The past 25 years have shown an international trend toward destructuring in education: creation of new nonformal options; outreach to unserved groups; less rigid curriculum; more inductive pedagogy; and new student assessment methods. Despite this, formal schooling and traditional methods remain strong and may be beginning a cyclical resurgence.…

The author describes historical stages in educational theory: conservative tradition (1879-1904); progressivism (1904-1929); and conservative reaction (1929-1954). For the period since 1954, he considers the conflict between positivism and radical dissent, and the new ecological consciousness of education as part of wider social and political…

The author identifies these as the most important changes in general educational theory over the last 25 years: a movement toward cross-disciplinary perspectives, a widening of perspective to include the social context of schooling, and a swing from positivist research methods toward more qualitative and holistic approaches. (SJL)

In the twentieth century, educational philosophy has turned from grand system building toward approaches which consider the process of education itself to be the source of issues requiring a philosophical, value-oriented resolution. Philosophical inquiry has extended to social, psychological, and human issues. (Editor/SJL)

In the last 25 years, educational psychology has changed and expanded as a discipline. The major educational reform movements have increased the need for research data and for psychological services in the schools, thus expanding the role of the educational psychologist. (SJL)

The theoretical framework proposed here treats political alienation as a normal outcome of the incompatability between egalitarian goals and social inequalities in democratic systems. The framework is applied to the role of education in the United States, a stable democracy, and in West Germany, an emergent democracy. (Author/SJL)

This paper considers the declining use of Irish (Gaelic) as a language of instruction in both Ulster and the Republic of Ireland in this century. Policy statements are analyzed. Tables list percentages of primary and secondary schools conducted in Irish, English, or bilingual modes over the decades. (SJL)

The variations in government language policies in Latin America are primarily a function of economic and social struggles among contending national elites, all seeking to compel adaptation by subordinate groups. Not until the nineteenth century did the schools become a major vehicle for government policy implementation. (Author/SJL)

The tendency for bilingual education to remain locally-oriented and to resist outside input may impede its success. Unless the efforts to better instructional programs, teacher training, materials development, and evaluation improve soon, no amount of political or legal support may be able to sustain the movement. (Author/SJL)

The author reviews the twentieth-century development of educational sociology as a discipline in Europe and the United States, citing approaches and turning points, as well as major schools of thought and their proponents. (SJL)

In the past 25 years, educational economists have made a substantial contribution to thinking about problems of resource allocations to education and of returns on education. They still have an important contribution to make in the development of cost and financial analysis and in efficiency studies. (Editor/SJL)

This article considers only "academic" educational philosophy in the Scandinavian and English-speaking countries. It attempts to recount the different phases in this discipline's development, laying emphasis on the fundamental features of each phase and on the criticism which the next phase leveled at the previous one. (Author/SJL)

Optimistic approach to mass communication use in education in 1960s has not been confirmed by accomplishments in education for reasons both internal to educational systems and linked with technological changes in society. A more global and cultural approach should be taken in the creation and exploration of new configurations. (Author/MBR)

A brief history of the school-community relations movement in this century and a description of some major community development/social change forces are provided to set the stage for analyzing and predicting major directions for school and community relations in the 1980s. (Author/SJL)

Reviews and discusses issues in education for librarianship that have been debated over course of last hundred years and are central to problem of education for a profession: desirability of professional schools; control of education by professional bodies; theory versus practice; fieldwork; the core curriculum. Fifty-six references are cited.…