The History of the Project on Human Potential. Final Report.

A five-year project that used evidence from a variety of disciplines and cultures to develop a framework to help educational policymakers identify ways of achieving the full range of human potential in a given population is described. The project sponsor is an international non-profit institution dedicated to the cause of disadvantaged children and youth. It supports innovative projects that develop community approaches to early childhood education and child care, in order to help disadvantaged children to realize their potential. Cross cultural case studies of how teaching and learning take place in various cultures including Japan, India, China, Colombia, Egypt, and Africa were developed. Scholars from the disciplines of developmental psychology, philosophy, literature, political science, and biology wrote papers examining their respective disciplines and human potential. Information was also gathered about cultural features that shape human potential and its realization through interviews, cross cultural meetings, and workshops. Descriptions are provided of four commercially published volumes that resulted from the project. The report is arranged into seven sections; following an introductory chapter describing the history and goals of the project, separate sections are devoted to developments and progress occurring during each of the five years of the project. A concluding chapter is followed by appendices listing people involved with the project and a list of papers prepared for the project. (RM)