Showing papers in "European Journal of Education in 1980"

Origins and destinations : family, class, and education in modern Britain

Abstract: A study of the educational experience of Englishmen and Welshmen from the First World War to the 1970s, offering answers to such questions as whether standards have declined, and if there is a class bias in education.

Accountability and Control

Abstract: Amidst all the changes that higher education has seen and continues to undergo, one issue remains constant. It is the dialectic between academic freedom on the one hand and accountability on the other. Depending on how one answers the question 'Freedom for whom and to do what?' and 'Accountability to whom?', so the nature of higher education, its task and its responsibilities differ. Almost two centuries agin I798the German philosopher Kant sought to reconcile these apparently conflicting principles. Three faculties, he argued, were rightly the object of state intervention on the grounds that their exercise had considerable influence on the people and the well-being of the state. Amongst these first faculties were Theology, Medicine and Law. That distinguished them from the fourth faculty, which was Philosophy, was their regulation by government statute. Philosophy, he argued, did not fall under the constraints of the state. Concerned with the pursuit of scholarship and truth, it is free to judge the teaching of the other faculties. And since Man is by nature free, and thus not under any constraint but the pursuit of truth, state regulation of the philosophical faculty was inappropriate [I]. The development of mass higher education has been accompanied by what can only be termed a polarisation around these twin issues of freedom and accountabiliry. For some, academic freedom acts as an ideology, hiding the fact that higher education is wholly at the service of the ruling groups in society or working in defence of the established social and economic order. For others, academic freedom constitutes the prime condition, the fundamental guarantee that the 'search for truth can be pursued somewhere without restraint'. According to Karl Jaspers,

Educational Planning and the Labour Market.

Abstract: The role of education in modem society is very complex. Formal schooling transforms the individual in a number of ways. Part of the new attributes acquired because of school attendance relate to the performance of the individual later in life as a responsible citizen. Other attributes relate to the performance of women as mothers or housewives. And of course education provides the individual with specific vocational skills to be used in the world of work. These diverse and mostly overlapping educational objectives are often found not only in the educational plans of many nations, but sometimes in the Constitution itself.

Computerised Tailored Testing: Structured and calibrated Item for Summative and Formative Evaluation

Abstract: Educational Evaluation in Progress An educational evaluation is always part of a regulation process, and regulation processes in education have already been fully discussed elsewhere (D. Leclercq, I976, I978a and 1978b). Evaluation serves objectives that can be obvious, or that can be less evident, such as abilities certification (and thus selection), achievement prediction (and thus orientation), and individual proceedings analysis (formative purpose). The first two functions of evaluation (selection and orientation) have been developed in education since the beginning of this century in the field of psychometrics. The key-concepts are those of traditional test theory, i.e., test standardization, validity, reliability, and accuracy of scores. Psychometrics corresponds to summative evaluation, that seeks one stable and representative score. The third function of evaluation (formation) seeks analytical and causal information. The mastery learning approach has been settled on the principles of early diagnosis and immediate remedial treatment. Behaviourists, such as B. F. Skinner, have shown that a frequent and quick feedback can have a positive effect on the acquisition of abilities. Mastery learning illustrates the educationists' awareness of the dangerous 'normal curve myth', so that 'edumetrics' can now be developed. More recently, other methods have appeared, enabling self-regulation (self-diagnosis, self-correction, etc.) and self-assessment (in which the student expresses, by means of subjective probabilities, how confident he is of the correctness of his answer). A number of theoretical and practical works dealing with this problem have been published (D. Leclercq, 1975 and I977a, b and c). Not only do these methods open up new prospects for educational assessment, but they also offer the advantage of placing the student at the centre of his own learning, of having him assume the responsibility for his competence, and of getting him involved in his own development. Meanwhile, psychometrics has also evolved. The traditional test theory has been thoroughly revised in the light of the 'generalisability theory' (Cronbach et al., I972, and Tourneur & Cardinet, I978). The concepts of individual ability (A) and item difficulty (D) have been re-examined in the light of the Rasch model, in which the probability of a right answer to an item depends only on the individual's ability (A) and on the difficulty of the item (D). This probability is noted P(i I A, D), where P stands for 'probability', i for 'success', and the sign I means 'given'. The two parameters (A) and (D) are expressed in the same units and plotted on the same (horizontal) scale of measurement.

Teacher Socialisation and Teaching Style in an Irish Cultural Context.

Abstract: Of the many developments and changes in primary education in the Irish Republic during the past decade, the most notable has been the phased introduction in I97I of what came to be known as the new Curriculum. A draft copy of the New Curriculum was received by the primary teachers' association, The Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), in September I968 and published by them in their oicial journal in February I969. Having discussed the document at local level, a report was submitted to the Department of Education and in I97I the Prima?y School Curnculum, Teacher's Handbook, Part I (Deparcment of Education, I97I) was published and issued to teachers. Greatly influenced by bod the content and spirit of the Plowden Report (Central Advisory Council for Education, I967) the New Curriculum was meant to facilitate a greater flexibility and child-centredness in learning and curriculum organisation. In the seciions on Aims and Functions and on The Structure of the Curriculum the following recognisable sentiments concerning child development, learning and curriculum organisation appear:

From 'Europhoria' to Pragmatism: towards a new start for higher education co-operation in Europe?

Abstract: The Macro-Climate: changing attitudes towards Europe and their influence on higher education co-operation At first glance, the scene did indeed appear to be set for dramatic events: in Brussels, the Ministers of Education of the Nine approved a far-reaching 22-point Action Programme ill tlle field of education; ill Strasbourg, the Council of Europe's Special Project Mobiliqr published its findings; in Helsinki, the governments of East and West launched what was to be a new era in the promotion of security and co-operation, not least in the field of higher education and research. Whatever the definition of 'Europe', new and exciting possibilities seemed to beckon. Few would contend that the expectations have been fulfilled. Charges of "infeciious protectionism" and "xenophobic tendencies" [I] on the part of national governments still abound; prolonged political wrangling has caused the repeated postponement of a crucial meeting of Ministers at Community level, and it hardly be taken as

Social Limits on Educational Technology

Abstract: This paper employs the perspective of a social psychologist in an attempt to understand and analyse the problems involved in implementing new forms of technology in education. It begins by reviewing educational technologists' own admissions of current problems together with their prescriptions for improvement. As a result, a conspicuous omission in their theorizing and thinking is revealed, namely the social context within which learning takes place. This leads us first to some general proposals concerning ways in which a social psychological perspective might help to facilitate understanding of the disappointments of recent years; and secondly to some suggestions concerning specific social limitations on the take-up and use of new technology.

The Value of Simulations and Games in the Teaching of Science.

Abstract: Although games and simulations (in the broadest sense) have been played for amusement for thousands of years, the application of game and simulation techniques to education and training is a comparatively recent development. The use of games as a method of training was first developed for military purposes. Chess, which originates from the sixth century, was perhaps the first war game, but it was not until I798 that games involving the use of maps were used in military training (Thomas, I957). The techniques of war games have since been developed to an extremely high degree of realism and sophistication. It was over I50 years after their introduction into military training that the next major use for games and simulations was developed, namely in business management training. As in military applications, the techniques were used to bridge the gap between formal academic instruction and on-the-job training. In 1956, the American Management Association produced the first business game-a decision-making simulation exercise for potential executives (Riccardi, I957). Since then, the use of such techniques has spread rapidly throughout the western world, and a wide range of exercises, of various degrees of complexity, have been produced at all levels from school to in-service industrial training (Hart, I978). In 1962, gaming and simulation methods were introduced into teacher training, the early exercises taking the form of simulated teaching situations and problems in simulated schools (Hemphill, Griffiths & Frederiken, 1962; Kersh, 1962). Further developments quickly followed in other areas, particularly in the teaching of social studies, geography, international relations and urban development (Walford, 1968; van der Eyken, 1968; Taylor, I97I). During the last decade, however, the techniques have been used in an ever-increasing range of other subjects, including language training, mathematics, engineering and the sciences. It is in this last area that the authors have been working since I973. This article begins by explaining the potential role of games and simulations in science teaching, and then describes some of the exercises that have been developed by the authors. Finally, it explores the possible future role of the micro-computer, and particularly the ways in which the micro-computer and simulations can be used in distance learning.

Myths and Realities of Mass Secondary Schooling in Italy.

Abstract: The last two decades have witnessed an unprecedented expansion in all educational sectors, to which that of secondary education has been no exception [i]. Enrolments in secondary schools more than doubled during the I960s, further increasing by about 50% in the I970s: as a result, the student population rose from 762,000 in 1960 to 2,386,00o in 1979 (see Table i). Although demographic trends, including the post-war 'baby boom' influenced this growth, especially in the first half of the I960s, most of the expansion was due to the continuously rising individual demand for longer education, clearly reflected in the enrolment rates which more than doubled between I959 and I975 (see Table II). Whereas in I959, only one fourteen-year-old in three was still at school, the corresponding proportion for I975 was three in four. And the relative increase was even larger for those aged I8, their enrolment rate rising from 12 to 36% over the same period. In less than twenty years, therefore, a situation in which only a minority of the teenage population continued secondary education after reaching the legal minimum school-leaving age [2] has given way to one in which the majority stay at school. In this article, I intend to examine the extent to which the enrolment rates are a good indicator of the extension of schooling. Admittedly, a glance at these rates suggests that there has been a transition from elite to mass secondary education, and that what was formerly the preserve of a minority is now experienced by the majority. Yet it seems pertinent to determine the extent to which this applies to all teenagers; to search for possible differences according to variables such as sex, social class and region: in short, to ascertain whether mass secondary schooling is really as homogeneous as the epithet 'mass' tends to imply. In order to answer these questions, one has to examine how far the expansion of the secondary sector has been paralleled by democratization or, in other words, by a reduction in ineqaulity in both access to, and participation in, education at this level [3]. Enrolment rates by age and sex are a first indicator of the process of democratization. According to the most recent data available (I975), sexual inequality, albeit reduced, is still substantial, with female enrolment rates five to nine points lower than those for boys of the same age (see Table III). This inequality is even more marked in a regional breakdown in which female enrolment rates in southern Italy are always the lowest (see Table IV), but in which also, somewhat surprisingly, rates for both sexes are much higher in central Italy than in the north. The main reason for this is probably the different labour market situation in the north where, with higher labour force participation rates and lower unemployment rates, teenagers have more employment opportunities than their counterparts elsewhere. At the same time, family income in central Italy is high enough to allow many to use school as a 'parking area', a far less likely tactic in the south. As a whole,

Public Administration and Organizational Development: Swedish higher education in the light of six theoretical models

Abstract: the complexities involved in policies that depend on decisions taken at the multiple and sometimes conflicting levels of a system of higher education. Based on the Swedish example, this article examines and criticizes some of the current models employed in analysing developments in this field. I shall argue that many of them suffer from a weak conceptual framework and that different models tend to emphasize different aspects of the data, not always in a complementary manner. In this paper I shall pay particular attention to five models or explicatory frameworks employed to analyse innovation and change in higher education. These are the elite, mass and universal model developed by Trow, the Rational Decision Model, an Incremental Model, a Political Model and, finally, what has been termed by Cohen, March & Olsen, the 'Garbage Can' Model. In conclusion, the paper suggests that a new framework is needed based upon what may be termed a 'Public Administration' Model. The empirical data with which this paper is concerned relate to the post-war development of the Swedish system of higher education. The raw material is almost inexhaustible and could concern the growth of student numbers, the expansion of various kinds of professional and administrative personnel, and the introduction of egalitarian admission criteria-all socially relevant; and there exist a number of corresponding choices as to what data to report. Some may be selected for their political relevance, others for their significance in descriptions of higher education systems, and yet others for their appropriateness in some historical description. Often, in discussions of this kind, problems of selection are left to be handled by 'implicit' criteria, or are subject to several different confusing principles. Here, however, the task of selecting empirical information is to be solved by means of a theoretical approach, without which there is no limit to the relevant facts to be reported, so that any other form of circumscription would be random or arbitrary. Far from being self-sufficient, data have to be interpreted, examined from various angles, and arranged into some kind of structure. Problems of iatelpietation are often handled through the application of firmly established inherited traditional concepts, which are always readily available but clouded by ambiguity and vagueness. A theoretical

The Organisational Problems of Combining Teaching and Research: Humboldt, Weber, and the Polish Experience.

Abstract: Theoretical constructions-seemingly distant from reality but constituting, as it were, ideal blueprints-are extremely helpful in describing and analysing complex organisational systems. In the general theory of organisation, such a part is played by the Weberian concept of bureaucracy. Though modern organisations rarely correspond to Weber's model, de latter can be of great value when analysing an existing organisational structure and the way it works. Itldeed, it is paradoxical that, since Weber's iime, a more universal and useful cognitive model has not been constructed in this field. \Vith respect to higher education, a similar function to that of the Weberian model is fulfilled to this day by the concept of the university created by Humboldt. Central to this concept was the idea of an organic link between the creation of knowledge and its subsequent transference, an idea forming the basis for the establishment, by Humboldt, of Berlin Universitzr, which played a highly significant and positive role in shaping Prussian State and society. It is important to underline that, in contrast to the descriptive concepts of Weber, Humboldt's concept enjoyed a material existence in the shape of the University and its activities, a fact which served to emphasise its basic strengths and weakrlesses. I stress this because the concept subsequently became (almost certaitlly contrary to the itltentions of its creator) a cognitive model of the organisational system of an institutiotl of higher education, a kind of ideal type. Over time, Humboldt's ideal of the unit of research and teaching began to inhibit development of these two areas of activity. Social and economic advancement was increasingly rapid. The classical university could no longer ensure adequate training for those employed in administration and business, and so new types of higher educational establishment, whose aims were professional rather than academic, started to appear. Much the same applied to scientific research, since the key requirement of industrial development was the possibility of applying research rather than freedom to carry it out. Consequently, the classical German university contrasted with the emergence in all economically developed countries of serious competitors. And these new institutions of higher education, oriented mainly towards professional training of students, as well as great industrial laboratories and institutes, were later supplemented by research organisations established and supervised by the state. The initial reaction of the university was one of withdrawal, as what was progressive in classical terms came to be viewed as retrograde and non-functional. This was noted by Weber himself, for whom observaiion of the century-long implementation of Humboldt's ideal was one of the basic premises of the theory of bureaucracy [I]. The counter-trend, which according to Weber and many of his contemporaries,

Expenditure on Higher Education in Europe: Past Trends and Future.

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present an overview of trends in expenditure on higher education in I9 European countries, including six Eastern countries The statistical data used in the analysis come mainly from UNESCO and the OECD The former has now been collecting statistics on education expenditure on a regular basis since the midI960S These are based on questionnaires completed regularly by national education authorities at the request ofthe UNESCO Office of Statistics and fed into its data bank [I] Data on teachers and enrolments in Eastern Europe are also from UNESCO The OECD has spent a lot of time collecting homogeneous statistics on enrolments in higher education in its area since I965 Standardised according to definitions similar for all its member countries, this material provides a good basis for international comparisons among Western European nations, and was used in the present analysis In some cases, it was necessary to complement it with information from national sources A few cautionary remarks about the reliability of statistics on higher education expenditure are in order There is no doubt that these figures are subject to a certain margin of error because of differences of definitions both between countries and over time within one country The 'boundaries' of higher education are not always easy to recognise and, even if they are agreed, the multiplicity of institutional authorities responsible for spending on higher educaiion quickly discourages the search for thorough statistical comprehensiveness Obviously, a law of (liminishing retllrns applies here since the search for accuracy at all costs is worthwhile only if the additional insight resulting from more accurate data is likely to alter significantly the conclusions of the analysis In the case of the present study which is heavily focused on comparisons across countries and over time [2], further difficulties arise, first, from reference to official exchange rates for converting national currencies into a common standard (the US dollar) and, secondly, from the use of the general price index for gauging inflation Thile exchange rates seldom represent purchasing power parities, especially in the case of the Eastern countries, it can be argued that, even if available, these parities would not adequately reflect relative changes in the cost of higher education The general price index is also no more than a convenient substitute for the 'accurate' price index for higher education, which should be computed on the basis of the price changes of its various components, including teachers' salaries, facilities, equipment and so on In our view, these reservations concerning statistical accuracy do not matter much provided researchers avoid two traditional pitfalls The first consists in inferring too much from the data: in other words, no drastic conclusions should be drawn from a sllclclen change in one single statistical indicator; on the contrary, there should be an emphasis on consistency in trends eventually leading to the emergence of broad patterns and typologies The second pitfall consists inrefusing to acceptany conclusions on the grounds that 'all the data are bound to be incorrect' This attitude is commonly encountered

Education for Retirement

Abstract: There has been considerable development in Europe in recent years of the concept of lifelong education. An important aspect of this concept is the recognition of the special educational needs of increasing numbers of older persons who are about to retire or who have retired. The purpose of this paper is to suggest some of the considerations which educators must take into account when planning educational programmes in the light of the profound changes in the basic life-cycle pattern of education/work/retirement which is a feature of contemporary European society. A number of such programmes currently offered in some European countries including a note on the establishment of the Universities of the Third Age are presented.

Advisory Councils in a Centralised Educational System: A Case-Study From France.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyse the roles and structures of advisory councils in the centralised French educational system, and to propose an analytical framework for such councils (based on structures, objectives, and impact), for use elsewhere. The questions this studyis attemptingto answer are as follows: (I) what are the main features of advisory councils in a centralised educational system?; (2) how are such councils placed in the French system?; (3) what may be learnt from the French case in order to analyse the role of advisory councils in educational policy-making elsewhere? The attempt to answer these questions involved a case-study, slenling to some extent with the establishment of the Instituts universitaires de rechnologie (University Institutes of Technology, or IUTs) in France in I96566, and the part played by advisory councils in their creation. Undoubtedly, other consultative committees which influenced the educational policy process (like the Joxe Commission on te-aching) were created after I965, but these bodies were all set up on an ad hoc basis. On the other hand, standing advisory councils existing in I965 still function today.

Evaluative Research and Educational Policy-Making

Abstract: After a brief comment on the complex contexts of evaluation and policy-making the paper asks what are we doing with our main engines of evaluation-official and unofficial. Four areas are explored-the questions asked, the strategies to adopt, the acceptability of the activity and the utili7ation of the answers. In the light of the exploration six suggestions for better liaison of evaluators and their clientele are offered.

A Computer-Aided Management System in Distance Education.

Abstract: This article describes the project known as CAVA, or Computerunterstiitzte Analyse und Vergabe von Aufgaben ('computer-assisted analysis and assignment of tasks') which is being promoted both by the German Federal Ministry of Culture and Science and by the government of North Rhine Westphalia. As well as constituting a model study of the possibilities of using the computer in distance learning, CAVA is also a model project of research into computer science in education. On the one hand, the problems of computerization at the micro-, intermediate and macro-levels are observable and, on the other, there is a clear demonstration of the methods of computer science in education, comprising the four stages of systems analysis, model construction, objectification and evaluation [i]. Furthermore every system of distance study, irrespective of its size and degree of complexity, can be regarded as a miniature model of the entire educational system, as is illustrated in Fig. i. Since each form of such study is highly organized, and arguably, represents an industrialized form of teaching and learning [2], one can find in it a strong pressure towards objectification of almost all processes, with the sole exception of the elementary learning in private study (including reading of the correspondence and the development of personal study techniques). This pressure to objectification is manifested by such typical characteristics of distance studies as a fixed sequence of study materials (clearly defined courses), new courses only after achievement of an intermediate goal, standardized correction and so on. As the computer is a universal and objectified simulation carrier and therefore capable of performing the individual functions of an objectified system, either completely or in part, the possibility of applying the computer in distance studies is a highly relevant topic for computer science in education.

Educational Research in Spain.

Abstract: Tlxe Difficulties of Educational Research There is no doubt that educational research is a challenging field, more problematical in many ways than other socially orientated research. We would like to point out some of the difficulties of this research before considering the Spanish situation, and in particular the educational research carried out by the INCIE-ICES network (National Institute of Educational Sciences, and Institute of Educational Sciences) throughout itS existence, which is the real object of this study. The general features we are going to discuss can naturally be taken to refer in a greater or lesser degree to education itself, but here we propose to relate them more directly to research. On looking back, one sees the field of education as one of the social spheres most impervious to the introduction of objective and rational points of view, whether related to practice, so that it is not to be merely an art or a vocation, or to theoretical interpretation, where it has been, if not exactly theology, at least philosophy, social or other-

Is University Research on the Decline

Abstract: Science and technology are situated at the focal point of a certain number of funciions essential to the economy of the industrialised countries. Any research project, however specific and circumscribed, has implications extending beyond its immediate aims. The ultimate direction taken by any new knowledge or techniques which it uncovers, no less than its spin-off in other fields, can never be determined with certainty by those who are its prime movers. Yet it is long-term research which fashions the richest and most discursive links with society, doing so to the extent that it sets itself broader horizons, focuses on the advanced frontiers of scientific scrutiny, or grafts itself into different institutional settings, as in the case of government, industrial, or university laboratories. Long-term scientific and technological research fulfil a number of essential functions: these include preservation and strengthening of the scientific and technical infrastructure; continued capacity to stimulate progress in the possibilities opened up by new fields and to encourage fresh ideas and combinations of ideas; the moulding of new generations of scientists and engineers; the implementation of basic research intended as the source of future innovation; and the accumulation, organisation, and communication of learning. The concept of long-term research covers different research categories, ranging from basic research to the most ambitious applied research projects. This range is one in which the distinctions are by no means clearcut but in which, after all, any arbitrariness of definition is less important than the quality of the work, its capacity to extend the frontiers of learning, and its interest in terms of its possible areas of application. Moreover, the institutional location of such research affects its orientation and corresponds largely to a functional breakdown. For example, governmental laboratories are associated with research geared to strategic or social requirements which cannot be handled by oder sectors: industrial laboratories concentrate on long-term research likely to result in commercial applications while also guaranteeing the technical competence of the firm in question: and university laboratories carry out work less subject to tight (leadlines and more in accordance with the needs and conditions imposed by higher education. However, all these activities can only achieve their full potential to the extent that they are harnessed to a fully integrated research system in which the university institution plays an essential part. Conditioned by che scientists and engineers supplied by higher education, the vitality of industrial research also depends on its power to create links with research performed in this sector. Long-term research initiated in public establishments is very often destined for conversion into basic research and eventual obsolescence if it is not exposed to external influences. This explains the crucial importance of long-term research and, more particularly, university research. Its significance is not merely the result of its being research: its specific nature derives from the fact that it fulfils all the functions of long-term research,