Maximum result, minimum effort
- With all the talk about resources for learning, there is a danger that the teacher will cease to be a professional, said Mr David McCartney, director of educational technology, Notre Dame College of Education. Mr McCartney said the danger was teachers would come to rely on outside agencies to provide materials. He demonstrated a number of simple ways of making audio-visual materials to get the best use out of hardware such as overhead projectors and tape-recorders.
Residences too expensive
- It will soon be impossible for students without private incomes to live in halls of residence, according to the National Union of Students, Scotland. Its statement accompanies a survey of residence fees in Scottish universities. These range from pound;242.21 at Aberdeen to pound;278.70 at Edinburgh. The figures assume that all students obtain full grant.
Sex is for boys
- Maurice Hill and Michael Lloyd-Jones, in their pamphlet Sex Education: The Erroneous Zone, have noted howlers in the array of paperbacks offering teenagers advice about sex. Kenneth Barnes wrote: “I think it fair to say that until she is married and deeply roused by all that marriage means, the desire for sexual intercourse is not very strong in a girl. The desire to be well-thought-of is far stronger, and it is this desire that primarily gets them into bed.”
Latin makes controversial comeback
- A major political storm broke with the announcement that the new Italian government is to reintroduce compulsory Latin in secondary schools. The reaction was immediate and violent. Signor Tristano Codignola, education spokesman for the Socialist Party, called it “a reactionary move to intensify the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in the country”.
Third World portents
- The spectre of urban guerrilla warfare is haunting Europe. What is that threat? In its most acute form, it can be seen in the Baader-Meinhof gang, or Red Army Faction. After two years of war on West German society - bombings, bank robberies and shoot-outs - the gang was finally rounded up earlier this year. In this country, despite Ulster and the IRA, we have not had anything comparable.
