Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / This study concerns John Passmore (1914-2004) and the applicability of his philosophic work to American education policy and practice. Passmore, an Australian educator and philosopher, is rarely cited by scholars of American education and his possible influence on public policy governing education in America are yet to be articulated. This study applies the methodology of analytical educational philosophy, with which he is often associated. The Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework (MELACF) is used to illustrate the practical value of Passmore's work to education today. This dissertation examines the life and published scholarship of John Passmore to investigate the relevance and significance of his work as a guide to the paths American educators might follow or avoid in forming policy and directing practice. His nine education constructs, found in The Philosophy ofTeaching (1980), are a primary source of this analysis. The study is mindful of the evolution of American culture from its earliest days through the present. It considers the influence of the politico-social environment, philosophical trends and religious forces upon the establishment of public and private education. Perennialism, essentialism, romanticism and reconstructionism are reviewed comparatively. The impact of Nation at Risk and No Child Left Behind in light of current national educational policy trends is also considered. The utility of Passmore's work is tested by an in depth analysis of Massachusetts English education policy. The period of interest dates from the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 to the present implementation of MELACF, and its guiding principles, strands and standards. Modifications that could effectively be made are noted. Criteria for a just and democratic society set forth by the analytical political philosopher, John Rawls, informs education policies and practices consistent with those necessary to promote the free, just and democratic society. It concludes with questions aimed to inform the limits and duties of the federal, state and local governments in secure the health, safety and rights of their citizens. An integral part of those limits and duties must be directed toward preserving democracy through thoughtfully conceived public education.

The European Values Education (EVE) project is a large-scale, cross-national, and longitudinal survey research program on basic human values. The main topic of its first stage was "work" in Europe. Student teachers of several universities in Europe worked together in multicultural exchange groups. Their results are presented in this issue.

1. Background information 2. Explanations during the lessons 3. Deepening under standing in some assignments 4. Conclusion

1. Critical thinking in curriculum framework 2. A general look at critical thinking 3. How critical thinking take s place in the classroom and some specific examples 4. Suggestions 5. Conclusion

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1. Eastern Europe: the case of Czech Republic and Slovakia 2. Turkey 3. The EVE Curriculum Framework - Developments on the second phase (Clare Brooks) 4. Evaluations 5. Main changes to the curriculum Framework 6. Looking Forwards

1. The Assignment 'Devotion to Religion and acitive Citizenship' 2. The Assignment 'How are religious spread across Europe' 3. The Assignment 'Is football as important as religion?' 4. The Assignment 'Why be religious?' 5. The Assignment 'Lucky charms' 6. The Assignment 'No Creo en el Jamas' (Life after death) 7. The Assignment 'Religion and its influence on politics ans policies' 8. The Assignment 'Secularisation in Europe' 9. The Assignment 'The meaning of religious places' 10. The Assignment 'Unity in diversity' 11. Which conceptions did you find?

1. What comes to your Mind when you think of 'patterns'? 2. Does your assignment include patterns? 3. Did you decide tu use some of the patterns? 4. If yes, what problem did you explain with the help of patterns? 4. Describe which patterns you used and how you used them 5. Did you explain the concept of a pattern to your pupils? 6. From your point of view – did pattern offer a helpful structure to prepare your lesson? 7. To what extent were patterns useful for the pupils to understand the main topic of the lesson? 8. How would you improve teaching patterns in your assignments? 9. If you didn ’t use any patterns / explain why. 10. What do you think about using the concept of patterns in general? 11. Will you use patterns in other lessons in the future? Describe why or why not. 12. Conclusion

1. What do we mean, when we say ‘deepening understanding’? 2. Which methods can be used to foster deepening understanding? 3. Examples for deepening understanding based on the assignments 4. Summary of methods and results 5. How did we train deepening under standing in school? 6. What did the pupils learn from it? 7. Our own experiences working on this chapter

1. What does critical thinking mean? 2. Critical thinking in school 3. Critical thinking as a process 4. Analysing and evaluating the questionnaire 5. Interview with one of the students 6. Analysis and evaluation of the assignments 7. Conclusion