People working together on community projects benefit both themselves and the community. Quality Circles (Theory Z) is an example of this principle at work in industry. Employees who are involved in the decision-making process turn out a lower-cost, higher-quality product. This concept could prove valuable in small schools if students were…

Focusing on area vocational-technical schools, this article describes several successful vocational programs across the U.S. and explains their role in community improvement, economic development, adult education, and community activities. (LRA)

This theme issue covers the following topics: modernization of agricultural education, an expanded mission for the field, community development, a national presence for agricultural education, revising curriculum, and interesting students in new careers in agriculture. (SK)

The current educational emphasis on the "global community" misses the most immediate and concrete area where students can make a difference: the locality. Without negating the importance of having a sense of responsibility toward the global community, a pedagogy of place argues that children cannot comprehend, much less feel a commitment…

Offers four themes in the scaffolding of a critical education that advance grassroots activism in learning communities of praxis (scale, ownership, connection, and enterprise). Presents an example of a youth development project that affirms democracy via shared decision making, group motivation, self-esteem, and agenda setting opportunities…

The leadership of communities of color should reexamine vocational-technical education as a potentially effective channel for training Black and Latino youth. None of the five potential schooling channels--public schools, vocational schools and programs, employment training programs, apprenticeship and union programs, and prisons--has done an…

Opened in 1963, the Swaneng Hill School in Serowe, Botswana, was an experiment for its untrained founders whose objectives were to reduce the exclusiveness of secondary education, equip students with skills and knowledge needed for development, make the school a focal point for community development, and instill a sense of social justice in the…

The model currently used to represent the impacts of Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) programs implies a one-way flow of impact from TAFE to student to community. It may be argued that TAFE could better serve its clients by developing a social capital-based, two-way, reciprocal dynamic of vocational education and training (VET)…