HEIs are well placed to engage with local communities, and can connect students with organisations through several pathways, such as volunteering opportunities, placements, internships, or projects. The University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE), the University of Bristol and their respective Students' Unions have been working in partnership…

This article describes how the Chicago schools system has been bedeviled by the social conditions faced by the city's inhabitants, and now by attempts to use privatization and school closures as the "solution" to those problems. The article describes how teachers in the Chicago Teachers' Union combined with community members to challenge…

Intermediaries--also referred to as bridge builders, boundary spanners, conveners, and other names--fill the critical role of connecting all the parties in the system to empower people with the skills required in the labor force. Those parties generally include employers, educators, workers, and prospective workers. Within these categories may…

In the second year module "Professional Contexts for Modern Languages" at Lancaster University, students take 20-25 hour placements, and using a multimodal forum, they articulate their challenges, development and understanding of the varying contexts in which they are working. In summative assessment, students across languages and types…

Two articles are presented in this column. "Life in an Auto Factory: Simulating how Labor and Management Interact" by Eric B. Freedman describes a classroom simulation of management and labor relations in an auto factory. Classroom handouts are included. The next article, "Women of Action and County Names: Mary Musgrove County--Why…

This article describes how a long-term commitment to job-embedded professional development creates a culture of continuous learning in one Michigan district. In Holt Public Schools, every Wednesday is time for teachers' professional development, and that means the students' day is shorter by two hours to allow it. Through two decades and three…

Describes programs sponsored by labor unions that provide postsecondary educational opportunities to their members. (GC)

The National Labor College was created to increase educational opportunities for union members, and its bachelor's-degree programs, like labor studies and the political economy of labor, focus on material that is immediately applicable to workers' day-to-day union roles. The idea is to make those blue-collar workers more effective at negotiating,…

THREADS, the humanities project of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, is described. The interdisciplinary programs involve the active participation of the students. Three formats are used: ongoing discussion groups, programs conducted as part of regular union activities, and single programs or short series on topical issues.…

The Labor Educational Advising Project (LEAP) was inaugurated in 1979 at Des Moines Area Community College to facilitate the provision of educational advising services within organized labor in Central Iowa. LEAP worked with local unions and union members to train a network of peer volunteers to provide educational counseling to workers interested…

Describes the development of a statewide cartographic information system based on a county format and the production of a union catalog of county mapping information. Included are sample county maps, union catalog listings, and the questionnaire used to obtain cartographic information from various state agencies. (JD)

This booklet describes the American Federaion of State, County, and Municipal Employees' (AFSCME) national child care initiative and approaches to child care and provides an overview of the broad range of child care programs available to AFSCME members. It is intended for use in conjunction with the AFSCME manual for child care, which gives…

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has put together this brochure on its contribution to Africa's Plan for Science and Technology to 2010 in the lead up to the forthcoming African Union Summit, in January 2007, and the meeting of African Ministers of Science and Technology November 23-24, 2006. The theme…

Describes the Arizona Blue Chip Program developed by the University of Arizona student union, a 4-year program that instills leadership skills and qualities in selected students. (EV)

Teacher unions' efforts to ensure teacher quality via one-time licensing and certification requirements are outmoded. The National Education Association offers guiding principles for creating a quality-assurance system that encourages teachers to improve their craft. Unions must redefine teacher professional development and give teachers more…