Education & Pedagogy

This document is a summary account of the proceedings of the first in a series of informal meetings convened by the Office of Sea Grant (OSG) to further marine education in the United States. The document should assist educators participating in future meetings by making it possible to avoid the necessity to re-define basic concepts and principles. No attempt has been made to prioritize, shorten, or highlight any of the items that were discussed. Items include statements by Bob Shephard and by Barbara Spector (Program Director, National Sea Grant College Program). Areas addressed in Shephard's statement include: general and OSG organization; support for marine education, pass-through funding, National Sea Grant support for marine education, and others. Areas addressed in Spector's statement include her responsibilities, nation-wide perception of needs, money for quality assessment workshops, marine education's needs, list of most pressing needs, education components within different Sea Grant programs, and others. Additional items included are the luncheon meeting notes; vocabulary; other activities/discussions; and possible Sea Grant-Cooperative Extension (4-H) cooperation. Three appendixes and handouts given out at the meeting are also provided. Among the information presented in the handouts are education/training goals and objectives for marine education and statement of role of state marine education coordinator. (JN)

Project RETOOL's goal was to provide a quality training program in special education technology for teacher educators. The training was designed for higher education faculty who had mastered the basics of microcomputer operations and applications in special education. Project staff, in cooperation with consultants and trainers and with the support of Council for Exceptional Children staff: (1) formed a Project Advisory Council; (2) identified microcomputing competencies needed by higher education faculty members who are preparing special education personnel; (3) located or developed training modules on microcomputer applications in special education; (4) field tested the training packets; (5) conducted training for post-doctoral leadership personnel on the competency-based training modules; (6) conducted training for teacher educators on three authoring systems developed specifically for special education; (7) disseminated project information and products; (8) evaluated the project's activities, products, and processes; and (9) maintained a project management system. Training materials focused on "AppleWorks,""Electric Desk," authoring systems, telecommunications applications, expert systems, hypermedia, interactive videodiscs, and adaptive and assistive devices. Appendixes include a list of the members of the Project Advisory Council, a copy of a paper by A. Edward Blackhurst et al. titled "Microcomputing Competencies for Special Education Professors," samples of promotional materials, a table showing the geographic distribution of training participants, and project evaluation data. (JDD)

A study determined the perceptions of recent completers of California community college vocational programs and their employers regarding the job-related competencies and knowledge of general education the completers should possess in order to succeed and advance in their careers. Completers had received degrees or certificates in either agriculture; business and management; computer and information science; engineering and related studies; health; consumer education and home economics; and public affairs and services. A sample of 2,330 completers and 306 employers were asked to complete survey questionnaires that contained a list of 46 job-related competencies and general education outcomes. They rated each competency's importance to performance in current jobs and to career advancement. Responses from 48 percent of the students and 71 percent of the employers were received. The following are among the results reported: (1) the responses from completers seemed to validate the importance of good work habits, work attitudes, and other positive work behaviors; (2) competencies in the areas of interpersonal skills, communication skills, and problem solving were also considered important; (3) perceptions were very similar, regardless of whether the respondents held degrees or certificates, and there were few differences across program areas; and (4) generally, employers' and completers' responses were similar. (A 10-item bibliography and appendices listing participating colleges, providing the survey forms, and tabulating results are included.) (CML)

The findings of an education training survey of human resource managers regarding the employment and training needs of New England companies and organizations are presented. Five sections present the following: an introduction (survey's purpose and a profile of the human resource managers surveyed); general education and training problems of New England organizations; qualities of employees important to meeting the future needs of New England organizations; continuing education in New England organizations (what groups are being served and how, who is doing the education and training, and where the education and training are taking place); and effectiveness of colleges and universities (effectiveness of colleges and universities in meeting continuing education needs of employers and preparing graduates for employment and greatest current contributions of colleges and universities and ways they might be more effective). Key findings include: (1) human resource managers feel the two serious education and training problems among their employees are lack of management and supervisory skills; (2) technical skills, adult illiteracy and basic math/problem solving skills of employees are not viewed as problems; (3) the major provider of continuing education for all employees is the internal staff of the organizations; and (4) most organizations rely heavily on on-the-job training and informal programs for providing education and training to their employees. An appendix offers a copy of the education and training survey. (SM)

With the corporatization of higher education in Canada and acceptance of the ideology of neo-liberalism as the organizing principle of education, university teacher education programs have seen massive reform. Drawing on the work of Michael Apple, Stephen Ball and others, the author asks how notions that once would have been dismissed as inimical to the education of a well-prepared teacher, have now become accepted and indeed, considered common sense. Priorities for teacher education have changed drastically. Where once established faculties of education sought to become "full-service" institutions, preparing teachers for a wide-variety of levels of education in many different subject discipline areas, now the choice is drastically reduced to those areas where teacher candidates might possibly find a teaching position: language arts/literacy, mathematics, science and technology and second language teaching. In keeping with the new "business" approach to education, the kind of research that is encouraged will hold the possibility of developing a product that may result in profit for the university. Managerialism proliferates, numbers of tenure track positions are cut but more vice-presidents and managers are appointed. The author questions the sustainability of the "brave new" faculty of education but points out possibilities for resistance to counter the narrow approach now viewed as the norm for teacher education and higher education in general.

The characteristics of global education space as a social idea of creating a system of measures to ensure the right for education to any individual as well as its converting, that is recognition regardless of the nationality and country of study; and as a specific area of human activity, which forms the internal and external environment for individual development; and as a product of a developing educational thought, the semantic side of which contains the universal interests in education, have been represented. Global education space has been defined as a part of the global social space that brings together business and education facilities within the Earth coordinates to represent the institutional forms of education and informal structures that are directly or indirectly involved in this process and, secondly, educational products (concepts, educational standards, teaching of traditional and innovative type), reflecting the goals, values, principles, content and other information about education, and examines the interaction and influence on education rights. Global education space is developed in parallel with the development of the world economy and has center-peripheral structure. To our mind, Australia, UK, Canada and the United States which we selected to make a detailed analysis in the study of trends in transnational higher education on a number of key features, belong to the "center" of global education space.

The beginning of the 21st century is marked by systemic, economic and social transformations in Poland and Russia, that significantly affected the education system, including the education for persons with special needs. This paper is an attempt to present synthetically the changes relating to persons with disabilities. The current state of the education for children and youth with special needs will be considered due to the new education system, legal regulations, the school population, type of disability of pupils and the kinds of schools they attend. Compulsory education, which includes the level of primary and lower secondary schools, will be subject to a separate analysis. The article presents significant systemic changes in Polish and Russian education and the state development strategy in the sphere of social policy towards persons with disabilities. The new documents are analyzed that have led to important changes in policy direction with serious consequences in terms of the structure and curriculum of inclusive education in both countries. The paper introduces a review of the changes in policy direction with serious consequences in terms of the structure and curriculum of education for persons with special needs. A key objective of the paper will be to examine the new approaches to education of disabled persons in Russia and Poland and the subsequent changes in it.

In Brazil, environmental topics in teacher education programmes have largely been addressed and explored by the field of research in Environmental Education and subsidized by legislative and normative instruments. Nevertheless, the difficulties in articulating environmental topics within some areas of knowledge compromise their integration in certain subject-specific courses, as is the case for initial physics teacher education courses. In this light, this article seeks to identify the main challenges and motivations to incorporating environmental topics in physics teacher education courses, with the aim of identifying strategies that may contribute to overcoming these difficulties. Interviews were carried out with 15 physics teacher education courses coordinators at state-funded higher education institutions in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Drawing upon Content Analysis procedures, analysis was conducted on the interview transcripts as well as pedagogical plan courses. The main findings highlight that the presence of environmental topics in these programmes reflects legislative and normative requirements. In addition, other factors motivated the inclusion of environmental topics in these courses, thus indicating recognition of its importance to initial physics teacher education. This study also shows that the small number of university lecturers and professors involved in environmental education working within these programmes is the main challenge to including environmental topics in initial physics teacher education curriculum.

The study explores the participation of girls in primary education among the pastoralist community of Tanzania, and the way formal education facilitates the creation of the capabilities girls value. It specifically explores people's views on girls' education, the environments in which girls participate in education and the value girls attach to formal education in creating the capabilities they value. The study adopts the ethnographic approach to studying people's views in their natural settings. Capability approach underpins the theoretical framework adopted to guide the discussion of the study findings. Thirty participants were recruited in the study. The participants were selected using purposive and opportunistic sampling procedures. Data were collected using ethnographic interviews and participant observation, and they were analysed using thematic analysis. In this study, findings reveal that there are both supporting and opposing views regarding girls' education among members of the Maasai community. It also indicates that girls value the formal education; but, they are prevented by their home and school environments. Distance to and from school also limits girls' participation in education. The study concludes that efforts to empower marginalised Maasai girls and women through education are not enough. Thus, more community sensitisation about the importance of girls' education is required. In addition, concerted effort and dedication to the provision of education are needed to address the challenges faced by girls in and outside the school environments.

Much research on access to the higher education system overlooks the importance of a base factor: place. An 'education desert' is defined as an area in which residents are separated from the higher education system by geography and structural factors. This study employs a granular approach to locate education deserts within the state of North Carolina, and analyze the condition of higher education access across the state. By delineating the state into Census tracts (n=2184), the analysis draws more specific boundaries around deserts than did previous researchers. The analysis then goes beyond the binary classification of desert or non-desert, and ranks each census tract's access to the higher education system on a five-point scale. The data shows that approximately one-quarter of the state's population lives in an education desert. Various socioeconomic indicators, such as median household income and the rate of disconnected youth, are found to be significantly correlated with a census tract's access to the higher education system. Distance learning seems to be an apt solution; however, residents of higher education deserts have low rates of internet access, making online education impractical. Policy makers should recognize that gaps in access to higher education, and the subsequent benefits from a degree, have roots in geography and in infrastructure.

The study aimed to examine challenges to the inclusion of Students with Disabilities (PWDs) in mainstream education in Egypt. A mixed method approach was used to collect data from various sources. First, statistical information was retrieved from the Ministry of Education (MoE). Secondly, Ministerial Decrees were examined. Thirdly, semi-structured interviews with specialists in the field of special education in Egypt (N=12) were conducted to explore the major issues that emerged from this study. Results revealed challenges facing the inclusion of PWDs in Egypt, such as a lack of in- & pre-service training of teachers, limitations of construction and preparation, lack of coordination among ministries, limited programs for students with certain disabilities, and lack of awareness in the community and the family. The study concluded that the successful inclusion of PWDs in mainstream schools in Egypt requires, first, that universities consider inclusive education when training special education teachers; secondly, that professional development of teachers on inclusive education requirements is conducted, new policies are adopted, and school facilities are constructed with the needs of PWDs in mind; and thirdly, that the inclusion of PWDs not be limited to individuals with certain disabilities but must include students regardless of their type of disability.

The current study aimed to uncover the views of faculty members on teaching Islamic education courses in colleges of education in light of the requirements of distance education, and to build a proposed conception for the development of teaching these courses. The study sample consisted of (92) members of the faculty of the Faculties of Education in Saudi universities who were chosen by the random cluster method, and to achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher constructed a questionnaire consisting of (66) paragraphs within (4) axes and the validity and stability of the questionnaire was verified. Then the research data were collected and analyzed, and the results showed: that the opinions of faculty members about teaching Islamic education courses in light of the requirements of distance education came first within the focus of the course objectives, then the axis of evaluation and its tools came in the second rank, then the axis of educational activities and teaching methods and finally Course content focus. The results also showed that there are no statistically significant differences between the opinions of faculty members "attributed to the variable of gender and experience in university teaching." And in light of these results, the researcher presented a proposed scenario for the development of teaching Islamic education courses in the light of distance education.

Field of education is associated with herculean task and innate responsibility of escorting societies forward. Across space and time, it has been an unambiguous synthesis that education should precede any progress or change. It helps humans to understand themselves and better their interaction with rest of the society. Hence the field of education and dissemination of knowledge is very much a pivotal entity in the evolution of human civilisation. No country in the globe over centuries could afford to flourish on the paths of growth and development while ignoring the crucial role of education. Country like India where in there has been a perpetual struggle over the decades to overcome perils of colonisation and social stigmatisation reflective in terms of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy. In order to overcome these bottlenecks 'knowledge dissemination' must spearhead the change. Apart from other funding inadequacies, infrastructural lacunae, education sector in India has also been grappling with certain innate contradicting and counterproductive structures. Hence in this paper we have made an effort to address and assess the nature and impact of these dichotomies over the field of Education in India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced many uncertainties into major aspects of global and national society, including education. Therefore, in a bid to support the continuation of education, Turkey, like many other countries in the world, has made it mandatory to shift to distance education in all school levels. But this mode of teaching, i.e. distance education, has also brought many new challenges, especially for students. Pandemic hit the students hardest. Thus, it would be necessary to know what challenges the students face during distance education. To that end, the current study aims to explore the opinions of university students on distance education. The study participants consisted of 94 undergraduate students, prospective Turkish teachers, studying Turkish in Mus Alparslan University in Turkey. The participants were asked to answer some questions. The questions were about the future of distance education, pros and cons of both education systems, and the most effective system for Turkish teaching. The questions were delivered via Google Forms. The data of this qualitative study was collected using a written opinion form developed by the researchers. In the analysis of research data, the descriptive data analysis technique was used. At the end of the study, the following conclusions were reached: distance education will replace face-to-face education; two education systems are not free from flaws; and Turkish classes should not be delivered through distance education.

This study assesses the coherence of Canada's educational policy regime with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) "Refugee Education 2030" strategy. We articulate a theoretical framework that combines theories about policy coherence, policy attributes, and policy tools, which informs a two-phase methodology. First, we conducted jurisdiction-based scoping reviews of policies in Canada's 13 provinces and territories which have constitutional authority over education. This yielded a sample of 155 documents, which we then analyzed for its vertical coherence with "Refugee Education 2030." Our analysis focused on five categories of need in the UNHCR strategy with respect to refugee students, namely access to education, accelerated education, language education, mental health and psychosocial support, and special education. The findings reveal there are policies across Canada that target responses to the five categories of need. Although some policies are exemplary in their coherence with "Refugee Education 2030," Canada's refugee education policy regime is characterized by many inconsistencies and significant gaps. Policymakers in Canada could use the specific findings to develop or revise policies to address shortcomings. Researchers and policymakers in other countries who find value in our approach could replicate the study's method in their own jurisdictions, using the instruments provided in appendices to identify strengths and gaps.