A six-stage skill-based model for training group counselors that incorporates experiential, didactic, observations, and role-play components is described. Focusing on skill acquisition rather than interpersonal development, the model can be applied to each of the core skill competencies, and can be used to reduce dual-relationship issues and build…

Summarizes that the goal for this issue is to help move the study of women's groups beyond survival and recovery issues to the thriving that can and does occur for women through their participation in women's groups. This collection of articles helps build on a growing body of literature attempting to study women's groups as a phenomena in their…

Looks at the notion of the democratic public sphere as a useful construct for collaborative practices in portfolio classrooms. Describes the author's efforts to foster democratic participation by situating portfolio talk and assessment within the public space of one developmental writing classroom. Describes conflicts unseen until the end of the…

Describes process-play, an experiential training group structure that addresses the dilemma between participation in a training group and a student's right to privacy. Students participate in group training through a mask, whereby they differentially respond to certain group members on the basis of superficial characteristics. Introduces…

Therapeutic adventure with families is a promising integration of adventure therapy and family therapy. Issues that must be addressed to legitimize the field include licensure and legal scope of practice, developing minimum standards for practitioners, incorporating family development and family therapy theories into practice, and conducting more…

Outward Bound Czech Republic offers a personal development program for international participants that goes beyond the physical outdoor activities traditionally associated with adventure education. Dramaturgy uses "scenarios" in course design, allowing instructors to integrate a range of social, physical, creative, and reflection…

Examines the collaborative discourse practices of the Red River Writing Project Teacher Research Group as well as the processes by which this diverse group of classroom teachers, most with only limited experience in conducting research, developed into a discourse community of teacher researchers. Argues that the inquiry-oriented context fostered…

This paper reports an investigation of the impact of students cognitive style on their effective use of educational text-based computer-mediated conferences. The research centres on an empirical study involving students from three courses run by the British Open University. Statistical analysis of the data does not suggest that cognitive style has…

Successful graduates in today's competitive business environments must possess sound interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively in team situations within, and across, disciplines. However, developing these skills within the higher education curriculum is fraught with organisational and pedagogical difficulties, with many teachers not…

The author uses her personal experience as a co-facilitator of color of groups consisting of predominantly White members to discuss the literature on the group dynamics of multicultural counseling and to identify unique and common issues for diverse counselors facilitating White and culturally different race groups. Included in the discussions of…

Tools for measuring cognitive engagement within online groups have been concerned only with measuring an individual participant's cognitive engagement, without any concern for measuring cognitive engagement within groups. There remains a serious need for a scheme that measures cognitive engagement of groups and the validation of such a scheme…

This research describes a methodology for applying design- and management-based scaffolding techniques aimed to enhance cooperative behavior. Based on assumptions of how successful online learning groups act together, we developed feedback-based mechanisms that aimed at contributing to group functions of well-being, member support, and productive…

One of the most important facets of collaborative learning is the interaction between individual and collaborative learning activities--between divergent perspectives and shared knowledge building. Individuals bring divergent ideas into a collaborative environment. While individuals bring their own unique knowledge and perspectives, the second…

This study focused on the effect of a cooperative strategy training program on the patterns of interaction that arose as small groups of students participated in an oral discussion task. The underlying assumption was that students could be taught to engage with each other and with the task in a way that would foster the creation and exploitation…

Because of its centrality to school success, social status, and workplace effectiveness, oral and aural skills development has been increasingly emphasized in Canadian curricula, classrooms and, very recently, large-scale assessment. The corresponding emphasis on group processes and collaborative learning has aimed to address equity issues in…