In this article, the authors argue that the use of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) standardized tests to evaluate the early childhood education sector, while it may be perfectly "scientific", could be disastrous for "Te Whariki", a curriculum that is child-centred and learning-oriented. The basic…

In this essay I elaborate on three ideas that emerged from reading the work of Sylvie Barma. These points are in response to curriculum reform and the use of activity theory: (a) curriculum reform as a public policy; (b) a reflection about the process followed by teacher implementation of that reform in a biology classroom; and (c) the sense of…

Suggests that Margaret Mead's distinctions among three kinds of culture--here referred to as "traditional,""transitional," and "learning"--are useful in understanding the current controversy over how much the Western tradition should be emphasized in the curriculum. (EVL)

Describes a South Pacific social studies curriculum development project. Points out that educators must constantly examine the implicit connections between the intentions of schooling and assumptions in its sociocultural context. (JOW)

Suggests that debate on cultural issues in mathematics provided by the critique of ethnomathematics must be based on contemporary writing in the field and should not focus on extreme views within the political justification for ethnomathematics. Addresses philosophical questions raised by Rowlands and Carson and comments on preliminary results…

Career education is a reform movement which seeks to create more efficient workers for the capitalist system of production. The goals of producing fulfilled and satisfied workers must be shared by career educators and the broader society. (JN)

A formal conceptual framework for responsibility education is presented, and a range of educational implications are derived. The concept of responsibility education stems from the notion that contemporary social conditions and moral issues are related to three concerns: pedagogy, curriculum, and institution. (JN)

This article offers four classroom activities based on the 10 trends identified in Naisbitt's 1982 book, MEGATRENDS: TEN NEW DIRECTIONS TRANSFORMING OUR LIVES. The activities are based on a data retrieval chart, a consequence chart, reverse historical chronology, and guided fantasies. Includes samples of the charts. (JDH)

Maintains that the works of popular culture present a means of understanding the philosophy of the times and function as tools for identifying and perpetuating the world that they reflect. (FL)

An ecological perspective on social work practice underscores the need for a dual or holistic focus on people and environments. Concepts and principles regarding the dynamic environment are developing in organizational theory, social network theory, environmental psychology, and social work and can be applied to social work education. (MSE)

Encourages the development of multicultural preschool education. Begins with a reinterpretation and reorganization of traditional teaching with new curricula based on intercultural learning units suitable for each age group. Argues that promoting such curricula would encourage socioemotional adjustment, development of intelligence, enrichment of…

The author examines the tenets, historical antecedents, and implications of the current art education theory of "planned eclecticism," which encourages relatively free curriculum content choices, subject only to the psychosocial context of the school. He questions the theory's dependence on sociological theories and scientific…

An analysis of the cultural and historical context in which curriculum decisions are made in Australia and a comparison with educational assumptions in the United States is the purpose of this paper. Methodology is based on personal teaching experience and observation in Australia. Seven factors are identified upon which curricular decisions in…

Efforts to reform teacher education should include careful reconsideration of what teachers learn about curriculum design and instructional methodology. The selection and organization of school knowledge have significant social, political, and ethical implications that are ignored by traditional, rationalistic assumptions about educational…

A 1981 Wingspread conference on the implications of the new scholarship on women for the traditional goals and assumptions of liberal education also addresses possibilities and imperatives for curricular and institutional change. After an introduction by Anne Fuller, papers by three women's studies scholars are presented. "Feminist…