This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of the European Union--the Basque country of northern Spain. Aspects that are addressed include features of the education system, recent educational policies, main actors, legal…

Looks at the daily activities of one preschool in southern China. Reviews the attitudes of educators and parents, and the application of social theory to curriculum and pedagogy in the Chinese preschool. Places special emphasis on the words and ideas of the teachers and administrators in reference to the policies created by the government. (MOK)

Considers current research on day care for West German children. Maintains that the quality of day care and the psychological development of infants and toddlers are influenced by identifiable characteristics. Claims that through studies on infants and day care, a mediation position can be established on the controversy concerning early day care.…

Traces trends in Aboriginal education in Northwest Territories (Canada) since the early 1980s when the territorial department of education committed itself to locally controlled, culture-based education. Examines local accountability, culturally relevant curriculum, role of elders, native language instruction, Aboriginal teacher education, dropout…

Item analysis data were collected for the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test, from urban and rural Alberta (Canada) youngsters and Inuit youngsters from the Northwest Territories (Canada). Both tests were inadequate in individual item difficulty levels, suggesting the necessity of revising scoring systems and…

Discusses four similarities between early childhood education systems in Oxfordshire, England and Reggio Emilia, Italy. Similarities between the two school systems include an integrated curriculum; (mixed) age grouping and school organization; the teacher's role; and the pedagogical underpinnings. (BB)

A program to teach young children about phonological structure was evaluated with 64 experimental group and 62 control group preschoolers in Australia. Results support the efficacy of the program and the principle that phonological awareness and letter knowledge are necessary but not sufficient for acquisition of the alphabetic principle. (SLD)

Identifies links in Soviet continuous education from preschool to postsecondary study, and their objectives. Discusses lifelong learning as a means of keeping pace with socioeconomic and technological developments. Advocates democratic and humanistic reforms in the Soviet educational system in response to the political changes of perestroika. (CH)

Japanese preschool teachers and administrators watched and commented on videotapes of Japanese and U.S. preschools. In contrast to American notions of home-school continuity and the mothering role of the preschool teacher, Japanese educators saw their large preschool classes (of approximately 30 students) as teaching overly individualistic,…

Examines two sets of classrooms in Mexican preschools over a period of a year to see why one set of classes improved significantly in independent problem solving when compared with children in matching classes. Differences in two sets of data were explored with a method for investigating classroom talk that combines qualitative interpretation with…

This study was designed to examine whether there is a relationship between phonological memory and reading ability in Greek-speaking children aged between 6 and 9 years. An additional aim of the study was to investigate whether training of phonological memory during preschool years enhances reading achievement during early school years. In…

This study examined kindergarten teachers' perceptions of the impact of changes in group-size policy on 3- and 4-year-old children in New Zealand's Wellington Region Free Kindergarten Association. Data were collected through a series of interviews of Wellington kindergarten teachers from 54 kindergartens and focused mainly on the perceived effects…

Television plays a dominant role in our society; however, television on its own is neither bad nor good. It offers children benefits such as education and entertainment, but television can impact negatively on young lives by detracting children from other activities such as physical and dramatic play. The effect of television on children's…

This paper discusses the preschool component of the Educational Agreement presented to the Portugal Parliament in May 1996 to improve the quality of the educational system. Among the 10 Action Commitments in the Agreement is the creation of a national network for preschool education. The context of the inclusion of preschool in this Agreement is…

The context and processes of language acquisition in bilingual, bicultural British-Pakistani and British-Asian children (ages 2-19) attending a school for severe learning difficulties (SLD) were investigated. The first study compared 20 children with SLD who had a proficiency in speaking English and in their mother tongue (Urdu, Punjabi, Hindko,…