Education & Pedagogy

Quality of education is a complex concept. Numerous studies attribute quality of education as an inclusive term that contains access and input on the one hand and process, output or outcome on the other. Others regard access and input of education as separate but equally important concepts of quality of education. For the latter, quality of education includes process and outcome of education but excludes access and inputs of education. They, however, understand these quantitative aspects as important components of education achievement. Through the use of qualitative data this study contributes to, and provides new insights into the ongoing debate on the quality of education definition and concept. The study was conducted in Tanzania between November 2011 and March 2012. The total of 27 education stakeholders (13 female and 14 male) in five districts across Tanzania participated in the interviews. The study found out that definition of quality of education is broad and inclusive. The new definition that entails several aspects of quality of education was recognized. These aspects are access, inputs, process and output or outcome of education. Each group of stakeholders put their emphases on different aspects of quality that they feel are more important to them than others. Despite their differences in opinions, all of them agree that all aspects of quality are important for education achievement in the Tanzanian education system.

According to the 'International Standard Classification of Education' (ISCED), 'Continuing Education' is composed of the 'Continuing Primary and Lower Secondary Adult Education' (ISCED1, ISCED2), followed by the 'Adult Education and Training' System (ISCED3), including an 'Upper Secondary Education System' (ISCED4 and finally, the 'Tertiary Education' (ISCED5, ISCED6 and above). In 2016 the percent of 'early leavers' from education and training amounted in Italy to 13.8%, while the EU average amounted to 10.7%. In the same period the attendance to ISCED1-ISCED3 Adult Education Courses (age 25-64) amounted to 8.3%, while the EU average amounted to 10.8%. As for 'Tertiary Education', the percent attainment of a university degree amounted to 29.5% among Italians and to 13.4% among foreigners residing in Italy, while the EU averages amounted to 39.9% and 35.4% respectively. According to the Author, the relatively higher percent of early leavers from education and training in Italy and the relatively low attendance to 'Continuing Education' programs is due to the low employment rate in the Country, particularly significant in the age range 20-34, as a consequence of the severe economic crisis which hit the country in 2008 and still persists, causing the closure of many private enterprises and the block of the turn-over at public educational institutions. In spite of all that, the quality of the Italian Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education System is of an excellent level, as compared with that of similar institutions all over the world. In Author's opinion, increasing the investment in the educational system would increase the attendance to Secondary and Tertiary Adult Education courses, with a positive feedback on productivity.

The article deals with legal enforcement of teacher education in Great Britain. It has been found out that in Great Britain, the sources of education legislation are statutes and acts adopted by British government. All current statutes relating to education are classified either as public or private. Public laws contain general rules, that is, designed for all individuals and for repeated application. They operate throughout the country, addressed to all subjects of educational relations. Private statutes accumulate private norms, which refer to specific legal entities or individuals and contain strictly defined directives for them. They are addressed to a particular country or specific organization or group of individuals. It has been indicated that the system of education legislation in Great Britain in the context of teacher education is provided by a range of legal acts, such as the Education Reform Act of 1988, the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992, by the Teaching and Higher Education Act of 1998, The Education Act 2002, The Education Act of 2005, The Education and Inspections Act of 2006, The Education and Skills Act of 2008, The Education Act of 2011, The Education and Adoption Act 2016, The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 as well as legal acts of European authorities. It has been concluded that the orientation of the content of British legal acts toward quality teacher training should be successfully implemented into Ukrainian education legislation so that the national system of teacher training may be improved. It has been suggested that the prospects for further researchers are seen in studying the legal enforcement of teacher education in leading European countries (Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland etc.).

The question of how to embed transformative change through the implementation of sustainability principles in our education systems has become increasingly important as complex situations, like pandemics and climate change, challenge societies. Education underpinned by a sustainability paradigm requires students to develop the ability to think critically about the nature of knowledge and about the ways in which knowledge is produced and validated. Educating for these skills will require shifts in educational practice, pedagogy and new approaches to learning and teaching. As the relationship between education and sustainability has matured, there has been increasing debate around whether capability or competence frameworks best underlie the type of education we seek to embed in sustainability professionals. Within an Australian context there is a philosophical difference between these two terms and an understanding of how this relates to different typologies of sustainability and education; Education about Sustainable Development, Education for Sustainable Development or Sustainability as Education (Sustainability Education) and this has yet to be fully explored. This is increasingly important as higher education is under pressure to be efficient producers of work-ready graduates. This paper provides an overview of the context of capability and competencies in the Australian higher education context and the associated implications for education, and sustainability education. It compares a competence approach with that of a capability approach and then situates this debate within the evolution of sustainability and education. Finally, it addresses some key consequences of the contemporary approaches to sustainability and education and emphasises the role of the capability approach.

Increasing interest in the digitization of education raises the question of the specifics of the use of digital devices in preschool education and the perception of these new practices by educators. The primary purpose of this study was to examine educators' beliefs about distance education for preschool children in Russia and India, given their professional education and cultural background. These two countries were chosen to explore how the education system has dealt with emergency remote teaching in countries with social and economic diversity. The study involved 909 preschool educators (623 from Russia and 286 from India). An exploratory factor analysis of educators' responses to the Educators' Beliefs about Distance Education for Preschoolers Questionnaire identified three factors. The first factor reflects the degree of positive or negative beliefs about the promotion potential of distance education for preschool children's development. The second represents educators' beliefs about the effectiveness of distance education depending on different teacher, child, and environmental conditions. The third is manifested in the belief among educators that distance education is ineffective in preschool education. The findings suggest that the years of professional education in early childhood pedagogy impacts educators' beliefs about distance education for preschool children. Regardless of the number of years of education training, educators in India were more likely to believe in the high promotion potential of distance education in early childhood.

In recent decades, higher education has experienced a massive expansion worldwide, which has often been linked to increasing higher education diversification. New sectors and new types of institutions emerged with this massification process to offer more diversified types of advanced training. At the same time, this expansion was often embedded in a political economy that increasingly favoured market forces, leading to growing privatisation and competition in the higher education sector. This article explores the relevance of institutional diversification and competition in higher education for access and equity in Portugal. The case of higher education in Portugal is particularly interesting since Portugal has a diverse system both in secondary education and in higher education, with significant vocational and private sectors at both levels (besides the more common academic and university tracks and public institutions). We analyse the profile of new cohorts of entrants by sector (public vs. private higher education institutions) and fields of study. Our results suggest that private secondary schools provide an advantageous track for accessing higher education, especially to prestigious programmes and institutions to which students compete to access. The analysis also indicates that socioeconomic background is a very relevant factor for access to higher education. Although students whose parents do not have a higher education degree may enrol in higher education, those whose parents have higher levels of educational attainment tend to enrol in more prestigious programmes and institutions, to which access is more competitive.

The four sections of this report use text, graphs, and tables to present the status of Oregon programs providing special education, compensatory education, student services, early childhood education, and special projects. The first section, on special education, provides the mission statement and the state's goals for special education and then presents data for school-based programs for students with mild mental retardation, serious emotional disturbance, specific learning disabilities, and speech/language impairments. Additional state-operated and/or state-supported programs including hospital programs, regional programs, private agency education programs, trainable mental retardation programs, the talented and gifted program, and early intervention are also described. Data on the two state schools for individuals with blindness or deafness are presented next. The second section covers compensatory education programs including the Chapter I program, the Indian education program, programs for limited English proficient students and for migrant education, the state disadvantaged child project, Title IV civil rights programs, and measures for homeless children and youth. Section III on student services and early childhood education describes the Child Development Specialist position, residential youth care centers, student retention activities, the parent education program, the Oregon prekindergarten program, guidance and counseling programs, student activities, and health services. The last section covers special projects such as Oregon's secondary special education and transition program, the Study of Serious Emotional Disturbance, and the Very Special Arts Program. (DB)

These three issues of volume 2 (1992) contain brief reports on published research of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education. In issue 1 are these five articles: "High Schools with Character: Why Might They Be Important?"; "An Uncommon Education: Interaction and Innovation"; "Community College Contract Instruction: Complex Issues"; "SET [Security, Employee involvement, and Training] and JAM [Job classification, Adversarial relations, and Minimal training] Work Systems: Implications for Education"; and "A National Database on Vocational Teacher Education." Issue 2 contains five articles: "Health Care Personnel Shortages and Vocational Education"; "Using Postsecondary Transcript Data"; "Nice Places to Work: Schools with Exemplary Vocational Education Programs";"New York City's Career Magnet Schools Benefit 'Lottery' Students"; and "Beyond Articulation: Tech Prep Programs." Nine articles are found in issue 3: "A How-To Guide for Perkins Act Accountability"; "Computer-Based Instruction and Issues for Vocational Educators"; "Community Colleges and Technical Institutes: Integration of Occupational and Academic Education"; "Career Magnet High Schools: Students, Staff Talk about Successes and Problems"; "Vocational Education for Pregnant and Parenting Students: Practical Problems and Fundamental Dilemmas"; "Vocational Education at Penal Institutions: A Discouraging History"; "Linking Planning and Evaluation Statewide"; "Two Worlds: Vocational and Academic Teachers"; and "A Framework for the Subject Matter of Vocational Education." (YLB)

This nine-chapter monograph deals with the purpose and context of basic education, starting with the basic learning needs that education must meet. Chapter 1 focuses on the rationale for education for all. Chapter 2 explores the interplay between the educational process and culture, including the complex issues associated with language. Chapter 3 considers the implications of new and broader concepts of literacy in designing strategies to reach adult learners. The impact of scientific discovery and technological change on learning needs and on the content and processes of basic education to meet those needs are examined in Chapter 4. Chapter 5 takes a closer look at the relationship of education and training to economic and social development including the world of work. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 focus on three major educational components that can affect the quality of life and that deserve space in basic education programs: environmental education, population education, and health education. The final chapter draws attention to some of the main questions that will have to be addressed in the areas of cultural maintenance and development, language policy, achieving adult literacy, preparation for life in an increasingly technological world, and quality of life. The World Declaration on Education for All is appended. (YLB)

This monograph offers insight into the development of the conceptual basis, scholarly inquiry, and professional practice of adult education in West Germany from the end of World War II to the German reunification. Introductory materials are an "Introduction" (Wilhelm Mader) and "Translator's Note and Acknowledgements" (Martin Haindorff). Three papers in Part I deal with three core professional domains: "General Adult Education" (Erhard Schlutz); "Vocational Development" (Wilfried Voigt); and "Adult Education as a Vocation: Lay Job or Profession?" (Roswitha Peters). The two papers in Part II connect political emancipation and adult education: "Feminist Target Groups as a Form of Work" (Wiltrud Gieseke) and "Labour Education" (Wolfgang Hindrichs). Part III examines the relationship of adult education with other "sciences": "The Importance of Sociology for Further Education" (Wilke Thomssen); "Education Science and Adult Education" (Erhard Schlutz, Wilfried Voigt); and "Psychology and Adult Education" (Wilhelm Mader). Part IV explores three theoretical approaches: "Education Science and Adult Education: Theses for a Critical Relationship" (Herbert Gerl); "Experiential Approaches in Adult Education" (Guenther Holzapfel); and "The Biographical Approach to Adult Education" (Peter Alheit). An appendix includes four items by Martin Haindorff: "Ausbildung, Fortbildung, Weiterbildung"; "Bremen's Legislation on Continuing Education and Its Historical Background since 1970"; "University of Bremen: Requirements, Courses, Examination Regulations"; and a 213-item "Annotated Bibliography." (YLB)

This document contains nine papers about and from an international roundtable on the training of teachers in technical and vocational education. The first paper, a Final Report of the "International Round Table on Training of Teachers in Technical and Vocational Education (Curitiba, Brazil, 7-10 April 1997)," examines the following: sociopolitical contexts of technical and vocational teacher education; partnerships and linkages with industry; technical and vocational curricula; the status of technical and vocational teachers; technical and vocational teacher education models and programs; program financing; and future activities. The following discussion papers constitute the remainder of the report: "Training of Teachers/Trainers in Technical and Vocational Education; Position Paper" (R. Barry Hobart); "Challenges of Current Social, Economical and Technological Developments and Need for Reforms/Renovations in Training of Teaches in Technical and Vocational Education" (C.K. Basu); "Training of Teachers/Trainers in Technical and Vocational Education" (Mavis Bird); "Training of Teachers/Trainers in Technical and Vocational Education in Pakistan" (Muhammad Hadi Gyavri); "Challenges and Prospects in the Training of Technical and Vocational Education Teachers/Trainers in Africa" (B. Wanjala Kerre); "Training of Teachers and Trainers in Technical and Vocational Education in Jamaica" (Lurlienne Miller); "Recent Innovations in the Training of Teachers/Trainers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Asia and the Pacific" (M.A. Qureshi); and "Training of Teachers in Technical and Vocational Education in Poland" (Stefania Szczurkowska). (MN)

The U.S. military has made numerous important contributions to the development of adult and continuing education. As in civilian adult education, military innovations in education have consistently used workplace learning. The educational benefits produced by the GI Bill democratized education by exploding the myth that "common" people did not belong in college and by serving as a model for employer-supported human development through education. The military pioneered the use of standardized testing for screening purposes and has developed batteries of tests for screening vocational aptitude and basic academic skills. The General Educational Development testing program, which grew out of the military's extensive experience with testing, is now recognized by employers and institutions of higher learning nationwide. Other areas where the military has made major contributions to the fields of adult and continuing education include the following: documentation/recognition of learning acquired outside the classroom and integration of learning in traditional degree programs; distance education; off-campus college programs; instructional systems development; competency-based education; articulation of civilian and military education through the Servicemembers Opportunities Colleges program; advanced instructional technologies; and program evaluation. (The bibliography contains 46 references. Appended are excepts from the 1947 publication, "The Armed Services and Adult Education" by Cyril O. Houle et al.) (MN)

Webster University (Missouri), an independent, liberal arts university, developed a teacher preparation program on both the graduate and undergraduate levels in inclusive education aimed at preservice and practicing teachers and covering early childhood to secondary education. Several models emerged in the teacher preparation program. The unified curriculum of the graduate Early Childhood degree program merged the discussion of issues in educating all young children, including children with disabilities. The unified core of the undergraduate education program fostered an attitude of shared responsibility for all children. An elective course, "Inclusion Strategies in the Regular Classroom," enriched the curriculum and prepared students pursuing special education for the typical classroom. The graduate emphasis in inclusive education represented an embedded approach by including opportunities for graduate students to learn about inclusive education practices while they were concentrating in specialized areas of study. At both undergraduate and graduate levels there has been a trend toward dual certification in special education or early childhood special education and elementary or early childhood certification. Efforts to prepare teachers for inclusion have led to a reconceptualization of the teacher education program as a whole. Resistance to change, state certification standards, limited resources and time, competing interests, and lack of familiarity with inclusion among faculty were all barriers encountered and not yet completely overcome in the program's development. (Contains 13 references.) (JB)

This annotated bibliography contains 1,033 entries describing English-language materials regarding adult education (AE) in continental Europe that were identified through a systematic search of 188 periodicals. Entries are arranged by country. Among the topics of the works included are the following: history of AE; comparative studies; state and AE and legislation; financing of AE; international organizations and cooperation; statewide AE systems/organizations; regional and local-level AE institutions/organizations; theory of AE; research in AE; folk high schools and residential AE; university extension; night/evening schools; town/village cultural centers; voluntary associations, societies, and clubs; study circles and discussion groups; correspondence study, distance education, and open learning; educational radio, television, and technology; libraries; community development; literacy and adult basic education; secondary, postsecondary, and higher education; lifelong learning; vocational/technical education and apprenticeship; training in business, industry, and government; professional continuing education; retraining and upgrading; rural AE; armed services education; education of women; workers' education; general education; family life, consumer, and health education; preretirement education; immigrants, ethnic minority, and multicultural education; and prisoner education/rehabilitation. Each entry contains some/all of the following: author, title, place/year of publication, and brief description of the work's contents. Author and subject indexes are included. (MN)

The Navajo Teacher Education Initiative was developed in 1992 to improve the quality of Navajo education through the recruitment and training of prospective Navajo educators. Currently, the 242 schools on or near the Navajo Nation are staffed primarily by non-Navajo teachers who often do not understand the significance of Navajo culture, history, language, and values. The Navajo Nation is the largest reservation in the United States and is located in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Members of the initiative include Navajo Community College, the University of New Mexico, Northern Arizona University, Prescott College, Fort Lewis College, the University of Northern Colorado, and the Navajo Nation Division of Education. Objectives of the initiative include planning and implementing an integrated field-based teacher education program through a consortium of colleges and universities; integrating Navajo philosophy, language, and culture into required teacher education courses; developing a monitoring system for assessment of pilot projects; implementing a computerized Navajo teacher education tracking system; expanding curriculum developed by Navajo Community College and based on the Dine' Philosophy of Learning to other consortium members; disseminating best teaching practices through publications and presentations; and influencing legislative and policy development agendas regarding alternative teacher education efforts and funding policies. In November 1995, the Ford Foundation (sponsor of the consortium) and the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education cosponsored a Navajo Nation Education Policy Forum that attracted 200 representatives of state education agencies, universities, state legislatures, local education agencies, and community and business interests. As a result of the forum, priority policy areas were identified. (LP)