This book describes, in detail, practical ways to develop an open, individualized and child-centered classroom by using learning or interest centers. Consideration is given to the initial planning of learning centers, and sections discuss various kinds and uses of learning centers for the primary and intermediate grades. Topics discussed include…

One of the most important implications for professional adult educators drawn from this review of the literature (emphasizing seven research studies which focus on the individual learner) stems from the increasing evidence that adults plan a great deal of learning for themselves without any assistance or intervention from professional adult…

Projects are described that emphasize broad-based or comprehensive approaches to educational change, and are the result of a communitywide planning process designed to identify and then address core educational problems. Projects included in this publication are divided into "Changing Schools," which contains descriptions of projects…

Danish "efterskoles" are "continuation schools" following elementary school--residential schools that allow students aged 14-16 to defer going to high school while they make choices about their educational future. Efterskoles are based on the principles of N.F.S. Grundtvig, who started folk high schools in about 1850 to educate…

In view of financial constraints, large numbers of students to be educated, and rapid changes in information and communication and information technology, open learning (OL) and distance education (DE) systems are being established at an unprecedented rate in almost all developing countries of the Asian and Pacific region. Modern communications,…

Developed by the total staff at Vocational Village (Portland, Oregon), this handbook presents the following: (1) information about Vocational Village, a unique alternative high school which offers a program dedicated to helping economically and educationally disadvantaged youth between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one become independent,…

This report presents data pertaining to 13 different project objectives grouped by student, teacher, and community objectives. Student objectives covered self-initiated learning, competency in verbal and math skills, attitudes toward the alternative school, involvement in decisionmaking, community involvement, evaluation, self image, and students…

Interviews and surveys of 13 teachers and staff and 213 students from four successful Canadian "outreach schools" found that the characteristics of alternative education that contribute to its success are volunteerism, small size, egalitarianism, a caring attitude, participatory decision making, organizational flexibility, individualized…

This book identifies the major new developments in the provision of education and training for adults and examines the ideas, developments, and strategies currently being used in the light of the particular needs of disaffected adult learners. (Disaffection refers to feelings of estrangement, lack of trust, feelings of inadequacy, anger, and…

The overall theme of this book is the relationships between government and organizational policies and the work of practitioners in open and distance learning. The book explores a selection of international examples, many of which concern the use of new technologies for opening education. The contributors, many of whom are recognized experts,…

The Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Act, enacted by the Minnesota State Legislature in 1985, allows 11th- and 12th-grade high school students to take courses, for credit, in colleges, junior colleges, and vocational-technical institutes despite opposition from high school authorities. Students may use credits from these courses to count toward…

This study investigates the effects of alternate types of curriculum and counseling treatment on elementary school children categorized into six temperament-attitude clusters. Through a second-order factor analysis of a multi-trait multi-source assessment instrument (The Barclay Classroom Climate Inventory), six cluster groups of characteristics…

Arguing against the "bandwagon" approach to innovation and change, and pressing for careful consideration of the potentials inherent in "openness" in education, the author explores the interactions among the phenomena of open space, open structure, and open curriculum. In examining the nature of these interactions, he sets the…

The restructuring of traditional schooling will not meet the needs for further learning. What is needed instead is immediate massive change in the form of transitional steps toward new learning systems based on the Wilson Campus school operated at Mankato State University from 1968-77. The public year-round school adopted 69 innovations…

In 1975, a national conference was held to discuss the current status of open learning and nontraditional studies, and to discuss plans for the future. This report contains some 75 essays classified into the following categories: (1) general issues, (2) management and financing patterns, (3) academic and curricular patterns, (4) communications…