Growth into literacy occurs most effectively with the engagement of the learner. The question is therefore: what motivates learners to sustain them through the struggle to attain literacy? In this aspect of literacy education, "lifewriting" can be a most powerful medium. Basic to all of the lifewriting programs described in the text,…

This paper addresses the rights of children, families, and society regarding the care and education of young children. The paper addresses two basic questions concerning what is meant by the word "right." The first question is, "What is right for young children and families in order to ensure optimal development?" The response…

Psychological masks can become the accepted facade of people who struggle to camouflage their real selves. Sometimes parents label a child as "lazy" or "stupid"; teachers may follow suit by labeling a child "slow learner" or "uncooperative." Healthy self-esteem is based on three main concepts: "I am…

These two newsletter special issues focus on personal futures planning (PFP) for people with deaf blindness, with emphasis on technical assistance activities involved in implementing a PFP program. PFP guides a team through three phases of activities: (1) developing a "circle of support" for an individual with deaf blindness; (2)…

As "mind" is a cultural achievement, newborns enter the world without minds. Life experiences profoundly influence the mind. The social culture provides conditions for the growth of mind and the direction it takes. As informal education is inadequate to fill social needs or actualize children's potentialities, societies create schools. Since a…

This research report focuses on identifying different phases of organizational mentorship, or examining how mentorship might differ for men and women, and compares informal (spontaneous and unstructured) and formal (organizationally arranged and structured) mentorships. Surveys were mailed to 158 individuals (43 surveys were eventually used) from…

The author argues that unless Kohlberg's theory of moral development can be demonstrated empirically, based on scientific evidence, his ensuing plan for a program of moral education amounts to no more than a systematic program of indoctrination. Kohlberg identifies the moral stage of a person by eliciting from a subject the reasons referred to in…

American society and its educators are faced with many challenges, particularly from the growing use of computers, which lead to the question of whether the American dream of a viable democracy with an equal chance for all can be revived. The individual, community, thought, and morality provide four standpoints from which to consider technological…

This report deals with the measurement of personality changes employing two modes of statistical treatment of data derived from two modes of group confrontation procedures. One group met for 12 weekly three-hour sessions. The other group met in an intensive group confrontation procedure for a continuous 38-hour session. (Author)

A teaching improvement program is suggested that is based on four models now in use. Designed for individual, departmental, and institutional levels it includes diagnosis, help with problem-identification, linkage to new information, involvement of authorities, increase in organizational health, support for implementation, and more diagnosis. (JT)

Two groups of college students' accounts of recalled parent's child rearing patterns were examined and compared in this study by means of two objective personality measures. (Author/DEP)

The present report consists of two studies which were designed to determine (1) the differential effects of time spent in encounter groups on participants' responses to the POI, and (2) the degree to which changes are maintained. (Author)

Mini-group counseling involves a counselor or facilitator and no more than four clients. This article describes the group's rationale, structure, and content. The results of two such mini-groups are also discussed. (Author/EJT)

This article suggests four steps for interpersonal training for teachers. The four steps are: 1) establishing a common definition for the term "empathy"; 2) helping each teacher appreciate past empathic understanding; 3) helping teachers assess other teachers' levels of empathic understanding; and 4) helping teachers become fairly precise judges…

This article discusses the need for women to develop all their capacities that will make them eligible for the expanding opportunities becoming available to them. At the same time, the author maintains, men must also be helped to develop their full capacities for humaneness. (Author/EJT)