Examines the appropriateness of environmental education for young children. Concludes that in helping young children become good citizens of the earth, it is better to focus on fostering a sense of wonder and awe than on facts and warnings. Children can come to know the earth through experiences in which they discover the wonder and beauty of the…

Claims that the delineation of formal and informal education has become a boundary between family and school. Examines the changes, roles, and culture within schools and points out that encouraging participation and collaboration is the ultimate goal. Provides a list of questions schools can use to evaluate their family-friendliness and strategies…

The founder of Bread and Puppet Theater discusses the use of puppetry and theater arts to build community, educate the public about environmental and sociopolitical issues, and provide a setting for group consciousness raising; grassroots reclaiming of art as part of everyday life; and ceremony as a powerful element of performance and as part of…

Presents environmental education as a sharing of contested stories about the relationship between humans and nature. Suggests that the best storytelling occurs in nonformal and informal educational settings. Employs ethnographic research methods. Contains 19 references. (DDR)

Patient education is recognized by health care providers and patients themselves as an important component of adequate health care for hospital patients. Through this informational process, patients receive information about specific health problems, learn the necessary competencies to deal with them, and develop accepting attitudes toward the…

Discusses the educative role of the family in pre-industrial England focusing specifically the role of the mother. Provides quotes from diaries and other contemporary sources of information to document the points being made. (GEA)

An important aspect of the "Information Age" is the gradual trend toward an informal education environment within which people use available information to serve their needs and interests. Recognition and use of the available information education experiences will better equip youth for the numerous changes they will face in the future. (CB)

Connection to place drives people to protect the environment. One population that has demonstrated enormous dedication and reverence for the land--outdoor educators--may ironically have little sense of place because of the transient nature of their work. Individuals can build their sense of community and place by getting to know their local…

Too many contemporary standards-based tests mischievously represent evidence of "preparation" for subsequent school levels and courses. School leaders must not acquiesce to facile answers, bureaucratic mandates, and slogans asserted to be both "preparatory" and essential. Living richly and learning informally are appropriate…

The renowned teacher, writer, and psychiatrist discusses the influences on his life; the importance of helping students develop morally and emotionally as well as cognitively; the importance of connecting ideas to our own lives or the lives of others; and how children, through their stories related, remembered, and conveyed, teach us as we teach…

Western education systems have become globally embedded, and comparative education, by focusing on the delivery model of education, reinforces the status quo. A neo-comparative education would focus on learning and its relationship with culture as a means of understanding how individuals can be encouraged to engage with the many emerging forms of…

Suggests that stories about the classroom experiences of expert teachers can provide novice or struggling teachers with knowledge useful to their own situations. Presents a cyclical model of learning from expert stories--the textual assimilation interchange--in which the text of the story brings the reader (learner) into the expert's world and…

A copy of a letter to a cable company, printed in large block letters and not following standard rules of spelling and syntax, serves as a catalyst for thoughts about the person who wrote the letter and a discussion about what constitutes literacy. Despite the appearances of the letter, a case can be made for the author as a writer. A close look…

A singular means of blending the history, language arts, and journalism classes is by teaching oral history. By assigning students oral history projects, the teacher helps students place themselves within a living history in the United States. For example, Eliot Wigginton, a public high school English teacher in Rabun Gap, Georgia, whose classes…

Questions why imagination is not brought into mainstream education as a cornerstone of learning and why education frequently makes students incapable of relating to what is alive and meaningful within themselves. Without imagination, it is impossible to experience the infinite qualities of our senses, nor to shape our thoughts and images of these…