Preparing teachers for a research-based professionalism has been the central mission of teacher education in Finland since the mid-1970s. More recently, as a result of such national policy developments as school-based curriculum development and local decision-making, the conception of teachers' work and professionalism has expanded. Drawing on…

This article clarifies and systematizes different elements inherent in conceptualizations of adult education. Distinctions are made between an age aspect and a life-cycle aspect, and between the aspects of time, formality, organization, intentionality, and normality. (Author/LMO)

The role of teacher's pedagogical content knowledge in social studies is addressed through two case studies: a novice and a veteran teacher. The important difference between the novice and the expert is manifested in content knowledge, a form of teacher understanding that combines content, pedagogy, and learner characteristics. (Author/LMO)

Five subskills in learning to read are identified, and their place in the methods of teaching reading and their relations to each other are discussed. It is concluded that phonemic segmentation must be the most important and the most difficult task in learning to read. (Author/LMO)

Discusses the connection between type of control structure for a school system and type of strategy for change that may be chosen. Shows that the mandator-controlled Swedish school system best corresponds to the "Developing the Organization" model of educational change. Describes a Swedish training program based on the model. (SB)

Uses descriptions of two local rural schools to illustrate the problems of developing and legitimizing a general education program in the culturally varied Saami area of Norway. Notes that Saami educational problems include content determination, curriculum organization, materials, and culture conflicts, and are influenced by ethnicity, society,…

Using a four-year (1970-74) pedagogical developmental project (Brovst, Denmark), discusses crucial concepts/aspects of educational change (construction of knowledge, meaning of harvested experiences, relationship between aims and strategies). Discusses teaching strategies: negative stipulation (changing relation between children and reality)…

Describes a procedure, called a full Bayesian procedure, for making decisions in connection with criterion-referenced measurements. The procedure uses continuous utility functions instead of a dichotomized utility structure and combines the posterior distribution for a certain person with utility functions for "advance" and "retain" decisions…

This article describes a reading improvement program operating in elementary schools near Copenhagen. Students take an annual reading test. The classroom teacher and the reading specialist review class scores to identify special-needs students and to plan reading program changes. General reading progress has been improved by this method. (SJL)

Describes the influence of Comenius, invited to Sweden in 1642, on the Swedish educational system and shows how his ideas of international cooperation and tolerance inspired thinkers like Bengt Skytte, who developed the idea of the "Sophopolis" in the 1660s as a center of learned individuals from many countries. (SLD)

Discusses "new" phenomenography and its links with research tradition, which are not immediately obvious. Makes the case that an interest in variation is the thread that runs through the phenomenographic movement as it explores the different ways in which people experience the same henomena. (SLD)

Makes the case that the concept of creativity is too loosely defined and proposes a definition that clearly distinguishes creativity from intelligence. Makes a further distinction between proactive and reactive creativity and points out some shortcomings of existing tests of creativity. (SLD)

Discusses the relationship between play and creativity and reviews research studies that suggest that play does facilitate creativity and studies that have found relations between affective processes in play and creativity. Outlines directions for future research into play and creativity. (SLD)

Expresses a view of creativity that posits that creativity is widely distributed, suggesting that nearly every individual has the mental capacity to construct the personal interpretations involved in creativity. Creativity is, then, something that can be found in every child. (SLD)

Contains general background and pertinent context that relate to creativity programs and their effectiveness from a disciplinary or instructiveness point of view. Discusses what constitutes a "program" and elaborates on disciplinary characteristics and creativity. (SLD)