Investigated the participation of rural Mexican American parents in their children's elementary schools. Interviews with Mexican and Anglo American parents indicated that both groups considered their participation in their children's education very important, though the two groups had different worldviews and backgrounds, different types of school…

Notes there are many resources available that will stimulate student thinking about the diverse people in the world. Considers Esmeralda Santiago's "When I Was Puerto Rican," and notes how it provides a great tool for helping high school students explore their understanding and appreciation of the emerging Hispanic culture. (SG)

Defines "Discourse" as a conglomeration of "ways of behaving, interacting, valuing, thinking, believing, speaking, and often reading and writing" that marks membership in a group. Considers how some students'"Discourse" may conflict more than others comparing their home Discourse with their school Discourse. Presents three recently published books…

Explores the nature of new story ideas coming from stories in progress, focusing particularly on the author's two recent nativity stories: "Hallelujah: A Christmas Celebration" and "To Hear the Angels Sing." Discusses challenges of writing outside of one's culture, i.e., the issue of authenticity and accuracy as a European-American writer writing…

Data from 475 young adults in China, India, New Zealand, and the United States were used to test the cross-cultural applicability of the Vanity Scale, a measure of concern with physical appearance and achievement. It was found to have similar dimensionality and factor structure, internal consistency, and discriminant validity. (Contains 57…

Proposes strategic planning and training initiatives that can be used to facilitate the development of diverse self-directed work teams. Offers practical implications for effective functioning of diverse self-directed teams in the workforce. (Author)

Reviews the first conference arranged by the European Region of the Association for Business Communication from the point of view of the organizers. Reviews both of the activities of developing a theme and naming the tracks for which papers were invited. Suggests that it is important to consider how communicators make sense of a multilingual and…

Provides a case study of human performance technology (HPT) that illustrates how adaptations from other cultures can be successful. Discusses mission statements; desired employee performance; cause analysis; improvement review; overview of the complete business process by management; and objective and subjective evaluations. (LRW)

Discusses the issue of time and time management in France, explaining that many outsiders are frustrated at the way the French behave in the workplace and noting that time is not always money in the French workplace. Discusses monochronic versus polychronic cultures, looks at France's differing notion of time, and describes a French manager's…

Investigated culture and gender differences in a self-regulation task. College students in Singapore and Israel completed anagram-solving task that let them select levels of difficulty to maximize achievement. There were cultural differences in attained scores. Women preferred significantly easier tasks, though there was no gender difference in…

Describes development of Global Age from Japanese perspective; discusses peace and human-rights activities of the United Nations Economic and Social Council; describes development of individual character and universal attributes; explains Japanese concept of living together; discusses awareness problems related to Japan's relationship with other…

Examines the potential conflict between an explicit educational manifesto and the implicit, dominant cultural resources that may interfere with the actualization of the manifesto, illustrating, through the qualitative analysis of an educational activity involving Israeli high school students, the dynamics by which an educational manifesto can be…

A survey of 265 U.S. and 247 Taiwanese college students' expectations of teachers and students showed significant differences related to cultural values such as collectivism/individualism, power distance, and egalitarianism. Ways to improve learning in multicultural classrooms were suggested by the findings. (Contains 18 references.) (SK)

Research within and across cultures is depicted in four case studies: a black woman interviewing black women, Asian students in the United States interviewing people back home, an African professor and African businesswomen, and a cross-cultural team studying aging in a non-Western culture. Insider/outsider status of researchers is described in…

Summarizes a school psychologist's personal and professional experiences in 1997 as the first Fulbright scholar at the Liepaja Pedagogical Higher School in the former Soviet Republic of Latvia. Topics addressed include applying for the Fulbright scholarship; cultural experiences in Latvia; professional activities as a Fulbright scholar; and…