A living systems model of community development has been synthesized from elements of three perspectives: (1) a global movement toward more sustainable patterns of human development that is identifying indicators of community health in a wide range of categories; (2) research on the complex interactions of living systems that make life on earth…

A project was designed to help develop resources that support teachers in the implementation of a new K-7 Personal Planning curriculum. The project involved a partnership between the University of Victoria and the Victoria School District. The curriculum focused on students' personal development and on how their schooling and other activities…

This study explored the moral reasoning and scientific argumentation skills of 31 gifted Finnish adolescents participating in a science program at the University of Helsinki. Students were given the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to determine their level of moral reasoning and the Raven test to evaluate their scientific reasoning. The argumentation…

Based on the view that the quality of children's early experiences depends largely on the knowledge, experience, and skills of the people who work with them, this guide for early childhood practitioners in Vermont is designed to help them prepare and carry out a personally tailored professional development plan. The guide is presented in four…

The purpose of this study was to direct graduate students enrolled in an Educational Leadership program during 1999 and 2000 to achieve three standards with performance outcomes and attributes of evidence and to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses found in the implementation of each standard. The study involved 40 graduates enrolled in a…

This paper describes the experience of a Brazilian art teacher who relocated to Japan to teach. The paper focuses on the teacher's experience with Brazilian manners, Japanese culture, and art. It reports on her teaching experiences, such as her general aims in teaching, her recollections of several adult Venezuelan and Japanese female students,…

Beyond the Limits, a program of the Wicomico County school system (Maryland), conducts 1-day adventure experiences that use a challenge ropes course and classroom experiential activities to develop students' intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. Before the experience, all participants agree to the "full value commitment," which is a…

This volume contains peer-reviewed research articles and abstracts based on papers presented at the sixth biennial research symposium of the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors. Introductory materials include the editors' introduction, "Milestones in Outdoor Education" (Anderson B. Young), and a tribute to the founder of the Indiana University…

This paper explains that to bring about any form of educational equity for learners and teachers requires the realization that what is important is to educate the human disposition to understand the self. It identifies a unique relationship between the practical developmental phases of an educator toward a fully conscious professional and the…

This study examined factors related to intrinsic motivation for learning and psychological need fulfillment in the home-school setting. Participating in the study were 60 families who home-schooled at least 1 child between ages 6 and 16. Families were recruited directly at meetings of home-schooling groups in Massachusetts. Parents were…

This book uses the analogy of three mountains on the horizon that must be traveled in order to explore ethics in relation to student affairs. It contends there are three major approaches to ethics that represent three major approaches to the moral life: (1) principles-based; (2) case-based; and (3) virtues-based. In order to facilitate a person's…

Community-based organizations that worked effectively with urban youth were found to resemble experiential education programs. The finding was remarkable because the organizations did not identify themselves as places where experiential education took place. A study of four organizations examined ways in which they help youth to become more…

The ubiquitous use of the term "transformation" in experiential education has blurred its specific meaning in any given case. Designing an effective curriculum requires instructors to determine what kind of transformation they would like to generate. A review of two research projects provides insights about different types of personal…

Forty-two faculty members in their first, second, or third year of employment at small, private, liberal arts colleges in Ohio were asked to describe their initial impressions of faculty and administration, to reflect on those things that helped or hindered their transition into the college and local communities, whether or not they had intended…

This paper contends that a person's readiness for academic learning should be based on his/her developmental readiness, not on chronological age requirements. Human beings develop at their own neurological rates (biological clock). The paper first cites research on a "sensitive learning period" in which learning is mastered in a more efficient…