This book assesses the nature, advantages, and limitations of the nondirective or community development approach to social betterment. Two advantages are claimed for this approach: people are more likely to act on what they have freely decided to do than on what others have tried to persuade them to do; through participation in the process of…

This paper outlines a program designed for preparing groups of engaged couples for marriage in circumstances where program time is limited to two afternoon sessions. Six topic areas are covered: Adjustments and Priorities; Communication Skills; Parenthood; Money Management; Religious Dimensions in Marriage; and Sexuality. The method used is one of…

To give teachers help in understanding themselves better and in relating more positively to their students, small discussion groups were organized to provide maximum opportunities for teachers to express thoughts and feelings about themselves and about problems they were facing in the classroom that prevented them from relating positively to their…

Sixty-one adolescent subjects, defined as underachieving and non-motivated and who had been disciplinary problems at school, participated in one of three groups: (1) the experimental group which received vocational orientation and group counseling; (2) a control group which received vocational orientation only; and (3) a control group which…

This study compared the effects of two specific post-laboratory discussion strategies in science on the development of the four cognitive skills of observation, inference, verification and classification. The two strategies were: (1) teacher-dominated, in the form of organized lectures based on the data students had collected; and (2)…

A Neighborhood Youth Corps trainee orientation program was developed in order to prevent early dropout from training caused by a new trainee's lack of information about job training and its concomitant problems. Orientation sessions used group techniques, role playing, audiovisual aids, and field trips to give the trainee a clearer picture of the…

The dilemma articulated in small group and en masse discussions produced the theme, "Through a Glass, Darkly," for the 1971-1972 edition of "Classroom Practices." This document is a collection of essays espousing various methods of teaching English. One predominant concern of all English teachers is the issue of priorities in education. English…

This research explored the implications for a teacher in undertaking small-group work in the classroom. The two resources used were "The Practice of Group Work" by William Schwartz and "Group Work in Secondary Schools", and the "Training of Teachers in Its Methods" by Barrington Kaye and Irving Rogers. The first resource was concerned with…

This collection of stories features unfinished stories that appeared in "Today's Education: NEA Journal." The stories are divided into three categories: (1) Responsibility for, and Commitment to, Others, (2) Personal Shortcomings, and (3) Shortcomings of Others. The stories are considered ideal for classroom use as a basis for group discussion,…

The author describes cooperative learning (cooperation among students and between students and staff) as one of the major process aspects of the management course at the Sheffield (England) Polytechnic. In addition, he presents some methods used to promote cooperative learning. (MF)

The effects of structuring classroom learning cooperatively or individualistically were compared, and results indicated that cooperative, compared to individualized, learning resulted in greater ability to take the affective perspective of others, more altruism, more positive attitudes toward classroom life, and higher achievement. (Author/BW)

Describes the advantages of students' free discussion groups in literature classes. Provides a transcription of five students discussing a poem. (RL)

Extends the work with distributional structures to the analysis of leaders' oral behaviors. (MH)

Examined a videotaped feedback session in an undergraduate management course, particularly exploring communicator style in giving feedback. Concluded that both feedback content and form influence judgments of feedback effectiveness. (PD)