Self-directed learning has been a high-interest topic within the field of adult education for the last decade. The following are among suggestions writers have made about how adult educators can best facilitate self-directed learning: (1) encourage learners to appreciate that they can act on their world individually or collectively to transform…

The first of two volumes in these proceedings contains the text (or, in a few cases, an abstract) of 60 papers on the use of technology at all levels of education, including elementary, secondary, and higher education. These papers were presented in 44 topic sessions by delegates representing more than 30 nations. Themes of the sessions include:…

This model portfolio of school choices describes the following four types of schools available in the Detroit Public Schools: (1) specialty high schools at four locations, which offer scientific and artistic studies, aerospace technology instruction, science and applied technology, and a rigorous college preparatory curriculum; (2) the high school…

The educational philosophies of Maria Montessori and Jiddu Krishnamurti are compared and contrasted in this paper. The discussion is based on texts by both educators and direct observation of some of the schools (United States, Australia and India) where these ideas are being implemented. First, general principles of each educator are discussed.…

This is an account of the author's experience as a consultant in an elementary school which was attempting to move toward an open classroom approach. A psychologist and child development specialist with public school teaching experience, he defined for himself a twofold objective: (1) to work with principals and teachers to facilitate more open…

This book brings together in a convenient form a large amount of recent research on open classrooms. Pointing out that open education is more a philosophy than a set method, the book begins with an attempt to sketch the dimensions of the term. The chapter on recent evaluative research is especially helpful. A large number of studies are grouped by…

The purpose of this study, conducted in 1976, was to update and extend the 1974 survey entitled "Student Use of Open University Broadcasting" or the Bates Report. It was also intended to assist broadcast policy and planning decisions and to furnish individual course teams with summative evaluation data on student use of broadcasting. The…

Nine elementary schools enrolling 852 sixth grade students participated in a study that examined the relationship between the organizational climate of elementary schools (whether the school was "open" or "closed") and the reading achievement of students. Each school's organizational climate was determined by administering the Organizational…

The major focus of interest in the present research is the question of congruence between parental and school attitudes toward issues of authority and freedom. It was hypothesized that the child's adjustment to his/her particular type of classroom (either open or traditional) would be affected by whether he/she came from a family which shared…

The subject of this report is an approach to teaching that has become known in recent years as "open education." An attempt is made to answer the questions, What is a research variable? and, Can openness be a variable in educational research? Part 1 serves the purpose of a position statement. Certain principles are declared to be the…

The point of view is presented that evaluation procedures should be more humanistic and, that where educational procedures are open or humanistic, evaluation procedures must also be humanistic in order to be isomorphically valid. A number of quotations from parents of school children are presented to support the position that the parents feel…

Attrition and completion was studied at an open university, the Athabasca University in Canada. The multiple-choice and open-ended questionnaire asked students to indicate why they withdrew or completed the course and to specify the conditions under which they could pursue their studies. Of the 58 questionnaires mailed, 55 percent of the…

This report examines the efforts of a secondary school to develop comparable alternatives to those implemented at the elementary level in one Chicago school. Specifically, it examines the decision-making process of the staff to develop a 9-12 open school within the high school. The report traces the history of innovation in the high school and…

This study replicates and extends an earlier study of interracial interaction patterns in an open enrollment "magnet" school. The earlier study conducted during the school's first year of operation found that: (1) race is an extremely important grouping criterion even for students who have chosen a segregated school, (2) sex is an even more…

As interest in open education has increased, so have demands for systematic evaluative research on its effects. There now exists a fairly sizable body of work on academic and psychological effects of open classroom teaching. In 1975, the author reviewed the relevant literature and summarized it in a monograph published by the North Dakota Study…