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A comparative analysis of preparatory programs for educational administrators in Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand is presented in this paper. The purposes of the paper are to describe similarities and differences in educational administration programs, to compare selected characteristics of programs in these countries with programs in the United States, and to identify common concerns that may merit further attention. Characteristics of programs compared include stage of development, enrollments, type of students, program content and structure, and instructional methods. These countries all participated in the parallel studies of preparatory programs initiated by the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and the University Council for Educational Administration and conducted by researchers in each of the five countries. This paper draws on the reports of those studies submitted to the 1978 International Intervisitation Program at Vancouver, British Columbia, in May, 1978. (Author/JM)

This paper explores methods of collaboration among countries in order to promote successful development, exchange, and dissemination of international education materials. The discussion emphasizes activities of the Pacific Circle Consortium, which was founded in 1977 and includes Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States. Its goals are to exchange information, materials, and personnel and to develop educational materials with a multicultural perspective. The paper is presented in five major sections. Section one explains the Consortium's origin, structure, membership, purpose, and activities. Section two defines the concept of international collaboration and outlines various methods of collaboration, stressing three important types of activity within collaborative efforts. These are parallel, cooperative, and integrated activities. Section three discusses four key elements of any type of collaborative activity: commitment and decision making, location of activity, structure and roles of participating agencies, and size and scope of activity. The discussion related these elements to specific Consortium procedures. Section four describes exemplary Consortium activities of parallel, cooperative, and integrated natures. Section five offers comments on constraints of collaborative ventures and specific implications of the Consortium's experience. (AV)

Strategies for dissemination of international education materials on an international level are discussed in this paper. The analysis focuses on dissemination frameworks applicable to member countries of the Pacific Circle Consortium. These countries are Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States. Section one of the report explains dissemination activities of eight educational research and development agencies within the Consortium countries. Section two summarizes findings of seven studies conducted in recent years concerning the structure and effectiveness of dissemination efforts in the United States. Section three presents a framework for analyzing dissemination patterns. The framework can be used by different nations whose educational systems have diverse structures and goals. This framework provides guidance for the Consortium agencies to document and analyze their international dissemination efforts as they design and implement effective processes for disseminating the results of the research and development from other countries. (AV)

This document contains an international collection of national position papers on leisure and aging. The following papers are included in the first section: "'Active' and 'Passive' Constructs of Elderly" (Max Kaplan); "Recreation and the Aged: A Review" (Helen J. Threlfall); "The Elderly in Bolivia"; "The Elderly and Leisure in Brazilian Society"; "CP/RA National Policy--Leisure and Aging"; "Recreation and the Elderly--General Report"; "Social Welfare, Leisure and Aging in Denmark" (Inger-Lise Dyrholm); "Leisure and Aging in the Federal Republic of Germany" (Reinhard Schmitz-Scherzer and Walter Tokarski); "Recreation and Adult Education, The Case for Cooperation" (Peter R. Creevey); and "Thailand: Country Report--Leisure and Aging" (Samarng Puangbootr). The second section of the report contains papers from the United Nations World Assembly on Aging. Papers included are the following: "Excerpts from the 'Plan of Action, World Assembly on Aging'" (Willoughby Walshe); "Leisure in the Context of the World Assembly on Aging" (Binta Diallo); "Report to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations"; "WLRA Statement of Leisure and Aging"; and "The Need for Lifelong Leisure Education" (Nelson Melendez). The final section of the report contains an international bibliography of English and German titles on leisure and aging, and an annotated bibliography of English titles on leisure, recreation, culture, and aging. (KC)

This publication contains 14 papers, most of which were written by instructors of higher education in Australia and Great Britain. Following an introduction, the first five papers are "The Development of Children's Map Ability" (Simon Catling), "Published Guidance to Pupils on Atlas Mapwork Skills" (Herbert Sandford), "Tactual Mapping and the Bold Atlas of Australia" (John Roberts), "Students' Ability to Transform Verbal and Visual Information" (Rod Gerber and Nea Stewart-Dore), "Children Talking to Learn," (Michael Williams). Using microcomputers in geography education is the subject of the sixth paper, "On Sitting Back and Letting It Happen: How to Be Unchained and Use Microcomputers in Geographical Education (Colin Davey). A case study in preservice teacher education is presented in paper number seven, "The Armidale Heritage Study: A Case Study in Applied Research in Pre-Service Teacher Education" (E.S. Elphick and Warren Halloway). The remaining papers are "Investigating the National Estate: Some Observations from an Implementation Study" (Colin Davey and Anthony Milne), and "Educational Materials and the Corporate Sector: Some Ideological Implications" (Jane Williamson), "Bias in Geography Textbooks" (John Fien), "Teaching Geography to Less-Able 11-14 Year Olds" (Graham Corney and Eleanor Rawling), "Attitudes and Approaches to Teaching Less Able Pupils in Year 8 Geography in Queensland" (John Fien, Rodney Gerber, and Peter Wilson), "Geography Methods Courses and Student Morale" (Anne Carter), and "Geography in the New Zealand Educational System and the Process of Curriculum Change" (Frances Slater). (LP)

Focusing on the experience of New Zealand, this paper is a response to a 1978 essay which suggested that a study be done to compare the programming patterns of television in the developed countries of Australia and New Zealand. Significant differences between the two nations are presented, including conspicuous discrepancies in television programming, despite similar shared social and cultural characteristics. A need for cooperative research efforts by Australian and New Zealand media scholars is noted, and some limited New Zealand research is summarized, including content analyses and program ratings. Numerous areas for fruitful research are suggested, many of which center on audience reactions and attitudes about viewing Australian, American, and United Kingdom imports, as well as on other aspects of television programming and scheduling. The production of television genres other than the more costly, less effective indigenous drama programs is advocated as the best means of inculcating a sense of national identity. The need for research to investigate the influence of "cultural imperialism" on Australian and New Zealand television audiences is stressed. An analysis of the national origins of television programs shown in New Zealand is appended. (40 end notes) (CGD)

Child care in New Zealand and Australia has become a crucial part of the child-rearing system, and most preschool children spend a prolonged period in at least one away-from-home environment for a substantial part of the day. Because so many preschool children are exposed to a child care environment before entering school, the transition from child care to primary school is interesting to consider. In numerous studies teachers report that day care graduates are more aggressive in their first year of school than home-reared children. However, teachers often fail to discriminate between assertive and aggressive behavior, and this distinction for child care graduates is important. Children in child care tend to have infrequent contact and short interactions with caregivers, causing them to be more skilled in areas of social competence, including assertion skills. Child care graduates may also experience more anxiety when interacting with strange adults than with strange peers, and some teachers may misinterpret this anxiety as communicative incompetence. For a smooth transition from child care to school, beginning grades need to provide a child-centered environment and beginning grades teachers need to ensure that children are offered adult interaction which stimulates an atmosphere of cooperation, coordination, and continuity. Contains 25 references. (MM)

Reviews alternative assessment practices in several nations and questions whether these techniques should be used in the United States. Focuses on moderation, a technique in which trained evaluators adjust grades to ensure equitable distribution among participating schools. Concludes that evaluation in art education presents special problems and that methods used by other nations may provide useful models. (CFR)

This study was designed to provide a rich description of the changing perceptions student teachers had about increased personal growth and enhanced global awareness as a result of teaching placements in foreign countries. The study included an examination of research on the impact of international student teaching (IST) experiences, description of two different IST programs (one at a university in the southwest, another at a university in the midwest), and comparison of the impact of an in-depth international experience on four students according to assigned international setting (host/international schools or Department of Defense Dependent Schools). For the data on students the study used autobiographical data, student teacher journals, student teacher reflections, "infograms," pre- and post-interviews, and on-site participant observation. The study concluded that student teaching experiences in international settings have the potential to change the way beginning teachers think about themselves, curriculum design, and teaching strategies. In addition, this study found that reflective essays were important for student teachers in developing greater awareness of themselves as teachers and for increased awareness of cultural differences in school classrooms. It is concluded that the international experience could promote world knowledge, understanding, and a sense of cross-cultural interdependence. (Contains 23 references.) (JB)

Australia is a country of fewer than 18 million people and yet, unlike some overseas systems serving larger populations, there are no nationwide teacher registration standards for those preparing to teach in government or nongovernment schools. Each school system supports its own bureaucracy for teacher employment. In the case of employment in government schools, each state or territory is responsible for setting its own minimum qualifications for employment. The qualifications established by each school system, or individual school in the case of some nongovernment schools, may be waived in times of teacher shortage or convenience. These procedures make teacher mobility between states and territories almost impossible for Australian qualified teachers. It is ironic that teachers who qualified overseas must have their qualifications recognized by a national organization to teach in Australia. Similarly, there is no Australia-wide accreditation of teacher education courses which would provide a measure of quality control for an often skeptical public. Finally, there are no standards for the registration of teacher educators. This paper addresses these issues drawing on the recent experience of several overseas countries including Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and the United States of America. (Contains 31 references.) (Author)

The concept of physical and chemical change is far from being the clearest and most self-explanatory concept in the world. If a number of chemists are asked to define physical and chemical change, there may well appear to be a fair degree of uniformity in their answers, until a few examples are suggested. When chemists are asked to place a variety of changes into the category of physical or chemical change, then differences inevitably arise. It is not difficult to demonstrate this by viewing school textbooks and articles about the topic. In spite of this, physical and chemical change is still taught in most in most secondary school courses. The problem arises from the definition and the historical layers of meaning that have grown around the concept, almost by accretion, without teachers being aware of their significance. The purpose of this paper is to describe the answers given by experienced educators to a questionnaire, which attempted to find out what the views of science educators/chemists worldwide about physical and chemical change now are. Four appendixes present: (1) List of Respondents; (2) List of Questionnaires Returned; (3) Physical and Chemical Change: An Information Sheet; and (4) Full Questionnaire: Interview Protocol or Basis for Written Response.

Many countries have introduced a range of policies that attempt to reformulate the relationships among government, schools, and parents through the application of market forces. This paper looks at the hidden curriculum of marketization and explores the extent to which the recent trend toward quasi-markets in public education systems are permeating the classroom and affecting the nature of educational transmissions. The paper looks at research from England, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States and explores the tension between the overt and "hidden" curriculum of the reforms and its significance for fostering different forms of social solidarity. The paper also connects with discussions on the globalization of education policy and/or broader changes in the nature of modern/postmodern societies, and the role of national education systems in encouraging and/or inhibiting such developments. (Contains 54 references.) (LMI)

This study investigates the ideas and beliefs of a small group of high school science teachers about student observations in the science classroom. Student views on science classroom observations have been previously reported on, but teachers and their students' ideas about observation is a very little researched area in science education. There are a significant number of students that do not consider observation relevant in the science learning process. The data for this study was collected from teachers and students in three 10th grade science classes. (Contains 13 references.) (YDS)

This paper presents the findings of a three-way comparison of teachers and school administrators in Australia, England, and New Zealand. The Teacher 2000 Project examined teachers' feelings about and reactions to teaching. Researchers used a seven section, self-report questionnaire that included items on demographics, orientation to teaching, satisfaction/dissatisfaction with teaching, time devoted to teaching tasks, commitment to teaching, and mental stress. There also was an open ended question for making comments about teaching. A total of 5,722 surveys were sent to elementary and secondary level public school teachers and administrators in Australia, England, and New Zealand. There were 892 Australian respondents, 543 English respondents, and 565 New Zealand respondents. Data analysis indicated that there was significant commonality in the sources and strength of teacher and administrator satisfaction and dissatisfaction, commitment and orientation to teaching, and mental stress (though there were some contextual differences between countries). Teachers from all three countries keenly felt: the influences of educational change; increased social, academic, and administrative responsibilities for schools; increased community criticism; and lower teacher status. Teachers and administrators also found their core business of facilitating student learning and their professional self-growth to be highly satisfying. (Contains 6 tables and 15 references.) (SM).

During the past decade, funding mechanisms for universities and technical education institutions and colleges have undergone massive restructuring in developed and developing countries alike. Governmental support has generally decreased, resulting in greater reliance on fee-based education or creation of privately sponsored engineering/technical colleges or universities. The following are some of the trends that will likely result from changes in the funding of technical education: (1) export of education will become an important component of the economies of advanced, rich countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Canada; (2) privatization, commercialization, and marketing of education, especially business, commerce, and information technology will increasingly play a dominant role in developing countries; (3) quality management in developing countries will also move away from government monitoring to professional monitoring, as is now the case in developed countries; (4) the quality of education in developing countries will eventually be determined by market forces; (5) educational funding from individual family budgets will become increasingly difficult in developing countries as privatization results in increased fees; and (6) education will move from being a totally governmental activity to a more commerce- and industry-based activity and will eventually become a service industry. (MN)

This paper outlines contexts, features, and trends of contemporary educational environments and educational change, describing findings from an international study that explored, benchmarked, and compared teacher and administrator career satisfaction, motivation, and mental health. The Teacher 2000 Project identified sources and strength of factors contributing to teacher satisfaction/dissatisfaction in England, Australia, New Zealand, and United States, distinguishing general patterns in teacher and administrator satisfaction, motivation, and health from contextual factors in each country. In 1990, former teachers and administrators completed a study about: reasons for entering teaching; their perceptions of preservice training; the nature of their early experiences; what they found satisfying and dissatisfying about teaching; circumstances around their resignation; and their thoughts on education. Overall, they were highly satisfied with student achievement and teacher accomplishment and dissatisfied with school and system related factors. In 1994-95, 57 teachers' partners completed interviews about how teaching influenced family relationships. Findings indicated that systematic and social pressures significantly affected teachers' work and lives. Results highlight the crucial importance of societal factors that are largely outside the control of teachers and schools yet have a growing influence upon teachers' and administrators' work satisfaction. (Contains 17 references.) (SM)

This paper considers innovation in academic libraries. The first part explores the definition and nature of innovation and the literature relevant to academic libraries in particular. In the second part, the outcomes of a search of library World Wide Web sites and a survey of International Association of Technological University Libraries (IATUL) and Australasian academic libraries are detailed. Results in the following areas are presented: innovations since 1995 related to physical facilities, electronic and nonelectronic information services, information literacy, community access, and library cooperation; innovation specified in mission, objectives, or strategic plan; staff development program facilitating innovation and enterprise culture; and budget provision for innovation. These results are presented first for IATUL members excluding Australia and New Zealand (n=49), then for Australia and New Zealand libraries (n=39). The third part reviews the issues that need to be considered by libraries seeking to be innovative and learning organizations in the 21st century. (Contains 17 references.) (MES)

In May 2000, a survey of current academic library building activities in Australia was undertaken. The libraries were asked to identify current or planned building projects, the drivers of the projects (i.e., why they were being undertaken), assumptions about the future of academic libraries underlying the planning, and what were seen as the key innovations in the new facility. The broad purpose of the survey was to identify any significant new trends that were emerging in the physical planning of academic libraries. Thirty-eight libraries were surveyed, and seventeen indicated that they were currently involved in significant building activity. Two New Zealand academic libraries also responded. The survey also canvassed comments from respondents on the challenges they faced in negotiating support for new facilities. Future models for academic libraries were examined, including "Information Commons," the integrated facility, the learning center, and the decentralized model. The paper also provides background on an investigation of trends in the planning and design of academic library facilities that took place at La Trobe University (Victoria, Australia) in preparation for a number of library building projects that would alleviate severe space problems at three of the campus libraries. (Contains 19 references.) (MES)