This qualitative analysis investigates the role of tenure-track faculty at Towne University (pseudonym), a regional institution with a long-standing public service mission. Towne has played an important role in the production and continued development of teachers for local schools through extensive K-20 collaboration. Recently, however, Towne…

The author examines early childhood music education in Taiwan through Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Factors in the microsystem level that influenced the musical development of children included adult perception of children, child-adult interactions, Taiwanese family structure, and the existing early childhood education system. The…

This paper emerges from an ongoing study which involved, firstly, key informant interviews with strategic personnel within the Irish education system, such personnel representing both service providers and service users. The first part of this paper provides a brief summary of the findings of that aspect of the study in relation to the key…

This study challenges narrow definitions of teacher effectiveness and uses a systems approach to investigate teacher effectiveness as a multi-dimensional, holistic phenomenon. The methods of Nominal Group Technique and Interpretive Structural Modeling were used to assist U.S. and Japanese students separately construct influence structures during…

Equipping engineering students with the skills and knowledge required to be successful global engineers in the 21st century is one of the primary objectives of undergraduate educators. Enabling students to practice self-directed learning, to find solutions to design problems that are sustainable and to recognize that they are part of a global…

Systems thinking plays a key role in producing the understanding of a big picture--a broader view of looking at the overall system needed to develop a learning community more effectively. Practical expectations to improve the functioning of Human systems, here teacher preparedness, on identifying possible interventions, relate at description and…

When developmental concerns arise in children, a clinical assessment focuses on the child's developmental profile to achieve three goals (1) determine diagnosis, (2) develop interventions, and (3) evaluate progress. Parents often have needs during this time that are not addressed by professionals because of the exclusive focus on the child during…

Children face many important changes in the first eight years of life, including different learning centres, social groups, roles and expectations. Their ability to adapt to such a dynamic and evolving environment directly affects their sense of identity and status within their community over the short and long term. In particular, the key turning…

Ohio's Model Industrial Technology Systems (MITS) project was initiated in 1987 to achieve the following: identify good activities in the areas of physical, communication, and bio-related technology; standardize the activities' format; and provide a coding system for their eventual use in a hypermedia system. To date, 220 activities have been…

When the faculty of a degree-awarding distance education institution is assembled, it is essential to meet the credentialing requirements established by the accrediting commission of the Distance Education and Training Council and the various state educational councils. It is also important to find faculty applicants with a love of teaching,…

This document reviews theories of cognitive style and methods of cognitive style assessment as they relate to the context of South Africa, where sociopolitical changes call for reassessment of theoretical assumptions in education and training. The report consists of six chapters. After a brief introductory chapter, the second chapter gives an…

Evaluations of school restructuring, particularly school-based management (SBM) and shared decision making (SDM), have tended to focus on problems of implementation and on its consequent failure to fulfill its promises. Inadequate resources, unclear responsibilities, inhibiting regulations, and institutional resistance have all been cited as…

Issues in the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) to the development of educational standards are discussed in this paper. The first part describes the basic tenets of TQM, which are: focus on the customer; long term commitment to continuous improvement; top management support and guidance; employee involvement and responsibility;…

This paper presents an operational framework of change, derived from a synthesis of three change models. It is argued that to create a quality school, educators must use a model that helps participants internalize the components of the desired educational corporate culture. The organization must be examined in terms of the past, present, and…

Curriculum developers must work hard to avoid the "what errors" of curriculum development. They must avoid failing to teach what should be taught and teaching what is no longer relevant and needed. Curriculum "what errors" are likely to occur when teachers design courses so as to teach what they know best, what they were…