This chapter explores the possibilities of an experiential curriculum, and summarizes common elements and dilemmas of practice. The nature of experiential education is not so much a matter of definition as of seeing what teachers and students actually do. Mechanical models of experiential education are useful because they are simple and can serve…

Since risk suffuses human life and trust helps breaks the paralysis of dealing with risk, a philosophy of education must account for the relationship between risk and trust. Keith Lehrer (in progress) has developed a philosophy that seeks to prepare students for knowing as human beings actually know things, suggesting that knowledge is a matter of…

This paper reviews the education of students with mental retardation in the United States and offers recommendations to improve their instruction. It begins by discussing the American Association on Mental Retardation's definition of mental retardation and incidence/prevalence data. Disagreements about the definition and incidence data are noted.…

In contrast to case study, where participants learn vicariously through other peoples' cases, the case story approach invites people to learn through writing and telling about their own experiences as practitioners. This study of school leaders using case stories in university classrooms and in-service leadership academies focused on what is said…

The model school-to-work system creates a foundation in the early grades and continues to build until students complete their studies. In the elementary grades, the major components of students' school-to-work education are career awareness and developing basic skills. Developing career awareness includes creating an environment where students see…

A study used data from the 1996 National Household Education Survey, Youth Civic Involvement component, to determine how students in grades 6-12 were involved in community service activities and how schools might encourage community service participation and integrate it with classroom learning. Some of the results are as follows: (1) about half…

The extent to which Mississippi teachers receive specific training regarding screening for learning disabilities and teaching learning-disabled adults was examined through a mail survey of all 81 of Mississippi's adult education supervisors. Of the 36 supervisors who returned usable questionnaires (a 44% response rate), 5 (13.9%) did not attempt…

The structures of meaning preservice teachers perceived and interpreted as a result of field placements in a methods course and through the use of ethnographic tools were studied in an ethnographic design. The study involved 11 preservice teachers. It described how they shaped each other's thinking about teaching and it examined how ethnographic…

This book describes self-education within community organizations in Cape Town (South Africa) where a primary concern was the promotion of democratic participation. Part I describes the participatory research approach. Part II focuses on the historical contexts in which voluntary associations have developed and the specific theory and practice…

The key to successful establishment of distance education in developing countries seems to be the initial choice of an appropriate model (a model that can be built upon the historical and cultural context, can survive in an environment of limited resources, and will be compatible with the views and ambitions of its political sponsors and clients).…

This paper discusses the Modern School Movement (MSM), founded in 1924 by French educator Celestin Freinet (1896-1966) and widely-known throughout Europe yet largely unknown to English-speaking educators. The paper focuses on the MSM as the largest student writing network ever to have employed educational technologies as a central aspect of its…

In spite of a widespread commitment to the comprehensive high school, the nation has long had specialty or theme schools and schools that target particular children. Magnet schools, alternative schools, and Catholic schools illustrate that the idea of specialized schools is not new. Recently, the concept has received a boost from a study by the…

Discussing issues involved in the successful teaching of literature, this book presents essays that explore recent findings from research concerned with the teaching of literature in contemporary K-12 classrooms. The book is organized by age, special population, and special issues. Essays in the book address such issues as ability grouping,…

For the past decade there has been a surge of international interest in Japanese education in the wake of its economic and technological successes. This paper discusses eight distinctive features of Japanese education, identifying their advantages and disadvantages and how they have been brought about. These eight features of Japanese schooling…

This research summary presents a status report on the process of the thorough restructuring of eastern Germany since unification. Education and science are in the center of this effort. Explanation of the roles of education in the lives of citizens in both the former socialist and democratic republics is given. Both the ideological and practical…