Traditional School System Research Articles

An Attributional Analysis of Student Demoralization in Physical Education Settings

In recent years, the roles of cognitive and emotional processes in student demoralization have become important research topics. Drawing from the educational and sport psychology research literature, this paper (a) presents an attributional analysis of chronic failure experiences in physical education settings, (b) identifies and describes two important antecedents of student demoralization; namely, the competitive achievement structures of our traditional school systems and reactive teaching behaviors, and (c) outlines equity teaching approaches, proactive teaching styles, and reattribution training as potential remedies for chronic student failure experiences. The suggestion is made that teachers of physical education need to be sensitized to attribution theory if they are to fully understand both the adaptive and maladaptive implications of their own teaching behaviors, and that they should enhance the motivation of all students, not just those who currently excel.

P.-C.-F. Daunou, organisateur de l'Instruction Publique (1789-1797)

P.C.F. Daunou was among the major specialists of the questions of education during the Revolutionary period. In 1789-90, he proposed alterations aimed at changing and «regenerating» the traditional school system which was to be, to his mind, placed under the tutelage of the public authorities. After 1793, Daunou abandoned the notion of a national education in favour of that of public instruction. His «Essai» counts among the most important projects for the school of the time. For example he developed in it the idea that the State shouldn't organise and support all the school grades, but only take care of the primary schools. A few staterun secondary schools and a system of scholarchips reduced the scope of his educative liberalism. Part of these options appeared in the 3 Brumaire IV order, allso called the Daunou Act. Firmly atteched to the freedom of choice in education and to the freedom of charge for elementary school pupils, the former Boulogne Oratorian, had, because of the impecuniosity of the national treasury, to restrain his generous ambitions.

The Hungarian Education Act of 1985: a study in decentralisation

(1) Ideologically committed educational groups: relatively homogeneous, with an idea of the educational system based on a theory of unified polytechnical training, which would develop an almost unified educational provision obligatory for every body up to the age of 18. (2) Ideologically less committed groups of economic planners, concerned with the long-range planning of the national economy, and linked with the institutional networks of economic planning. Since the education service had to provide a labour force for a relatively backward economy, these groups urged the development of a system which would turn out most young people at 16 for simple manual work. (3) Ideologically committed vocational education groups, concerned with the development of vocational education and its integration into a traditional school system so that education would take precedence over merely vocational training. These groups urged the preservation of the existing educational system as a pre-condition for the expansion of vocational education. (4) Ideologically less committed education groups, growing stronger since the mid1970s, trying to work out a rational theory of society and taking account of the fact of socio-economic development. These groups think in terms of a differentiated school structure and wish to preserve the secondary school in its existing form but do not exclude some possible extensions. Conflict between those four interests was resolved in an arena (not generally accessible to the public at large), where bargains and compromises could be made. In terms of systems analysis, within a closed political system it was possible to identify relatively few gatekeepers involved in the authoritative allocation of values. During the 1970s Halasz identified some growth in the strength of professional and less ideological educational interests; and when

Nondyslexic children with combined writing and arithmetic learning disabilities.

A common presenting problem of children in pediatric practice is the constellation of symptoms involving difficulty in completing assignments, trouble with written work, and organizational problems. Typically, these children do not have difficulty with reading but show problems with academic achievement. We have recently studied 29 children, aged 7 to 13, referred for learning problems. They were not dyslexic, that is their reading abilities were normal, but they had significant difficulty with written tests and assignments and problems with arithmetic. In addition to difficulty with eye-hand coordination as measured by a test of visual motor integration, these children showed poor performance on short-term memory tasks when compared with children who do not have writing or arithmetic problems. Suggested treatments include the use of tape recorders, typewriters, and calculators to help compensate for the writing and short-term memory difficulties associated with these learning problems. The pediatrician, acting as child advocate, can exert influence within the traditional school system to gain acceptance for use of learning aids by children with a developmental output disability.

Achievement Anxiety with Respect to Reference Groups in School

AbstractReference group theory predicts that students of low ability in good classes feel worse than students of high ability in poor classes. With this in mind a field study was conducted in West Germany where a traditional school system provides three types of schools at different academic levels. Achievement anxiety was measured on 1,479 fifth- and eight-graders attending these three tracks. An interaction between type of school and grade level confirmed the expectation that after some years in a selective system students display a paradox pattern of well-being. Theoretically, reference group theory and test anxiety theory were tied together by focussing on self-evaluations in a social context.

Text anxiety research in Western Germany: A review

Text anxiety research in West German schools is explored and measures currently used are described. Test anxiety is examined in relation to academic achievement research and theory. Distinctions between state and trait anxiety and between worry and emotionality are discussed. Test anxiety is investigated both in the traditional tripartite school system as well as in the non-traditional unitary comprehensive school. Results of several longitudinal studies point to the findings that there are socialization effects as explained by reference group theory and that these effects also are specific to the particular learning environment which the students experience in each school system. Future directions of test anxiety research in West German schools are explored.

Differences between media and differences between learners: Can we relate them?

The paper takes as its starting-point the generally undisputed assumption that there are educationally relevant differences between learners and between different types of media and that an appropriate match between these fields will lead to an improvement of learning. The first section looks at how the traditional school system has attempted to tackle the problem of the individual learner and the use of media. The second section surveys different attempts to define and investigate differences between media, and considers in depth the relationship between media taxonomies and instructional media research. A similar survey is made of attempts to define differences between learners and to relate them to media; this survey centres on the field of aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) research. The closing section focusses on the chances of the individual learner participating in controlling his own conditions of learning within institutions using media-based or media-supported instruction.

In General Administration

During the first thirty years of this century, educational research in general, and in educational administration in particular, took its color from two circumstances. First it dealt largely with finding out how to do better those things which education had always done and which it was assumed it would continue to do. How could a traditional type school system be made to run more smoothly and effectively was the great question. Second, research was focused upon the more easily measured phases of the educational enter prise which, incidentally, were of least significance to individual and group well-being. In short, too many who conducted research in education ap proached their work with little social and educational insight and were easily satisfied when they had adapted statistical and other research techniques borrowed from the physical sciences to the phases of education which could be explored by these methods.