Susan Albrecht's career has spanned more than 40 years. During those years she has served as an English teacher, school psychologist, behavior consultant, coordinator of services, and special education faculty member. Her contributions to the field include leadership positions with the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders. Susan shared…

C. Michael Nelson began his special education career as a teacher of adolescents with learning and behavior disorders. He has worked as a child psychologist and as a professor with the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky. He coordinated the graduate Personnel Preparation Program for Teachers…

The improvement of a professional group is due, in part, to its ability for introspection and self-evaluation. This is essentially the process of "analyzing" the profession as it currently is practiced, identifying necessary changes and improvements, and "synthesizing" or creating a new image or model of the profession to…

In looking to the future, some writers on religious education (RE) have attempted to evaluate current approaches to the subject. Some have characterised any significant change in approach as a "paradigm shift", a term derived from Thomas Kuhn's work in the philosophy of science. This article examines the uses of the terms…

Since implementation of reform and opening-up policy, China's teacher education has got significant success on policy design, legislation process, theory research, system reform, model innovation and teaching qualification system building. Teachers' educational background level has been increased. Teachers' professional ethics and teaching…

This essay critically examines the relevance of Cornel West's (1989) conception of "prophetic pragmatism" as a theoretical framework for educational development in post-conflict settings torn by religious, socioeconomic, and cultural tensions. It examines the concept through the conflict and post-conflict experiences of the Indonesian…

Scotland's new "Curriculum for Excellence" (CfE) has been widely acknowledged as the most significant educational development in a generation, with the potential to transform learning and teaching in Scottish schools. In common with recent developments elsewhere, CfE seeks to re-engage teachers with processes of curriculum development,…

Between 2001 and 2007 I conducted a self-study action research enquiry into my practice as a primary school teacher. The research had a collaborative aspect to it, in so far as my pupils and colleagues were invited to participate in the research, although I was the focus of the enquiry. I was unhappy about my teaching: I felt I dominated the…

Discusses the need to learn how to design learning systems involving the synthesis of systems thinking and design actions. Design intelligence is considered, based on theories of multiple intelligence; new models of the information age that require systems design are discussed; and the roles of symbolic analysts and symbolic synthesists are…

Provides an overview of this special issue on educational systems design. The International Systems Institute (ISI), a nonprofit agency that contributed the issue, is described; and summaries of the papers are presented, organized according to major themes covered (i.e., conceptual models and issues, design applications, and design learning). (LRW)

Breaking with past conceptions of change as a pendulum swing based upon dichotomies, this paper offers a model which depicts change as sequential, emergent, and transformational. Patterns of change identified in the fields of technology and science are also identified in the field of education, and a three stage paradigm depicting transformational…

Suggests a variety of techniques for the instructional designer to implement and develop materials, and curricula that will be used and benefit all involved. (JEG)

The author reviews and critiques C. E. Beeby's four-stage model of change in the primary schooling of developing nations. Beeby's reply follows on pp439-44 and the author's response on pp445-49. A related article by Beeby appears on pp451-74. (Editor/SJL)

The author indicates the changes he would make to his book "The Quality of Education in Developing Countries" (1966) if he were rewriting it in 1980. For further discussions of his stage theory of change in the primary schooling in developing nations, see pp411-49 of this issue. (SJL)

To remain competitive in the international marketplace, the United States will have to recommit to a new era of educational reform. Students must be pushed to reach higher expectations, and the U.S. educational system must find an efficient and centralized mechanism to measure national progress in education reform. This document describes the…