Describes the context of Mexican Education, its expanding school population, and some recent attempts to use open learning systems--particularly for higher education. (JY)

Examines the relationship between social class and curriculum organization. It is suggested that the inquiry and critical thinking elements of social studies curricula share a style of social control most extensively attempted in the 1970s open classroom movement. (AM)

Describes a humanistic, child-oriented science program for gifted students. Stresses open structure, varied learning styles, and experimentation. (MA)

Reviews and evaluates recent research on teaching and instruction. Considers the psychological elements of teaching and discusses simple teaching methods and those requiring special planning, student grouping, and materials. Describes effects unique to particular methods of teaching various subjects and special student populations. Includes 15…

The Foxfire approach to teaching and learning emerged from an experiential education program that used oral history methods to teach English to high school freshmen in Appalachian Georgia. In the 30 years since that program began, hundreds of teachers have helped develop and revise Foxfire's 11 core practices. This digest describes the Foxfire…

This study was designed to determine if (a) a developed interview procedure could be used to encourage students in both open and traditional schools to effectively state their educational goals and standards of performance in behavioral terms and (b) to determine if the goal statements obtained differed between the two school populations. Three…

To relate the design of open education programs to their outcomes, the authors surveyed 72 research studies on the effects of open education and examined the methods and findings of three previous literature surveys on this topic. The 72 studies were divided by an objective statistical test into those showing large effects of open education and…

All students are gifted in some special way. Today's classrooms must be individualized so well that, as teachers, we really know our students and their most effective patterns of learning, realizing that cognitive and affective learning are equally important. If individual children are to approach their potential in giftedness, in whatever area,…

An alternative schools "explosion" is currently producing a large number of diverse educational choices for parents and students. Alternative schools, or those schools that offer all students a distinctive choice of educational programs, can be classified by philosophy, curriculum, or governance. This report defines, explains, and…

The purposes of this paper are to focus on the property of group cohesiveness as a positive force affecting students' cognitive and personal growth, and to draw some implications from the research on cohesiveness for teachers who employ open classroom techniques. A bibliography is included. (Author/MLF)

The development of optional alternative public schools is based on four simple concepts: (1) in a democratic society people should have choices about all important aspects of their lives; (2) different people learn in different ways; (3) learning in schools should not be isolated from the world outside the schools; (4) those closest to the action,…

Racism in Australian schools is indicated by an attitude survey which reveals that teachers from traditional classrooms believe that Aboriginal students will do less well than White students, whereas teachers from an open school predict that Aboriginal children should do as well as White children, given equal ability. (Author/EB)

The school described here operates on the principle that play for the sake of play, without unsolicited adult intervention, entails the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Sudbury Valley School promotes cultural acquisition in a manner harmonious with the child's biological self-education system, without age segregation, grading, or academic…

Discusses the current state of distance education in the United Kingdom and Europe. Highlights include the Open University; Open Tech, for training and vocational development to aid in economic restructuring; government's role; Open College; Open Polytechnic; Open College of the Arts; Open School, for children; and the meaning of open learning.…

Evaluates a new version of software explicitly designed to make links with several external factors, in particular with another software application for supporting investigative work in practical science. Explores the contributions to the learning process made by the teacher, the student, and the software itself. (Author/SAH)