The article, based to a large extent on archive sources, looks at Cedefop's origins and the development of its activities up to its transfer to Thessaloniki in the mid-1990s. The foundations of a European policy on vocational training, starting with the ECSC, are firstly reviewed, looking at the first steps taken in the 1960s in this field by the…

Civil Society Organizations (CSO) can improve their effectiveness and add measurable value to society by using a megaplanning approach as the guiding criteria for their organizational planning. This article shows how Asociacion Conciencia, a leading Argentinean CSO, has used megaplanning to clarify its vision, mission, align its goals and programs…

Purpose: Contingency and institutional theories of organizational development are used to describe and interpret the 100-year history of a health science university and to then make a case for teaching organizational sociology in administrative preparation programs. Design/methodology/approach: Primary and secondary documents were analyzed to…

Purpose: This paper aims to construct an approach referred to as "the participatory narrative" for organizational learning in diverse organizations. The approach is grounded in an understanding of organizational learning as the process of social construction which is narratively mediated. Design/methodology/approach: The participatory narrative is…

We know how to address individual learning, but what are the characteristics of organizational learning? How can you tell if your organization is adaptable and changing? Ten characteristics describe organizations that are learning, and examples show each characteristic in practice.

The 2002/2003 Seton Hall University (SHU) ELMP (Education Leadership, Management and Policy) Department objectives included developing a "learning community" or Community of Learners (COL) framework for ELMP to advance a research and scholarship culture and have a "researchable" element. The Department developed a framework and…

Successful leaders get results. To get results, you need to set priorities. This book can help you do a better job of setting priorities, recognizing the personal values that motivate your decision making, the probable trade-offs and consequences of your decisions, and the importance of aligning your priorities with your organization's…

With the rapidly transforming nature of vocational work, it is increasingly challenging for vocational teachers in institutional environments to develop learning that is relevant and sustainable. Although it has been widely observed that new pedagogies are essential in this changing vocational environment, little guidance is emerging for both…

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to show that for the successful development of socio-technical systems it is essential that various stakeholders are able to integrate their different knowledge and perspectives. A method that supports knowledge integration in the course of introduction and development of socio-technical systems is the…

The difficulty in education to determine causality between means and ends brings various issues and variables to the discussion about the antecedents of school effectiveness. Although teachers' level of professional development is clearly among the factors influencing student outcomes, little is known about the extent to which teachers connect…

When Palmdale School District and Pivot Learning Partners entered into their first contract in 2006, neither organization foresaw the magnitude and complexity the relationship would take over time. Pivot Learning Partners (formerly known as Springboard Schools) is a non-profit service provider that first entered the Palmdale School District…

This book presents the stories of a group of Maine educators--teacher leaders, teaching principals, and principals--who met at the Maine Academy for School Leaders (MASL) in 1992 to share their experiences and frustrations and to help each other improve their understanding and practice of educational leadership. They share personal accounts of how…

In developing a vision of schools capable of responding effectively to their challenges to change, futurists and reformers must solve two closely linked problems inherent in their positions. One problem is the risky business of predicting the future social and economic consequences of present trends; the other is the improbability of accurately…

Site-based management (SBM) could change schools by altering the scope of authority, involvement, and influence to lessen dominance relationships in education and inequities regarding struggling students. These dominance relationships exist between administrators and staff and between staff and students. SBM seems to signal a paradigm shift from a…

Designed as a hands-on guide for job development specialists, vocational rehabilitation professionals, and agency leaders and staff, this book provides an indepth analysis of the conversion process of Pioneer, a sheltered workshop in Syracuse, New York. The book moves from an examination of the historical roots of sheltered workshops in chapter 1…