A research project analyzed statements about education's contribution to development as a justification for external assistance to education in developing countries by comparing the perspectives of Finnish governmental and public documents and the international perspective in United Nations documents. Differences and parallels in the points of…

Studies of portfolio construction and compilation involving 35 Israeli principals and 14 Dutch managers show that high-quality portfolios can only be expected after sustained use, but that the use of portfolios has an immediate impact on views toward assessment. Portfolios are time-consuming, but can provide effective feedback to the learner. (SLD)

Polish and Finnish high school students (n=352) from academic and vocational tracks reported on the future planning they did in different contexts and completed measures of self-esteem and control over the future. Findings suggest that future planning reflects general developmental patterns in both countries, while self-evaluation reflects…

A case study of district-level factors that enabled eight Ontario secondary schools to assume added administrative responsibilities found that after two years, district-level factors contributing to change were the actions of a steering committee, emerging professionalism in the teacher union, district history, individual personalities, and a…

Studies in three Canadian schools indicate that implementation of a year-round school calendar served as a catalyst for innovations in teaching and learning and for school-level capacity-building by facilitating teachers' planning, formal and informal talk about teaching and learning, team teaching, philosophically-based programmatic changes, and…

In order to assess the impact of changes made by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, adult citizenship-education programs were examined nationwide. Far fewer programs were available to immigrants to Canada than in 1987. Content scope in citizenship-education programs has remained essentially unchanged or been reduced, and is heavily influenced by…

Reports on the initial stages of an ongoing action-research project in multicultural teacher education. Viewing curriculum as the creation of culturally significant domains for conversation, the project inquired into how a secondary English-methods course centered on issues of cultural diversity and emerging professional identities was taken up by…

In a study of questioning formats, children and adults answered spelling questions in an open-ended condition or one of two close-ended conditions where options were likely or unlikely. Participants presented with unlikely-response options generated their own responses more often than participants presented with likely-response options. Children…

Describes research in progress that examines the personal and professional experiences of faculty from colleges and universities in North America and abroad after they engage in academic visits and exchanges at other higher-learning institutions. The research goal is to improve the quality of faculty visits and exchanges. (CDS)

Explores how teachers at the Creative Arts Centre in Calgary (Alberta) create, maintain, and nurture aesthetic learning in their classrooms. The Centre, opened in 1997, has chosen to value the creating process, primary to the arts, in the school curriculum as a whole. During 1997 to 1998, 55 volunteers (primarily students and parents) explored…

Advocates a reconceptualization of Canadian teacher preparation that will involve partnerships in and outside the university. Shows how a reconceptualized concurrent preparation program would bring together discipline-based and practical knowledge, engaging preservice teachers in action research into the dilemmas of teaching, and integrating…

Argues that Canadian schools of education must address social justice issues of ethnicity, culture, and racism; model equitable practices in teacher education programs; and promote equity for all students in public schools. Reviews current debate on multicultural and antiracist education, challenges in pursuing equity in education, and promising…

A study of 25 staff members, 40 students, and parents of 6 students at a Canadian suburban secondary school examined how prevailing stereotypical discourses were reflected in the ways people talked about and acted toward minority groups. Strategies for creating opportunities for alternative discourses to be heard are discussed. Contains 44…

Describes differences between systems-rationalist and subjectivist-interpretivist inquiry. Maintains that much of the enormous potential of subjectivist-interpretivist research could be lost due to the consequences of choices and compromises that researchers make in conceptualizing, proposing, and conducting subjectivist inquiry in the…

A survey of 963 undergraduates and 27 faculty members in the University of Alberta (Canada) teacher education program found that computers were most often used as a personal productivity tool and not integrated into the curriculum. Deterrents to use of instructional technology by university staff were lack of funding, lack of time to learn new…