Europe and the Crisis in Scientific Vocations

During the 1990s, the number of students enrolling in science subjects at universities was declining each year in Germany, France, Italy, amongst other countries. These decreases are too readily attributed to a general disaffection caused by the image that younger generations have of scientific studies: they are seen as being the most 'difficult'. This explanation is true but not sufficient. Over and above the similarities that can be seen between European countries — which stem from the fact that they are simultaneously experiencing strong growth in and democratisation of their student populations —, profound differences continue to exist, resulting in apparently similar effects, but with very different causes. Not only do higher education structures taken as a whole remain very different despite the Bologna process, but more fundamentally, the very meaning of the higher education system within each national society, its relationship with employment, and its position in individuals' personal career paths all vary. A comparison between Germany, Italy and France shows three ideal types of relationship between training and employment and three ways of explaining symptoms that appear similar.     

Scientific Vocations in Crisis in France: explanatory social developments and mechanisms

This article examines why numbers have declined in French science universities. It shows that the main causes of this decline are the growth in student numbers between 1985 and 1995 and the changes that this brought about in the educational and social composition of the student population. Since the mid‐1990s, increasingly fewer French students have been enrolling for science subjects at university. Speaking of a ‘loss of interest in science among young people’ is nevertheless premature. The phenomenon is primarily due to socio‐demographic changes. As a result of their position in French higher education, universities, which do not operate a selective admission policy, are a last resort for students rejected by the selective options. Between 1985 and 1995, when student demographics grew apace, universities absorbed most of this growth. After 1995, the supply of selective training increased, while student demographics stagnated. As a result, university enrolments have declined, especially in the sciences. At the same time, holders of science baccalaureates have not been as top‐notch, educationally and socially, as they were fifteen years previously. These students from more modest backgrounds and performing less well in education are shying away from the sciences which are reputed to be more difficult and less ‘profitable’ than other subjects.     

Supervisor Training: A Discrimination Model

The delivery of supervision skills to those who direct counselors through practicum is not well defined in the counseling literature. This article addresses that issue by presenting a model for identification and training of those skills, the roles in which the skills are demonstrated, and the types of choices or discriminations that are necessary to make in tutoring trainees through the counseling practicum. This model attempts to pair the training of supervisors with the training of counselors in a systematic fashion.     

Educational Pluralism - a historical study of so-called 'pillarization' in the Netherlands,including a comparison with some developments in South African education

Recently, modern democratic governments have been facing religious and other minorities demanding state funding of separate schools. A system of completely equal treatment of both state and denominational schools has existed in the Netherlands since 1920 and is firmly rooted in the Dutch history of the previous centuries. It may be of interest to know how this pluralistic system of 'pillars'-as it has been called in Dutch historiography-came into being and how it has functioned ever since, even until the present day, when 'pillarization' is still a prominent feature of the Dutch educational domain, despite strong secularising and post-modern tendencies. This paper describes the historical roots of the Dutch pillarized educational system, i.e. of this remarkable subcultural segmentation of education-and of society in general-on the basis of different religious or philosophical views. In the process of pillarization a crucial part was played by Dutch Protestants. With South Africa being heavily influenced by these Protestants and South African educational history running partly parallel to Dutch educational history during the 19th century, it seems worthwhile to examine why pillarisation did not occur in the southern hemisphere. In order to understand the process of pillarization it is necessary to look well into the history of the Netherlands since the 17th century. Relevant similarities between the South African and the Dutch developments up to 1900 are presented as well. At the time when the Dutch system of educational 'pillars'-or 'voluntary apartheid' as it has recently been called-fully developed towards the end of the 19th century, South African educational history, however, took a completely different course towards compulsory racial apartheid. The present revolutionary changes in South Africa, however, seem to entail some new interesting parallels between the educational situations in both countries. To substantiate this, the paper highlights some relevant features of 20th century South African educational developments, before analysing the present Dutch situation and giving the reasons for the permanent strength of the pillars. Not only are the old pillars still standing firmly, but new minorities of immigrants have also discovered the uses of the system of pillarization for identity-building and cultural emancipation. To conclude, the paper addresses the question of whether pillarization in education can and should be adopted outside the Netherlands.     

Clinical Supervision: Lessons From the Literature

Several characteristics of supervision research create barriers to drawing inferences about which models of supervision are better than others, or even if supervision is effective in improving trainees' overall levels of therapeutic effectiveness. There are important lessons to be learned from the supervision research. This article discusses some of the lessons that were judged especially important.     

The Great Therapists Program: Computerized Learning of Counseling Theories

The authors examine the effectiveness and subjective enjoyment of a computer-assisted instruction program to teach neophyte counselors classic methods of psychotherapy. Software was developed that called for beginning counseling students to simulate dialogue with a client via the computer's keyboard. Students were able to compare their responses with those of classic therapists. Provisions for a printed record of the session were made. Questionnaires, knowledge tests, and students' choices of counseling styles provided investigators with feedback on learning and level of positive response to the teaching method. As with most computer-assisted instruction studies, no evidence supporting increases in learning was obtained; however, free responses and ratings indicated that the students positively evaluated the program as a learning experience.     

A review of traditional Ghanaian and Western philosophies of adult education

The primary objective of this article is to critically examine some aspects of the traditional Ghanaian and Western philosophies of adult education. It is a well-attested fact that many of the pre-colonial and early colonial writers about Africa portrayed Africa as a dark continent devoid of advanced centres of learning worthy of emulation by others. The old West African civilizations of Ghana, Mali and Songhai with advanced centres of learning at Timbuktu and Djenne in the 11th century seemed to have been completely ignored by these writers (Boahen 1967: 20, Davidson 1966b: 50). Even though many other writers including several missionaries, anthropologists and historians, depicted Africa in a rather positive and scientific manner (Davidson 1966b, Goody 1966), much of the negative image created long ago still exists and needs to be examined and corrected. The formal Western system of school education was introduced in Ghana more than a century ago. Despite this, about 60% of the adult population today makes its living as illiterate farmers, workers, apprentices or master craftsmen in the various traditional art and craft production centres. Consequently, traditional adult education continues to play an important role in the social and economic development of the country. Like the Western system of adult education the Ghanaian traditional education has sound philosophical foundations, which have helped to maintain political stability and social cohesion in the country over the years. Much is written about Western and eastern philosophies but there is a dearth of literature on philosophies of adult education from Africa. Given that Africa is the second largest continent on the globe and that adult education proliferates throughout the continent, the authors felt their investigation would make a significant contribution to a global understanding of the field. Additionally, there is an increasing need for African students to appreciate and re-establish confidence in their own culture. This review cannot cover all of Africa so the focus is on Ghana, one country in West Africa.     

Industrial Collaboration in Engineering Education in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom engineering education as it was set-up was more divorced from industry it served than in, for example, Germany and France. During the last three decades some efforts have been made to achieve a partnership between industry and the institutions of higher education in the education and training of engineers. Up till a few decades ago much of engineering research in the universities was in the field of engineering science, but now more engineering research is being carried-out in co-operation with industry and it is realised that the advantages greatly outweigh the problems it poses. University engineering departments have also realised that they have a contribution to make in providing advisory services for industry and short post-experience courses for engineers in industry.