Details a pilot customer service training scheme at Paramount Hotels, which leads to a National Vocational Qualification level 3 in customer services. Describes how the training was designed and delivered, and furnishes the views of Paramount Hotels and some of the participants.

The faculty development of research assistants who are at the first step of their academic careers are significant for the employment of faculty members of future and realizing the responsibilities of higher education institutions as to contribute to science and technology. However, there is little research on the features of faculty development…

This study is a qualitative analysis of data collected during a yearlong series of teacher learning community meetings and classroom observations. The participants are middle and high school mathematics teachers from 2 school districts. Teachers were introduced to the research behind formative assessment and how to apply that research to their…

In 2005, the undergraduate advisory committee at the University of Toronto Mississauga found that across all disciplines, writing proficiency was the skill weakness that generated the greatest concern. Students reported that they often found writing tasks intimidating, and suggested that effective feedback and guidance would improve their writing.…

"The Montessori Observer" is mailed four times each year, in March, May, September and November, to Society members throughout the world. The purpose is to provide news and information about the Society's work in Montessori education, and to extend awareness of Montessori principles throughout the world. This issue contains a feature…

In this article, the author describes a three-month study he conducted in Ellen Hino's classroom during writing workshop. The major purpose of the study was to look at the ways this native-born teacher responds orally to students who share her own bidialectical background. Most of these students are Native Hawaiian and speak a nonprestigious…

Developmentally appropriate research techniques were uncovered by involving ten Year 7 pupils as researchers in a four-hour workshop that investigated the effectiveness of multiple methods in gathering sensitive information from early adolescents. The pupils learned about, tried and evaluated the methods of generating interview questions, peer and…

The principal author developed a workshop through the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program, based on central Wisconsin's prairie chicken population, to present teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to provide quality environmental education. Seventeen high school teachers attended the 2003 workshop. Pre-and post-workshop surveys were…

This article describes the experience of the Downtown Centre in establishing an accessible and recognisable centre in Limerick city, which represents regional higher education partners, and which provides services and programmes to support adult learners in progressing to higher education. The article reflects on the achievements of the Centre…

This article introduces a simulation on bullying that consists of five phases. In the briefing phase, the participants answer a questionnaire about bullying. After they complete the questionnaire, they move on to read simulated news articles (the second phase). Once they finish reading the articles, the participants take part in a talk show. This…

Fourth year students in psychology and social work from two South African universities worked together across boundaries of race and class in a course which required them to engage in a personal reflexive way with issues of community and identity. A combination of face-to-face workshops and online tutorial groups was used. The course was demanding…

Information literacy instruction programs for graduate students can be challenging to develop. One solution is to develop non-course-based, non-mandatory library instruction programs, in order to meet the information literacy needs of as many graduate students as possible. This was the approach taken by the Taylor Library at the University of…

Vavoso and Apanay discuss revitalizing the Workshop Cycle for the purpose of creating the intellectual environment necessary in teaching for mathematical understanding, which lies at the intersection of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Process and Content Standards. (Contains 2 tables, 3 figures, and a bibliography.)

The purposes of this article are to provide the sequence of learning events about the integration of curricula and technology using modules prepared by the Southeast Teachers Are Revitalizing Teaching Through Technology (START) Technology Team and to describe the impact these technology modules had on university faculty and candidates at Alabama…

Performance-making and peace-building are processes predicated on the production of safe space. But what is "safe space"? In performance-making, what is it that makes space safe without losing the creative potential of tension? What role is there for risk? And, once achieved, how does safe space become meaningful beyond its immediate…