Explores motivation as a requisite to the educational goal of maximum development of all children's intellectual potential. Considers (1) causal attributions of success and failure and (2) attribution for task choice and involvement, in relation to, respectively, (1) inequality and (2) equality of optimum motivation in schools. (Author/GC)

Longitudinal studies to clarify and validate objectives and standards of preschool education are advocated. Until the result of such research is available, studies of methods and processes have little practical or theoretical use. Preschool goals generally agreed upon by American educators are the promotion of the child's emotional and social…

The field of early childhood education has long been marked by intense controversy concerning appropriate curriculum and teaching methods and goals. This paper explores some implications of the traditional dichotomies of the field and suggests that while there are many reasons to resist the side that advocates formal academic instruction, it does…

The structure and results of a college faculty workshop in designing subject-area courses to promote critical thinking skills and intellectual development are reported. (MSE)

From the academic--or instructivist--perspective, the young child is seen as dependent on adults' instruction in the academic knowledge and skills necessary for a good start for later academic achievement. This perspective is in direct contrast to the active and interactive curriculum assumed by proponents of the constructivist approach. This…

This book contains 15 papers on the following topics related to lifelong learning: lifespan development and education, capacity to learn in the lifespan, skills formation in the workplace, learning to learn in the lifespan, and implications for policy and practice. The following papers are included: "Learning for Life: New Ideas, New…