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This is the fourth paper published by The Centre for Literacy in its Working Papers in Literacy series, which present new perspectives on literacy-related issues relevant to researchers, to practitioners, and to policy-makers. This paper was written in 1998 as an advisory document to the UK Qualifications and Curriculum Agency (QCA) which manages all aspects of the National Curriculum for schools and for vocational training. In this paper, the author has touched on some of the major issues relating to information and communications technology (ICT) and literacy which have until now been treated as separate subjects. He argues for a convergence of the two and recommends that government agencies coordinate their visions instead of sending contradictory messages to teachers and students. His focus was the first three key stages of the literacy strategy, touching ages 5-14, but the concerns he raises are familiar to anyone working in adult basic skills as well and are relevant beyond the UK. A glossary of acronyms and terms used is included.

The relationships existing among human capital theory, Australian public policy, literacy education, and the plight of Australia's long-term unemployed were examined. The following topics were considered: human capital theory-based public policies and literacy education; social capital and learning; building and using social capital; the "social justice" and "social coalition" approaches to policy; and the notion of "mutual obligation" in social welfare policies. Next, a case study of the effects of policy changes on the long-term unemployed was discussed. The findings of the study, which involved interviews with 23 people (including 15 long-term unemployed individuals who had been or were currently enrolled in adult literacy courses) were shown to support the following conclusions: (1) to be successful, welfare policy related to unemployed persons must address both human and social capital elements; (2) although the skills associated with human capital are important in accessing and controlling the kinds of social factors that come with globalization, they are not enough to prepare individuals to cope with the knowledge explosion accompanying globalization; and (3) adults requiring the "second chance" learning provided in adult literacy and communication education need help in developing the networks, social norms, and trust that is included in the concept of building social capital. (Contains 29 references.) (MN)

This paper describes the findings of an OECD project examining ICT impact measurement and analyses based on official statistics. Both economic and social impacts are covered and some results are presented. It attempts to place ICT impacts measurement into an Information Society conceptual framework, provides some suggestions for standardising terminology and methodologies, and advocates for further work in a number of hardware and software areas. (A bibliography is included. Contains 19 footnotes, 4 figures and 3 tables.)

Trends in higher education (HE) in Scotland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom in the 1990s were reviewed, and possible policy directions for HE in the 21st century were explored. Special attention was paid to the following areas: features of HE institutions in the 21st century; the relationship between the state and HE institutions; curriculum development in support of learning for the workplace; flexible, open, and distance learning; technology and learning; the corporate university; and virtual education. The following were among the main conclusions reached: (1) HE policymakers and managers must base their policy decisions on forecasts of the skills needed in the workplace; (2) education providers must aim to bring equality of access to learning and encourage the state to fund installation of the infrastructure and new technologies needed to extend education to wider communities; and (3) policymakers and mangers wanting to provide their communities with wide, affordable access to learning must look to new technologies with the potential for mass education, including virtual universities based on the creation of partnerships offering courses and learning materials that have been developed by other institutions and subsequently awarding their own credits/degrees by assessing students' prior learning of the materials. (Contains 20 references.) (MN)

Characteristics of gifted children and identification procedures as well as educational provisions for gifted children in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia are discussed in this seminar paper. Ways to modify curricula and ways programs have been enriched for gifted students are pointed out. In the final section of the paper very recent developments in gifted education in the forementioned countries are summarized. (Author/RH)

Papers on audiovisual information resources, the history of technical libraries, online legal information, and information technology for schoolchildren, which were presented at the 1983 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference, include: (1) "Continuing Issues in the Provision of Audiovisual Information Resources - An Australian View," in which Paul T. McNally (Australia) discusses the need for guidelines on provision of library nonbook materials, national bibliographic control of audiovisual materials, and copyright law reform to enhance use of nonbook materials for research and study; (2) "Library History and the History of Technology: The British Experience," in which K. W. Humphreys (United Kingdom) describes the history of British library collections containing works on technology and the establishment and development of full-fledged technology libraries under the auspices of national, association, government, academic, corporate, and large public libraries; (3) "The Development of an International On-line Legal Information Service and Its Cooperation with Similar Services," in which Nunn Price outlines the objectives, accomplishments, and problems of EUROLEX, which provides online full-text information on European Community (EC) and United Kingdom law; and (4) "Information Technology for Schoolchildren," in which Jean C. Beck (United Kingdom) describes British projects to introduce schoolchildren to microcomputers and information technology, particularly the Schools Information Retrieval (SIR) Project, which resulted in the development of a microcomputer information retrieval system for use by secondary school students. (ESR)

School discipline and behavior management is an area of considerable contest in educational policy formation. Additionally, educators have a greater responsibility to engage in more rigorous theorizing as a first step to more useful research. The first part of this paper distinguishes between "discipline" as a discourse of management and control and educational theories of student discipline and student behavior. By exploring and contrasting the epistemological foundations for classroom management with an educational theory of discipline, the paper proposes a greater range of interventions that free educators from both neo-Skinnerian behavioral straitjackets and from what Basil Bernstein (1996) has referred to as "spurious biology" or "sets of biological metaphors" that proceed from an acceptance that disruption in schools represents a problem of dysfunctional individual pathologies. The second part explores the political economy of surveillance and control in schools, offers observations on shortcomings of traditional methods of control, and considers new forms of student control. The paper suggests, by providing vignettes from two projects, ways of pursuing discipline that eschews short-term behaviorism and provides school communities with greater opportunity for educational progress. (Contains 87 references.) (LMI)

Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system is well regarded internationally, in particular for its competency-based training and flexible delivery. Yet we can also learn from the experiences in other countries. In March 2009, NCVER invited Robin Shreeve, Principal and Chief Executive of City of Westminster College in the United Kingdom (UK), to present at a seminar on developments in vocational education and training in the UK, where VET is known as the skills or further education (FE) sector. This paper provides Shreeve's views on the UK system and his insights into lessons for Australia. Key messages include: (1) The English and Australian systems, while sharing some similarities, have distinct differences socially, economically and politically; (2) One of the biggest differences between Australian technical and further education (TAFE) institutes and English FE colleges is the student profile. In the UK over 40% of students use FE colleges as the primary pathway to gain university entrance rather than as direct preparation for a job; (3) Foundation degrees in the UK (equivalent to the first two years of a bachelor degree) are largely delivered by FE colleges and offer a "cross over" level qualification between VET and higher education. This model is worth considering in Australia if we are to increase articulation into higher education; and (4) Course success rates are used as a key performance measure for FE colleges. Used appropriately, they emphasise learner achievement and clearly affect institutions' behaviour.

Presents arguments concerning the linguistic assimilation of Blacks (West Indians) in Britain, and the research methodology used to examine this issue. One argument holds that the studies' designs are flawed, allowing a false interpretation that Blacks are linguistically assimilated; the other argument upholds the research findings. (WAS)

The author was employed as an inspector of education in Nigeria from 1973 to 1978, in what was a completely new system of national inspection. His experience as an inspector has given him a long term interest in educational administration, particularly in relation to the types of school inspection that different countries have in relation to their overall educational system. This paper consists of some reflections on the different functions of school inspectors in different educational systems, with particular emphasis on the evolution of the National Inspectorates of Education in the United Kingdom and in Nigeria, and with the possibility of a National Inspectorate of Education in Australia being discussed. Summary table is appended.

Despite calls by consumer advocates for Australia's governments and financial services institutions to provide consumers with resources to help them understand how the financial services sector operates, financial education remains something that most Australians gain by default. Research conducted in the United Kingdom and United States, has identified the social and economic factors that have necessitated financial literacy, documented the problems faced by disadvantaged and illiterate consumers in dealing with the financial services sector, and provided information for the debate about consumer education and financial literacy. Australia's deliberate government policy of deregulation and economic rationalism, poor educational resources, and lack of concern on the part of the financial services sector have all been key factors in generating the conditions necessary to create social exclusion and alienation. The following groups are particularly susceptible to the financial exclusion that stems from illiteracy and lack of financial literacy: low-income consumers; older consumers; consumers from non English speaking backgrounds; consumers with disabilities; consumers with literacy difficulties; and indigenous consumers. Given all the reasons for financial exclusion in Australia, a protracted effort must be instituted whereby Australian government, industry, and communities will learn to recognize the central role that access to literacy plays in the communities' and individuals' well-being. (69 references) (MN)

In many countries throughout the world, efforts to articulate the knowledge, skills, and abilities required of workers have translated into the development of organizations with the specific charter to establish industry-based skill standards with attendant new and/or expanded forms of certification of competencies. The new emphasis on skill standards may be traced to many factors, including shifts in production processes and occupations, recognition of the fact that production must accommodate the environment, and the realities of the labor pool. Throughout the world, systems of initial preparation for work are undergoing significant change, and recognition that education and learning must take place in both schools and the workplace is increasing. The system in place to keep workers prepared for work (including lifelong learning, distance education, continuing professional development, and job training) is arguably the weakest link in almost every country's strategy to ensure a skilled work force. Australia's new system of occupational and industrial core and technical standards and eight competency levels provides a framework for accomplishing the following: identifying and developing transferable skills across industries; elaborating career paths within industries; and ensuring correspondence between earning a degree and acquiring the types of competencies required for working at various levels. (MN)

This essay examines the youth policies and programs of the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Sweden, and Norway in an effort to provide examples that may be of assistance in the development of such policies in the United States. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the topic, noting that the focus is on younger adolescents between the ages of 10 and 15, especially those in high risk or at-risk environments, and that the central themes are youth development, youth as participants, and the formation of "human capital." Chapter 2 summarizes youth policies and services in the five nations considered, examining historical contexts, goals, structures, policies, funding, and youth workers. Chapter 3 examines the dimensions of youth services on a supranational and thematic basis, considering: (1) purposes and goals; (2) policies and programs; (3) structure and finance; (4) youth workers and training; and (5) information and research. Chapter 4 makes recommendations relevant to youth policies and programs in the United States in these five categories. It is noted that policies and programs in the five countries studied tend to be developmental, broadly based, inclusive, and participative, whereas U.S. youth policy is more oriented toward remediation of individual difficulties than broad development and socialization. (Contains 116 references.) (MDM)

Argues for a child-centered approach to thinking about child cycling accidents. Helmets instill a false sense of safety in children and adults, while a profound change in the habits of adults is the only strategy that can protect children from accidents. Suggests steps for local analysis of the problem of cycling accidents. (MOK)

Describes the preliminary findings of a comparative study investigating what "English" as a discipline means to secondary school and college teachers and students in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Situates these findings in a historical context, reviews current discussions about the discipline, and looks to the future. (TB)

This report considers a range of issues involved in doing case-study research with emphasis on the potential for and the problems associated with this approach in distance education. The report begins with an introduction to the case-study research methodology, noting that it is not widely recognized as an approach in distance education. Substantive general issues are identified as ethical issues, problems of validity and reliability, generalizability, and the extent to which case-study research can contribute to the building of theory. Two case studies in distance education are then presented to illustrate different aspects of this type of research, both in the nature of the findings and the theoretical issues involved. The first example looks at the process of developing distance education courses with particular attention to the experience of the Classroom Processes course at Deakin University (Victoria, Australia). The second example is an interview-based evaluation study of the introduction of home computers into an Open University (United Kingdom) second-level course, The Fundamentals of Computing. The more detailed report for the second study covers theoretical perspective; methodology; the types of students (i.e., professionals using computers, students wanting a degree for a job change, women returning to work, students with a general interest in computers, and computer experts); study patterns and coping with the course; and issues of openness and access. The two studies are then compared, and a discussion of the development of theory in distance education concludes the report. (8 references) (DB)

Topics discussed in 14 papers concerned with software design, curriculum development, evaluation, and intelligent systems include teaching and learning systems, development of computer-assisted learning (CAL) courseware (music and reading), evaluation of CAL packages for mastery learning and modelling, assessment of CAL in physics and the primary curriculum, and technical management. (BBM)

A series of articles looks at computerization and unions in Australia, France, and India; bargaining agreements about technological innovation in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States; and the effects of technology on the labor force in the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and the United States. (SK)

A 1976-78 Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, Centre of Educational Research and Innovation, Sparsely-Populated Areas project produced 14 case studies from 11 member countries. Fifteen basic conclusions of international relevance were identified. Conclusions were as follows: there is no single definition of rural or sparsely populated areas; primary basic education is no longer a problem; secondary education continues to be a major problem; effective quality of educational opportunity often does not exist; teacher training and support mechanisms have been improved; ability to attract and retain competent teachers can only partially be influenced by policy makers; reforms which serve urban schools often have negative effects in rural schools; and student achievement in rural schools does not appear much below that of urban student achievement. Additionally, the cost of delivery of services in sparsely populated areas is high; rural schools have reduced their economic burden through strategies uniquely suited to rural areas; rural education sector remains a major constituency within member countries; improvement in rural education will occur in the absence of explicit government policies/assistance; innovations in content and delivery services are necessary and feasible; and research, data collection, and information dissemination about rural education must be improved. (AH)

This report of an Australian overseas study tour to the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US), and Canada reviews developments and practices as of December 1980 in educational communications and technology, the management and utilization of learning resource centers (LRC's) and independent study programs in postsecondary education, and library automation and network development. A list of the agencies and institutions visited in each country is provided. Based on study tour experiences, it is concluded that despite economic difficulties the influence of computer and communications technologies is more immediately apparent in the UK and North America than is yet the case in Australia. Recommendations are made for Australian action in the areas of screened data or videotex systems, computer-based education, interactive video learning systems on videotape and videodisc, distance education, the use of radio and television for educational broadcasting, education technology units, the establishment of LRC's at selected community colleges, the introduction of automated technologies in libraries, the planning and design of library buildings, joint-use library services, further overseas study tours, and staff exchanges between corresponding agencies and institutions in Australia and the other three countries. (ESR)