Formulating ‘principles of procedure’ for the foreign language classroom: a framework for process model language curricula

This article aims to apply Stenhouse’s process model of curriculum to foreign language (FL) education, a model which is characterized by enacting principles of procedure which are specific to the discipline which the school subject belongs to. Rather than to replace or dissolve current approaches to FL teaching and curriculum development, this article seeks to improve and enrich communicative and task-based orientations with an additional criterion for assessing the educational worth of the tasks through which these orientations are developed. Unlike the objectives and competences models, principles of procedure provide an intrinsic justification of school curriculum by enacting the epistemological structure of any given area of knowledge in the educational process. Accordingly, the article will first justify the need to come up with a process model of curriculum for FL education which is built around such principles; then, it will formulate a basic framework that reflects the logical structure, concepts and epistemological perspectives of the language studies, as a first step to allowing these to enter the FL classroom and orient the teaching conducted in it; finally, it will present three tasks whose design was inspired by the abovementioned framework, and which were put into practice with Primary education English as a Foreign Language learners during the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 academic years.     

Exercising older people´s brains in Costa Rica: Design principles for using information and communication technologies for cognitive activity and social interaction

This study is part of a design-based research project aimed at designing a learning intervention for enabling Costa Rican older people to use information and communication technologies for cognitive activity and social interaction. Data from relevant literature, a focus group with older adults, and interviews with professionals teaching older adults how to use information and communication technologies were analyzed, in order to create context-sensitive design principles that could guide the design of learning interventions that meet the needs of older learners. The analysis derived context-sensitive design principles that include wider topics that influence the learning process, such as emotions and stereotypes related to learning about and using information and communication technologies, as well as the social support to that learning. The resulting eight design principles argue for respectful learning environments, in-depth comprehension of changes related to aging, time and space to reflect on emotions related to the learning process, and acknowledgment of participants’ individuality.     

Apprenticeship — The perilous journey from Germany to Togo

This paper explores the economic and cultural reasons why apprenticeship programmes imported by developing countries typically fail. The authors pursue this inquiry in a comparative manner by addressing experiences in Western Africa and by drawing on the outcomes of apprentice programmes in some industrialised countries. The authors identify major issues that explain why programmes borrowed from the West are so ineffective in Africa. Essentially, the imported apprenticeship programmes are decidedly Western and white concepts that link education to employment through certification and individual ownership of knowledge, and that clash with African cultural traditions. Individual success is central to Western-based programmes, which is opposed to more community-based conceptions of traditional African culture. Because of this inherent mismatch, the authors conclude with several options for developing apprenticeship training in Africa that are more relevant and adaptable to the prevailing cultural, educational and economic climate. They encourage programmes that improve the educational system incrementally and caution against programmes that run counter to the predominant culture.

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Zusammenfassung In diesem Artikel werden die wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Gründe untersucht, warum die von Entwicklungsländern importierten Ausbildungs-programme typischerweise erfolglos bleiben. Die Autoren gehen dieser Frage nach durch Vergleiche von Erfahrungen in Westafrika mit Ergebnissen von Ausbildungsprogrammen in einigen Industrieländern. Die Autoren zeigen die wesentlichen Merkmale auf, aus denen ersichtlich wird, warum vom Westen entliehene Ausbildungsprogramme in Afrika so wenig Wirkung zeigen. Hauptsächlich handelt es sich bei den importierten Ausbildungsprogrammen um auf den Westen und auf Weiße zugeschnittene Konzepte, die Bildung und Arbeitsplatz mittels Zeugnissen und individuellem Wissen miteinander verbinden und mit afrikanischen Kulturtraditionen nicht in Einklang zu bringen sind. Individueller Erfolg ist Kernpunkt westlicher Programme, die den eher gemeinschaftsbezogenen Konzeptionen traditioneller afrikanischer Kultur entgegenstehen. Wegen dieses naturgegebenen Mißverhältnisses zeigen die Autoren abschließend mehrere Möglichkeiten zur Entwicklung von Ausbildungsprogrammen für Afrika auf, die den kulturellen, erzieherischen und wirtschaftlichen Gegebenheiten in Afrika besser angepaßt sind. Sie befürworten Programme zu einer stetigen Verbesserung des Bildungssystems und warnen vor Programmen, die der prädominanten Kultur entgegenwirken.

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Résumé Le présent article cherche les raisons économiques et culturelles pour lesquelles les programmes d'apprentissage importés par les pays en développement échouent généralement. Les auteurs poursuivent leur recherche d'une manière comparée en examinant les expériences faites en Afrique occidentale et en exploitant les résultats des programmes de ce genre appliqués dans certains pays industrialisés. Les auteurs définissent les problèmes majeurs qui expliquent pourquoi les programmes empruntés au monde occidental sont si peu efficaces en Afrique. Avant tout, les programmes d'apprentissage sont typiquement occidentaux, les concepts blancs lient l'éducation à l'emploi grâce à un système de certificats, et la propriété individuelle du savoir est en désaccord avec les traditions culturelles africaines. Le succès individuel qui est central dans les programmes appliqués en Occident est opposé aux conceptions davantage fondées sur la collectivité de la culture africaine traditionnelle. En raison de ce défaut d'adaptation inhérent, les auteurs concluent en proposant plusieurs options de développement de l'apprentissage professionnel en Afrique qui sont plus pertinentes et adaptables au climat culturel, éducatif et économique qui prévaut dans cette région. Ils prônent des programmes visant à améliorer progressivement le système éducatif et mettent en garde contre ceux qui vont à l'encontre de la culture prédominante.

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An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Boston Massachusetts, April 1990. Opinions expressed in this paper do not represent official views of The World Bank or International Labour Office.     

Optical disks,multimedia delivery and staff development in educational technology

Using Deakin University as an example, the author traces the adoption of optical disk technology in Australia; reports and comments on the recent technical development; and suggests some potential applications. She reviews critically the slow progress made in Deakin on multimedia research and proposes that proper development opportunities and facilities must be given to help staff understand and use educational technology.     

Peer perceptions of hyperactivity and medication effects

This study focused on peer sensitivity to differences in social behaviors between hyperactive and normal comparison peers and, especially, to medication-related behavioral differences. In Study 1, normal sixth graders rated videotapes of normal and hyperactive boys playing a social interaction game. Half of the hyperactive boys were taking methylphenidate, and the other half placebo. In Study 2, fourth- and sixth-grade children rated a different sample of hyperactive boys (seen on both methylphenidate and placebo) playing the same interaction game. Hyperactive boys taking placebo were perceived as exhibiting more externalizing problem behaviors than either medicated hyperactive boys or comparison boys. The medication effects were robust, spanning many behavioral domains and emerging consistently across the 2 studies. There were few grade or gender differences. Discussion focused on children's detection of treatment-related differences in the social behaviors of their peers, as well as on the imperfect relation between social behavior and social standing.     

The World Bank Policies: Damned if you do,damned if you don't

To some, the World Bank is the all-powerful arm of imperialism. Others regret that it is powerless, incapable of influencing policies in the countries in which it operates. This paper discusses these issues, as seen by the author, a former employee both of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as a civil servant and consultant at the receiving end of the loans. This experience provides an inside view but the reader has to be warned of the biases that might have resulted from it.     

Training policies in the World Bank

Taught at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, the Vargas Foundation, the University of Chicago, the University of Brasilia, the University of Geneva and the University of Burgundy (Dijon). Was the Technical Co-ordinator of the research project on education in the framework of the Programme of Joint Studies on Latin American Economic Integration (ECIEL), was the director of CAPES (Brazilian Agency for Postgraduate Education) and was the Executive Secretary of CNRH (the Brazilian social policy institute of the Planning Secretariat). At present is the Chief of the Training Policies Branch of the International Labour Office (Geneva). Has published over twenty books and over 150 scholarly articles.     

Intellectual development beyond formal operations

Post‐formal operations as a stage of cognitive development beyond Piaget's formal operations state are discussed. It is argued that thinking abilities are of major importance for an adequate understanding of quantum‐mechanical and relativistic issues as they occur in modern science, especially physics. Some pedagogical consequences of the ‘fifth stage’ of cognitive development are discussed and proposals made about how post‐operational thinking abilities might be developed in students.     

Los aspectos socioculturales del área de lengua extranjera y el programa linguapax

La enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras está experimentando un «enriquecimiento curricular» muy positivo. De considerarse como un simple instrumento vehicular de conocimientos o comunicación, las lenguas extranjeras están pasando a conectarse con el gran problema social y cultural de conocer otros pueblos, de conocer el mundo. El objetivo-medio de la globalización (con ciencias sociales principalmente pero no sólo) se convierte así en uno de los puntos fuertes de la enseñanza de otras lenguas.     

Early development among dual language learners: The roles of language use at home,maternal immigration,country of origin,and socio-demographic variables

Using nationally representative data from the ECLS-B, we examined children's outcomes and growth from 9 to 65 months as a function of language used in the home at 24 months (English only n = 7300; English and another language n = 1500; other language only n = 400). We also examined whether demographic variables moderated the effects of DLL status in predicting child outcomes. Results revealed substantial variation within the DLL population within and across language groups in immigration status, heritage country, child outcomes, and family socioeconomic risk. DLL status was associated with differential outcomes, gains over time, and processes in complex ways. Maternal birth outside of the U.S., child gender, and parental education moderated relations between home language and child outcomes. Use of the heritage language at home served as a protective factor for children of immigrant families for a few outcomes. Gender and parental education were more strongly associated with child outcomes among English-speaking households than among DLLs.