Christian National Education (CNE) and People’s Education (PE): historical perspectives and some broad common grounds.
A recognition of the legitimate origins of the idea of Christian-National Education in a people’s struggle for freedom does not mean endorsing the idea as such. Especially in its later development, it seems that the ChristianNational idea has taken on wholly unacceptable features...For those who identify with the people’s education movement, the Christian-National idea will be a symbol of the system of oppression against which they now struggle so that it will be difficult for them to appreciate its origins in an earlier struggle against oppression that closely parallels their own... 1
The University Curriculum and the Transition in South Africa
Since early 1990, South Africa has been in a process of post-apartheid transition based on negotiations between the National Party, which had ruled South Africa since 1948, and the African National Congress (ANC). In any project of social transformation, universities should feature prominently given the importance of their training, socialisation and allocation functions to governments. Furthermore, since the curriculum is integral to the process of university education, both in terms of its content and organisation, thoroughgoing curriculum reform is an indispensable aspect of university reconstruction. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to assess the progress of curriculum change in university education in South Africa.
Science fairs as learning tool for teaching excellence
Science fairs are usually considered to be a pedagogical and cultural activity that involves the students actively. Gifted students need challenges to further develop their skills while maintaining the motivation level. Science fairs may provide the informal environment that will request and allow these students of excellence to challenge themselves by developing a scientific research project. Despite being well known in different countries, in Portugal first steps are being made on the use and implementation of science fairs as effective pedagogical tool. In this work, we will present a 4 years study that was developed on a Portuguese school with the main goal of evaluating the advantages of this informal way of teaching. The study includes an analysis of the evolution of the students’ knowledge that have participated, or visited, the different science fairs. Some advices for the implementation of these projects will be given. The motivation of the students was monitored as well as the knowledge and skills effectively improved by this activity.