Empathy is vital in all the helping professions, as theory, practice, and research indicate. But can it be taught? Can it be learned? What exactly does one do to empathize? This article presents a usable model of empathic behavior--as well as imaginative means of enhancing the capacity to empathize. (Author)

Model outlines three dimensions of maturity likely to be relevant in all societies: (1) Capacity to function on one's own, (2) Capacity to interact with others, (3) Capacity to contribute to social cohesion. Nine attributes pertinent to these capacities are defined. Problems in the measurement of psychosocial maturity are discussed. (Author/RC)

The anchor of successful writing-across-the-curriculum programs is an organized nucleus of features called the four Ps: planning, proposing, preparing, and prototyping. Planning requires organization and connections among the mechanisms of designing and implementing both program activities and evaluation designs. It should begin at least two years…

The guidance and counseling profession is evolving from an emphasis on a loose collection of services to recognition as a comprehensive program with its own curriculum emphasis on student outcomes and competencies. This handbook was written to assist counselors in New Hampshire's public schools as they move from an ancillary service mode into a…

The application of Piagetian theory to educational practices encounters a series of major difficulties. The main focus of this paper is on the notion of general stages, which has been under attack in numerous studies. Organized in four parts, the paper: (1) discusses the problem of the existence of general stages and of a developmental…

Application of a common framework in studies of the development of social cognition can reduce conceptual and methodological ambiguities and enable clearer study of core issues. This paper describes the core issues and their attendant problems, outlines a model of information integration that addresses the issues, and describes some illustrative…

University students with learning disabilities (LDs) have faced a wide range of barriers which have often eroded their self-confidence and complicated their career planning process. The fact that many of these students can succeed in the university and the world of work would suggest that university LD students have a "nonsubmersible" quality that…

This paper is designed to help educational leaders improve their decision making strategies (and correspondingly educational practice) by evaluating their own strategy in concert with a model proposed in the paper. The proposed model provides educational leaders with an enhanced context within which one can effectively analyze and evaluate…

A multi-dimensional needs assessment model has been developed to provide a research tool for the review of statewide curriculum needs in vocational education. The model provides for an integrated review of selected demographic, educational, and decision-making data to target vocational education program areas and occupational titles for additional…

Analysis of the economics of training has become one of the most important issues of the decade for business and industry. Unfortunately, managers typically digress to a simple cost analysis and ignore the realities of cost-benefit analysis and the potential of large financial benefits to the organization. A proposed model to forecast training…

Explores several schools of organizational thought and their contribution to a new approach called organizational development. Three attempts to operationalize the concepts of organizational development are discussed in terms of their assets and liabilities. The three approaches are: self study model, external consultant model, organizational…

Gives brief sketch of development of "social indicators movement" during past decade, elucidates some conceptual and theoretical issues surrounding the social indicators notion, and places these issues within context of measurement and construction of theories of social change, also illustrating some ways which social indicators relate to social…

This paper presents a systems model for an elementary social studies program that will provide a base of understanding, human values, and skills to help children now, and later on as adult citizens, to take a humanistic global view as they make decisions. It is proposed that the social studies curriculum deal with interrelated systems--the social,…

After a discussion of the patterns of female labor force activity and the trend toward increased participation in the labor force by women between 1900 and 1975, this paper points to the need to re-examine traditional ideas about women and work and to develop a model of female occupational behavior based on a human development approach. Four…