Education & Pedagogy

This digest examines the definitions of outdoor, experiential, and environmental education and clarifies the boundaries and essential elements of each tradition. Early in its history, outdoor education was influenced by advocates of camping education and nature study. Today outdoor education includes outdoor experiences designed to meet objectives in many areas and has emerged as a context for learning. Experiential education was embraced by outdoor and adventure educators as a method of using real-life experiences to achieve learning goals. Definitions have progressed from "learning by doing" to more constructivist notions of learning through carefully chosen experiences supported by reflection and critical analysis. While tracing its lineage, in part, to outdoor education, environmental education began to take concrete form in the late 1960s with the first Earth Day and publication of the first journal of environmental education. The basic aim of environmental education is to develop environmentally literate citizens with the core concepts and skills needed to take responsible action with regard to the natural environment. Educational practices commonly draw from combinations of outdoor, experiential, and environmental education. Examples of combined approaches are given. (Contains 16 references.) (SV)

These hearings before the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform address the issue of whether the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is working as Congress intended. First, an introduction by the Chairman, Dan Burton, notes the difficulties that parents are having in accessing appropriate public education. Next are statements by individuals representing the following organizations: Office of Special Education Programs, Department of Education; National Association of Sate Directors of Special Education; National Education Association; and the National Council on Disability. Additional letters, statements, and other materials submitted for the record are also included. Some of the issues addressed include: the apparently increasing incidence of autism; inconsistent implementation of and compliance with IDEA; failure of Congress to fulfill its promise to provide 40% of excess special education costs; and a loophole in the 1997 amendments that allows states to shift federal education funding to non-educational purposes. (DB)

This collection of papers discusses issues related to education in Germany since its unification. The papers include: "The Legacy of Unification" (David Phillips); "Change and Continuity in Education After the 'Wende'" (E. J. Neather); "A Study of Teachers' Perceptions in Brandenburg 'Gesamtschulen'" (Stephanie Wilde); "Memory and Judgement: How East German Schools and Teachers Have Been Regarded in the Post-Unification Decade" (Bernhard Thomas Streitwieser); "Retraining Language Teachers in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, 1992-96: Experiences of a British Instructor" (Karen Galtress-Horl); "The Transformation of Higher Education and Research in Eastern Germany: A Review 10 Years After the 'Wende'" (Nina Arnhold); "The 'Wissenschaftsrat' and the Investigation of Teacher Education in the Former German Democratic Republic, 1991: A Personal Account" (David Phillips); "Vocational Education and Training in Eastern Germany: Some Reasons and Explanations for Current Problems" (Hubert Ertl); and "Christian Schools and Religious Education in the New 'Bundeslander'" (Rosiland M.O. Pritchard). (Papers contain references.) (SM)

During the 20th century, there was a growth in social concern about horrific forms of violence, like ecocide, genocide, modern warfare, ethnic hatred, racism, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and a corresponding growth in the field of peace education where educators from early child care to adult use their professional skills to warn fellow citizens about imminent dangers and advise them about paths to peace. Peace education has five main postulates: (1) it explains the roots of violence; (2) it teaches alternatives to violence; (3) it adjusts to cover different forms of violence; (4) peace is a process that varies according to context; and (5) conflict is omnipresent. This paper traces the evolution of peace education theory from its roots in religious traditions of love, compassion, charity, and tolerance to modern theories based on reducing the threats of interpersonal and environmental violence. This brief review of some main contributors to peace education theory gives rise to five general areas where peace education is introduced in the 21st century: (1) human rights education, (2) environmental education, (3) international education, (4) conflict resolution education, and (5) development education. (Contains 72 references and 1 chart.) (Author/BT)

This report provides a review of higher education systems in selected developed countries and compares higher education in the United States and other countries. The report draws on data from the Indicators of National Education Systems Project of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the OECD journal "Higher Education Management," and three "encyclopedias" of education information. The first chapter provides a historical background, discusses more recent trends, and describes the resulting governance structures of higher education systems, focusing on 12 developed countries. Chapters 2, 3, and 4, discussing student participation, resources and expenditures, and education outcomes respectively, contain a variety of measures that are often found as measures of the inputs and outputs of education systems. These chapters allow the comparison of national education systems in a number of areas. Chapter 5 focuses on the research function of higher education. Three appendixes contain basic reference tables, detailed tables, and technical notes. (Contains 18 tables, 71 figures, and 87 references.) (SLD)

This document provides statistical information and a brief narrative analysis of public and private expenditures on education institutions for all of the G-7 countries. The G-7 countries are: Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, and the United States. Statistical tables reveal the public and private expenditures on education institutions by level of education and country for 1993. A bar graph illustrates the public and private expenditures on education institutions in G-7 countries as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 1993. In most G-7 countries, expenditures on higher education that came from public sources were more than twice the amount of those that came from private sources. In all of the G-7 countries, expenditures per student were larger for higher education than for primary/secondary education. The statistics include all institutions (public and private) with the exception of Germany and Italy, which include only public institutions, and the United Kingdom, which includes public and government-dependent private institutions. (MJP)

It is suggested that the implementation of multicultural education and multiculturalism would have profound sociopolitical consequences. This work demonstrates significant inadequacies in the social science and philosophical foundations of multicultural education and multiculturalism, such as their use of certain anthropologists' conceptions of separate races and single cultures and their affiliations with realist and postmodernist currents in philosophy. The book introduces education reform proposals grounded in critical thinking principles. Chapter 1, "Multicultural Education: Development, Variants, and Controversies," presents the development of multicultural education, its various definitions, and disputes among its proponents and opponents. Advocacy of multicultural education is grounded in unclear and arbitrary racial and ethnic distributions. Chapter 2, "Multiculturalism: Egalitarian Social Reconstruction through Education Reform," outlines the growth of multicultural education to demands for equal representations of cultures. Chapter 3, "Multiculturalism: An Assessment of Its Analytical Foundations," examines key arguments in various multiculturalist schools, and Chapter 4, "Education Reform, Multiculturalism, and Critical Thinking," is organized around an education model, an educability model, and the incompatibility of multicultural education and critical thinking. (SLD)

This report reviews, in the context of the upcoming reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the operation of special education programs in three cities: Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Case studies of each of the school systems address whats working in special education, current compliance, a snapshot of the school district, and stakeholder perspectives of special education in the district. An executive summary offers general observations, common concerns, recommendations, and a sampling of perspectives. Among general observations are that the most crucial issue for the reauthorization of IDEA is how to integrate special education with the reforms underway in general education. Common concerns include qualified personnel, early identification and intervention, academic accountability, and funding. The following recommendations are offered: (1) The IDEA should include incentives for qualified special education staff; (2) Congress should increase resources and attention to early identification/intervention, especially personnel training; (3) IDEA should provide more direction about standardized and other assessment and instruction of students with disabilities; and (4) Congress should fully fund IDEA. (DB)

This report summarizes key outcomes and discussion points from the first meeting of the Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium's Developmental Education Initiative. On January 6, 2004, 37 developmental educators from Twin Cities colleges and universities participated in think-tank sessions to begin discussions about college readiness and collaborations. Facilitators led breakout sessions focusing on thematic areas of writing and English Language Learners (ELL), math and science, and social sciences and the arts. Outcomes included a range of ideas that shaped future phases of this regional developmental education initiative. [Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium's Developmental Education Initiative, Jan 6, 2004.] [This report was co-sponsored by General College and the Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy.]

Nigeria no doubt is at the threshold of transformation in information and communication technology (ICT), a development that should be utilized to meet the demand of time, especially in the education sector. One area in which ICT has made enormous impact is in open and distance learning. Undoubtedly, the demand on the conventional higher education delivery system in the country is high and ever increasing that the system at the moment is unable to accommodate the number of candidates seeking admission. This paper, therefore, attempts some definition of open and distance learning as well as its practices with a view to advancing the prospects of open and distance as alternative system of higher education in Nigeria. Furthermore, it concludes that considering the level of infrastructural decay in the conventional higher education system, open and distance learning as an alternative system of education has become imperative for the realization of the primary objectives of higher education in Nigeria. Recommendations that will enhance the prospects of open and distance learning as viable alternative system of higher education were proffered.

H.R. 366, The Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act, is intended to help states, community colleges, and other postsecondary education institutions and local educational agencies better utilize funds for vocational and technical education programs, increase accountability, emphasize student achievement, and strengthen opportunities for coordination. This document records testimony at the February 15, 2005 hearing on H.R. 366. It includes testimony and prepared statements from Representatives Michael N. Castle and Lynn C. Woolsey, and from the following witnesses: (1) Dr. Patrick Ainsworth (Assistant Superintendent and Director, Secondary, Postsecondary and Adult Leadership Division, California Department of Education); (2) Dr. Lewis L. Atkinson, III (Associate Secretary of Education, Adult Education & Workforce Development, Delaware Department of Education); (3) Dr. Joanna Kister (Educational Consultant); (4) Russ Moore (Chief Executive Officer, Central Educational Center); and (5) Emily Simons (vocational and technical education student, Eastern Technical School).

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about programs and goals of public education in Alabama. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Take 20: Alabama Teaching and Learning Conditions Survey--Survey Results Give Insight; (2) AMSTI Gets New Director and 219 New Schools; (3) State Board Member, Education Pioneer Recognized; (4) Alabama Has A New CTE State Plan!; (5) Educators on the Front Line to Detect Child Abuse; and (6) Making the Cut for Alabama's 2008-2009 Teacher of the Year. Regular features include: (1) Good News in Alabama Schools; (2) Awards, Opportunities and Professional Development; and (3) Calendar.

This report complies with the requirements established in T.C.A. (Tennessee Code Annotated) Section 49-1-302(a)(10). The act directs the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to provide a report to the Governor and General Assembly, all public schools, and institutions of higher learning and their respective boards. This report is to include, but not to be limited to, a discussion of the following four areas: (1) The extent of duplication in elementary-secondary and postsecondary education; (2) The extent of compatibility in high school graduation requirements and admission requirements of postsecondary institutions; (3) The extent to which respective master plans of the board and the higher education commission are being fulfilled; and (4) The extent to which state needs in public education are being met as determined by such board and commission. Appendices include: (1) Tennessee High School Graduation Requirements; and (2) Minimum High School Course Requirements for Regular Undergraduate Admission to Tennessee Public Higher Education Institutions. (Contains 4 footnotes.)

The Research in Dance Education (RDE) project grew out of a long-term national need to know what researchers in dance and allied fields have studied over 80 years, what they learned, and how existing research impacted teaching and learning. The project set out to answer the following questions: (1) What research exists in dance education?; (2) What patterns, trends, and gaps may be identified by analysis of these data?; (3) What are the implications for understanding the scope of this information for dance, arts education, and U.S. education?; and (4) What recommendations for the future of dance arts education may grow out of this project? By illustrating research productivity in dance/movement education from i1926 to 2002 the report provides recommendations for dance education research in the twenty-first century. An additional important outcome of the Research in Dance Education project was the online Research in Dance Education database (RDEdb). (Contains five appendices and 25 tables.)

In recent times, there has been significant interest in reviving the Gaelic language. The National Plan for Gaelic aims to secure a sustainable future for the language. Gaelic Education plays a major role. The term "Gaelic Education" covers a spectrum of opportunity ranging from raising an awareness of Gaelic as a Scottish language to the achievement of fluency through immersion. Along this spectrum sits the opportunity to learn Gaelic as a subject and a wide range of other opportunities such as those offered by Sradagan to use and develop the language. This report refers to Gaelic Education throughout but focuses specifically on Gaelic Learners and Gaelic Medium. It summarises for further action the findings of a task undertaken by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) in 2010/11, drawing on evidence from inspections in the period from 2006-2011 and from interviews with key players in the development of Gaelic Education. Appended are: (1) Relevant reading; and (2) Glossary. (Contains 30 footnotes.)