Full Description
This book reviews one hundred years of educational reforms worldwide. Characterized by a tension between governing public and professional forces, the waves of educational reform reflect myriad efforts to define and fulfill professional and public expectations for the world of education. The first wave of reform, based on "progressive" ideals, spread across the globe after World War I, striving to place the student at the center of the education process and respond to the diverse needs of children and youth in a world that included massive population shifts. The second wave nearly obliterated the ideals of the progressive movement that had prevailed for sixty years. Drawing its principles from the business world, the second wave imposed competition, uniform standards, and measurable outputs on students, teachers, and schools, even at the cost of harming at-risk populations and encouraging the infiltration of private sector values into public education systems.The third wave was launched at the turn of the twenty-first century. Seeking to adjust instructional methods to modern reality, this reform rejected standardized curricula in favor of developing skills such as independent thinking, curiosity, innovation, collaboration among learners, and the ability to mine and process information.
Book I reviews the three waves of reform in the United States, England, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, and Finland. Book II focuses on Israel's education system — past, present, and future.
Contents
Introduction.-Volume I: The Three Waves of Reforms Worldwide.-Part One: The First Wave of Reforms - Progressive Education.- Chapter 1: The Emergence of Progressive Education.- Chapter 2: The Decline of Progressive Education.-Chapter 3: The First Wave - Summary and Conclusions.- Part Two: The Second Wave of Reforms - The Standards Movement.- Chapter 4: The Educational Standards Reform.- Chapter 5: Critique of the Second Wave of Reforms.- Chapter 6: The Second Wave - Summary and Conclusions.- Part Three: The Third Wave of Reforms: Students Asking Questions and Looking for Answers - Education for Non-Standard Thinking.- Chapter 7: Background for the Emergence of the Third Wave.- Chapter 8: Towards Active Citizenship and New Learning Skills - the Third Wave in Selected Nations.- Chapter 9: The Third Wave - Summary and Conclusions.- Volume II: The Israeli Educational System in the Light of the Three Educational Reform Waves.- Chapter 10: The First Wave: Progressive Education.- Chapter 11: The Second Wave: Standardization- Chapter 12: The Third Wave: Meaningful Learning.- Chapter 13: The Three Waves of Reforms in Israel - Summary and Conclusions.- Bibliography.- Appendices.
