Ego development is an implicit aim of higher education and can be one of its most significant results, according to R. P. Weathersby. There are several developmental stages, each having characteristics to describe personality traits, style of behavior, conscious preoccupations, and ways of thinking. From lowest level to highest, the stages are:…

Guidelines for improving teaching and learning for all students in the middle grades are provided in this document. Following an introduction and discussion of the significance of higher order learning for early adolescence, a set of 11 principles to improve the education of all middle-grade students is presented. Based on a review of research and…

This book represents a compilation of the views and ideas of the late Hans Freudenthal, representing his last major contribution to the field of mathematics education. Rather than a presentation of new views, Freudenthal selected and streamlined old ideas, many gathered from his lectures in China, and formed a review of questions and issues in…

If visual art is to be taught as a substantive part of the public school curriculum, then it's content and structure need to be translated into a curriculum that provides continuous cognitive and psychological growth and development. While discipline based art education (DBAE) acknowledges the values of art production, the content of art should…

This digest provides basic information and resources on visual impairments. Legal and educational definitions are given for "legally blind,""partially sighted,""visually handicapped,""blind," and "low vision". Typical characteristics of individuals with visual impairments in the areas of cognitive…

This paper discusses how the role of instructors changes as young learners advance along a mastery continuum, or a process of transition from an initial novice to an eventual expert status in the learning of a skill. Four stages along this continuum are: (1) acquisition, in which the learner does not know the task; (2) early consolidation, in…

This study assessed 72 undergraduate preservice teachers' development of broad pedagogical understandings in relation to an informal reasoning framework and instructional processes. Subjects completed a set of 11 open-ended planning tasks, self/course evaluations, and a measure of learning orientation for a course in educational psychology. The…

The goal of this paper is to relate liberation and the teaching of thinking. By looking at the great liberators throughout history, teachers can learn about their own craft. The goal of teaching thinking ought to be to develop individuals who can think for themselves. Such people have some measure of control over the meaning they make of their…

Results of the 1990-91 product evaluation of the Saginaw, Michigan School District's state-funded prekindergarten program are reported. In 1990-91, the program served 285 pupils enrolled at 8 sites. The purpose of the program is to provide at-risk 4-year-olds with an environment that will enable them to develop school readiness skills. The…

Educators can help themselves and others improve their creative thinking. Before the improvement can begin, there must be a common understanding of what creativity is. Edward Land described creativity as the sudden cessation of stupidity. Several barriers to creative thinking include boredom, lack of challenge, believing expertise in a particular…

The study compared play among five groups of children (ages 3-7 years): normal children (N=41); those diagnosed with language delays (N=241), those with autism but normal intelligence (N=71), those with autism and mental retardation (N=97), and those with nonautistic mental deficiency (N=86). Each child was evaluated using a 25 minute structured…

A longitudinal study was conducted at the Frank Porter Graham Center NC to explore the use of educational day care and related services as a mechanism for preparing socially disadvantaged children for success in later public schooling. Infant children of mothers who met a criterion score on a high risk index were randomly assigned to either an…

Despite considerable work concerning relationships between cognition and language in the second year of life, these relationships remain obscure. Clarification depends on resolution in at least three major areas. First, studies should be expanded beyond the scope of cognitive prerequisite models that have been difficult to conceptualize and that…

One of a series of activity guides designed to aid teachers in developing the thinking skills of primary grade students, this publication offers a variety of learning activities and resource materials. The activities and resources include: a calendar which lists important days and birthdays in December; poems; facts and an activity about Hanukkah;…

One of a series of activity guides designed to aid teachers in developing the thinking skills of primary grade students, this publication offers a variety of learning activities and resource materials. The activities and resources include: a calendar which lists important days and birthdays in December, January, and February; poems; word puzzles…