An Educational Policy Issue. The Open Education Movement and Teacher Training. The Educational Policy Systems.

Overview & Synopsis

The primary objective of this study was to encourage teacher education programs to further the knowledge of the principles, modes of teaching, learning styles, and organization of open education. Procedures used in conducting the study were (1) an analysis of the literature reflecting a theorectical framework within which the components of open education might be identified, (2) an analysis of the literature pertaining to the characteristics of the open classroom at the primary level and the open concept, and (3) a search of current empirical data suggesting the effectiveness of the open education movement for altering elementary school practices. Rationale were presented for open space, nongrading, and multiage grouping. Results from the study suggest that teacher education should make greater use of nontraditional approaches, more instructors should implement nontraditional approaches in their own teaching processes to serve as models for teacher trainees, teacher education programs should make a concerted effort to ensure that teacher candidates comprehend the underlying principles of personalized learning and programs, and initiative should be taken by teacher education programs to establish cooperative programs with schools in developing open environments within their systems through onsite support to the educational community as it develops an individualized approach to learning. (IRT)