Education & Pedagogy

In recent years, the concept of 'worldview' has resurfaced into the forefront of the international debate among scholars of religious education. With this study, we aim to contribute to the discussion with empirical material having a focus on worldview education in whole school education. The study deals with the Finnish teachers' perceptions of worldview education in basic education. Teachers (N = 110) responded to a questionnaire concerning their experiences on how they feel about worldview education, how they deal with it and where does worldview education take place in schools according to teachers. The questionnaire included both quantitative and qualitative sections. According to the results, it appears that teachers consider worldview education to be relatively important in schools and that they have a reasonably broad perception of worldview education, including aspects of value education, cultural encounters, and settlement of disputes. What is notable is that the teachers appear to associate worldview education not only with lessons; they also cite activities in the daily life of the school and outside the classrooms, especially celebrations, as incidents associated with worldview education.

This report discusses the first phase of a feasibility study to determine the current status of distance education in Europe and to propose a coordinated international program of distance education for higher education and vocational training education. The first section presents the options agreed upon by the representatives of education ministries who had been consulted at a June 26, 1990 distance education meeting in Strasbourg. The second section analyzes some of the international activity in distance education in 1990, and discusses the Council of Europe's part in that activity. It is noted that the use of distance education technologies has caused several changes in teaching and educational strategies. These changes and a discussion of obstacles to distance education are included in section 3. The final section describes ways in which distance education may stabilize in the future, and ways to strengthen the link between distance education and social objectives through the development of information networks. Appended are the minutes of the June 26 meeting on the feasibility of a pan-European distance learning resource, and proposals for action in 1991, which include studies and reports, training of specialists, and topics for seminars. (DB)

This final report begins with a three-page narrative of a statewide needs assessment of vocational, technical, and adult education (VTAE) instructors and administrators on technical staff training needs in Wisconsin. Statewide composite results for areas of need are presented for eight survey questionnaires sent to staff in these areas: management (373 respondents); instructional (769); agriculture (73); business education (207); marketing and distributive education (47); health occupations (211); home economics (63); and trade and industry (323). The majority of the document consists of appendixes containing the pilot test critique form; questionnaires; and district data tables, categorized by management staff and instructional staff. Data tables for management staff illustrate major staff development needs in these topical areas: trends and forecasting, delivery systems, needs assessment, curriculum and evaluation, and management. Data tables for instructional staff illustrate major staff development needs in these topical areas: business and industry, curriculum, equipment, public relations, student needs, instruction, and other. (YLB)

Education is a key element in Zambia's national development; distance education is particularly suitable as a means of human resource development. The main purposes of distance education are to provide education for the unserved, predominantly rural indigenous population; provide second-chance education for dropouts; raise the educational level of teachers and the general population; provide opportunity to gain qualifications; and improve community health and agriculture. Distance education agencies that have shown considerable determination and dedication to providing educational service are the National Correspondence College, Department of Correspondence Studies at the University of Zambia, and Education Broadcasting Services. The potential of distance education to contribute to the solution of social, economic, and educational problems has been recognized and picked up so enthusiastically that efforts have become diffuse and resources spread too thinly. Successful distance education requires material development, standards, government support, and coordination and mutual support. Three possible ways to assist Zambian distance education are to assist individual institutions only, to assist the government in establishing a nationally integrated distance teaching infrastructure, and to coordinate distance teaching agencies. (31 references) (YLB)

This book describes and analyzes the educational and training needs of immigrants in the new and distinctive inflow that currently characterizes immigration to the United States, and the effects of pressures exerted by the newcomers upon institutions and agencies of education and training that are often unprepared for the task that is being presented to them. Twenty chapters discuss the following topics: the history of immigration in the United States; the dynamics of immigration; immigration law; immigrant education and the courts; refugees' special needs and issues in education; educating illegal and newly legal immigrants; pressures on schools; programs that respond creatively to immigrant children's educational needs; teaching in a multicultural population; adult education for immigrants; learning English as a Second Language; bilingual education; the politics of language in education; immigrants and higher education; financing immigrant education; the politics of immigration and education; and diversity, unity, and opportunity in educating immigrants. A central theme of the volume is the immigrants' commitment to the values of democracy and the importance to the nation's democratic future that immigrants' educational needs be met. Contains over 200 references. (JB)

The eight goals and the corresponding strategies outlined in this document reflect Ohio's special education plan for the 1990's. The goals are based on Ohio's mission of special education for students with handicaps, which is to prepare each student to be a contributing member of society by providing high-quality programs, research, and services designed to develop academic, communication, social, citizenship, and career/life skills that lead to independence as adults. The goals include: (1) provide an appropriate education for all preschool-age children with handicaps; (2) work collaboratively with regular education personnel to provide educational services to children who are handicapped or at risk; (3) redefine special education eligibility criteria; (4) increase opportunities for employment and/or postsecondary education for special education graduates; (5) improve preservice and inservice education for both regular and special education personnel; (6) improve instructional programs; (7) provide supportive services and training to families; and (8) evaluate special education program effectiveness through student outcomes. The action plan also contains a glossary of terms and a time line for implementation of the strategies. (JDD)

This speech discusses the importance of higher education, the challenges facing higher education in America today, and the role of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in helping to make higher education more accessible and affordable. It further discusses initiatives in North Carolina to improve elementary, secondary, and higher education, and calls for states to expand their commitment to higher education. The speech goes on the examine the purposes of higher education, including promoting good citizenship, making people better human beings, and providing them with world-competitive skills. It looks at the role of public policy in higher education over the last several decades, noting the great achievements of the GI Bill in opening the doors of higher education to an entire generation after the World War II. The speech then focuses on two deficits in higher education today an opportunity deficit and a learning deficit. The former involves the limited opportunities that children from low-income families have for attending higher education, while the latter refers to the increasing numbers of students who attend college but do not graduate. (MDM)

Topics of papers presented at the Mid-South Educational Research Association (MSERA) 1992 meeting include: learning; teacher education; culturally-diverse students' performance on Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking; school improvement; at-risk students; attitudes; holistic scoring of writing samples; handicapped students; black education; reading; administration; the MSERA; science; research methodology; whether funding inequities produce educational disparity in Alabama; counseling; parent involvement; finance and educational vouchers; mathematics; applied research using Q-methodology; testing and instruction; teacher assessment; inservice teacher education; teaching educational research in computer laboratories; postsecondary issues and programs; curriculum; intercollegiate athletics and higher education; reading and career education; the arts; early childhood education; learning styles; vocational education; English education; American Psychological Association learner-centered principles; an integrated media environment for publishing teacher education student projects; gender issues; gifted students; stress; writing and publishing; development and language; the Mississippi Alliance for Minority Progress; microcomputers; parent education; graduate study; instructional grouping; adult education; statistics; health education; retention; and drug education. The MSERA constitution and bylaws and lists of MSERA presidents and award winners are included. (RLC)

Teacher education has long been criticized for the absence of a theoretical base. From a multicultural perspective, this dilemma has created an untenable situation because it calls into question the effectiveness of the training teachers receive in this area. This paper consists of a three-part discussion and explores possible foundations for a theoretical framework for multicultural education in teacher education programs. The discussion focuses on: (1) the recent history of multicultural teacher education including perspectives of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education commission, and the National Council for the Social Studies; (2) research literature wherein cognitive developmental theory has been used as a framework for teacher education in general and multicultural education in particular; and (3) ways in which teacher concerns might be merged with research in cognitive development to form a theoretical base for multicultural teacher education. The Multicultural Teaching Concerns Survey, an instrument developed to explore types of concerns teachers have about working in pluralistic school settings, is introduced. (Contains 29 selected references.) (LL)

This document reports on the aims, structure, delivery, and reform of continuing education in Germany. The following are among the topics discussed: aims, definitions, and areas of continuing education; structural principles, organizations, and competencies (institutional providers, cooperation, open access, public responsibility, innovative development, situation-oriented learning, quality assurance, program management, multimedia); special experience in further learning in connection with German unification (learning within a process of social transformation, problems in developing competencies); participation in continuing education (general trends, participant groups, participation in informal vocational continuing education, internal and external conditions affecting participation); adult educators and their qualifications and training; and current reform efforts (eliminating marginalization, supporting self-directed living and learning, overcoming separations between general and vocational continuing education, using new technologies, orienting the continuing education sector to the employment crisis, developing a learning society). Concluding the document are 70 footnotes. (MN)

Since the advent of the Education for Handicapped Children Act of 1975, the provision of special education has moved from restrictive settings to the general education environment. Presently, schools are placing learners with special education needs into the general education classroom and providing special education services in that environment. The reform process for education in general has culminated in the development of Outcome-Based Education (OBE), which is a process approach that attempts to meet the needs of all learners. For many school districts, OBE has become a volatile issue. A survey of rural schools in the panhandle of Nebraska, western South Dakota, and eastern Wyoming that have completed an OBE process suggests that local and state agencies are driving the reform process in most of the rural schools surveyed. Administrators, teachers, and community members indicated that learners with special education needs were considered, yet the same respondents were reluctant to state that all students with special education needs should be placed in typical classroom settings utilizing a typical curriculum. Rather, they stated that such decisions should be based on the individual's label or disability. The survey questionnaire is included. (TD)

The Moche Cost Analysis of Public Education (CAPE) formula was developed to identify total and per pupil costs of regular elementary education, regular secondary education, elementary special education, and secondary special education. Costs are analyzed across five components: (1) comprehensive costs (including transportation and supplemental expenses); (2) service costs (maintenance/operations and supplemental expenses; (3) administrative costs; (general, level-specific, and site-based costs); (4) support costs (assessment, direct services, and related services); and (5) instructional costs (special education, regular education, and supplemental expenses). The CAPE formula was applied to 1992-93 cost data from three southwest Virginia school systems. The study's conclusions included the following: special education annual per pupil expenditures averaged 1.2 to 1.6 times the cost of regular education per pupil expenditures; per pupil costs of inclusive programming were almost twice as great as costs of traditional mainstreaming, but 30 percent to 60 percent less costly than segregated special education services; the proportion of time students receive special education services is not affected by service delivery model; staffing patterns are influenced by service delivery environments; and per pupil expenditures for special education are more costly at the secondary than the elementary level. (DB)

This biennial report is the 22nd report to the Congress on federally funded education programs and the 13th such report submitted by the Department of Education in fulfillment of a Congressional mandate. For FY 1993-94, there is information on 154 programs administered by the Department. Programs are grouped according to the administering office of the Department of Education: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, and Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Available information is presented on the purpose, funding, target population, services, administration, effectiveness, management improvement strategies, and sources of information for those programs. Planned studies are briefly outlined. Overviews of postsecondary education, vocational and adult education discuss the purposes, funding, governance, services, and outcomes of the Department's major programs in these areas. Chapters describing programs have a subsection on performance indicators where such information is available. This report summarizes evaluation findings on what helps program participants to increase their achievement or improve their performance. (SLD)

The 13 chapters in this volume, contributed by specialists from 11 countries, deal with how best to prepare teachers to meet the needs of both minority- and majority-culture pupils who are growing up in plural societies. The chapter titles are: (1) Cultural Diversity and Teacher Education (Maurice Craft); (2) Pluralism and Australian Teacher Education (Anne Hickling-Hudson and Marilyn McMeniman); (3) Teacher Education for a Multicultural Britain (Sally Tomlinson); (4) Multicultural Teacher Education in Canada (Ratna Ghosh); (5) Practice Without Policy: Pluralist Teacher Education in Israel (Abraham Yogev); (6) Unity in Diversity: Teacher Education in Multicultural Malaysia (Molly Lee); (7) Teacher Training and Community Relations in Northern Ireland (Sean Fulton and Anthony Gallagher); (8) Teacher Education and Pluralism in South Africa (Wally Morrow); (9) Training Teachers for a Multicultural Future in Spain (Carmen Gonzalo and Maria Villanueva); (10) Teaching Education in Sweden: An Intercultural Perspective (Gunlog Bredange); (11) Teacher Education and Multiculturalism in The Netherlands (Gerard de Kruif); (12) Educating Teachers for Cultural Diversity in the United States (Ken Zeichner); and (13) Comparative Perspectives and Paradigms (Keith Watson). (MAH)

This directory provides addresses, phone numbers, and contact persons for state and federal agencies, tribal agencies, organizations, and schools concerned with American Indian education in New Mexico. Sections include the following: a map of New Mexico showing state board of education districts, both elected and appointed; state board of education members, with expiration date of term; representatives to the state advisory council on Indian education; tribal officials, education offices, and tribal organizations of the Pueblo and Apache Tribes and the Navajo Nation; schools in 22 public school districts with Indian student enrollment; Title IX Formula Grant programs, for both public and private schools; P. L. 81-874 programs for public school districts with Indian enrollment; Johnson O'Malley programs for both public schools and tribal programs; public schools and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools participating in Title VII bilingual education Native American programs; private schools with Indian student enrollment; Native American higher education programs, postsecondary institutions, and tribal scholarship programs; education organizations and Head Start programs in New Mexico; various divisions and branches of the Office of Indian Education of the U.S. Department of Education; and four national Indian organizations. (TD)