This ERIC Digest discusses how, by studying Japan, the larger context of the Asia-Pacific region can be explored and students can be introduced to current realities. The top 5 competitive countries for 1994 were the United States, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and Germany. Because of the increasing interdependence between the United States and…

Rural school and community renewal efforts may depend upon a reconceptualization of our democratic institutions and practices. During at least the last 130 years, we have come to judge our democratic institutions on the basis of whether they deliver the goods rather than develop our people. In the name of progress, efficiency, higher standards of…

This paper reviews the literature on rural poverty in the Northeast relating to rural education and makes suggestions for educators who teach the rural poor. Against the theory of a "culture of poverty," which suggests that the rural poor avoid hard work by choice, the more recent view is that the poor often accept the Puritan work ethic…

Teachers are being faced with increasingly complex ethical decisions. This study was conducted to identify and compare the levels of moral development and ethical decision-making processes of entry level teacher education students and exit level student teachers by examining their corresponding stages of moral development and the factors which…

With the current interest and allocation of resources accorded service learning comes a growing need to clarify the varied ideological perspectives on school and society that underline service learning activities and programs. Drawing on an evaluation of Stanford's Service Learning 2000 project and on a rhetorical analysis of policy talk on…

This document consists of four separate handouts all related to the appraisal of audiovisual (AV) materials: "How to Work with an Appraiser of AV Media: A Convenient Check List for Clients and Their Advisors," helps a client prepare for an appraisal, explaining what is necessary before the appraisal, the appraisal process and its costs,…

A collection of chapters examines the applicability of postmodern/poststructural theory to educational leadership and school restructuring in the United States today. Based on the assertion that educational administration research and publications have been traditional, conservative, and naive, this book presents a review of Weberian positivism,…

In the Western Apache discourse community, landscape is not just the realm of nature in its sheer physicality. Neither are places in the landscape to be read as metaphors. Rather, places, visual things by reason of their identification with aspects of social hierarchy are literally giving moral messages, are imploring people to live right. This…

Consisting of both a theoretical and practical component, this paper describes the development of the educational kit, "This is Me," a Dutch program to prevent the development of prejudice in young children. Part 1 of the report describes the development of prejudice in children, the situation in Netherland schools, cultural diversity,…

Studies suggest that the challenge of violence in public schools can be met through character education, whether by providing a school culture in which core values are practiced or some form of moral training (indoctrination). To assess the need for character education in rural schools, small-school superintendents and board members in central…

By focusing on education and the development of four moral virtues (friendship, honesty, courage, and justice), this book presumes that the exercise of these virtues is an integral part of good educational practice and that anyone concerned with promoting excellence in education must also be committed to promoting these virtues. Part 1,…

This companion document to the instructor's guide for a course designed to prepare employees for statistical process control (SPC) training given at their workplace by refreshing math skills and building the concepts and vocabulary necessary to understand SPC in manufacturing environments. SPC-Prep 1 addresses the math skills necessary to perform…

This study investigated conflicting attitudes toward diversity among college of education faculty at one metropolitan, southwestern university, focusing on their personal attitudes toward ethnic diversity. The study looked at whether they could simultaneously hold progressive and traditional values, egalitarian and individualistic attitudes. This…

Factors that contribute to the success of an educational consultant and the school partnership were studied through a qualitative exploration of the consultant's role in two reform efforts. The study explored the work of one educational consultant in two school districts, one in which the consultant had been working for 27 years and one in which…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on leadership and executive development. The study reported in "Leadership and Culture: Work-Related Values and Leadership Styles among U.S. and German Employees" (K. Peter Kuchinke) revealed only a weak correlation between cultural values and leadership styles. Critical incident…