Education College Leads Indonesian Project

NOTE:  A conference among these international educators from all
the universities, along with the Indonesians, will be held in
Columbus Feb. 13-15 at 200 Ackerman Place, 700 Ackerman Rd., to
assess the curriculum design work and to finalize the strategy
for implementing the programs being developed.  Beginning at 1
p.m. Feb. 13 conference participants will be presented an
overview of the work to date.  For more information, contact Sue
Dechow at 292-9611 or 457-1593, or at Ackerman Place, 263-5313.



OHIO STATE LEADS GLOBAL EFFORT FOR INDONESIAN EDUCATION DESIGN

     COLUMBUS -- Indonesia, the world's fourth largest nation
with more than 190 million people, has turned to The Ohio State
University College of Education to collaborate on a massive
effort to revamp its entire primary school teacher education
system.

     Over the next few years Indonesia will lay the groundwork
for all its 1.2 million public elementary teachers to earn a
college diploma.  Today, only some 6,000 hold post-high school
degrees.

     A four-year, $55 million project, funded by the Indonesian
government and a loan from the World Bank, brought 31 senior
faculty members first to Houston in November and now to Ohio
State.  In Columbus they have worked to finalize the initial
draft of a full-scale curriculum design for undergraduate and
master's programs in elementary education.

     Five other universities, under Ohio State's coordination,
also are participating in the long-term project.  The six were
chosen from 71 universities worldwide which expressed initial
interest.  In addition to Ohio State, the selected institutions
include the University of Houston and the University of Iowa in
this country; the University of London's Institute of Education
in England; and LaTrobe University and Deakin University in
Australia.

     "Teachers with advanced education will build a more
literate, productive and creative populace nationwide, a
necessary goal for our nation if we are to successfully confront
the challenges of the 21st century," said Raka Joni, a professor
and senior official in the Indonesian Ministry of Education and
Culture, who's been in Columbus since early January working with
Ohio State education faculty.

     Working in the college's Department of Educational Theory
and Practice, the Indonesians are focusing on elementary teacher
education programs in math, language arts, science, social
studies, and the early primary years.

     The Indonesians have attended classes at Ohio State,
participated in customized seminars and lectures, and visited
many local elementary schools.

     Following the Columbus conference, the draft curriculum
document will be shared widely in Indonesia with educators and
ministry officials.

     "We look to our colleagues at Ohio State and the other
universities to help us clarify those methods and academic arenas
which they know well and are relevant to our needs," says Joni.
"The faculty at Ohio State for years have examined these
educational matters at a level highly respected the world over.
We want to continue tapping in on their skill."

     On the basis of its proposal, Ohio State also was selected
by the ministry to coordinate customized short-term and graduate
degree programs among the six institutions, and to coordinate the
evaluation of all the work.  Ultimately, hundreds of faculty and
students will study in all four nations, including faculty from
Ohio State and the other universities serving as specialists in
Indonesia on teams with Indonesian personnel.  The end result
will be the formation of undergraduate diploma and master's
programs in primary education at the Indonesian teacher training
institutions.

     "The international reputation of this college is renowned
for training quality classroom teachers and teachers of teachers.
That is why they asked us to join them in heading this
significant work," said Nancy Zimpher, dean of the College of
Education.

     "But Ohio State benefits enormously as well.  Our faculty
are given the chance to put expertise into practice in a new
setting, with new challenges that test and hone our knowledge and
skill.  Consequently, all our students -- the future teachers in
Ohio and beyond -- gain from this expanded horizon."

     Over half of the faculty in the College of Education worked
with Indonesian educators and graduate students in the mid 1980s
on a project aimed at improving graduate programs in secondary
teacher education.

     "In fact, some of the same Indonesian faculty are with us
again," notes Sue Dechow, the project's program director.  "Now,
we take our involvement to a new level as the lead university on
a project that will transform Indonesia's elementary teacher
education programs.

     "Equally exciting is the opportunity for six universities on
three continents to work collaboratively with Indonesia and with
each other in this endeavor.  Much will be achieved from these
efforts."

                                #

Contact: Sue Dechow at 292-9611 or 457-1593, or at Ackerman
Place, 263-5313.


[Submitted by: REIDV  (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Fri, 11 Feb 1994 12:50:20 -0500 (EST)]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.