European Cooperation in Education: historical background and contemporary experience

The development of educational cooperation at the level of the European Community is examined from a background of personal involvement. Two perspectives are taken, namely that of the Curriculum Models Project and that of an activity‐based network. In conclusion, the need to define processes of international research and development is discussed.

L'auteur examine le développement de la co‐opération éducative au niveau de la Communauté Européene dans les perspectives de son engagement personnel. Les perspectives adoptées sont celles du Projet: Modèles du Curriculum et d'un réseau actif. L'auteur souligne aussi la necessité d'arriver à une définition du processus de recherche et de developpement européen.     

Educational counselling in Mexico: Developments and perspectives

Conclusion It is necessary to realize the limitations of counselling services in Mexico. In spite of all the efforts taken, the academic preparation of counsellors is not strong enough. As has been mentioned, 50% are psychologists or pedagogues, at best, and the rest, who are not specifically prepared for counselling, are constantly moving away from the helping services. There seems to be little progress. On the other hand, we hope that counselling and the counsellors, once services have been established, might some day be able to resolve those complex problems which the educational system has not been able to resolve or diminish with its own traditional resources, especially problems like school dropout, the correct choice of vocational and academic studies, the distribution of students to the various branches and levels of the educational system in accordance with the actual needs of the country, and a whole series of other tasks, which may fail in an area of myth or may really be related to the possibilities of the discipline. Therefore, it is necessary to set the limits of counsellors' tasks and to define the counsellor's role more clearly in the near future, in order to strengthen the discipline on behalf of our future students.Knowing, understanding and evaluating the relationship that now exists between the counselling tasks of counsellors, the educational Practice and the national and international policy, shall facilitate the future implementation of more solid and feasible programmes. For the time being, having a clear view of what we can do (and not only justifying things we cannot accomplish) should help our students to use our counselling services with higher benefits.     

Language policy in Zimbabwean education: historical antecedents and contemporary issues

This article analyses issues pertaining to language policy in Zimbabwean education beginning with the establishment of formal education under colonial rule. English is the official language of business, government and education, and the dominant language in the media. Official policy, before and after independence, has been characterised by continuities, rather than change, providing limited support for the development of indigenous languages. Furthermore, the capacity to support the development of indigenous languages has declined in recent years. The curriculum policy has progressively served to provide avenues for engaging and locking into limited networks of opportunities within and outside the country.     

Religion and educational progress: Two historical cases with contemporary relevance

This study comprises accounts of how two western societies achieved legislative provision for mass education in the latter 1800's: England and Wales in 1870, and Nova Scotia in 1864 and 1865. The accounts are used to illuminate the bearing that religion had on those educational reforms and thereby to show better how religion can contribute to educational progress today.In both cases, the society's major religious groups were in sympathy with the principle of universal elementary education supported by taxes. But differences among and within the groups over the religious character and/or the control of the schools did constitute an obstacle to be overcome. Public officials who championed mass education were supportive of the advancement of religion, yet they placed limits on religious expression and control in education in order to achieve a balance of interests. A vision of the promise of mass education and their duty to procure it animated the officials. This vision harmonized with their religious motivation.Today there is an educational challenge equal to that which faced the universalizers in the 19th century: discerning the limits, fiscal and functional, of universalized educational systems so as to optimize their contribution to meeting educational needs, which have assumed crisis proportions. Educational interests and religious interests (along with others) should come together to define and respond to the challenge. Common aspirations, if not immediately apparent, would emerge, as they did in the two historical cases.     

Teaching prospective teachers about fractions: historical and pedagogical perspectives

Research shows that students, and sometimes teachers, have trouble with fractions, especially conceiving of fractions as numbers that extend the whole number system. This paper explores how fractions are addressed in undergraduate mathematics courses for prospective elementary teachers (PSTs). In particular, we explore how, and whether, the instructors of these courses address fractions as an extension of the whole number system and fractions as numbers in their classrooms. Using a framework consisting of four approaches to the development of fractions found in history, we analyze fraction lessons videotaped in six mathematics classes for PSTs. Historically, the first two approaches—part–whole and measurement—focus on fractions as parts of wholes rather than numbers, and the last two approaches—division and set theory—formalize fractions as numbers. Our results show that the instructors only implicitly addressed fraction-as-number and the extension of fractions from whole numbers, although most of them mentioned or emphasized these aspects of fractions during interviews.