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The following papers from a conference dealing with the interaction of adult learning, educational practice, and cultural context are presented: "Radical Adult Education: Back to Basics" (Allman, Wallis); "Teaching To Be Competent" (Armstrong); "Universities and Adult Education: A New Relationship?" (Boud, McDonald); "Theories-in-Use, Reflective Practice and the Teaching of Adults: Professional Culture in Practice" (Bright); "Changing Culture of Medical Education: Teaching What We Know" (Crandall); "And Finally: Changing Cultures of Educational Institutions and Practices" (Duke); "Culture Change/Changing Culture: 'Multi-skilling' the Practitioner in Post-Compulsory Education and Training" (Edwards); "Situating Access to Higher Education in Its Political Culture" (Fieldhouse, Benn); "A Culture of Change? Perspectives on Adult Education in the Workplace" (Hamilton); "Changes in Adult Education Policy and the Impact on 'Client Groups' with Specific Reference to Gender" (Hester, Florence); "The Culture of Difference: Women's Education Re-Examined" (Malcolm); "Adult Learning and Cultural Change in an M.Ed Course: The Case of the Examiners" (Miller, Fletcher); "Adult Education and the Changing Research Context" (Murphy); "Lessons in Citizenship: University Adult Education and Modernity" (Steele); "Employers and the Continuing Education of Employees with Particular Reference to Employee Development Programmes" (Taylor); "New Cultural Contexts for University Adult Education: The Potential of Partnerships with Non-Traditional Agencies" (Thomson); "Nine Facets of Continuing Education for the Professions" (Watson); "Cultures and Double Beings: Linking Adult Learners and Their Environments" (Zeldin); and "Cultural Conflicts: Adult and Further Education Teacher Training in Higher Education" (Zukas). (MN)

The youth-led revolutions that rocked the Arab world earlier this year have refocused attention on the region's 100 million-strong youth demographic and its critical role in the transformation of existing political, economic, and social structures in the Middle East and North Africa. Youth under the age of 25 represent an estimated and unprecedented 60 percent of the region's population, and in many of the region's countries, approximately 30 percent of the population is between the ages of 15 and 29. They have heightened expectations for themselves and their societies, but are constrained by the economic and political realities in which they live. The current demands of Arab youth for change are rooted in deep frustrations with the existing status quo--not least of which is the failure of the social contract for advancement that should be offered by higher education. Despite more than a decade of dramatic expansion--in enrollment, female participation, numbers of institutions, and programs--higher education in the Arab world continues to fall far short of the needs of students, employers, and society at large. In most countries, the majority of students are enrolled in institutions that lack key human and physical resources for success and suffer from overcrowding and poor quality. Efforts to address these chronic problems have had only marginal success. High unemployment among university graduates is only one measure of the reality of an educational system that is not producing graduates with the skills needed to succeed in the modern global economy and economies that are not producing opportunities for massive numbers of new entrants. Higher education has a critical role to play in the national and regional restructuring of Arab economic and political institutions that is currently underway. The long term success or failure of today's reform initiatives will rest, to a large degree, on the ability of these societies to place higher education where it belongs--as the engine of social and economic progress. The new pressures for political change may provide a unique opportunity to break free from some of the obstacles that have held back meaningful educational changes in the past. This working group, convened at the 2011 U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Washington, DC, brought together educators, specialists, and public sector officials from the United States and the Middle East to review the current state of higher education in the Arab world and consider the key challenges facing this critical sector of society. How are different actors in the diverse landscape of Arab higher education advancing or impeding the goals of improving educational outcomes? To what degree do regional partnerships and cooperative efforts offer opportunities to overcome local obstacles in specific areas? Finally, where has important progress been made and what policy responses and initiatives should be encouraged to improve the ability of Arab educational institutions to meet the challenges of this transformational period? (Contains 11 footnotes.) [The 2011 U.S.-Islamic World Forum was convened by Safwan Masri and Katherine Wilkens. This report was produced by the Saban Center at Brookings

Access to quality education for all children is a common mantra for countless national and world organizations, such as the UN and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper examines the struggle within two nations who continue to move beyond the impact of racial segregation in the United States (US) and "apartheid" in South Africa (SA) to achieve equitable access to quality education for all children, regardless of race, ethnicity, language, or socio-economic status (SES). The paper begins with an overview of the historical paths both nations followed in their slow evolution away from harsh segregation and "apartheid" governance designed to provide unequal educational opportunities for its youth. Beyond these historical sketches is a brief review of theoretical perspectives to help explain how unequal systems of education are maintained and how they can be transformed into agents of positive social change. This is followed by an examination of factors in both the US and SA that are capable of sustaining unequitable access to quality education while providing disproportional levels of negativity such as suspensions or dropping out (or being "pushed out") of school based on a child's race, gender, ethnicity or SES. The paper concludes by asking (at least in the US case), whether the "way forward" may be guided by examples of the past, such as the quality of education provided to Black children in the era of legally segregated Black schools in America's South. [For the complete Volume 19 proceedings, see ED613922.]

Globalization is an evolving concept characterized by economic, technological, social, and political dimensions. Vocational education and training (VET) practitioners and the VET system must make more conscious efforts to lead thinking about the social dimension of globalization. The mission of Australian VET today is largely couched in economic terms--to ensure a skilled work force capable of helping the country's industries become globally competitive. In Australia, much of the debate about globalization has focused on economics and technology, and the social and political dimensions of globalization have largely been side-stepped. The Australian education and training system has worked very hard to ensure that technology is pressed to the service of VET rather than falling for the trap of technological determinism. The challenge is not so much to invest in the technologies but to more quickly and effectively apply the technologies for the purposes of vocational learning and for using them to transact VET business. The following issues related to the social dimensions of globalization remain vitally important to the development and delivery of VET: access; Australian cultural identity; and community. Australia's VET practitioners and leaders must support a community-building purpose for VET and work to enhance the stock of social capital in their communities. (MN)

These proceedings contain the following 12 papers on comparative adult education: "Adult Education as Concept and Structure: An Agenda for Research" (Colin Titmus); "Report on the Context and State of Comparative Adult Education and on Four Publications" (Alexander N. Charters); "Comparative Adult Education Research: Methods and Materials" (Dilnawaz A. Siddiqui); "Adult Education and Social Change: A Comparison of Canada and Sweden" (Kjell Rubenson); "Comparative Study of Adult Education Institutions and Organizations between the United States and Japan by the Use of Characteristics Mirroring Analyses" (Alexander N. Charters and Seiichiro Miura); "Andragogy and China: Cross-Cultural Considerations" (Daniel D. Pratt); "Participatory Research: Are Adult Education Graduate Programs Ready for It?" (Beverly Benner Cassara); "A Comparative Analysis of Recent North American Research on Women and Minorities" (Jovita Martin Ross); "Agricultural Extension Worldwide: Socio-Political, Organizational and Programmatic Characteristics" (William M. Rivera); "A Comparative Study of Andragogy (Adult Education) as a Field of Academic Study in the World" (Claude Touchette); "The Adult Education Center in Germany as a Case of Social Change and Cross-Cultural Comparison" (Klaus Harney); and "Adult Education World-Wide--Revisited" (Jost Reischmann). (KC)

Within recent years, there has been a trend of students (traditional and nontraditional) travelling abroad, more particularly to the United States, with the view of pursuing higher education at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Among the most popular influential factors to obtain higher education internationally are government and private scholarships, international exposure and experience, professional development, and a quality of education that could not have been obtained locally. Despite the accelerant that ignited the desire for travel, most students are not prepared for the vast social and cultural difference in the educational system. However international students are resilient, adapt and are successful and often result in them transforming as individuals. This qualitative study examined the effects of U.S. based education on Bahamian students, from the perspective of transformational learning theory. Emphasis was placed on the extent to which these students' international learning experiences transformed them into scholars of positive social change within their respective fields of study. Data were collected utilizing semi structured interviews of 10 Bahamian students. All of the participants were born in The Bahamas, but traveled to the United States to pursue higher education as a nontraditional adult learner. The study results provide a foundational platform for current and future Bahamian adult learners pursuing higher education in the United States. [For the full proceedings, see ED581791.]

This paper examines the pace of economic and social change in the Pacific Rim region, discussing the role that universities should play in mediating such change. It addresses five major issues pertaining to the role of universities: (1) the individual university's role in human resource development; (2) the relationship between universities and the greater community in regard to human resource development; (3) the relationships among universities within a single nation in regard to human resource development; (4) international cooperation among universities to foster human resource development; and (5) appropriate safeguards related to university autonomy. To address these challenges, universities need to emphasize applied and interdisciplinary curricula, enhance program delivery systems, develop centers for applied research, link universities via telecommunications networks, sponsor community education centers, and assure the quality of their educational programs. (MDM)

This essay examines Presidential rhetoric and popular culture practices in light of the stages of grief enumerated by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. The authors find a consistent retrenchment of grief into the anger phase, where the pain of losing national invulnerability is transferred to externalized aggression. Reconciliation is suggested by means of enriching appreciation for formalized rituals associated with grief and loss.

Understanding the current conflicts and political changes in the Middle East us important for American educators if American students are to understand the dynamics of the region. To discuss these issues, FPRI held its 12th History Institute for Teachers on October 16-17, 2004. Forty teachers from 15 states attended the weekend program at the Gregg Conference Center in Bryn Mawr, PA, sponsored by Mason Crest Publishers and Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Fox. Sessions included: (1) The Future of Saudi Arabia and What al-Qaeda Websites Tell Us (Michael Doran); (2) Iraqi Democracy (Eric Davis); (3) U. S. Policy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Harvey Sicherman); (4) The Role of Syria, Jordan, and Egypt (Najib Ghadbian); (5) Economics, Demography and Oil (Bernard Munk); (6) Women in the Middle East (Beth Baron); and (7) The Next Middle East (Robert D. Kaplan.) Additional FPRI resources are listed.

This document contains eight papers from a conference on fugitive forms of social knowledge that was sponsored by the Adult Education Research Conference (AERC) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Allies Caucus. The welcome address, "Working Memory at AERC: A Queer Welcome...and a Retrospective" (Bob Hill), explores the emergence and development of research with and by lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and Queer learners in the context of the AERC. The authors and titles of the seven conference papers are as follows: "Sobears: Finding Space, Seeking Community" (John Egan); "Gay and Lesbian Issues in Chinese Social Context" (Robert Lee); "How Lesbians Learn to Negotiate the Heterosexism of Corporate America" (Julie Gedro); "Building a Queer Cultural Change Network in Alberta through Community and University Initiatives" (Andre P. Grace, Kristopher Wells); "So You Know about the Queers: What Campus Environment Studies Say about Queer Knowledge Production" (N.Y. Gulley); "Changing from the Inside Out: Transformative Learning and the Development of GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered) Sexual Identities among Adults" (Kathleen P. King); and "In Solidarity: Using Community Health Education to Build Queer Peace in Kosovo and Japan" (Robert C. Mizzi). The Hill, Lee, Gedro, Gulley, and King papers contain substantial bibliographies. (MN)

This study examines the changed and changing mission of community colleges in the 1990s in the United States and Canada. By narrowing the focus to the geographical area of the Pacific/ Western region, the study seeks to identify the development of international cultural connections consistent with the region and to explain how the globalization process affected college behaviors. Seven colleges were visited twice by a team of researchers over a two-year period. Interviews were conducted with key personnel. The researchers found that in the 1990s, community college leaders embraced a liberal technological philosophy of education, which assumes that education is instrumental and that the technology is part of a global economy where advanced education is best oriented to skills development and marketplace relevance. As a result, the mission of the community college became oriented to economic concerns and to the requirements of the private sector. The new vocationalism in the community college mission addressed the needs of the middle class and the engines of the economy. The institutions' mission also encompassed the acquisition of resources and the prudent ministering of their own financial resources. Colleges also gave considerable attention to multiculturalism and diversity, as reflected in hiring practices, curricula, and extra-curricular activities. (Contains 30 endnotes.) (JA)

This study used a Vygotskian perspective to compare child rearing values and beliefs of parents, especially in regard to self-directed activities of children, in the United States, Russia, and Estonia. Participating were 60 families, evenly divided by society and social class (middle or working class), each with a child between 28 and 45 months old. Families were located in Greensboro, North Carolina; Obninsk, Russia; and Tartu, Estonia. Interview and questionnaire data were collected from parents, and observational data were obtained from children observed in their everyday activities for 20 hours during 1 week, focusing on academic lessons, skill/nature lesson, play with academic objects, and conversation with adults. Findings indicated that middle-class parents rated self-direction higher, and control and discipline lower, than working-class parents, and were less likely to be concerned with spoiling their children by giving attention than were working-class parents. There were no cultural differences in parent values and beliefs. Children in Obninsk and Tartu were far more likely than those from Greensboro to be involved in skill/nature lesson. Middle-class children were more likely than working-class counterparts to be involved in academic or skill/nature lessons, except in Obninsk, where there were no social class differences in academic lessons. Middle-class children were more likely to initiate the activities of interest than were their working-class counterparts. (Contains 17 references.) (KB)

During the 20th century there has been a widespread pattern of language shift among the indigenous communities of the United States and Canada. The language-of-work hypothesis posits that if the national language is used as the language of work for virtually all jobs in a minority-language community, the national language will, within a few generations, replace the minority language as language of the home as well. This language shift involves a series of steps: (1) indigenous language groups moving from kinship-based economies to wage-based economies; (2) a significant portion of community members using a language other than their mother tongue in the workplace; (3) a change in views as to what language skills children will need to prepare for the future; and (4) parents making the national language the language of their children. Other factors promoting language shift may include improved transportation and communication, government policy, intercultural marriages, etiquette, and intolerance. Language shift retardants may include religious use of the minority language, population size, linguistic similarity, and viability of traditional means of earning a living. Related theories for language shift are discussed with emphasis on their ties with the language-of-work hypothesis. Two appendices describe application of the hypothesis in three types of language-based work environments. Contains 44 references. (SAS)

This document contains 14 papers presented at an annual symposium sponsored by Northern Illinois University's Department of Leadership and Educational Policy Studies and College of Education. First, information about the symposium's history and participants is presented. The following papers constitute the remainder of the document: "Eliminating Barriers through Language" (Rosita L. Marcano); "African-American Males Marshaling Self-Reliance through a Social Movement: The Million Man March" (Johnnie Crowder); "Black Liberation vs. Feminism in the Writings of Two Black Feminists" (Tarina Galloway); "Where Do We Stand? A Statistical Portrait of Latino and African-American Chicago" (Margaret Villanueva, Brian Erdman, Larry Howlett); "Building Bridges to Underserved Populations: Implications for African and Latin Americans" (William H. Young); "Afro-Latins in America" (Georges Germain); "Voter Empowerment and Adult Education: A Social Change Perspective" (James E. Hunt); "Removing the Barriers for the Economically Disadvantaged from Achieving Higher Education in Chile" (Ronald Everett, Rosita Marcano, Glenn Smith); "Infusing Diversity in a Research Course: A Social Constructivist Approach" (Wanda D. Bracy); "Building Bridges between Latina/o and African-American Leaders" (George Gutierrez, Mary Heather Hannah, Keith Armstrong); "Knowing Self, Communicating, and Integrating with Others in a Common Goal to Succeed through Education" (George Gutierrez, Sylvia Fuentes, Susan Timm); "Perspectives of African-American Enlisted Military Personnel on Military/Civilian Learning" (Patricia Easley, Pamela Jones); "Multicultural Experiences in Literary Consciousness: Lessons for African/Latin-American Alliances" (Sandra J. Rainey); and "Using Local and Ethnic Poetry to Improve Basic Writing Skills" (Jane Mueller Ungari). (MN)