In keeping with the trend toward active, participative learning, observation projects for speech communication students can allow them to experiment with designing and carrying out a study of human communication. Students can be encouraged to look at the dynamics of a church congregation, a courtroom, a pre-game football huddle, or an office, and…

Teacher education programs inadequately prepare teachers to teach students to participate in the many forms of cooperation which are inherent in life. Although teachers have the responsibility of helping students learn how to live and be productive in social groups, students in colleges of education are not usually trained to oversee and grade…

A process for identifying professional development needs and planning teacher inservice programs involved the participation of 4 university professors, 4 local administrators, and 20 physical education teachers in 2 workshops. Each of the four groups was asked to "brainstorm" (for 20 minutes) the question, "What do you see as the…

This paper describes Peer Culture Development, Inc., a private, non-profit agency which provides a school-based delinquency prevention program to public schools. The basic components of the program are described along with the selection and role of student leaders in the program. The dynamics of the group meetings are discussed and seven…

Despite unfounded claims that scientific approaches to educational administration are irrelevant, research continues to clarify the nature of administration in practical ways. The author of this essay, a participant in the Cooperative Program in Educational Administration (CPEA) in the 1950's, first critiques Thomas B. Greenfield's 1981 paper,…

The background, evaluation process, theories, and practical aspects of the Just Community High School in Cambridge, Masachusetts, are presented. The document is organized into four sections. Section 1 briefly discusses the components of a Just School: participatory democracy with teachers and students having equal rights, emphasis on conflict…

This paper presents one of five categories of findings of a qualitative study of students' experiences of challenges encountered in a web-based graduate program. The findings relate to the category of experiences with online asynchronous discussions. Data collection relied on a discussion, questionnaire and interview all conducted within WebCT™.…

The purpose of this study is to describe, document, and analyze the classroom management techniques an elementary school teacher uses to establish and maintain group norms. An analysis of the data collected for a teacher who used a group process approach to classroom management is presented. Two types of norms were observed operating in classroom…

Just east of the Andes live two of the largest concentrations of tropical forest Indians in central Ecuador. Both speak Quichua which is a language long associated with Incaic expansion in the highlands and well known as a lower-class, rural, "Indian" means of communication in contemporary highland Ecuador. These Jungle Quichua live near…

This document on group facilitation is one of seven staff development programs which target performance skills of school counselors. The staff development programs are designed to be used by students who aspire to become school counselors, by entry level counselors who are seeking to demonstrate their skill for certification purposes, and by…

This chapter of "Helping Teachers Manage Classrooms" examines the various management techniques required by the different kinds of student groupings associated with different types of classroom activities. These activities are identified in terms of their action structures (specifying who shall do what, when, and to or with whom), their physical…

This book is a group leader's curriculum guide to help students build positive interpersonal relationships through group activities. Chapter 1 is designed to help the reader become a successful group leader. Included are discussions on group structure, effective group leadership skills, hints on dealing with potential problem areas, processing and…

Recent brain research demonstrates that the left hemisphere of the brain processes information in a linear, organized way. The right hemisphere processes the same information as a whole, with a focus on nonverbal, spatial components. Current educational practice is inordinately skewed to develop only the left hemisphere of the brain. Data from…

Data on students participating in six peer-response groups in a college writing workshop revealed the role of student writers in weaving the web of critical response during the peer group discussion. Analysis showed that the student writers engaged in four main types of verbal activity concerning their papers: (1) asking questions about their…

This paper discusses the processes of mutual adaptation by ethnic groups in modern multi-ethnic societies. It focuses on relations between minorities and the dominant group. Various theories regarding these relations, including a definition of ethnic groups, are reviewed and a synthesis is advanced. This theory is based on a conflict model of…