This book examines the cultural universal of education from a multicultural perspective and a time dimension. The text is written for juveniles, and includes many color photographs. Chapters include: (1) "What is Education?"; (2) "The Americas"; (3) "Africa"; (4) "Europe and the Middle East"; (5) "Asia"; and (6) "Australia and the South Pacific."…

American Indian grandmothers are almost universally occupied with child care and child rearing at some time in their lives, but cultural variables influence the definition, role, and status of grandmothers in different tribes. This book contains nine chapters that blend documentary history, oral history, and ethnographic observation to illuminate…

Children have ample opportunities to learn about science outside of school through visits to science museums, participation in extra-curricular science programs, and by pursuing experiments at home, yet few studies have examined what it means to do science in such places and how such ways of knowing might become integrated with, or differentiated…

Except for discussions of the early colonial period, the American Indians of Virginia are invisible in history textbooks, leading many people to assume that the state's Indian population vanished long ago. This book shares the unique stories of some of Virginia's Indian people, providing an insight into the history, education, and cultural…

Amartya Sen defined development as the creation of capabilities or capacities. One of the crucial capacities is basic education. With no access to writing, reading and numeracy, people are unable to fight against poverty and to build their lives in the current global environment. In this perspective, the right to education cannot be conceived only…

Various financing structures for nonformal education are presented, using examples from Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. Many resources of the formal education system can be used in the planning, coordination, and execution of nonformal education. The importance of community involvement and financial backing is stressed. (JA)

Citing the success of several home programs using parents as teachers and noting that new information technologies are providing increasing educational opportunities outside the school, the author argues that teachers should be prepared for cooperative work with parents. (Part of a theme issue on the future of teacher education in England.) (SJL)

Describes adult educational policy, organization, and administration in Thailand and its six categories of programs: functional literacy, academic and general education, vocational, reading skills promotion, public education, and radio/television nonformal education. Closely related to the formal educational system, Thailand's adult education…

Describes the effects on indigenous communities of Bolivia's recent Popular Participation Laws, which relocated political and financial decision making to the municipal level; community efforts toward cultural maintenance and nonformal agricultural education; the activism of indigenous university students; and the dual discrimination suffered by…

The Purga Elders Centre in Queensland (Australia) is an Aboriginal-owned meeting place where Aboriginal culture and history are lived and passed on. Research conducted there is based on Indigenous Knowledge Research (IKR), which is grounded in Indigenous realities and approaches knowledge only through respect for Indigenous epistemologies. Twenty…

Being a Native teacher of Native studies is an honor--non-Native students want to learn about Natives, Native students have their culture validated, and sharing Native history with non-Native neighbors builds friendships. Many Native troubles stem from colonization, but Natives should not take their frustrations out on each other but should…

A nuclear physicist feels that his Navajo upbringing, with its emphasis on the structure of nature and abstract reasoning, prepared him well for the world of physics. Traditional Navajo sandpaintings helped him understand physics concepts. Native American students show strengths in learning visual, perceptual, or spatial information, and they…

Described are the results of surveys concerning children's use of outdoor areas. Discusses design criteria for outdoor education areas for children. Provides suggestions for enhancing children's exposure to wildlife. Considers playgrounds, trails, backyards and neighborhood areas. (CW)

Presented are the abstracts from three research projects on marine social systems which were a part of a marine science symposium. Five sets of activities on marine animal communication are included, one each for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12, and informal education. (CW)

As North America increasingly becomes an urban society, questions surface as to the role and direction of environmental education programs. Such programs may hold potential in abating some of the problems inherent with contemporary inner city youth. Several successful on-going programs are reviewed. (Author/CW)