The fields of instructional supervision, adult development, teacher education and mentoring, and ongoing professional development are synthesized in this text. Examples and case studies are drawn from local systems in North Carolina as well as state, national, and international public school/university consortia to identify emerging trends in…

American Indian grandmothers are almost universally occupied with child care and child rearing at some time in their lives, but cultural variables influence the definition, role, and status of grandmothers in different tribes. This book contains nine chapters that blend documentary history, oral history, and ethnographic observation to illuminate…

Metaphysics is a necessary point of departure to build a comprehensive understanding of the nature of adult and adulthood at a deeper philosophical level. A group of philosophers representing the school of German Classical Idealism remain highly influential in building elaborate arguments on the nature of self and reality that may assist adult…

This textbook consolidates main findings across disciplines about individuals' development during the middle years. Twelve chapters are organized into three parts. The first three chapters explore development from the perspective of a historical/cultural period and within the context of dynamic social change and looks at theories of identity and…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on linking human resource development (HRD) theory and practice that was conducted as part of a conference on HRD. "Development towards What End? An Analysis of the Notion of Development for the Field of Human Resource Development" (F. Peter Kuchinke) examines the following alternative views of…

Today's youth are entering adult and vocational education with learning self-images that have been damaged, rather than strengthened, by school and early career experiences. Adult educators should devote more attention to the analysis of the life-courses of different deprived groups of individuals. Changes in the conditions of life-courses in…

The issue of salary benefits for advanced degrees has long needed reexamining, but to make cost effectiveness the dominant criteria in evaluating university-based inservice teacher education is limiting. The benefits of lifelong professional development, which responds to educators as developing adults as well as improves classroom skills, are…

As personal portfolio assessment matures, practitioners continue to look for techniques that enhance both personal development and the process of seeking academic credit through assessment. Kolb's experiential learning theory and learning style inventory may have applications in this search. (Author)

Investigated similarities and differences in developmental task achievement between college students in the United States and Puerto Rico. Freshmen and senior students in Puerto Rico and the United States were administered the Student Developmental Task Inventory. Results suggested that developmental growth patterns are transcultural. (RC)

Discusses problems with the individual counseling of older adults and suggests a group counseling approach is more effective. Considers benefits of group counseling including: (1) the discovery of appropriate social roles; (2) supportive sharing; (3) a positive cohort effect; and (4) renewed social interaction. (RC)

Evaluated the tuition waiver program for retirees enrolled at the University of Maryland College Park. Findings suggests that a tuition waiver program serves the need of retirees to remain intellectually active, to explore academic areas, and to develop new or improve existing skills and interests. (Author)

A study of adult learners reveals four steps of transformative change in adult life: diffusion, dissonance, differentiation, and coherence. The educational implications of these steps are explored through case studies, and it is argued that these transformative changes affect not only the individual and the nature of adult education, but the…

Counselors have an important role in providing help with the transition from preretirement planning to postretirement adjustment. They must examine their own bias and suggest alternatives to the worker role such as part time employment, hobbies and activism. (JAC)

Responds to Cipro, Mathur, and Kassam's critical essays (in this issue) on his previous study of literacy and national development. The author offers clarification or further thoughts on several statements with which he disagrees, such as the theory of stages for literacy, work-oriented literacy, and the quality of life and liberation. (MF)

The author reviews and discusses results of current adult education research in the areas of cognitive styles, learning strategies, adult learning, hemispheres of the brain, adult development stages, open learning systems, nontraditional forms of learning, social action, nature of adult participation, and other concepts. (MF)