The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of Department of Defense (DOD) civilian employees to identify how their personal sense-making affects their coaching of adult students. The author used an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) method involving personal interviews…

Two nationally known experts in friendship formation and anxiety management address the social challenges faced by adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The book helps educators instruct youth on conversing with others, displaying appropriate body language, managing anxiety, initiating and participating in get-togethers, and more. The…

Group play interventions are used to meet a broad range of developmental needs in children from various backgrounds. This book is for mental health practitioners working with children aged 5 through 12 to help them learn important social skills and self-control strategies such as making friends, asking for and offering help, controlling hands and…

There is wide demand for engineering graduates to be capable of working well in teams. The engineering accreditation body (ABET, www.abet.org) has responded to this need by requiring engineering programs to demonstrate that their graduates have "an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams" (Haag, Froyd, Coleman, & Caso, n.d.),…

Howard Gardner first posited a list of "multiple intelligences" as a liberating alternative to the assumptions underlying traditional IQ testing in his widely read study "Frames of Mind" (1983). Play has appeared only in passing in Gardner's thinking about intelligence, however, even though play instructs and trains the verbal, interpersonal,…

Having lived in Oakland's Chinatown all her life, the author is proud to say that she loves her language--Cantonese. She is grateful that she can speak such a language, that she can use this skill to converse with her elders or peers, and that she is able to connect with others so lovingly, like her mother did on the streets of Chinatown. She has…

Many rural youth leave their small home towns, at least temporarily, to pursue education and work opportunities after high school. A strong sense of purpose will likely help these young people navigate their transition to adulthood away from the comforts of home. A case study of high school students in a remote rural county in the Pacific…

In their dual roles of teacher and librarian, school librarians have been presented with two new sets of standards that challenge them to redefine how they approach education. AASL's Standards for the 21st-Century Learner take a broad approach to address many of the fundamental skills that make students effective and self-efficient learners.…

Children begin forming social and emotional intelligence at birth. They need the support of a caring adult at first, and then later interactions with peers, in order to encounter the experiences that will guide their brain development in the social and emotional domains. With the help and input of others, children begin to understand, express, and…

The relationship between maternal symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific maternal behaviors was examined in a community sample of 40 mothers of infants aged 3-8 months. It was hypothesized that maternal ADHD symptoms would be related to lower levels of maternal sensitivity, and higher levels of maternal…

Based on a case study of Ghanaian cocoa farmers who attended farmer field schools (FFS), this paper explores the impact of the FFS methodology on farmers' technical knowledge, experimentation, knowledge diffusion, group formation and social skills as a way of assessing whether the relatively high costs associated with the method is justified. We…

This study compared the motor skill effects of a peer teaching format by means of task cards with a teacher-centered format. Tennis performance of eighth grade students (n = 55) was measured before and after a four week intervention period in a regular physical education program. Results show that peer mediated learning with task cards…

Fostering emotional skills in the elementary (primary) school classroom can lead to improved learning outcomes, more prosocial behavior, and positive emotional development. Incorporating emotional skill development into the naturalistic and implicit teaching environment is a key feature of what is meant by the emotional climate of the classroom.…

Many childhood educators are attempting to shift from the dominant "recitation" format of discussions found in today's classrooms. This study draws on reader response, and sociocognitive and sociocultural theories to investigate children's perceptions of social skills and leadership moves after participating in small-group discussions of…

Goals of cultural competence are commonly described as creation of a health care system and workforce capable of delivering high-quality care to all patients regardless of race, ethnicity, culture, or language. While this "system" is made up of individuals, it also has a life of its own, as with all institutions. In this chapter, the…