Presents a call to action to all adults who impact the lives of students to make the time to pay attention to students, encourage their strengths, promote their learning, and model considerate and pro-social behavior--to notice them and talk to them. (SR)

Reports on an analysis of the evidence of politeness in Japanese English-as-a-Second-Language high school textbooks. Analysis reveals that the textbooks are not exposing learners to important aspects of linguistic politeness in English. Ways that the teaching of politeness might be facilitated are considered. (Author/VWL)

Observed 56 preschool children during free play to record occurrences of four types of affect: moderate and strong positive affect, anger, and distress. Also collected teacher ratings of social competence and peer sociometrics. Found that social competence and peer acceptance were associated with strong positive affect, whereas anger and distress…

Describes an Interpersonal Skills course given at Randallwood Middle School, in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, to teach conflict resolution. Describes the values approach of the course and its affect on students, highlighting teaching of the value, skills, and ethos of nonviolence. (JPB)

Teenagers need emotional stability and social proficiency. They need to be shown how to behave appropriately and have healthy, mature relationships. School schedules should be adjusted to promote healthy lifestyles. Administrators need to show teenagers how to think and act appropriately. (MLF)

Four children (ages 4-6) with autism were taught to use gestures in combination with oral communication. Intervention was introduced successively across three response categories that contained gestures representative of attention-directing/getting, affective, and descriptive behavior. Results indicated that all participants acquired this skill…

An itinerant special education teacher talks about her changing role in the development of social skills in young children with disabilities. A continuum of social skills interventions is explained and the importance of matching types of interventions to children and settings is stressed. The special challenges of the itinerant teacher role are…

Describes town of Burnt Island, Newfoundland, including its need for imaginative survival; explores the nature of imaginative thought, including benefits to the individual and to society; describes threats to imaginative teaching within town's restructured school; describes characteristics common to the work of Greenfield, Greene, and Habermas…

Suggests ways in which drama can be used to: explore issues that often give rise to aggression or violence; give space to articulate and respond to emotions; model and practice non-violent response to aggression; consider the consequences of one's actions; empower children to stand up to bullying; and channel energy into performance. (TJQ)

Reports on the effectiveness of a prejudice prevention intervention that was used among a culturally diverse group of students in Hawaii. Results indicate that teachers observed significant improvement in the students' cooperative social skills as a result of participating in the multicultural guidance activities. Discusses implications for…

Discusses how camps can cultivate staff from among the camper ranks. Outlines questions to consider in deciding whether internal leadership development (ILD) is appropriate and feasible. Describes elements of successful ILD programs and six training techniques to maximize ILD: leadership by example, delegation of responsibility, role-playing,…

Examined associations between interparental agreement, parent-child responsiveness, and children's social competence with peers. Associations were found between parental agreement in beliefs about control and parental similarity in use of control with child. Associations between agreement measures and children's social competence were partially…

Two studies investigated the construct validity of the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales (HCSBS), a new behavior rating scale for assessing children's social behavior, and relationships between characteristics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and children's social behavior. Results indicated a strong link between social behavior…

The production of tangential language during conversations was studied with people with fragile X syndrome (n=10), autism (n=10), and mental retardation not caused by fragile X (n=10). Tangential language was found to be more prevalent among those with fragile X compared to the control groups, especially within unsolicited comments. (Contains…

Defendants of affirmative action are asked to demonstrate that race-sensitive admissions policies and diversity produce educational benefits for all students. This study found that the racial/ethnic composition of a classroom may indeed be related to the development of students' problem-solving and group skills. The nature of that effect, however,…