Education should help people learn to use past experiences as a basis for acquiring new meanings, which frees individuals from what restricts and what enslaves. However, the curriculum has become a program for social purposes and the school an instrument of social control when, in reality, what is needed is persuasion (not coercion) and discussion…

An experiment tested the efficacy of "discovery learning" in a school setting. Fifty-two bright children ages one to seven were randomly divided into two groups: a discovery learning, non-directed group and a guided learning, teacher-directed group. After both groups had spent eight months using an individualized "talking…

Contents of this booklet include: (1) "What's wrong with reading tests?", Deborah Meier, covering the following areas: the definition of reading, the social context of testing, the trouble with the tests, and how children handle tests; (2) "An English view of evaluation," an excerpt from a longer interview with Kenneth Barker at Froebel Institute…

This paper describes a revised teacher training program that includes Internet-based learning materials, thus demonstrating the dual mode system in which both off- and on-campus studies are integrated. The first section discusses the changing role of the teacher, including traditional teacher education and new challenges imposed by technology. The…

This paper describes the online course, Pedagogy in Open Learning, offered by NITOL (Norwaynet with Information Technology for Open Learning). Target groups are teachers, developers, and providers of ODL (Open and Distance Learning). The main goal is to prepare a basis for development and applications of ODL material that uses ICT (Information and…

The choices involved in setting up an open learning system are discussed, and the case for the mixture of interaction and independence is established. Problems involved in effecting the synthesis between activities in which the student works alone and those which bring him into contact with others are detailed. (AF)

Two studies contrasted formal and informal teaching practices in open-plan and conventional classrooms, focusing on grouping patterns and pupil choice as discriminative components of teaching style. (BW)

Proposes three principles for a new progressivism. These establish the nature of individualism in education, the need to empower individuals through education, and the economy of means by which this can be achieved through progressivist methodology. Assumes a constructivist rather than a social-constructivist model of human development. (MJP)

Reports results of research on the effects of open education on student outcomes, using classroom authority structure analysis. Maintains that student outcomes are contingent on the congruence between formal and informal authority structure. Concludes that more congruent authority structure was related to higher reading comprehension and…

Based on Fiedler's Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness and Leader-Match program, this study's hypothesis is that experienced school principals increase their effectiveness by changing key organizational variables to suit their personal leadership styles. Following V. D. McNamara's application of Fiedler's contingency model in a study of…

This collection is intended to show what public libraries can and would like to do to support adult learning, encourage understanding and cooperation among libraries and adult and community educators, and publicize the work already being done by libraries. The following papers are included: "The State of the Art in 1985," by Robert…

This book discusses the anachronistic nature of the graded school structure and the practices that accompany it and proposes the alternative of a nongraded structure. The incompatibility of the graded system with present insights into child development are the the emphasis of the first chapter. Chapter 2 examines the effectiveness of nonpromotion…

The seven papers that make up this report focus on the impact of new information technology on curriculum and resource management at the college level in England and Wales. A brief preface, an introduction, and a foreword provide background information on the report and introduce the following papers: (1) "Curriculum Developments in Further…

University retention rates for minority students are low and no significant increase in minority attendance is occurring. Most universities are not open-door, and special admissions policies for blacks have been halved since 1969. Other problems are the lessening of recruitment efforts and differences between blacks' expectations of the university…

This study attempted to answer two major questions: (1) Does a significant difference exist between the mean gain scores for achievement in reading and mathematics, as measured by the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), among students from three different architectural school settings (open space, traditional, and mixed); and (2) Do reading…