Education & Pedagogy

The article analyzes the state of the art in preservice personnel preparation for career/vocational education for special needs learners. Results of surveys of personnel preparation programs are cited and trends, such as administrative association with either special or vocational education and similar training approaches, are noted. (CL)

Vocational agriculture is education for work. By meeting the needs of the economy and the job market, it can meet the needs of the individual. Although human resource development is important, vocational agriculture should focus on job-relevant competencies and cost effectiveness. (SK)

Health educators of the 1990s must possess microcomputer literacy as an entry level skill, since they will use microcomputers in almost all facets of education and management. Sixteen projected uses for microcomputers are listed, and a health education graduate program at Indiana University is described. (JMK)

Support for preservice teacher education programs cannot be unqualified, just as calls to abandon it cannot be embraced uncritically. Many factors affect how well teachers perform and how children are educated. A selected bibliography of pertinent documents in the ERIC databases is given. (PP)

Describes a 1981 national survey of art education. Statistics include bachelor's degrees granted in art education in 1979-80, number of art teachers employed, and time allotments for elementary and secondary school art programs. Impact of state standards for art instruction and structure of art teacher training programs are discussed. (CS)

Discusses the common characteristics of experiential education programs and administration in public and private elementary, secondary, and alternative high schools in Colorado and New Mexico. Also discusses the attributes of an effective outdoor education leader and how those attributes are acquired, based on interviews with Southwestern outdoor education agencies. (SB)

Tested the hypothesis that undergraduate teacher education students enrolled in a first course in educational foundations demonstrate limited understanding and knowledge of the field of professional education. A designed 15-item multiple choice course pretest was administered to 97 undergraduate teacher education students. Results confirmed the research hypothesis. (Author/RC)

New barriers to equal educational opportunity, including cuts in federal student aid and a lessened commitment to affirmative action, have diminished the impact of progress made in the education of Blacks. Furthermore, improvements in Black achievement, school attendance, and graduation rates are offset by disproportionately higher rates for Whites.(MJL)

Describes worker education programs in Sheffield, England and Utica, New York; focuses on approaches for evaluating the impact of the pedagogy of liberation on such programs; discusses social psychological dilemmas of workers' education students; and suggests that the content of liberation pedagogy be restructured. (Author/MJL)

Examined 227 articles appearing in science education periodicals (1962-1981) related to science and society education. Articles reviewed reached a peak in the early '70s and then declined. Four major areas of weaknesses in science and society education revealed by the data in the study are outlined. (JN)

Indicating that the quality of scientific/technical education in the United States has been slipping since the brief surge of attention in the decade following Sputnik, discusses the need for upgrading science/technical education. Includes efforts currently under way, including financial support by industry and donations of equipment and computers to schools. (JN)

The development of a higher education system in India based on three imported models is outlined. Problems arising from application of the "MIT model" of technological institutes are discussed specifically, including isolation of the elite from reality, mediocrity, and irrelevance of curriculum and system. (MSE)

Value assumptions in American higher education and the conflicts among them are surveyed. Questions are categorized as: economic versus noneconomic purposes of education, fairness and equality versus efficiency and quality, and the problems of authority and control in academic decision making. (Author/MLW)

Social/political education programs need an epistemological underpinning of clearly articulated principles of social justice--e.g., Rawls' two principles. However, such principles require operationalisation. Habermas' extension of Kohlberg's theory of moral development would provide a viable theoretical framework for the development of a praxiologically orientated social/political program. (Author/RM)

A 1978 survey of 1,178 private-sector employees and 781 public-sector employees gathered data on education, experience, higher education degrees, foreign versus domestic degrees, and ability. The higher returns to foreign and higher education degrees in the private sector indicate that such degrees have superior productivity. (RW)