The educational philosophies of Maria Montessori and Jiddu Krishnamurti are compared and contrasted in this paper. The discussion is based on texts by both educators and direct observation of some of the schools (United States, Australia and India) where these ideas are being implemented. First, general principles of each educator are discussed.…

Nine elementary schools enrolling 852 sixth grade students participated in a study that examined the relationship between the organizational climate of elementary schools (whether the school was "open" or "closed") and the reading achievement of students. Each school's organizational climate was determined by administering the Organizational…

The major focus of interest in the present research is the question of congruence between parental and school attitudes toward issues of authority and freedom. It was hypothesized that the child's adjustment to his/her particular type of classroom (either open or traditional) would be affected by whether he/she came from a family which shared…

The point of view is presented that evaluation procedures should be more humanistic and, that where educational procedures are open or humanistic, evaluation procedures must also be humanistic in order to be isomorphically valid. A number of quotations from parents of school children are presented to support the position that the parents feel…

Attrition and completion was studied at an open university, the Athabasca University in Canada. The multiple-choice and open-ended questionnaire asked students to indicate why they withdrew or completed the course and to specify the conditions under which they could pursue their studies. Of the 58 questionnaires mailed, 55 percent of the…

Reported is a research project conducted to train teachers in methods of open education for future implementation in their classrooms. The format of the program allowed participants to experience an open classroom in action by actually living the experience. Prior to participation in the workshop, the participants were asked to read five books to…

A task group was charged with remodeling an existing connected old building-new building complex to make it feasible for a house-oriented senior high school educational program. Constraints to be resolved were keeping costs low, maintaining departmental proximity while encouraging interdisciplinary activities, providing for small groups, and…

The University of Mid-America (UMA) is a central agency which offers course development services to member institutions and conducts planning, research, and evaluation in the areas of adult education and learning delivery systems. Originally conceived as an outreach program of the State University of Nebraska, UMA has expanded to serve the needs…

The first part of this paper synthesizes a model for conducting inservice activities to assist schools in defining assessing the extent of open education and in identifying the action steps needed to move toward greater open education in classroom and school. Some of the implications of the basic assumptions underlying open education are…

This paper shows features the development of new models for integration of internal and external students into the same type of courses and the making of a dual mode learning environment with common courses for on-campus and external students. Based on feedback from students, experiences about how these models work are presented. The work focuses…

Presents the underlying assumptions for the Erdkinder concept of educating adolescents. Discusses the importance of independence and social life beyond the family, the necessary environmental awareness for youth in the context of civilization, the meaning behind social values of civilization, and the importance of social morals, social…

This paper discusses the implications of using a problem-centered, activity-based approach to teaching technology that addresses everyday teaching and learning problems. An overview of the course, "Technology for Teachers," is provided, and the following factors that contribute to the teaching method are outlined: creating a context for…

Despite recession, economic displacement, and corporate downsizing, the demand for higher education in the United States continues to grow. In 1995, there were 14.5 million people seeking higher education, compared to 11.5 million in 1980 and 3.5 million in 1960. Moreover, the relationship between educational attainment and gaining employment has…

This paper describes the ongoing project EONT--Experiment in Open and Distance Learning using New Technologies. The main objective of the project is to examine whether ODL using new technologies is effective. EONT will achieve its goals through experimentation, using an ODL environment based on some of the available new technologies (i.e.,…

Three alternatives for education in the future are presented in the paper, which was initially delivered as a university graduate school lecture. The author first describes three groups of children with different life environments--the advantaged, the silent majority, and the disadvantaged. The significance of possible educational alternatives is…