Because of increased demands for curriculum expertise and constricted funding, many small rural elementary schools in the United Kingdom have created consortia, allowing groups of schools to share resources and facilities and cooperatively plan for meeting educational standards. Describes cluster development and concludes that loss of school…

Tenth-grade students in many rural Australian schools must make decisions regarding their careers and whether they want to migrate to urban areas to complete their education. A study in a small, rural Australian community of the vocational choices of 30 10th-grade students revealed fundamental social differences between working- and middle-class…

Braxton County, West Virginia, is a subculture in which the norms and values of local residents are oppositional to state and national objectives for public education. Describes the role of the locally born county superintendent as a cultural change agent, and his strategies for overcoming poor community support and limited financial resources to…

Reviews the current literature concerning prior knowledge in an attempt to clarify problems with the terminology. Identifies the three main problems: lack of definition or vagueness, nominal versus real definitions, and different names/same constructs or same name/different constructs. Includes a conceptual map of prior knowledge terminology. (MJP)

Utilizes questionnaires to examine Carugati and Mugny's assertion that social representations of intelligence are organized both by social identity and unfamiliarity. Discovers a consensus concerning representations of intelligence organized by social identity. Includes a copy of the questionnaire, breakdown of the responses, and other statistical…

Study correlated teacher characteristics derived from qualitative methods (interviews, observation, etc.) with results produced by quantitative methods (measurement of eye contact, facial expressions, voice level). The teachers' commitment to their students' learning was reflected in their adaptable and effective classroom behavior. (MJP)

Examines the relationship of grade level to children's ability to make musical discriminations when elements are presented simultaneously. Utilized a brief instructional period, listening tests, and singing tasks. Results indicated significant differences between grade level, types of discrimination, and musical interactions. Includes statistical…

Examines the relationship between vocal pitch accuracy and gender, grade level, and the presence or absence of an accompanying unison voice. Reveals no significant differences between unison or individual singing or for gender. Fourth and fifth graders exhibited significant differences. (MJP)

Surveys 278 British high school students concerning musical styles preferences. Generally speaking, students rejected classical and "serious" music as they grew older. Girls exhibited acceptance of a wider range of musical styles. Includes statistical tables. (MJP)

Argues that geography is in a unique position to highlight and emphasize moral issues that otherwise might be neglected. Contemporary issues that naturally intersect with geographic concepts include citizenship and immigration, and the allocation of resources. Recommends examining relative concepts of justice, equality, and community. (MJP)

Profiles an undergraduate college class that critically examines newspaper, map, and poster representations of the developing nations. Beginning exercises reveal how a person's gender, race, and background influence his or her construction and interpretation of cultural images. Includes a 29-item bibliography concerning deconstruction of images…

Illuminates problems women graduate students face in geography programs, both in their educational environments and career paths. Discusses possible solutions and alternative approaches to these problems, including understanding and challenging power relations, networking, developing communication skills, and effective mentoring. (MJP)

Presents seven brief papers reflecting workshops given at the 1994 Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Each workshop presented a teaching module concerning issues in medical geography. Methodological issues included interpretations of vital statistics and epidemiological diffusion. Theoretical issues included womens' health data…

In 1982, 1988, and 1993, the British government surveyed beginning teachers in schools. This article examines recent studies of beginning teachers, comparing results to the earlier research. Results indicate that primary teachers with undergraduate degrees felt more capable of teaching mathematics than one-year postgraduate trainees. Headteachers…

Describes how teachers learned to use a graphics program in the context of Bloom's taxonomy. Instruction occurred in four stages (rote learning of tool use; understanding and application to individual assignments; application and analysis of graphic suitability with clip art; and a culminating group project requiring analysis, synthesis, and…