Book Reviews: Absolutism and Democracy—A Review of Progressive Education at the Crossroads

Art: Candleday Art by Marian Nicholl Rawson. Illustrated. E. P. Button and Co. 383 pp. $5.00.

Pottery of the Ancients by Helen E. Stiles. Illustrated. E. P. Dutton and Co. 128 pp. $2.50.

Biography: Charles Darwin by Goeffrey West. Yale University Press. 339 pp. $3.50.

Lafayette by W. E. Woodward. Illustrated. Farrar and Rinehart. 472 pp. $3.50.

The Miracle of Haworth : A Bronte Study by W. Bertram White. Illustrated. E. P. Dutton and Company. 374 pp. $3.50.

The Paderewski Memoirs by Ignace Jan Paderewski and Mary Lawton. Charles Scribner's Sons. 404 pp. $3.75.

Unsung Heroes by Elma Holloway. The Macmillan Company. 332 pp. $1.20.

Education: An Introduction To Child Study by Ruth Strang. The Macmillan Company. 65.1 pp. $.1.00.

American Caste and the Negro College by Buell G. Gallagher. Columbia University Press. 462 pp.

Counseling Young Workers by Jane F. Culbert and Helen R. Smith. The Vocational Service for Juniors, 95 Madison Ave., New York City, 212 pp.

Logical Aspects of Educational Measurement by B. Othanel Smith. Columbia University Press. 182 pp. $2.50.

Measurement by William A. McCall. A Revision of How to Measure in Education. The Macmillan Co. 535 pp. $4.00.

Philanthropic Foundations and Higher Education by Ernest Victor Holies. Columbia University Press. 339 pp. $3.50.

The Daily Schedule and High School Organization by R. Emerson Langfitt. The Macmillan Company. 331 pp. $2.50.

The Macmillan Handbook of English by John M. Kierzek. The Macmillan Company. 430 pp. $1.25.

The School Ma'am by Frances R. Donovan. Frederick A. Stokes Company. 355 pp. $2.50.

Fiction: Testament by R, C. Hutchinson. Farrar and Rinehart, Inc. 696 pp. $3.00.

The Kents by LeGrand Cannon, Jr. Farrar and Rinehart, Inc. 321 pp. $2.50.

General Literature: The Wonder of Words by Isaac Goldberg. Appleton-Century Co. 485 pp. $3.75.

History: Seventy Years of Textbook Publishing: A History of Ginn and Company. Ginn and Company. 298 pp. $3.00.

The Colonial Period of American History by Charles M. Andrews. Vol. 4. England's Commercial and Colonial Policies. Yale University Press. 477 pp. $4.00.

Political Science: Twenty Years' Armistice by William Orton. Farrar and Rinehart, Inc. 298 pp. $2.50.

The Ruling Class by Gaetano Mosca, Edited and Revised, with an Introduction, by Arthur Livingston. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. xli, 514 pp. $4.50.     

The “Job” of Jewish Education: Making Mensches at Camp and Beyond

ABSTRACT

This article argues that contemporary resources drawing from 19th-century Mussar wisdom and Positive Psychology in the context of Jewish camp are a great vehicle for communicating our virtues and teaching “21st Century Innovation and Learning Skills.” Based on practitioner research, this article draws on over a decade of working with Jewish camps across North America. Several common areas are identified: discernment of priority virtues, understanding the relationship between values and virtues, a common language, importance of developing resources, and cultivating communities of trust.     

The Rise and Decline of Comprehensive Education: Key Factors in the History of Reformed Secondary Education in Belgium, 1969–1989

In answer to economic needs and social demands, a structural innovation was introduced in secondary education in most West European countries, mainly in the 1960s. Contrary to the traditional schools, organized in vertical categories, the so‐called comprehensive schools brought together all branches in one school. There was protest against this type of school from the start but it was mainly in the 1980s and 1990s that comprehensive schools came under siege. In most countries the comprehensive structures have been abandoned or adjusted to a more moderate form.

This paper tries to explain the factors that stimulated innovation in the 1960s, and those that counteracted comprehensive education. As will be shown, these factors were not always related to ideological positions. In fact, the reasons for local educational authorities to “go comprehensive” (or not) were often practically rather than ideologically inspired. Theories of “dominant rationality” by Matthijssen and the “referential” by Jobert succeed in surpassing ideological parameters, and can be interesting tools to explain changing mentalities. However, a satisfying explanation for the history of comprehensive education cannot be offered without paying attention to everyday pragmatics, that – in the author's view – have been decisive for the evolution of comprehensive education.

The paper will be illustrated with examples from the Belgian case. Comprehensive schools were introduced in Belgium in 1969. All state public schools went comprehensive in the 1970s, and the number of comprehensive private schools grew rapidly until growth ceased around 1980. The ongoing struggle between Catholic comprehensive and traditional schools led to a compromise created by the Catholic educational authorities, a fusion of comprehensive and traditional elements. This structure was imposed by the Flemish government as a unitary structure for all secondary schools in the Dutch‐speaking part of Belgium in 1989.     

Fred Clarke’s Ideals of Liberal Democracy: State and Community in Education

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the continuity and changes in Clarke’s ideas about the State and community in education, especially in relation to a rapidly changing political situation in England in the 1930s and 1940s. His ideas evolved in the intellectual context of British idealism. Moreover, in response to the threat to democracy arising from Fascism or Totalitarianism, the distinction between the State and community was a key theme in Clarke’s ideals of liberal democracy. Additionally, this paper also proposes the implications of Clarke’s ideas for future educational development.     

Pedagogical Signals of Faculty Approachability: Factors Shaping Faculty–Student Interaction Outside the Classroom

Decades of research demonstrate that college students benefit from positive interaction with faculty members, although that same evidence suggests that those interactions are far from common, particularly outside the classroom. Moreover, relatively little is known about which, when, how, and why faculty members choose to engage with students outside of the classroom. Guided by the theory that faculty members use in-class behaviors to signal their “psychosocial approachability” for out-of-class interaction with students (Wilson et al. in Sociology of Education 47(1):74–92, 1974; College professors and their impact on students, 1975), this study uses data from 2,845 faculty members on 45 campuses to identify the personal, institutional, and pedagogical factors that influence the frequency and type of interaction faculty members have with students outside of the classroom.     

The Purpose and Functions of Budgets – Some Theoretical Perspectives for Education Managers

While educational leadership and management has experienced impressive development over the last three decades the fact that a robust comparative branch of the field has failed to emerge is equally conspicuous. This article builds a case for comparative and international educational leadership and management, arguing that the development of conceptual frameworks and instrumentation are imperative if the field is to keep abreast of globalisation of policy and practice. Accordingly, a conceptual framework is described and justified based on a cultural and cross-cultural approach focusing on the school level as the baseline unit for analysis. Specifically, the proposed framework is architectured around the interrelationship between two levels of culture, societal and organisational, and four elements comprising schooling and school-based management, namely, organisational structures, leadership and management processes, curriculum, and teaching and learning. Finally, limitations and implications of the model are discussed, including the need for the framework to be operationalised by developing appropriate research instruments.     

Faculty Incivility in Higher Education of Afghanistan: Students’ Perspectives

Interchange - The study investigated students’ perception of faculty incivility in higher educations of Afghanistan. It studied faculty behaviors perceived the most uncivil by students and...     

The Genesis and Evolution of Pre‐vocational Education: England

Abstract

In the following article, the author attempts to provide a skeleton overview of the movement for pre‐vocational education, stressing that present concern regarding such issues as the purpose of education and the extent to which a utilitarian approach is acceptable, school‐to‐work transition, and emphasis on particular work‐related skills have, in fact, formed a recurring debate dating back at least a century. Anxiety regarding Britain's hegemony over Europe, particularly Germany, has always featured in the debate, as has the issue of education versus training. Key educational legislation provides four key stages in the development of the debate, culminating in close examination of the implications of the Education Reform Act of 1988 for the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI).     

The Outcomes of Chinese Visiting Scholars’ Experiences at Canadian Universities: Implications for Faculty Development at Chinese Universities

This article examines the outcomes of the overseas experiences of Chinese visiting scholars and the implications of visiting scholar programs for faculty development at Chinese universities. On the basis of semi-structured interviews with 17 returned Chinese visiting scholars who spent six to 12 months in a faculty of education at one of five Canadian universities, the following significant aspects of their experiences and related outcomes were highlighted: The cycle of overseas experiences and associated outcomes of Chinese visiting scholars, factors influencing the outcomes of their overseas experiences, visiting scholar programs as a type of faculty development, and China-Canada academic collaboration through visiting scholar programs. The findings support the literature-based conceptual model for investigating the experiences and outcomes of visiting scholars. In the new era of sending university faculty abroad, we suggest that visiting scholar programs should be treated as an important approach to professional development for faculty and be incorporated into a comprehensive faculty development package for Chinese university faculty.     

The Role and Activities of NGOs on Young Faculty Development in Teachers College at Chinese Impoverished Region

This paper presents the results of a formative evaluation of young faculty development scholarship program conducted in teachers colleges at Chinese impoverished areas. In the paper we describe the implementation of the program, the utilization of scholarship by recipients, recipients＇ satisfaction, and outcome data. Based on these data we discuss the successes and barriers of the program thus far. Several data collection methods were used in the evaluation： a longitudinal random survey of recipients, group interviews with their students, directors and colleagues, in-person interviews with individual recipient, interviews with representatives of provider agencies, and the data base in provider agency. The findings reported in this paper are primarily from the recipients＇ survey. Key findings from the group interviews and representatives＇ interviews are also included. As a whole, the findings suggest success in terms of recipients＇ knowledge and use of advanced training, and high levels of satisfaction with individual development and the organization level. Continuing challenges to the faculty training and development program include long-standing barrier to recipients＇ involvement （e.g. low levels of networking） and resident uncertainty to retain in the colleges to take the social role that the program framed.     

Education Reform in Hong Kong: The “Through-Road” Model and its Societal Consequences

Although Hong Kong’s education system has long been criticized as lacking in creativity and over-emphasising rote learning, on the whole it has served Hong Kong well in the past years, breeding outstanding business, academic and political leaders who continue to maintain Hong Kong’s competitive edge. The traditional elite schools have played a crucial role in the process. The education reform, which is still on-going, aims to overhaul the entire system by introducing the “through-road” model. To accomplish this, some mechanisms need to be changed. J.P. Farrell’s concepts of equality and equity, C.W. Mills’ concept of elitism, and P. Bourdieu and J. Coleman’s concepts of cultural and social capital will be applied to analyse the consequences of the reform. The paper argues that the education reform may be well-intentioned in eliminating some elements of inequality and inequity in education, but that this comes at the expense of Hong Kong’s cultural and social capital and leads to the development of new forms of inequality.     

Education Reform in Hong Kong: The “Through-Road” Model and its Societal Consequences

Although Hong Kong’s education system has long been criticized as lacking in creativity and over-emphasising rote learning, on the whole it has served Hong Kong well in the past years, breeding outstanding business, academic and political leaders who continue to maintain Hong Kong’s competitive edge. The traditional elite schools have played a crucial role in the process. The education reform, which is still on-going, aims to overhaul the entire system by introducing the “through-road” model. To accomplish this, some mechanisms need to be changed. J.P. Farrell’s concepts of equality and equity, C.W. Mills’ concept of elitism, and P. Bourdieu and J. Coleman’s concepts of cultural and social capital will be applied to analyse the consequences of the reform. The paper argues that the education reform may be well-intentioned in eliminating some elements of inequality and inequity in education, but that this comes at the expense of Hong Kong’s cultural and social capital and leads to the development of new forms of inequality.