Education & Pedagogy

The personnel associated with institutions of higher education and state and local education agencies have an intertwined network which keeps everyone connected to these groups informed about community education. They promote the concepts, techniques, and programs of community education with inhouse activities such as workshops, seminars, conferences, newsletters, internships, and research papers. Now that this level of awareness has been reached, the "insiders" must also extend their knowledge of and enthusiam about community education to the "outsiders," who are current and future decision makers who can make or allow community education to develop. These outsiders are busy, involved citizens, including city administrators, extension agents, legislators, and county commissioners. The community education salesperson must: (1) get to know the outside customers and find out what kinds of community education they need; (2) develop an attractive package of community education; and (3) deliver the concept to the outsiders, using the methods developed and used by the insiders. The goal of the insiders should be to work until the insiders can t be distinguished from the outsiders in terms of community education awareness. (FG)

Intended for parents of handicapped children, the booklet provides information on the basic rights the child is entitled to, how the special education system works in Iowa, how the parent can become involved in education, and how to assure that the child's rights are protected. Chapter 1 addresses the right to an education with sections on what the Constitution and courts say, Iowa law, and federal law. Chapter 2 contains definitions of special education and various disabling conditions. A third chapter describes the Iowa school system in terms of the Local School Distrit, Area Education Agencies, State Hospitals-Schools, and the State Department of Public Instruction. Also considered in this chapter are the provisions of special education, including the types of instructional programs, areas of instruction, and the types of support services available. Chapter 4 focuses on the individual education program, while a final chapter outlines steps a parent should take when a problem arises regarding the child's education. Appended are lists of Area Education Agency Districts, Area Education Agency Special Education Directors, organizations for parents of handicapped children, and Iowa Developmental Disabilities Agencies. (SBH)

Collected in this volume are the papers presented at the 1978 Chief State School Officers Summer Institute. The program was devoted to political issues in education and focused on a number of current educational problems. Political issues were discussed in relation to a number of areas, including federal education priorities, federal-state relations, the education-state government relationship, local control of education, school finance reform, competency testing, vocational and career education, bilingual and bicultural education, teacher education and certification, past and future trends, and curriculum reform. Each issue was examined in the light of four interrelated questions: What actors are involved in the decisions? What ends do they seek and how? What reallocations of power, financial support, or other resources will have to be made to satisfy varied interests? and What action-alternatives are open to state school officers? Presentations were made by noted scholars and practitioners. (Author/JM)

THREE HYPOTHESES CONCERNING THE INSERVICE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES OF TECHNICAL AND INDUSTRIAL TEACHERS AND SUPERVISORS IN PROFESSIONAL AND SUBJECT MATTER AREAS WERE TESTED--(1) TECHNICAL AND INDUSTRIAL TEACHERS DO PARTICIPATE IN INSERVICE EDUCATION, (2) INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES AND CHARACTERISTICS DO NOT INFLUENCE THE TEACHER'S OPINION OF SUCH EDUCATION, AND (3) TEACHERS AND SUPERVISORS BELIEVE THAT MORE SUBJECT MATTER INSERVICE EDUCATION IS NECESSARY. A LIST CONTAINING 22 PROFESSIONAL INSERVICE ACTIVITIES AND 22 SUBJECT MATTER ACTIVITIES WAS CHECKED BY 91 ADMINISTRATORS AND 285 TEACHERS AS TO THEIR PAST PARTICIPATION AND WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE. SOME CONCLUSIONS WERE--(1) TEACHERS PARTICIPATED IN AS MUCH PROFESSIONAL AS SUBJECT MATTER INSERVICE EDUCATION, AND (2) EXPERIENCE AND PREPARATION HAD MORE EFFECT ON THEIR PREFERENCES IN PROFESSIONAL INSERVICE EDUCATION THAN IN SUBJECT MATTER INSERVICE EDUCATION. THE RECOMMENDATIONS WERE--(1) INSERVICE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES IN BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND SUBJECT MATTER CATEGORIES SHOULD BE INCREASED, (2) TEACHERS SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN CHOOSING, PLANNING, AND EXECUTING THEIR INSERVICE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES, AND (3) PLANNERS OF INSERVICE EDUCATION SHOULD BE COGNIZANT OF THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF TEACHERS AND THEIR AFFECT ON THE PROGRAM. THE CHECKLIST AND STATISTICAL DATA ARE GIVEN IN THE APPENDIX. (EM)

This document contains the papers delivered at the New England Regional Meeting which focused on the theme of International Perspectives on Nonformal Education. The keynote address provides a state of the art of nonformal education and discusses its successes, limitations, and future challenges. The first group of papers presents philosophical and programmatic concerns of nonformal education. One paper discusses the ideological presumptions of nonformal education. The collaborative process in international nonformal education programs is examined in another paper. A third paper discusses the instructional staff for out of school education and a look at voluntarism. The second group of papers examines nonformal education in various countries and presents case studies of specific nonformal education projects. For example, one paper describes the Village Polytechnic in the rural areas of Kenya as a potential solution to the problem of skyrocketing unemployment of thousands of primary school graduates who are unable to continue their formal education. Another paper discusses the Haiku and the tea ceremony of Japan. Other papers look at nonformal education in Turkey, West Germany, Honduras, Chile, Ghana, Poland, Africa, and Mexico. (Author/RM)

Representatives from five West European countries and the U.S. present overviews of their respective countries' education systems and approach to vocational education. The introduction notes that both money spent on and student enrollments in vocational education are increasing in Europe as in the U.S. and that educational reform appears to take into account the need for more career development, more clustering of occupational areas, and more coordination with business and industry. Education system diagrams are included from each country, along with discussion of educational and governmental policy. Papers deal with (1) Great Britain--its further education, industrial training, teacher education, and financing and building; (2) Sweden--its comprehensive compulsory schools, the new organization of study with vocational orientation counselors and new forms of orientation to the working life; (3) West Germany--its occupational training system and full-time vocational schools; (4) Finland--a review of its development efforts, its problems and major issues; and (5) Denmark--trends in its educational development, the further education of teachers, and pedagogical development. Finally, an Office of Education deputy commissioner gives his overview of the present situation in vocational education in the U.S. (CP)

The report presents the activities, results, and papers of a 1979 New Jersey State Department of Education "Project UPDATE" conference exploring the role of institutions of higher education in special education teacher inservice education. "Professional Development--An Overview" (J. Anastasio) discusses some general issues related to faculty development. "Inservice Education--Perspectives of a College Faculty Member" (G. Melnick) describes the author's experience in a collaborative inservice program, focusing on the role of the college consultant. "Inservice Education--Collaborative Action Research and Teacher Emancipation" (G. Pine) explores the benefits of research activity within the public schools. "Inservice--the Potential for Research" (J. Putnam) presents two examples of how inservice involvement leads to research and scholarly achievement. "Professional Development Center Network" (R. Stevenson) describes a model involving an institution of higher education in local inservice activities. "Supporting Inservice Through Teacher Education Centers" (R. Toothman) presents a strategy for financing university inservice involvement. "Collaboration in Inservice" (J. Weaver) discusses the major issues involved in collaborative working relationships. Conference group reaction summaries are also presented for each of the above topics. (DLS)

Included in this document are instructions for completing the set of reporting/planning forms developed as a statewide model for local school districts to use in vocational education planning and development in Ohio. The instructions are divided into twelve sections. Section one presents a step-by-step procedure for completing the general information items listed as 1-116 in the model plan. The next eleven sections provide directions for completing items concerning the following objectives: career motivation; career orientation; career exploration; occupation work adjustment; job training; adult education; consumer economics and homemaking education programs for students; consumer economics and homemaking education programs for adults; home economics consumer education and family life programs for students living in culturally depressed areas; home economics consumer education and family life programs for adults living in culturally depressed areas; and work study. (Copies of the forms are included in CE 013 048. Simulation activities which can be used to help train personnel in the use of the reporting/planning forms are included in three companion documents, available separately.) (BM)

A project was conducted to develop a competency-based undergraduate vocational teacher education program in the areas of business education, distributive education, home economics related occupations, health related occupations, and industrial and technical education. The primary emphasis was on the development of competency-based materials and included four major stages: (1) identification of appropriate undergraduate teacher education competencies from the Cotrell list as well as additional competencies not included in the list; (2) writing, reviewing, and revising competency-based teacher education materials and developing resource materials, reference materials, and aids to accompany them; (3) assignment of materials to courses and their incorporation into the undergraduate vocational teacher education curriculum; and (4) field testing of materials during and after implementation and the development of a competency-based teacher education evaluation procedure. The major accomplishments of the project were the development of competency-based materials for the undergraduate vocational teacher education program and the elimination of repetitive content in the undergraduate program. (The assigned competencies for the courses in the undergraduate program are appended.) (EM)

The report describes a search for instructional materials on citizen education, provides a directory of materials and publishers, and reviews materials. The document is presented in seven sections. Section I describes the search for literature relevant to citizen education. Section II explains that the search scope encompasses materials dealing with citizen education-related fields, including community education, economic education, ecology, energy, family education, global education, government, history, law-related education, moral-ethical education, political participation, and social science. Sections III and IV examine problems related to identifying appropriate materials and establishing evaluation criteria for judging materials. Section V discusses trends in textbooks, supplementary materials, and citizen education programs. Section VI offers recommendations for using materials in a variety of citizen education situations. A major recommendation is that state and local school personnel be involved in materials evaluation. Section VII lists references. The document concludes with appendices presenting primary source bibliographies, primary source promotional literature, and reviews of primary source materials, textbooks, supplementary materials, and instructional programs. (Author/DB)

This publication, compiled as a learning component for persons enrolled in a vocational education teacher education program, provides information on sex equity in vocational education and employment. The content is in nine sections. The first defines sex discrimination, bias, and stereotypes. The next section covers female participation in the work force and includes entry rates, earnings, and economic need. The third section compares the participation of women and men in vocational training programs. Federal laws pertaining to sex equity are briefly summarized in the fourth section, while the fifth compares the Education Amendments of 1972 with those of 1976. The next section presents the provisions of the Education Amendments of 1976 regarding the administration of state vocational education programs, state use of vocational education funds, and national vocation education programs. The recruitment of students into courses nontraditional to their sex is discussed in the seventh section. The last two brief sections, respectively, discuss the program planning process and provide a list of source materials. A teacher self-assessment form on sex equity and vocational education and a test on the publication's content are appended. (EM)

The document contains a collection of 13 articles on the problems and challenges facing social studies educators in the 1980s. The objective is to offer the classroom teacher direction for evaluating the rationale and content of social studies education. Chapter one defines the purpose and nature of social studies. Chapter two discusses the importance of citizenship education as a role of social studies, while social studies' contribution to the humanistic experience is examined in Chapter three. Chapters four through eight consider the range of knowledge and understanding in the social studies, including history, geography, cultural pluralism, urbanization, and a global perspective, as well as law-related education and career education. Chapters nine and ten focus on basic and societal skills such as reading, writing, and decision making, while chapter eleven discusses values education as a major objective of the social studies. Chapter twelve examines the roles societal forces play in social education and the importance of educators' recognizing and understanding these forces. The final chapter discusses social studies teachers in relation to an unpredictable future and emphasizes the need for ongoing teacher education. (CK)

The survey results of noncredit adult and continuing education activities in colleges and universities for the year ending June 30, 1978, are reported. A summary of the results focuses on: institutions offering adult education; registrations; field of instruction; continuing professional education; special programs; the use of Continuing Education Units; administration and funding; teaching staff; and cooperation with outside organizations. Highlights cited from the results include these: since 1967-68, the number of institutions that offered adult and continuing education activities increased 116 percent; registration totaling between 20,000 and 50,000 were reported by 107 institutions, and 18 reported registrations of 50,000 and over; occupational fields showed registrations of 1,285,925, down slightly from their total in 1975-76; and nearly a third of the registrations were in continuing professional education fields, with the highest totals in nursing, medicine, education, and engineering. Appendices contain data tables, notes on methodology, a list of persons who advised NCES on the development of the survey, and the survey form. (LC)

This monograph is devoted to the Association of Junior Leagues (AJL), which is involved in both community voluntarism in career education and promotion of the concept of voluntarism. (Membership is composed of young adult women.) It begins with a presentation of the basic nature of AJL aimed at providing initial insights into its potential for use as a community partner in career education. A detailed discussion of AJL's Volunteer Career Development Course follows, which includes both adult and youth models. The next section identifies concerns voiced by AJL members at several miniconferences. These include (1) career development as a lifelong process, (2) greater emphasis by career education on voluntarism; (3) more support for and involvement from top corporate executives regarding career education, (4) need for systematic plan for community linkages by career education, and (5) need for teacher training in career development. Eleven possible contributions of AJL to career education are then outlined. Next, action ideas for Junior League/career education partnerships are presented. The monograph concludes with consensus views of AJL members and K-12 Career Education Coordinators concerning AJL as a partner in delivery of career education. (YLB)

The current education system faces complex challenges in teacher education and retention. Insights into the latest developments in teacher education policies and procedures suggest that a unified system of teacher licensing may facilitate a sustainable approach to hiring newly qualified and certified teachers. Additionally, a unified system of licensing may expand career opportunities for current and future teachers, providing a more sustainable approach to teacher retention. This improvement in teacher education and licensing policies may promote effective and informative knowledge on teaching and learning strategies. "Building a Unified Teacher Licensing System: Policies, Education Reforms, and Cultural Integration" explores teacher education programs, licensing policies and procedures, and the current education systems. It highlights existing teacher education programs and licensing practices while exploring complex educational challenges, and opportunities for a unified system of teacher licensing. Covering topics such as professional development, cultural integration, and teacher preparedness, this book is an excellent resource for educators, policymakers, school administrators, professionals, researchers, academicians, and more.