficiency motivation, recurrent education in Europe, implementing adult education principles in curriculum-oriented settings, and credit for life experience. A bibliography cites works by the four interviewees. (YLB)

The Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendment of 1988, PL 100-297 of the 100th Congress, was approved April 28, 1988. The bill extends almost every federal elementary and secondary education program through 1993. The Chapter 1 Program, which is the largest federal aid to education program, receives 14 amendments. Other programs added or amended include: (1) the Chapter 2 program, also known as the education block grant; (2) Science and Math Program; (3) Foreign Language Program; (4) Magnet Schools; (5) Women's Educational Equity Program; (6) Gifted and Talented Children Program; (7) Ellender Fellowship Program; (8) Immigrant and Territorial Assistance Programs; (9) Secretary's Fund For Innovation; (10) Drug Education; (11) Bilingual Education; (12) Impact Aid; (13) Adult Education; (14) Star Schools Program; (15) Child Development Program; (16) Statistics; (17) Fund for Improvement; (18) National Assessment; (19) Audits; and (20) Indian Education. An attached press release contains highlights of the H.R. 5 Bill. (RJC)

This project investigated policy statements, training given to academic staff, and the reward structure and career path for academics in distance education among four major providers of distance education in Australasia. Seventy academic staff members from two universities and two colleges were interviewed and asked to complete a questionnaire. The major findings were: (1) most distance education institutions did not have a clear statement of policy, as perceived by their staff, on how to fulfill their roles as major distance education providers; (2) the institutions did not offer training for academic staff in the necessary skills for distance education; and (3) the institutions did not have a reward structure and career path for academics teaching in distance education. Nonetheless, it was found that, while distance education is perceived by practitioners to be on the periphery of higher education, it does flourish. To those involved in it, distance education has a vigor which is drawing them towards a new paradigm of teaching and learning. (4 references) (Author/GL)

The undergraduate education of teachers--improving their general education, the content of their majors, and the professional education course--must become a priority for more college, university, and state leaders. State-mandated standards have produced some significant changes, but these alone are not sufficient to stimulate all the needed improvements in what and how future teachers are taught. This study shows that little substantive curriculum change has occurred over the last five years, and that all too often college presidents and academic vice presidents have not been actively involved in supporting or promoting change. On those campuses where change is taking place, creative academic leaders are seizing upon state mandates and interest in teacher education as opportunities for change. Arts and sciences and education faculty need to rethink curriulum, and state and campus policies should call for and provide incentives for faculty action. Policies for strengthening teacher education programs should be joint efforts of campus and state leaders because of effects beyond the campus, such as quality and supply of teachers and costs of programs. (AA)

Population education has assumed enormous importance in the national and international arena, since population changes influence the quality of life of individuals, families, the nation and the world as a whole. Population education has, however, special significance to India since young persons below the age of 15 are reported to form about 42% of the total population. By providing adequate information about population education to the students at different levels of pre-service teacher training programs, this book was undertaken to enable new teachers to understand the importance of population education, realize the need for teaching population education in a different and non-conventional way, and equip them with the required knowledge, attitudes and skills in order to participate more effectively and efficiently in the successful implementation of population education programs. Topics include: (1) trends in population growth; (2) population policies and programs in India; (3) curriculum development, teaching strategies, techniques, and evaluation of population education programs; (4) agencies involved in population education; and (5) related terminologies in population education. Contains a bibliography of over 100 references. (MVL)

Federal legislation requires that all handicapped children be afforded an appropriate and individualized physical education program. The state education agency of Montana, however, has not assumed this responsibility, and unqualified special education classroom teachers and regular physical education teachers are reluctantly charged by local school administrators to assume it. Through three federal personnel preparation projects, the University of Montana Physical Education-Handicapped Program has established a transdisciplinary training program to increase the quality and number of qualified special physical educators available to the rural areas of Montana. Training is focused around the following contextual goals: interdisciplinary recruitment of training personnel, data-based and metacognition methodologies for personnel training, transdisciplinary design of instructional strategies, a preservice integrating inservice model, and university coursework premised on universal excellence. The program, resulting in a Master of Science degree, involves 54 quarter credit hours of study. Statistical data on the condition of special physical education in Montana are outlined, and strategies that were found to be successful in rural personnel preparation are listed. (JDD)

This project was conducted to determine how best to serve the needs of rural vocational education students in Arizona. The study examined the literature on delivering instruction in such a manner that graduates of all vocational programs have equal opportunity, equal access, and equal competitiveness in the marketplace. Problems in supplying vocational education in rural areas were identified. Twelve methods of ensuring quality in instruction to rural education were explored (mobile units, consolidation, interactive television, one-way televised instruction, microcomputer-mainframe network, satellite computer-based instruction, full network, audio teleconferencing, videotaped lessons, interactive video, regional vocational training centers, and resource sharing), with advantages and disadvantages determined for each method. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of distance education were discussed. The project concluded with recommendations for rural vocational programs in Arizona to use as many types of media as possible to provide education--considering it cheaper to transport information than people--and to provide model programs for the areas being served. (KC)

This conference report covers the Higher Education Amendments of 1986. The following titles of the Higher Education Act are amended: Title I, Postsecondary Programs for Nontraditional Students; Title II, Libraries; Title III, Institutional Aid; Title IV, Student Assistance; Title V, Teacher Training and Development; Title VI, International Education Programs; Title VII, Construction and Renovation; Title VIII, Cooperative Education; Title IX, Graduate Programs; Title X, Improvement of Postsecondary Education; Title XI, Partnerships for Economic Development and Urban Community Service; Title XII, General Provisions; Title XIII, Education Administration; Title XIV, Education Research and Statistics; Title XV, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Culture and Art Development; and Title XVI, United States Institute of Peace. Parts of the Titles include: specific federal student aid programs; program and planning grants; strengthening institutions; strengthening historically black colleges and universities; midcareer teaching training and nontraditional students; school, college, and university partnerships; professional development and leadership programs; teacher scholarships and fellowships. (SW)

This brief report considers implications for states of the major reports on teacher education. Recommendations are highlighted from the Southern Regional Education Board's report "Improving Teacher Education: An Agenda for Higher Education and the Schools" and compared to recommendations in reports from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education ("A Call for Change in Teacher Education"), the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy ("A Nation Prepared"), and the Holmes Group ("Tomorrow's Teachers"). Issues discussed include: (1) 4 vs. 5 years for teacher preparation programs; (2) the revitalization of undergraduate education; (3) school involvement; (4) costs; (5) credentials and teacher performance; (6) state and national roles; (7) effect on teacher supply; and (8) several alternatives vs. a single approach. Among the conclusions is the fact that all reports agree that a change in teacher education is needed and that these changes should be monitored and evaluated closely to ensure that the appropriate direction is taken. (CB)

In this five-part essay, a project concerning development education at the secondary school level in the Netherlands is discussed. The project, entitled Educational Project Development Cooperation (EPOS), will work closely with schools and develop teaching-learning packages and model core curricula to teach students about the moral responsibility and social-economic-political necessities for enhancing development in Third World countries. Part 1 of the essay provides a summary and introduction. Part 2 discusses the relationship between development education and world studies and examines the possible content of a development education curriculum. Part 3 examines the reasons why development education should be integrated into the educational system and what is currently being taught concerning the development issue during the first stage of secondary education. Part 4 describes the characteristics of development education. Part 5 of the essay discusses the position of development education in the present and future system of secondary education. (RM)

This module, which is one in a series of training packages intended to train educators working with handicapped adolescents and young adults in correctional settings, deals with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) and individualized education programs (IEPs). Addressed in the individual sections of the module are the following topics: the major policy considerations in the drafting of PL 94-142 and its provisions, ways of identifying students for special education, the major components and procedures for development of an IEP for students with different types and degrees of disabilities, mainstreaming and least restrictive environments, major considerations in placement decisions, current legal issues in special/correctional education and implementation of PL 94-142 in the correctional setting. The module includes instructional design specifications (module title, competency statement, rationale statement, prerequisites); module objectives; evaluation procedures and criteria, learning activities and alternatives; a content outline; references; handouts; overhead transparency masters; and a training evaluation form. (MN)

Twelve author-contributed papers are presented from a 1983 conference on bilingual special education. The following authors and titles are represented: "The Challenge: Providing Quality Special Education Services to Linguistic Minority Students" (M. Serpa); "Bilingual Special Education: Issues in Student Placement" (S. Santos and R. Santos); "Where Do Native Language Interference Problems End--And Development Problems Begin" (L. Olguin); "Assessment Techniques in the Identification of the Culturally Different Gifted Student" (L. Amodeo); "Assessing the Multicultural Child" (C. Lopez); "Task Analysis Is Particularly Critical for Bilingual Special Education Pupils" (L. Olguin); "Conducive Learning for Language Minority Students" (M. Serpa); "Critical Issues in Bilingual Education for Counselors and Teachers" (B. Martin); "Issues in Bilingual Special Education: Teacher Preparation" (D. Banuelos); "Bilingual Vocational Education for Mildly Handicapped Hispanic Adolescents" (M. Plata); "Computer-Assisted Instruction for Limited Proficiency Students Learning Basic English Structures" (D. McClure, D. King and B. Dogger); and "Assessing the Bilingual Child: What Should Be, What Is and What Could Be" (R. Deyoe-Chiullan). (CL)

The International Envrionmental Education Programme (IEEP) of UNESCO has produced a series of teacher training modules in environmental education. This experimental module focuses on the inservice training of social science teachers and supervisors in environmental education. The document is divided into chapters which cover: (1) the history and philosophy of environmental education, along with some goals, objectives, and guiding principles; (2) basic ecological principles and some of the interactions between natural and cultural environments; (3) environmental problems and possible solutions and/or methods of prevention; (4) several teaching methodologies in environmental education, with a particular emphasis on problem solving; (5) suggested activities and experiments intended to facilitate the teaching of the environmental dimension of secondary social science subjects; (6) evaluation in environmental education; and (7) strategies for planning, developing, implementing and managing an environmental education program. A glossary of terms is included, as well as a bibliography. (TW)

In an effort to better describe the environmental education needs of the secondary schools in the State of Ohio, this thesis sought to determine whether or not Ohio high schools were incorporating environmental education into their curricula. Educators from 100 randomly selected high schools were administered questionnaires in 1982-83, and again in 1986. The responses were analyzed with regard to possible relationships between school size, type of school district, geographic location of the school district, and the number and type of courses offered that contained environmental education topics. The study indicated that there were no relationships between any of the variables studied except for the environmental education courses and their curricular headings. Schools tended to offer environmental education courses under the curricular headings of science, social studies, vocational education, physical education/health, and home economics. Three environmental education topics were taught in at least 50 percent of the courses. Appendices include a list of high schools in the study and the survey instrument. (TW)