Education & Pedagogy

The guide details the goals, strategies, and resources needed to implement effective art programs in Texas. It is designed to help teachers, administrators, college and university faculty, and education service center personnel as they work together to make the visual arts a viable part of Texas public education. The guide's seven main sections include: Perspectives for Art Education; Content of the Texas Curriculum; An In-Depth Look at the Texas Art Program; Strategies for Teaching; Assessment: Providing Information for Improvement; Management: Collaborative Design; and Resources for Learning. Nine appendices provide selected references, elementary school scheduling samples, essential element charts, and the following lists: state-approved art courses; state-adoped art textbooks; basic art materials and tools; and basic art equipment. An annotated list of national reports on arts education is also included. Photographs of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other art works, including those of Texas students, appear throughout the book. (DB)

The ability to think critically is essential if individuals are to live, work, and function effectively in a current and changing society. As adults, students will be living in a complex world and in a democracy where both individual and collective actions will require effective selection, processing, and use of information. National, state association, business, and industry reports on education produced in the 1980's called for increased emphasis on higher-order learning skills, including critical thinking skills. This digest includes: (1) a definition of critical thinking; (2) research findings concerning critical thinking; (3) a discussion of the role of environmental education in critical thinking instruction; (4) materials available for environmental education that emphasize critical thinking skills; and (5) assistance available to teachers wanting to modify instruction to emphasize critical thinking skills. A list of 14 references is included. (CW)

Environmental issues are increasingly complex and interrelated. Responding to national and global environmental problems over the long run will require public understanding of those problems. An expanded program in environmental education will provide a foundation for public understanding of environmental issues and help assure active and informed discussion of the best ways to address environmental problems. The National Environmental Education Act (S.1076) was introduced in May 1989 and is intended to renew and reestablish the federal role in environmental education. It is designed to complement the range of existing environmental education programs being implemented by both government agencies and nonprofit organizations. This report briefly describes the Act and provides a section-by-section analysis. In addition, hearings, roll call votes, regulatory impact, and estimated cost to the Federal Government are discussed. The full text of Senate Bill 1706 as reported is included in this document. (CW)

This paper discusses the current role of practicing librarians in library education together with the debate on whether the grounding given to future librarians should be theoretical or practical. Reasons why students, educators, and employers are dissatisfied with the current status of library education are suggested. The benefits of librarians teaching library school courses are described, including the exposure of students to positive role models and the improved image of the librarian. Team teaching a course with a library school faculty member is suggested as one way for librarians to become involved in the educative process. Other suggestions for library participation in library education include setting up programs in the schools, giving input on curriculum, becoming involved in such faculty-student interaction as orientation, and becoming involved in the accreditation process. The importance of continuing education for librarians is stressed. (11 references) (MES)

This document contains the abstracts of the presentations made at this conference. Topics of presentations included: (1) linking research and science teaching using community resources; (2) planning science teacher workshops; (3) school-related recycling programs; (4) improving student attitudes toward science; (5) rural science teaching; (6) spatial versus conceptual reasoning in geology; (7) critical thinking; (8) learning and thinking styles; (9) courses spanning science and education; (10) organizing centers for science education; (11) using video training to enhance teacher skills; (12) science literacy in high school and college curricula; (13) interdisciplinary teacher training; (14) school district collaboration with higher education; and (15) program evaluation. (TW)

The prospective student's decision to choose an education major is influenced by a number of factors: prestige versus the perceived difficulties of the job, the quality of the program offered, and the costs involved. A vigorous and sound public relations program is recommended. Suggestions are made for developing appealing and truthful outreach based on the benefits and rewards of choosing a major in education. Such methods as newsletters and news releases, college-sponsored activities to bring prospective students to campus, and faculty involvement in elementary and secondary schools are described. The importance of economic aid and scholarships is also discussed. Other recruitment efforts include faculty outreach, special programs for undecided majors, and effective introductory courses. Whatever techniques are used, the goal is to bring the best students possible into the teacher education program. (JD)

This UNESCO bulletin includes reports that focus on diagnoses and strategies that ratify the validity of the goals set by the Major Project in the Field of Education in the Latin American and Caribbean Region. Four articles are featured: "Literacy, Human Rights and Democracy" (Jose Rivero H.); "Primary Schooling and Illiteracy in Latin America and the Caribbean: 1980-1987" (Ernesto Schiefelbein; And Others); "Resources Management and Development in Some Caribbean Primary and All-Age Schools" (Olga James-Reid); and "Bilingual Education in the Autonomous Regions of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua: Experience and Prospects" (Massimo Amadio). The document concludes with a listing of Regional Office for Education in Latin American and the Caribbean (OREALC) activities and OREALC publications. (DB)

The Family Life Education optional unit of the Manitoba (Canada) Health Education curriculum reflects the current emphasis in health education on preventive medicine, total well-being, and the assumption of individual responsibility for health. The unit as a whole consists of four components: an overview and three grade level guides designed for grades 5, 7, and 9. The grade 5 instructional package is organized around five themes: "The Importance of Families"; "Human Growth and Development"; "Relationships and Responsibilities"; "Personal Safety"; and "Promoting Positive Lifestyle Practices." The package includes 15 age-appropriate lessons that contain student objectives, suggested activities, teaching aids, teacher background notes, references, and information about required materials. A list of family life education audiovisual resources is included. (IAH)

This booklet is based on information shared at the 42nd session of the International Conference on Education held in Geneva, Switzerland, in September 1990. Sources include speeches, working documents, final reports, questionnaire replies, national reports, and other publications produced especially for the meetings. The booklet was produced as a follow-up activity to the World Conference on Education for All held in March 1990 in Jomtien, Thailand. Articles in the publication include the following: "Illiteracy: The Problem"; "What Is Literacy?"; "Reaching the Underprivileged"; "Helping Women and Girls"; "How to Motivate Learners"; "Organizing and Planning"; "Partnerships for Literacy"; "A Glossary of Literacy Terms"; "A Question of Cost"; "What to Teach and How to Teach It";"Questions of Culture and Language"; "Teaching the Teachers"; "Literacy and After"; "Evaluation and Research"; "Where to Go for Help"; and "International Cooperation and Aid." (KC)

Changes in the legislative history of specialized education for students of limited English proficiency are described in this paper, beginning with the authorization of the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 and going through the reauthorizations of the Act in 1974, 1978, 1984, and 1988. Important events surrounding the legislative action are also described in order to provide greater understanding of the social and economic circumstances that influenced legislative changes. Examples include the civil rights movement, Supreme Court cases such as Lau v. Nichols, the Equal Education Opportunity Act, and the Lau remedies. Because the Bilingual Education Act provides competitive grants that school districts and other educational institutions may apply for, the fiscal support provided by the federal government is also reviewed. Contains 10 references. (LB)

To meet the challenges of preparing teachers for the information-based society, the University of Houston-Clear Lake (Texas) in collaboration with the Houston schools, IBM, and NASA, developed the Teacher Education Advancing Academic Achievement Model (TEA3M). This paper addresses the integration of technology and innovative instructional practices in the preservice and staff development training of teachers and administrators, focusing on the university's teacher education program. The collaborative is in its first year of development, with goals of analyzing computer technology requirements at each collaborating site, installing the necessary equipment and software, defining a curriculum, and beginning the design and delivery of instruction. By the first summer, the local area networks, collaborative-wide network, and Teacher Technology Exploration Center should be fully operative. Five figures illustrate the discussion. (Contains 10 references.) (SLD)

This article examines the changing nature of the 2-year Diploma in Education program for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. It describes the evolution of language teacher training from the 1970s through the 1990s and the factors influencing the changing nature of the teacher education curriculum. It focuses on the new, communicative-orientated syllabus and textbooks adopted in 1990 for use in primary school English instruction, and the effect of this new curriculum on the Diploma of Education program. Over the last several years teacher educators have had the difficult task of preparing English teachers for teaching with structural materials during their student teaching while preparing them to teach with new yet unseen communicative materials when they graduated. (MDM)

This guide, available in both English and Spanish, answers questions often asked by parents about special education services. Questions and answers address the following topics: where to begin if a parent believes a child needs special education services, services available to very young children, the evaluation process, the Individualized Education Program and its development, parental disagreement with the school about what is appropriate for a child, procedures for acquiring increased services for a child, and the role of parental support of a child's learning. A list of five resources available from the National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities and a list of five additional resources concludes the English guide. The Spanish guide concludes with a list of four resources and two organizations. (JDD)

This paper lists practices recommended by the Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood concerning personnel competence in early intervention and early childhood special education programs for infants and young children with special needs and their families. An introductory section discusses components of preservice personnel preparation, including associate, undergraduate, and graduate degree programs. Personnel preparation efforts in early intervention are seen as responding to the immediate need for large numbers of qualified personnel and the evolving philosophy of integration. Inservice personnel preparation is then discussed, focusing on the characteristics of adult learners and the planning, delivery, and evaluation of inservice sessions. The paper then lists 35 practices recommended for preservice personnel development and 18 practices recommended for inservice personnel development, focusing on process rather than content. (JDD)

This paper describes the history of moral education in the American public school system. The philosophies of moral education, as advocated by the Puritans, Thomas Mann, Noah Webster, and John Dewey, are examined first. The controversial values education of the 1960s and 70s, which has been replaced by more traditional forms within the last decade, is discussed next. These controversial models--the values clarification method, Kohlberg's theory of cognitive development, and the ethical reasoning method--all shared a focus on process, rather than product. In conclusion, the United States has returned full circle to teaching the popular ideals of the past (values, character, and personal/social responsibility); however, the religious basis for these values is absent. Moral education and religious faith need not conflict with each other, but in the interests of cultural pluralism they must be separated in the classroom. (LMI)