Education & Pedagogy

This report describes New Jersey's progress in achieving the goals and objectives outlined in the State Plan for Vocational Education FY 1992-1994. The programs and activities described in the document were conducted during FY 1994 in compliance with the Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act of 1990. The text contains narrative information and data on 12 areas: (1) performance standards core measures; (2) secondary and postsecondary/adult occupational programs; (3) single parents, displaced homemakers, and single pregnant women; (4) sex equity programs; (5) criminal offenders; (6) special populations (disabled persons, limited English proficient, disadvantaged persons); (7) state leadership and professional development; (8) community-based organizations; (9) consumer and homemaking education; (10) tech prep; (11) integrating applied academics and vocational education; and (12) career guidance and counseling. Narratives on each funded area also include information from grant applications, program evaluation reports, site visits, and other available programmatic or evaluative data. (KC)

This document is intended to help school districts in Oregon develop procedures for the operation of local special education programs. The guide is formatted to show legal requirements in the left column of each page with sample procedures in the right column. The sample procedures are not required and are intended to work in conjunction with the Local Education Agency Comprehensive Application (the formal presentation of the district's policies and operating procedures for special education required by federal regulations). The document addresses the following 13 areas: (1) child identification; (2) confidentiality; (3) full educational opportunity goal; (4) comprehensive system of personnel development; (5) parent involvement; (6) participation in regular education; (7) individual education program; (8) procedural safeguards; (9) evaluation procedures; (10) private schools; (11) free appropriate public education; (12) application available to the public; and (13) nondiscrimination. Two appendices provide similar sample procedures for the areas of related services and discipline. A glossary completes the document. (DB)

The Ripon College (Wisconsin) education department is engaged in a major curriculum reform effort to include study in curriculum, pedagogy, and social foundations. In particular, an effective social foundations curriculum is being implemented to engage students in the historical, political, sociological, and philosophical ideas that impact instruction in the U.S. classroom. The social foundations core sequence in the revised curriculum consists of 4 courses totaling 11 credits: School and Society (historical foundations), Human Relations in Education (sociological foundations), Education and the State (political foundations), and Philosophical and Social Issues in Education (an integrative capstone course). The social foundations core is designed to provide a broad knowledge base, to develop skills in the critical analysis of education using the tools of social science and history, and to examine the intersections and conflicts of social foundations perspective with psychological foundations and curriculum and instruction. The core attempts to provide teachers with an academic base for understanding the social function of education and developing an informed democratic citizenry. (Contains 29 references.) (JB)

This document, which is intended for adult educators and others interested in developing and delivering a workplace education program, provides an overview of workplace education. First, workplace education programs are defined as programs in which adult learners are taught basic skills by using the functional context of their jobs and a curriculum that was developed after analyzing their critical job tasks to identify the basic reading, writing, math, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills required for them to perform their jobs competently. Discussed next are the concepts of workplace education as a business and workplace education as a partnership. After a brief discussion of the past, present, and likely future of workplace education, the following general steps in developing a workplace education based on the functional context approach are detailed: form a workplace advisory council, identify critical job tasks, conduct a workplace education needs assessment, perform a basic skills task analysis, develop a curriculum, provide instruction, and evaluate the workplace education program's effectiveness. Concluding the guide is a brief comment on starting a workplace education program. Contains 10 references. (MN)

These proceedings comprise descriptions of approximately 120 workshops and presentations. Entries range from short workshop descriptions to full-length papers. Topics cover various bases, applications, and outcomes of experiential learning techniques, including community-based experiences for at-risk secondary students, using the Internet, personal development through adventure activities, techniques for facilitating "flow" during challenge activities, evaluating program effectiveness for adjudicated youth, legal liability and risk management, theoretical and philosophical foundations of experiential education, story telling, expeditionary learning, survival education, experience-based training and development for corporations, feminism in outdoor experiences, instilling empathy and self-esteem in at-risk and abused youth through adventure programs, stress management, wilderness programs, adventure family therapy, outdoor leadership training, ethical decision making, maintaining emotional safety in groups, research on experiential education, spirituality in experiential education, and development of experiential education in other countries. Appendix contains an index of presenters. (SV)

This book analyzes the history of vocational education for girls in the United States since about 1900. The analysis is developed from the larger issues raised by what turn-of-the-century educators called "the woman question," or "What ought woman to be?" The book analyzes competing ideologies and correlates prescriptions with politics and practices in vocational education. The women who actively shaped policy and carried out a variety of different programs are profiled. The book documents that home economics training, rather than being a means of social salvation, became a vehicle of class and racial stratification. The analysis shows that young women and their parents, pushed by opposition from unions, steered clear of blue collar jobs and turned instead to commercial education. Although business education had made no claims, it provided a pathway into respectable jobs, especially when compared to factory work. The book also traces the history of federal support for vocational education, especially that provided by the Smith-Hughes legislation. (KC)

Designed to help members of the education and health systems work closely together at the community, state, and national levels, these two booklets present concrete steps to ensure the well-being of all children by educating and connecting the education and health sectors. The first booklet is aimed at education professionals. After discussing the ways in which the health care system works in the public and private sectors, the booklet provides concrete suggestions for working with the health care systems in the school, district, community, and policy arena. The second booklet, aimed at health professionals, explains the organization of the education system at the local, state, and federal levels. This booklet also gives suggestions for ways to work with schools, including ways to design activities and generate state support. Each booklet provides a list of resources for supporting collaborative health and education activities in the community. (MM)

In the context of the growing movement towards outcome based education, this paper provides a basic overview of this movement and its implications for the professional preparation of health educators, particularly as implemented in Pennsylvania. After listing the three basic principles and four concepts of outcome based education, the paper describes Pennsylvania reforms which mandate the revision of secondary school curricula for an outcome based education focus. Of a total of 53 student learning outcomes, 6 are in the academic area of wellness and fitness; the paper notes that these will be the starting point for curriculum development. The paper lists the six health and wellness outcomes, describes the teaching strategies for preservice school health education students in conformity with the reforms, and describes some practical instructional plans and strategies for teaching a preservice teacher education course in this area. Final sections describe a completed student learning outcome poster and suggest strategies for preparation of course syllabi and structures based on outcome based education. (JB)

Law and court decisions concerning cost as a factor in determining an appropriate special education program or placement are reviewed. The historical context is briefly considered, including numbers of students needing and receiving special education services for 1976-77 and 1992-93 as well as public expenditures for special education in 1987-88 and amount per child adjusted for inflation for 1992. Legal decisions are identified that pertain to: government and private sources of special education funds, third party payments, consideration of costs for the individualized education plan team meeting, the meaning of free appropriate public education, failure to find a qualified provider, paying for evaluations, cost issues in shortened school days and transportation, cost as a factor in determining appropriate medical and school health services and in placement determinations, and whether cost can be a consideration under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A brief summary and recommendations conclude the review. (SW)

As society has gotten increasingly digitalized, schools have made extensive efforts to accommodate to that development. With the digitalization of school, the special education practice and the roles of special education needs coordinators (SENCOs) and special education teachers (SETs) change. However, there is a lack of research examining this transformation, a gap which this exploratory study opens up for new understandings of. This mixed method study explores the special education practice in a municipality in Sweden, one of the most digitalized countries in the world. The findings show that SENCOs and SETs have highly positive beliefs about digital tools in special education, but at the same time their frequency of use varies greatly. Also, the study identifies special educational activities engaging with digital technology, describing a work practice with complex expectations of the special education professionals also in the area of digital teaching and learning. Furthermore, the competencies considered as necessary for handling the expectations are discussed.

Routine practices in federal and state penal facilities deny undocumented individuals access to various programming, including sentence-mandated and education programs. Many prison higher education programs also exclude individuals who are not US citizens and because undocumented people cannot access Pell Grant funds, it is unlikely they will benefit from expanded postsecondary opportunities during incarceration. Rampant xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment shapes policies, practices, and discourses of access to higher education broadly, as well as higher education in prison. Here, the authors share their attempt to challenge xenophobia in prison higher education through an evolving engagement between the University of Utah Prison Education Project (UPEP) and the Consulado de México (Mexican Consulate) in Salt Lake City to serve Mexican Nationals currently incarcerated in the state prison system. The authors argue that prison higher education programs should commit to anti-racist praxis and accordingly recruit and support undocumented individuals in prison.

Over the past few decades, the aspect that emphasizes a focus on sustainable development to transform education is not new. It has been seen that education systems around the world have taken action to integrate Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as part of their responsibility. While recent studies have offered a wealth of empirical evidence about the benefits of ESD, research has argued that sustainable development and mathematics education remain largely unconnected in actual classrooms. In addition, the ideas of sustainable development in the curriculum have been defined in a variety of different way across different subject areas. The question about what ESD in mathematics education could look like at school remain unanswered. Thus, in this paper, we present a theoretical synthesis of the specialized literature in the learning and teaching of mathematics in relation to sustainable development. In doing so, we attempt to call attention to the need for a philosophy of ESD in mathematics education.

The purpose of this study is to examine the knowledge and perceptions of 145 teachers from three regions in Ghana regarding inclusive education. The results show that the teachers have moderate knowledge of inclusive education practices and processes. Additionally, slight moderate positive relationships were found between participants' level of training in inclusive education and their knowledge of inclusive education. From the findings, we argue for stakeholders in teacher education to, as a matter of necessity, reconsider the curriculum and practicum for preparing special and general educators to focus on inclusive practices to effectively prepare pre-service teachers to succeed in inclusive settings. There is also a school leadership imperative, in view of site-specific challenges and needs, to influence school-based strategies to advance inclusionary practices. Successes of such initiatives could be replicated in other schools to advance inclusive education in Ghana. Implications of the study for teacher professional development and inclusive education practice in pre-tertiary educational institutions are underscored.

This article explores how global citizenship can be seen in the practices of science education in the context of international education policy and Finnish school and teacher education, with a focus on scientific literacy and sustainability education for promoting a sustainable future. Possibilities of science education to promote sustainability are discussed through teaching examples based on socio-scientific approaches. In addition, transformative science education for sustainability is regarded through competence development taking into account different knowledge dimensions. Solving problems however requires not only knowledge but also communicative and strategic and speculative activity. Thus, education must emphasize the main visions of scientific literacy and transdisciplinary perspectives proposed in the literature, supporting students to understand society and everyday socio-scientific challenges from the local to global level and to deal with differing scientific results and uncertain information. Our article presents findings and conclusions that provide opportunities for further work and provide insights into science and educational sustainability practice.

The importance of workplace safety education is being emphasized as a method to minimize damage caused by industrial accidents. This study identified research trends and major components of workplace safety education to establish an academic basis for providing education that enables organizational members to engage in safety at work. A literature search was performed by setting search terms based on education-related words, such as workplace safety education, safety engagement, workplace learning, and vocational training. Eighty articles were selected through the systematic literature review method, and the selected articles were used as unstructured data for research. The R program (version 3.6.3) was used to perform text mining. As a result of the analysis, the topics related to workplace safety education comprised four factors: education component, organizational risk management, workplace environment, and safety competency. This study explored the main themes necessary for workplace safety education model development and derived sub-components. In addition, this study identifies the educational content, methods, and programs to be introduced in Korea and seeks academic and practical directions for future research.