Saturday, January 29, 2011

Globalisation And Primary Education Development In Tanzania: Prospects And Challenges

1. Overview of the Country and Primary Education System:
Tanzania covers 945,000 square kilometres, including approximately 60,000 square kilometres of inland water. The school system is a 2-7-4-2-3+ consisting of pre-primary, primary school, ordinary level secondary education, Advanced level secondary, Technical and Higher Education. Primary School Education is compulsory whereby parents are supposed to take their children to school for enrollment. In the education sector, this goal was translated into the 1974 Universal Primary Education Movement, whose goal was to make primary education universally available, compulsory, and provided free of cost to users to ensure it reached the poorest. By the beginning of the 1980s, each village in Tanzania had a primary school and gross primary school enrollment reached nearly 100 percent, although the quality of education provided was not very high. From 1996 the education sector proceeded through the launch and operation of Primary Education Development Plan - PEDP in 2001 to date.

2. Globalization in Education
In education discipline globalization can mean the same as the above meanings as is concern, but most specifically all the key words directed in education matters. Although literatures for education leadership in Tanzania are inadequate, Komba in EdQual (2006) pointed out that research in various aspects of leadership and management of education, such as the structures and delivery stems of education; financing and alternative sources of support to education; preparation, nurturing and professional development of education leaders; the role of female educational leaders in improvement of educational quality; as will as the link between education and poverty eradication, are deemed necessary in approaching issues of educational quality in any sense and at any level. 6. Globalization of Education and Multiple Theories
The thought of writing this paper was influenced by the multiple theories propounded by Yin Cheng, (2002). He proposed a typology of multiple theories that can be used to conceptualize and practice fostering local knowledge in globalization particularly through globalized education. These theories of fostering local knowledge is proposed to address this key concern, namely as the theory of tree, theory of crystal, theory of birdcage, theory of DNA, theory of fungus, and theory of amoeba. The theory of tree assumes that the process of fostering local knowledge should have its roots in local values and traditions but absorb external useful and relevant resources from the global knowledge system to grow the whole local knowledge system inwards and outwards. According to this theory, the design of curriculum and instruction is to identify the core local needs and values as the fundamental seeds to accumulate those relevant global knowledge and resources for education. The expected educational outcome is to develop a local person who remains a local person with some global knowledge and can act locally and think locally with increasing global techniques. With local seeds to crystallize the global knowledge, there will be no conflict between local needs and the external knowledge to be absorbed and accumulated in the development of local community and individuals.The expected educational outcome is to develop a local person with bounded global outlook, who can act locally with filtered global knowledge. The theory can help to ensure local relevance in globalized education and avoid any loss of local identity and concerns during globalization or international exposure.This theory emphasizes on identifying and transplanting the better key elements from the global knowledge to replace the existing weaker local components in the local developments. In globalizing education, the curriculum design should be very selective to both local and global knowledge with aims to choose the best elements from them. The theory of fungus reflects the mode of fostering local knowledge in globalization. In globalizing education, the design of education activities should aim at digesting the complex global knowledge into appropriate forms that can feed the needs of individuals and their growth. The roots for growth and development are based on the global knowledge instead of local culture or value.This theory considers that fostering local knowledge is only a process to fully use and accumulate global knowledge in the local context. 7.1. The Presidential Commission on Education
In 1981, a Presidential Commission on education was appointed to review the existing system of education and propose necessary changes to be realized by the country towards the year 2000. A vacuum was created while fragmented donor driven projects dominated primary education support. In 1990, the government constituted a National Task Force on education to review the existing education system and recommend a suitable education system for the 21st century.

3. Access to Primary Education
The absolute numbers of new entrants to grade one of primary school cycles have grown steadily since 1970s. This level reflects the shortcomings in primary education provision. 7.3.2. Participation in Primary Education
The regression in the gross and net primary school enrolment ratios; the exceptionally low intake at secondary and vocational levels; and, the general low internal efficiency of the education sector have combined to create a UPE crisis in Tanzania's education system (Education Status Report, 2001). In order to revitalize the whole education system the government established the Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP) in this period. Within the ESDP, there two education development plans already in implementation, namely: (a) The Primary Education Development Plan (PEDP); and (b) The Secondary Education Development Plan (SEDP).

The Local Government Reform Programme (LGRP) provided the institutional framework.

4. Education and School Leadership in Tanzania and the Impacts
Education and leadership in primary education sector in Tanzania has passed through various periods as explained in the stages above. In that case school leadership in Tanzania has changed.

5. Prospects and Challenges of School Leadership

The Education and Training sector has not been spared for these challenges. 11. Conclusion
There are five types of local knowledge and wisdom to be pursued in globalized education, including the economic and technical knowledge, human and social knowledge, political knowledge, cultural knowledge, and educational knowledge for the developments of individuals, school institutions, communities, and the society.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Outdoor Education Camps With Programs


Summer camps comes up with special offers outdoor education camp, leadership camp, science camp, awareness camp and many other social welfare schemes are offered to the public for reasonable prices. Outdoor education forms major part of the education and it is more required for people. Outdoor education is created and offered specially for kids, children and adults.The outdoor education activities, outdoor education courses, outdoor education programs are offered to kids, children, adults by outdoor education schools or outdoor education centers. Outdoor education camps are conducted either inside or outside classrooms. Outdoor education activities or outdoor education courses are provided by more number of outdoor institutes or adventure outdoor schools. An outdoor education course, outdoor education programs initiates cooperation, coordination, team building, goal settings and spirituality among the students and others. Outdoor education camps are provided by more number of outdoor education institutes or outdoor education schools for reasonable and affordable prices. Generally, adventure outdoor school or outdoor education schools provides outdoor education activities, outdoor education courses, outdoor education programs to kids, children and adults under prescheduled, guidance and procedures. With regards to qualified, professional and expert outdoor education instructor, outdoor education programs will be offered. Under proper guidance and precautions, outdoor educations will be offered to the people to enable them to know the required outdoor education provided. More number of kids, children and adults are obtaining the outdoor education programs offered.Generally, outdoor education programs and outdoor education courses are offered to students based on age group, duration of course offered and kind of outdoor education program selected. The outdoor education camp offered will be creative, enthusiastic, innovative and technical appraisement for the students hindering.
Source by ezinearticles.com

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

An Inside Look at the Special Education Profession


Special education professionals work to promote students' overall behavioral, social and academic growth. Special education professionals aide students in developing socially appropriate behavior within their family, school and community. Teachers of special education help students become more confident in their social interactions. Special education professionals administer activities that build students' life skills.Below is a breakdown of the short and long-term responsibilities of a special education teacher.First and foremost, special education teachers focus on the development and academic needs of children with disabilities. Special education teachers work alone or with general education teachers to individualize lessons, develop problem-solving techniques and integrate children into group projects with other students. Furthermore, special education teachers are responsible for ensuring that the needs of disabled children are met during assessment periods.The types of disabilities a special education teacher might encounter are difficult to predict. Knowledge of the most recent education modules, medical research and behavioral practices Knowledge of the latest medical technology relevant to special educationDue to the specialization of the field, special education teachers in all 50 states must receive licensure before employment. Licensures are approved by each state's board of education, and the requirements for certification differ between states. In many cases, hopeful special education professionals do not meet the requirements of special education licensure due to their prior completion of degree programs outside of the field of education. The hope of these programs is to attract new special education professionals and fill the growing need for teachers. After several years, some special education teachers look for new opportunities within their field. Experienced teachers of special needs students have also moved up to serve as mentors to incoming special education teachers.Due to the new emphasis on education and training in legislature, special education professionals will become even more valued.
Can I Make a Living as a Special Education Teacher?
As mentioned previously, the special education job market is on the rise. In 2004, the BLS reported 441,000 employed special education teachers in the nation. In rare cases, special education professionals were involved in home or hospital care.
Source by ezinearticles.com

Finding Educational Resources on the Web


Weasel World Education Index – A host of links provided for over 30 different subjects. http://www.educationindex.com/education_resources.html
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence – Offers links to great curriculum, homework sheets, and lessons on a variety of subjects.
http://www.ed.gov/free/index.html
Special Education Resources on the Internet – Offers links to those interested in the field of special education, separated into more than 25 categories.
http://seriweb.com/
K-12 Resources for Music Educators – Choral teachers, classroom music teachers, orchestra teachers and more. A list of links divided up by musical focus. Updated frequently.
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/staffpages/shirk/k12.music.html
Microsoft in Education – This is Microsoft's page of links to technological tools, programs, and solutions to educational challenges for both students and teachers.
http://www.microsoft.com/education/default.mspx
NASA Education Enterprise – This is NASA's page of links for its Education Program with tons of activities for all levels education.
http://education.nasa.gov/home/index.html
The EnviroLink Network – This is a compilation of thousands of online environmental resources divided up by environmental topic.
http://www.envirolink.org/
The Educator's Reference Desk – More than 2000 lesson plans, 3000 links to online education information, and 200 question responses for the education community from the Information Institute of Syracuse.
http://www.eduref.org/
Education Index – An index of links to the best online education-related sites sorted by subject and life stage of the student. Search for educational information and links in over 50 categories.
http://www.educationindex.com/
BBC Learning Network – Resources for home and school divided by age group. Sections for teachers and parents.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/
Smithsonian Education – This is the education website for the Smithsonian Institution with educational resources for educators, families, and students that include lesson plans, field trips, and interactive activities.
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/
SearchERIC – A bibliographic database with over 1.1 million education topic citations dating back to 1966. There are more than 100,000 documents that can be downloaded for free by anyone.
http://searcheric.org/
Documentary Educational Resources – This site has a huge collection of documentaries focused on cross-cultural understanding. Search by title, subject, or geography.
http://www.der.org/
National Geographic Education Subject Guides – For teachers, kids, and students. Find lesson plans, maps and geography, photography, news, adventure and exploration, history and culture and more.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/
Discovery Education's Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators – This is a categorized list of sites for teaching and learning to enhance curriculum.
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/
Source by ezinearticles.com

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Open Source Software in Higher Education


The higher education sector is quite unlike other industries. Most commercial proprietary application vendors develop their applications focused on a wider domain spread across industries. The success of community developed open source software is quite well established. Through the course of its formative years, the open source community based approach in education has developed several alternative models.
Community Source Model
The adoption of open source in higher education seems to suggest otherwise. FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) communities are thriving well in learning environments too.In a community source project, multiple institutions come together to partner in the project. The initial focus of community source projects is on collaboration between institutions. Most community based open source projects slowly migrate to open source in the later stages.Kuali Financials was borne due to the lack of open source solutions Enterprise applications in the higher education sector are comprised of a mix of some proprietary application vendors and some key open source community initiatives.
Economic Models of Open Source
The community approach has proved sustainable as in the case of the Sakai project. Rob Abel notes how open source is a "great fit for higher education". The study, based on an analysis of open source projects in education, opines that the community-based approach is an interesting model that also helps reduce the inherent risks in adopting an open source approach.Applications like the Sakai and Kuali have proved beyond doubt that open source applications offer great configurability.
Source by ezinearticles.com

Difference Between On-Campus Education and Online Education


On-campus education vs. online education! Indeed it seems that online education is the way of the future. How people learnSome individuals achieve fantastic results in courses taught online, however most people drop out of 100% computer-led courses. People learn using multiple senses. Each individual student has an ideal learning pace. Online education:1. Lack of immediate feedback in asynchronous learning environments: While some online education environments such as webcasts, webinars and virtual classrooms operate live with the addition of an instructor, most do not. Lessons in online education environments must be prepared ahead of time, along with any notes and instructions that may accompany the teaching.2.Staffing levels may also be higher for courses run in an online education environment, requiring for example:3. Not all people are comfortable with online education: Education is no longer only sought by the world's youth. It is difficult, however, to design online education environments suitable for everyone.4.Server failures may prevent online courses from operating. Computer viruses may infect software necessary to run online education environments. On-Campus Education:Instructors in modern classroom environments are still able to take advantage of several forms of electronic teaching tools while still maintaining the atmosphere associated with the traditional classroom environment. Like online education environments, On-campus education comes with certain drawbacks, the most common of which is the classroom itself. Older students who may not be comfortable with the use of information technology are not required to navigate their way through possibly complex online education environments, making On-campus education the most accessible form of teaching.On-campus education has one advantage that 100% electronically delivered courses can not offer - social interaction. The classroom environment allows students to clarify what is being taught not only with their instructors, but with other students.Studies have shown (Can online education replace On-campus education) that courses where online education is used to complement On-campus education have proved more effective than courses delivered entirely using only one method. These courses take advantage of both online education materials and a live instructor, and have produced results higher than those of students in either 100% online education or classroom environment courses. It would seem that online education environments will never completely replace On-campus education. Using a mix of online education environments and classroom sessions, educational institutions, corporations and government organizations can ensure that training is delivered that is convenient and effective for both instructors and students alike.
Source by ezinearticles.com