This article presents the results of a descriptive study carried out within the framework of the FOPROMAR project, obtained after administering a questionnaire regarding competences related to the territorial dimension of rural schools among teachers working in rural schools in Spain (Aragon and Catalonia), France (Aquitaine) and Portugal (Alto…

Because it has experienced a process of secularisation for more than three centuries, France can be considered as a laboratory of the relevance of faith in a society for which it is no longer the cultural matrix. By showing how the central question of secularisation is in fact that of the relationship between faith and culture, this article…

Purposeful and strategic connections between schools, families, and communities are critical characteristics of effective middle level education. Area-based initiatives (ABIs) have been particularly visible family-school-community policy developments in recent years--especially the federally funded "Promise Neighborhoods," which attempt…

In this important book, experts from around the globe come together to examine what solidarity in multicultural societies might mean and how it might be built. With a variety of analytical perspectives and findings, the authors present original research conducted in the United States, New Zealand, Spain, France, Chile, Mexico, and India. Educators…

This issue contains the second of a two-part feature about European community school centers. The principal difference between the European and the American community school movements is that in almost all European nations the federal government supports them and takes an active part in their development. The article focuses on the forms of…

This collection contains 17 papers presented at a seminar on literacy strategies in the community movement, held in Namur, Belgium, in 1991. The following papers are included: "Introduction" (Hautecoeur); "Illiteracy: Direction? Action? Results?" (Hautecoeur); "Basic Education and Personal Development Strategies"…

Describes a school in France, which is the only complex in Europe that attempts to create a synergy among the activities of leisure, work, technology, training, and education. Discusses the evolution of the project, the design and flexibility of teaching spaces, information technology and communications strategies, and the project's success. (RJM)

This report is volume 2 in a series of studies conducted and published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme on Educational Building (PEB) on the theme of coordination of school and community facilities. The report is intended to illustrate by means of concrete examples the general conclusions on…

Innovative practices in education and local development in Western Europe, Australia, and the United States are described and analyzed in this report. Part One reviews urban problems, their impact on education, and the need for a new approach. Part Two explores how schools and institutes of adult education can provide information about the local…

Noting that the fragmented approach to early childhood education in the United States has resulted in enormous variability in program quality, this report describes characteristics of the "ecole maternelle," the preschool system in France. The report is based upon observations made by 15 American delegates who visited 11 preschools in…

The document presents abstracts of 40 research projects dealing with the relationship between school and community in Europe. These have been compiled by the European Documentation and Information System for the Education Project, (EUDISED). The aim of the EUDISED project is to create a computer-based network of national agencies dealing with…

Changes in internal and external systems of governance as a result of a 1984 law promoting some decentralization and a trend toward increased local and regional responsiveness are discussed. The role and significance of new governance bodies are examined. (MSE)

Considers five major interests at stake in higher education: social justice, competence, academic freedom, autonomy/accountability, and decentralization/centralization. Suggests that the implementation of conflicting interests is less a matter of the relation between the state and higher education than of relations between the academic profession…

This report is the second to appear in a series of studies carried out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) during the past 5 years. The first report concerned the integration of handicapped young people into ordinary schools. The present report deals with what happens…

Examining the ways in which Western European countries have presented and justified educational reform, Neave explores the shift in values and social ethics that occupy the center of the educational stage. States that education is less a part of social policy, but is increasingly viewed as a sub-sector of economic policy. (GEA)