Although anecdotal evidence and research alike espouse the benefits of service learning, some researchers have suggested that more rigorous testing is required in order to determine its true effect on students. This is particularly true in the case of academic development, which has been inconsistently linked to service learning. It has been…

This edited collection addresses the growing need for ideas and methods conducive to holistic educational practices and aims to encourage more personal growth in students too often distracted by the background noise of war, violence, racism, and environmental deterioration. The contributors are working teachers and professors who have integrated a…

How does one become an effective superintendent of schools? There is no simple formula as the turnover rate reflects difficulty of the position. Some maintain that the job cannot be done well due to politics, financial constraints, and time demands. As a former superintendent, the author rejects this negative view. In this highly readable,…

Ever since the first ethnographic studies, the question about how people learn in different contexts was an essential element of research. Studies in anthropology of education have increasingly focused on schooling. Nowadays, however, the traditional topic of learning in out-of-school contexts recovers its relevance because the development of…

Science education research can be categorised into three broad dimensions: knowing science, doing of science and learning about the nature of science. The concerns, doubts and relative importance of each of these aspects in relation to students' learning are debated in the literature. The findings of the empirical research carried out in New…

Gilbert Ryle (1949) divided knowledge into "know that" and "know how", which is neatly appealing to many design and technology educators, and like many writers on developing the curriculum, Kahney (1993) made a distinction between declarative knowledge: "verbal knowledge, that is, the kind you get from books, instructions and being told what to…

This paper has emerged out of the author's life-long passion for Design and Technology (D&T), which she will refer to as D&T from now on, her on-going research which has informed her practice as a teacher of D&T in England over the past 45 years, and in particular her practice as a trainer of D&T teachers for the past 20 years. In this paper, the…

Reforms of education often ignore teachers' contribution particularly in the third world countries. These reforms usually rely on personal opinions of the individuals of decisions makers. Pre-vocational education (PVE) in Jordanian schools, face numerous problems. In this study, perspectives of teachers were elucidated qualitatively (through…

The U.S. Department of Education's "back to the basics" thrust of the 1980s took a terrible toll on enrollments for those teaching in the "practical arts." So, in the face of declining enrollments, angry employers wanting more program graduates, and a concerned advisory council, technology teachers must go on television and express their…

One of the most important changes in American higher education over the last 30 years has been the gradual shrinking of the old arts and sciences core of undergraduate education and the expansion of occupational and professional programs. Occupational fields have accounted for approximately 60% of bachelors' degrees in recent years, up from 45% in…

The influence of recent social and economic changes in the Israeli kibbutz on the prolonged stage of youth was examined with respect to higher education. The young people on the kibbutz of the late 1990s appear less moratorial and more instrumental about their future and commence higher education earlier than in previous age cohorts. When starting…

Practical arts is a subject that not only promotes learners' better understanding of work in their daily lives, but also enables them to find ways to solve work-related problems by fostering basic skills and attitudes necessary for performing the work. The teaching of practical arts as a subject should be focused on developing creativity and…

In this essay the practical functions of the arts and crafts, in general, have been furnished as empty places into which specific practices can be put. The essay unfolds as two interlocking narratives. The first is the story of epistemological ambiguity inherent in the representation of knowledge. The second is the tale of political exclusion of…

Explores the integration of the practical and liberal arts in the community college. Promoting liberal education not only aids the transfer of community college students to baccalaureate institutions, it also prepares community college graduates for citizenship. (SLD)

The Country Women's Association (CWA) is a nationwide Australian group that started in the 1920s in response to isolated women's need to socialize. The group's activities have expanded greatly over time. It distributes essential food and clothing to needy rural families, and its extensive involvement in incidental education for women includes…