Numerous studies have noted the difficulties in promoting a common national identity curriculum due to increasing tension between the concepts of local autonomy and national cohesion. Hong Kong's promotion of Moral and National Education provides an interesting case to examine two aspects of this tension -- what national identity education goals…

The mechanisms of dissemination of the counting frames in the teaching of mathematics in Spain during the nineteenth century are studied. José Mariano Vallejo and Pablo Montesino proposed them in order to facilitate an arithmetic initiation based on intuition, following Pestalozzi's proposals. The diffusion channels considered were pedagogical…

The new geological epoch called the Anthropocene has shown how human activities have influenced the world negatively and revealed the threat created by ongoing human activities to the sustainability of the future of the world. Therefore, what the Anthropocene has shown has to be dealt with. One way to do this is education. Therefore, the present…

This study, focusing on inverse relations, examines how representative U.S. and Chinese elementary textbooks may provide opportunities to learn fundamental mathematical ideas. Findings from this study indicate that both of the U.S. textbook series (grades K-6) in comparison to the Chinese textbook samples (grades 1-6), presented more instances of…

Thomas Wartenberg offers his book as a guide that will provide elementary school teachers what they need to facilitate philosophical discussions with children. My concerns are centered on the nature and role of philosophical discussion, the level of philosophical acumen needed for facilitating such discussion, and the role of character development…

This short commentary offers praise for Tom Wartenberg's book "Big Ideas for Little Kids" and raises questions about who is best qualified to lead a philosophy discussion with children, and how we are to assess the benefits of doing philosophy with children.

Trainee teachers, new and non-specialist teachers of elementary mathematics have a tendency to avoid thought about reasons in mathematics. Instead, they tend to favour the development of computational skill through the rote application of procedures, routines and algorithms. Could elementary mathematics textbooks serve as models of practice and…

This report describes a classroom observation study in Korean primary mathematics classrooms. What was discovered in Korean classrooms was children, through higher level questioning, were being led to conceptualize the constructs and operations. The textbook was focused on the concepts in a concise, coherent and systematic manner similar to what…

Reviews ERIC documents pertaining to the way elderly people are portrayed in children's literature and textbooks. (FL)

A description and explanation of "Native Literature," the literature textbook for fourth graders. (ND)

Chinese elementary school primers of the post-cultural revolution period emphasize moral principles, military heroism, revolutionary ardor, and sacrifice of individual interest for the good of society. Considerable emphasis continues to be placed upon rote learning, tests, homework, and report cards, although apparently less than in pre-cultural…

Discusses a romanized phonetics system, pinyin, which is introduced to Chinese pupils in the first grade primer. The objective of teaching the sounds of Mandarin characters in conjunction with their meanings is to provide China's younger generation with a common tongue. (Author/DB)

This paper discusses the difficulty students often face when many new words are simultaneously introduced in a text. It suggests teachers may address this difficulty in a number of ways, including the following: writing to a publisher to suggest improvements; providing lists of new words to students before reading selections; and focusing on…

Examined mathematical methods courses as part of pedagogical training provided to prospective Chinese elementary school teachers through the analysis of textbooks and courses given at two teacher education sites. Results show that knowing, understanding, and exploring the content and design of textbooks used in elementary classrooms were greatly…

An analysis of elementary social studies textbooks published between 1970 and 1980 showed that few of the innovations resulting from the "new social studies" movement found their way into social studies texts. The profit motive of publishing companies is blamed. (RM)