Discusses the historical development and the current roles of the British Local Education Authority (LEA) inspectors. Two kinds of LEA inspectors are identified: the general educational facilitator and the educational specialist. The problems inspectors face in defining their roles within modern British schools are discussed. (AM)

Criticizes the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Great Britain for its Marxist bias. The Centre's publications are critiqued and their underlying Marxist assumptions revealed. (AM)

Analyzes how the British conceptualization of racism, diversity, and inequality has affected educational policy and research on race and education. The author examines the effectiveness of strategies adopted by government, schools, and teachers to cope with the demands of educating ethnic minority children. (AM)

Examines the kinds of teacher shortages found in British secondary schools. A classification system for the causes of teacher shortages based on a study of 22 comprehensive schools and 10 local educational authorities is presented. (AM)

Examines the reasons why there is no coherent British national policy on multiracial education. The authors consider how the structure of the educational decision-making process, the content of the debate on multiracial education, legislation, and government inaction contribute to nondecisions concerning the multiracial education issue. (AM)

Discusses the reasons for local and regional variations in British educational funding. A study of the changes in pupil-teacher ratios (PTR) from 1974 to 1981 showed a national trend toward decreased PTR. The impact of future cutbacks in the level of government spending on PTRs is considered. (AM)

Criticizes R. M. Hare's theory of moral thinking. Hare identifies two levels of moral thinking: critical and intuitive thinking. The author argues that Hare's theory suggests a double standard and makes moral conflicts appear trivial. (AM)

Examines education's role in helping people in England to use their increased leisure time more productively. High unemployment levels and technological changes have increased the need for education-for-leisure. Future oriented education must help people develop their social organization skills and their capacities to enjoy unsupervised learning.…

Presents sociological perspectives on the relationship of education to employment. Specifically examined are the relationship of educational qualifications to occupational status, education's effect on worker productivity, and the schools' role in creating desirable employees. The discussion incorporates data from the Youth Opportunities Programme…

Evaluates the role of psychological theory in training effective psychotherapists and social workers. The authors advocate a problem-solving or "Social Technik" approach in which the demands of the practitioner's job--to cause desirable changes in client behavior--define the scope of all skill development and theoretical training. (AM)

Discusses problems of teaching reading skills in English schools when budget cuts reduce the number of available textbooks. Non-print, technologically advanced, instructional media also compete for what funds there are. The impact of economic and technological trends on future teacher education and the development of reading programs are examined.…

Describes Tolstoy's experimental school program as a forerunner of modern, open-education programs. In a radical departure from conventional, nineteenth century Russian educational practice, Tolstoy stressed individualized, independent learning with meaningful instructional materials. In his non-coercive classroom, self-discipline was founded on…

Discusses research results indicating that teachers, students, parents, and employers in the United Kingdom agree that the primary goal of education is to develop student character and self-motivation. The author contends that secondary schools neglect this function because they have no objective way to measure their effectiveness. (AM)

Discusses the need for systematic training in critical thinking skills in English universities. The author argues that there is little recognition given for this skill because it is not considered socially valuable. Most teachers do not know how to do it themselves, and few are trained to teach it. (AM)

Suggests that disruptive behavior in the classroom should be studied by educational and behavioral science researchers as an entity in its own right and suggests how researchers can use a sequence analysis approach to test the viability of treating disruption in the classroom as a series of social episodes or incidents.