This paper describes the way two university instructors encouraged students to perceive and understand the influence of their personal environment. The classes, an undergraduate course and a graduate course in education, focused on the integration of art and science disciplines as students reflected on their experience of their environment. A…

This paper examines the educational philosophy underlying Waldorf Education, focusing on Rudolf Steiner's concept of "vital" or etheric energy and comparing Piaget's and Steiner's stages of cognition. The paper begins with a discussion of school readiness and the trend toward lowering the school entry age, and maintains that this trend…

Although Allan Bloom in "The Closing of the American Mind" and Mike Rose in "Lives on the Boundary" reveal an almost endless list of obvious differences of perspective on literacy and higher education in America, both take divergent yet similar routes to create a permanent place for liberal education. Both Bloom and Rose use…

A worldwide review of literacy and basic education for adults and young people led to the following conclusions (among others: (1) returns on basic education are high; (2) universal participation in primary education is still far off; (3) carefully designed programs for adults and young people can pay off in increased retention of skills,…

Concern about the high percentage of underprepared minority students in American schools and the increasing demand that schools educate them to a level never before attained are discussed, and a study of reading disabled bilingual students is reported. It is noted that continuing to allow a disproportionate number of minority or disadvantaged…

This report describes Kentucky's Primary School Program, which was developed after the signing of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in 1990. An overview of the report explains the philosophy of the program and lists its critical attributes. These are: (1) developmentally appropriate practices; (2) multi-age classrooms; (3) continuous progress; (4)…

This study compared Swedish and British child care policy, educational philosophy, and function and organization of preschools. The activities, language, and group patterns of 559 children in 73 full-time and 42 part-time preschools in Sweden were observed. Questionnaires assessed staff-child ratio, group size, staff working conditions, and…

In the process of classroom teaching and learning, feeling something in one's body, as a basis for thinking, represents the uncertain area which can never be physically seen. Yet, this area calls for reaffirmation as "knowledge" and needs to be recognized as one of the major factors composing a knowledge base for the promotion of teacher…

Tech prep is a new initiative that shows great promise for educational reform. However, "tech prep" is not the new name for vocational education. Tech prep is a new program of articulated education involving 2 years of high school and 2 years of postsecondary preparation that includes a common core of mathematics, science,…

In its examination of the place of didactics in Scandinavian curricula, this paper discusses didactics as theory and prescription, at different levels of abstraction, and as scientific discipline. It focuses on the process of curriculum planning and selection in two areas: (1) preparing curriculum programs for teaching and learning nationally and…

One of nine competency-based training modules for personnel preparation in early childhood special education, this guide focuses on the facilitation of transition services for young children. All modules are adaptable for use with a general audience, direct service personnel, or administrators and are based on the following principles:…

This ERIC Digest reviews past and present rural educational philosophy, focusing on the views of Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer and novelist who in recent years has emerged as a leading American philosopher. The major difference underlying rural and urban living is the relationship of people with nature. Rural living is much more closely related…

Part of a six volume series of theme papers commissioned for the National Congress on Catholic schools for the 21st century, November 6-10, 1991, this document contains two of the theme papers. In "Catholic Identity and the Future of Catholic Schools" James Heft considers several ways to think about Catholic identity, describes the historical…

Part of a six volume series of theme papers commissioned for the National Congress on Catholic schools for the 21st century, November 6-10, 1991, this volume presents three theme papers. "Catholic Schools: Statistical Profiles and Trends" (F. Brigham, Jr.) summarizes the demographic, statistical and financial profile of Catholic school and…

This document examines the restructuring of local schools and how restructuring can involve students with disabilities and the special education programs that serve them. The document is designed to create awareness of the issues related to restructuring and programs for students with disabilities and puts forth options for reconsidering and…