Recent trends in secondary science education in New Jersey

This article compares the results of two surveys sent to New Jersey science supervisors in 1978 and 1982 regarding the status of secondary science education in their schools. It discusses trends that have developed during the four-year period and compares them to national trends revealed in recent studies. The comparison shows that New Jersey faces many of the same problems in science education found across the country. Instruction time in science, double laboratory periods, and the use of national curriculum studies have all declined. Respondents also reported a marked increase in the number of science teachers leaving the classroom for jobs in business and industry. The recruiting of qualified teachers was a difficult task and over 9% of the public schools reported having to use teachers with emergency certification in science to meet their staffing requirements. Difficulties in using staff effectively, in obtaining adequate financial support, and in providing professional development programs were the major concerns of science supervisors.     

Teaching and learning in higher education: Recent trends

In the last decade, the questioning of traditional teaching and learning methods and instructional systems and the search for more effective alternatives have gained momentum in higher education. Recent trends can be grouped as follows:

Recent integrative trends in further education in England and Wales

This paper gives a survey of the development and current trends in the area of further education in England and Wales. It describes the wide range of functions further education has in the entire post-compulsory education sector. On the basis of statistical data, special emphasis is given to its tasks concerning some crucial areas, such as further education of juvenile unemployed and of the handicapped, education of adult immigrants and community education. The role of further education as a critical corrective for traditional university education is also stressed. In the internal system of further education, its integrative aspects are demonstrated by the examples of commercial training in trade and industry. The changes and extensions of the competent management bodies of the various parts of this sector are clearly discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über die Entwicklung und die weiteren Tendenzen im Bereich der Further Education in England und Wales. Ausgangspunkt is die sehr weitreichende Funktion der F-E (= Further Education) für den gesamten Bildungssektor nach Ende der Schulpflicht im Alter von 16 Jahren. Unter Einschluss von statistischen Daten werden besonders die Aufgaben der F-E für besondere pädagogische Brennpunkte wie z.B. der Weiterbildung jugendlicher Arbeitsloser, Behinderter, der Bildung der neuingewanderten Erwachsenen und der community education dargestellt. Die Rolle der F-E als kritischem Korrektiv zur traditionellen Universitätsausbildung erfährt eine besondere Würdigung. Im internen Ausbildungswesen der F-E werden die integrativen Aspekte an den Beispielen der kaufmännischen Ausbildung für Handel und Industrie hervorgehoben. Deutlich sichtbar werden für den Leser die Wechsel und Ergänzungen in den zuständigen Leitungsgremien der einzelnen Bereiche dieses Sektors.

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Résumé Cet article donne un aperçu du développement et des courants actuels dans le domaine de l'éducation post-scolaire en Angleterre et dans le Pays de Galles. Il décrit le large éventail des fonctions que l'éducation post-scolaire offre après les années d'enseignement obligatoire. Les statistiques montrent l'importance accordée à certains départements délicats tels que l'éducation post-scolaire des jeunes chômeurs, des handicapés, des immigrants adultes et de la communauté. L'auteur souligne aussi le rôle de correctif rigoureux joué par l'éducation post-scolaire dans l'éducation universitaire traditionnelle. Les aspects complémentaires du système intérieur de l'éducation post-scolaire sont illustrés par les exemples de la formation commerciale dans l'industrie et le négoce. La diversité, la concaténation et l'extension des tâches qui se proposent à la compétence des responsables de ce secteur particulier sont clairement expliquées.

     

Recent trends and developments in primary and secondary education in England

Conclusion Change is not an abnormal or even intermittent state in education. It is an essential and permanent part of any system. True, the rate of change may be greater or less at different times but it is always present in some measure. Change at the present time in English education is rapid and, if a mere list is to be avoided, some of the trends and developments have to be omitted from a short account. Partly the movement is a reflection of the rate at which society as a whole is changing, partly the result of a belief that the system as at present constituted does not entirely meet the needs of contemporary society, even less the society of the future in which the children now at school will be adults and earn their livings. We shall have to run quite fast to stay in the same place. We shall have to run even faster if we want to get anywhere else.

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Neue Tendenzen und Entwicklungen im Primar- und Sekundarschulwesen in England

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Tendances et developpements recents dans l'enseignement primaire et secondaire en Angleterre

     

Recent trends in teaching Astronomy

The purpose of the Department of Physics's close association with the Gothard Observatory is to provide a foundation in basic astronomy and astrophysics during 3 semesters in Berzsenyi Daniel Teacher Training College for future Hungarian Elementary School teachers who will teach pupils to age 14 years. The courses of lectures include: Solar System, Sun, Stars, Stellar Interiors and Atmospheres, Astronomical Techniques, Extragalactic Astronomy, Cosmology. Students have outstanding opportunities to learn and to apply in their research the development of instrumentation, and the techniques of observation with telescopes. Excellent modern computing facilities for support of data analysis and theoretical work are available at Gothard Observatory. Library facilities contain a wealth of astronomical reference materials. Students have direct access to many facilities of the Department and Observatory.     

Female supervisors of Arab school education in Israel

This paper discusses the characteristics of women discipline supervisors in the Arab education system in Israel, through their professional development to their attainment of senior supervisory posts. It examines how they attain supervision posts and perform various managerial functions in what is considered a male role, in a patriarchal society, highlighting changes they introduce. In-depth interviews elucidated the life stories of four women supervisors in the Arab education system in Israel. Findings point up the need for a policy of gender equality in role appointments, and the need for mentoring and support to encourage women to undertake senior roles in education.     

Higher education and feminism in the Arab Gulf

This article explores how higher education is being conceptualized as part of a neo-liberal ‘feminist’ social change project in the post-imperial context of the Arab Gulf. Challenging the tendency to essentialised treatments of gender and women in Muslim countries, it makes visible the diverse experiences and views of a particular group of Gulf purposively sampled women – students, graduates and academics – as it explores how they are situating themselves against available feminist narratives, how they are seeing themselves as citizens and political actors, and how higher education’s spaces and constraints are mediating these processes. A conflicted picture emerges, of mass higher education helping provide women with radical ideas and ambitions, and helping to make public demands and assert self-representation, while their freedoms to act are limited by underlying hegemonic structures that are still predominantly male and against which women variously rationalize their strategic conformity.     

New trends in science education

I intend to review the main contributions from the impressive developments made in science education research during the last decade. These developments have made the construction of a coherent body of knowledge possible allowing us to expect a significant improvement in the science teaching/learning process. I shall refer, in particular, to the new trends in science education research, both in the domain of science learning and science teacher‐training.     

Recent trends in European migration policies

This paper describes the composition of the migrant worker population in the countries of Western Europe. It traces developments in government policies regarding control and stabilization of immigration, provision for education and granting of political rights. The current international recession and the freeze on immigration might provide a much-needed breathing space for re-thinking policies that affect the personal, educational and vocational futures of large numbers of human beings.