‘Once more unto the breach,dear friends’

In introducing his Special Issue, the guest-editor identifies different usages of the term UPE, also reflected in the contributions to the Issue, and comments on the implications of this diversity in the context of nations' efforts to achieve it. Real and bogus UPE are distinguished and the alternative concept of basic education considered. Implementation of UPE, an immensely demanding undertaking, requires adequate information, genuine commitment and close co-operation — at all levels and from all concerned; equally, it depends on administrative ability, organization of training, and political motivation, flexibility and sincerity. Recognising the demands and costs of UPE, the reasons for commitment to it are examined (and illustrated from the case of Nigeria) — and the feasibility of successful implementation, e.g., by the year 2000, assessed. Alternatives exist, both in concept and practice, but seem unlikely to commend themselves. Nevertheless, as is stressed in the articles, lessons may be learned from experience already gained concerning the effectiveness of such factors as: greater community involvement in providing and controlling schools; more emphasis on school health; closer relationships between central and local planning; alternative structures for older learners or drop-outs; the shortening of instructional time; and increased research and greater investment in training for the teaching of basic skills at primary level. Without a radical change of attitude, particularly with respect to this last priority, efforts to achieve even literacy, the first goal of UPE, are being seriously undermined.

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Zusammenfassung In seiner Einleitung zu dieser Sondernummer zeigt der Gastherausgeber die verschiedenen Definitionen des Begriffes des Weltweiten Ausbaus des Primarschulwesens auf, die auch in den Beiträgen dieser Ausgabe gebraucht werden. Danach erläutert er die Bedeutung dieser Vielfalt im Rahmen der Bemühungen der Staaten, dieses Ziel zu erreichen. Es wird zwischen echten und gefälschten Konzepten des weltweiten Ausbaus des Primarschulwesens unterschieden und die Alternative eines Konzepts der Elementarerziehung wird erwogen. Die Durchführung des weltweiten Ausbaus des Primarschulwesens — ein überaus anspruchsvolles Unternehmen — erfordert angemessene Information, wahres Engagement und eine enge Zusammenarbeit auf allen Ebenen und von allen Betroffenen; sie hängt gleichermaßen von administrativen Fähigkeiten, der Organisation der Ausbildung sowie politischer Motivation, als auch Flexibilität und Ernsthaftigkeit ab. Die Nachfragen und Kosten des weltweiten Ausbaus der Primarerziehung werden erkannt, die Gründe für ein entsprechendes Engagement werden untersucht (und an Hand des Beispiels von Nigerien illustriert) — und es wird geprüft, ob sich dieses Ziel bis zum Jahre 2000 erfolgreich durchführen läßt. Alternativen bestehen zwar, sowohl als Konzept wie auch in Praxis, aber es erscheint unwahrscheinlich, daß sie sich anbieten. Wie in den Berichten betont wird, kann aus der gewonnenen Erfahrung, die die Wirksamkeit solcher Faktoren betrifft, dennoch dieses gelernt werden: ein größeres Maß an Beteiligung des Gemeinwesens, indem Schulen vorgesehen und beaufsichtigt werden; mehr Betonung auf Schulgesundheitspflege; engere Beziehung zur zentralen und lokalen Planung; alternative Strukturen für ältere Lernende oder Schulversager; Kürzungen der Unterrichtszeit; mehr Untersuchungen und größere Investitionen in der Ausbildung für das Unterrichten der elementaren Fähigkeiten auf der Primarebene. Wenn sich die Einstellung nicht durchgreifend ändert — ganz besonders in Hinblick auf die letztgenannten Prioritäten — werden Bemühungen, die Alphabetisierung durchzuführen — das oberste Ziel des weltweiten Ausbaus des Primarschulwesens — ernsthaft gefährdet werden.

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Résumé Dans la présentation de ce Numéro Spécial, son éditeur identifie les différents usages du terme EPU qui se reflètent aussi dans les contributions à ce Numéro, et il envisage la portée et les conséquences de cette diversité dans le contexte des efforts des nations pour y parvenir. Il établit une distinction entre EPU réel et EPU factice. Il examine aussi le concept de l'enseignement de base. L'accomplissement de l'EPU est une entreprise incroyablement exigeante qui réclame une documentation adéquate, un engagement authentique et une coopération étroite, à tous les niveaux, de tous ceux que cela concerne. Il est aussi tributaire des compétences administratives, de l'organisation de la formation, de la motivation politique, de la souplesse et de la sincérité. Le couût et la demande de l'EPU étant reconnus, on examine, dans ce Numéro, les raisons de s'engager dans l'entreprise (en prenant comme exemple illustratif le cas du Nigeria) — et on évalue les chances d'une réalisation couronnée de succès pour l'an 2000. Il existe d'autres choix, tant dans le concept que dans la pratique, mais ils n'ont guère de chance de s'imposer. Néanmoins, comme cela est souligné dans des articles ultérieurs, on peut tirer des leçons de l'expérience déjà acquise quant à l'efficacité de certains facteurs tels que: participation plus importante de la collectivité aux besoins et au contrôle des établissements scolaires; attention supérieure accordée à l'hygiène scolaire; relations plus étroites entre la planification locale et la planification centrale; choix d'options de structures ouvert aux apprenants plus âgés ou à ceux qui ont quitté l'école; raccourcissement du temps d'enseignement; recherche et investissement accrus concernant la formation indispensable à l'enseignement des connaissances fondamentales au niveau du primaire. Sans un changement radical d'attitude, particulièrement en ce qui regarde cette dernière priorité, les efforts pour parvenir à une alphabétisation générale — objectif premier de l'EPU — sont sérieusement sapés dans leurs fondements mêmes.

     

Professional assistance to legislators: The research branch of Canada's library of parliament

The extent of government involvement in public activity and the highly technical aspects of the issues arising in our legislatures, points to the need for expert assistance for lawmakers. In Canada, this need was addressed at the federal level by the establishment of a research service as a unit of the Parliamentary Library in 1965. This article gives an insight into the structure and variety of services provided by the 50 professionals of the research unit and the new directions it is taking in addressing the challenges in its work for Canada's two Houses of Parliament.     

The Impact of Greek Affiliation on Students’ Educational Objectives: Longitudinal Change in Clark-Trow Educational Philosophies

Change in 4,119 students' freshman to senior ratings of four educational philosophies (vocational, academic, collegiate, and nonconformist) provided four measures of educational impact. Repeated measures analyses of variance compared changes in philosophy as a function of Greek affiliation, controlling for sex, historical era, major, parents' education, scholastic aptitude, and academic motivation. Small but significantly different degrees of change in the collegiate and nonconformist philosophies suggested that Greek affiliation increased social interests and inhibited some forms of intellectual interests. These small differences across all students masked the moderating effect of major. In the nonconformist philosophy, for example, the Greek × major interaction reflected substantial Greek–independent differences among humanities majors, and progressively smaller differences or reversals among social science, physical science, and engineering majors. Possible interpretations of this interaction are offered.     

帕克尔泰夫人的老虎(节选)

萨基是英国小说家赫克托·休·芒罗的笔名。此名取自11世纪波斯诗人欧玛尔·海亚姆所著诗集《鲁拜集》。他的短篇小说多以20世纪初英国上层社会和中产阶级无聊人的生活为题材,讽刺他们的浅薄、庸俗、势利和装腔作势。这群人中大多数游手好闲、穷极无聊,用宴乐、清谈、吹牛、养病、争风吃醋、无事生非来填补生活的空虚。在某些故事里作者也鞭挞了那些只想不劳而获的落魄者。在形式上是传统的,但结构严密、笔调辛辣、对话机智、多警策之言,故事结局往往令人发噱或出人意外。     

The role of speed of processing, rapid naming, and phonological awareness in reading achievement

This study investigated the role of speed of processing, rapid naming, and phonological awareness in reading achievement. Measures of response time in motor, visual, lexical, grammatical, and phonological tasks were administered to 279 children in third grade. Measures of rapid object naming, phonological awareness, and reading achievement were given in second and fourth grades. Reading group comparisons indicated that poor readers were proportionally slower than good readers across response time measures and on the rapid object naming task. These results suggest that some poor readers have a general deficit in speed of processing and that their problems in rapid object naming are in part a reflection of this deficit. Hierarchical regression analyses further showed that when considered along with IQ and phonological awareness, speed of processing explained unique variance in reading achievement. This finding suggests that a speed of processing deficit may be an "extraphonological" factor in some reading disabilities.     

Teachers’ Perceptions of the Goals of Education in the USA: responses to the educational reform literature of the 1980s

What do teachers in the USA perceive as the significant goals and purposes of education? To what extent are these perceptions related to those advocated in the reform literature of the 1980s? Responses to a survey administered to 279 teachers in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia are analyzed in this study. Findings indicate some areas of congruence between teachers and reformers. In areas where the reform literature is divided, especially with regard to educational purpose, teacher opinion is similarly divided. Teacher responses, however, also indicate some attempt to synthesize seemingly disparate views. To provide an expanded frame of reference, the article offers some preliminary findings based on John Goodlad's Teachers for Our Nation's Schools. The article concludes with commentary about the nature and likelihood of educational reform in the USA.     

Children's Sensitivity to Lack of Understanding

Successful tutoring depends in part on child tutors’ ability to recognise and interpret accurately signals of misunderstanding by their tutees. Age- and gender-related differences were investigated in a study which exposed 80 children to a video-recorded episode involving a target child receiving ambiguous instructions in her attempts to move a model car along a designated route on a playmat roadway from one destination to another. The results showed that explicit, general and facial modes of displaying puzzlement by the target child were judged as equally powerful expressions of degree of puzzlement, but 8-10 year olds judged the target child as significantly more puzzled than did 7 year olds. Older children were also more likely to attribute the puzzlement of the target child to the ambiguous instructions than to her verbal or facial expression of puzzlement. Girls were generally more accurate than boys in judging facial expressions and less likely than boys to give wrong or alternatively ambiguous responses when given the opportunity to correct the video-recorded ambiguous instructions. The results throw some light on the developing sensitivities of boys and girls in recognising and attributing failures of understanding by other children.