Interviews and observations in literacy programs for welfare recipients indicated that, when learners tried to discuss problematic issues, teachers deflected discussion, upholding official discourses and ideological beliefs about learners and program purposes. The curriculum-in-use supported dominant discourses about meritocracy and racist and…

Describes university intergroup dialogue programs, which bring together diverse students to discuss issues related to their diversity and develop comfort with and skills for discourse on difficult topics. Examines their basic tenets, themes, and variations. Research on the impact of intergroup dialogue programs in higher education indicates that…

Assessed relationship between group's ability to differentiate characteristics of conflict and consensus/cohesion formulation among 141 subjects in 32 problem-solving discussions. Determined that high consensus groups had significantly higher differentiation scores on depersonalized/positive and depersonalized/negative conflict than did low…

Stories can help teachers give children models and mores for reflection and growth. This article suggests specific books that deal with lying and provides guidelines for class discussion. (IAH)

Compared psychological well-being of elderly nursing home residents who participated in reminiscence and current topics group discussions with control group of residents. Rated participants' happiness/depression, activity, mood, and functional levels before and after intervention. Intervention had significant effect only on happiness/depression…

Discusses movement toward interagency cooperation for service delivery for handicapped, emphasizing importance of preservice education. Describes special education course at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Course designed to encourage communication of knowledge, attitudes, and coordination of skills in service delivery. Suggests new directions…

Discusses three models of consultation and their assumptions regarding the roles and responsibilities of evaluation consultants, suggests collaborative approaches as appropriate for evaluating the internal functioning of distance education programs, and presents the application of a collaborative model to the selection of evaluation issues at…

The article describes a social skills training group for 10 British autistic children (ages 9-16 years) which aimed to integrate them into the regular classroom. The weekly sessions were held over 4 years and followed guidelines of G. Mesibov and S. Spence. (Author/DB)

Through lively discussions of specially selected texts, students of diverse abilities often discover that they can learn a lot from one another. The Touchstones Project in a Baltimore (Maryland) middle school features group discussion of classical texts. (Author/TE)

Discusses a teacher's difficulties in using reader response approaches to engage her students at an urban alternative high school. Examines their resistances to discussion and personal response. Offers a few approaches the teacher has been trying, with some success, to overcome these resistances. (TB)

Discusses a study examining the perspectives of three gifted middle school students on peer-led discussions and on each other. Highlights issues of voice, gender, interruption, and empowerment. (SR)

Librarians can play a major role in the development of Holocaust literature programs for libraries and classrooms through reading strategies, including annotation, shared inquiry, and interpretive discussion. Librarians and students use writing journals to articulate and exchange questions, comments, and feelings about the books they have read.…

The effects of a task-based vocabulary learning technique that focuses learners' attention on the underlying meaning of a word were investigated. The words came from Xue and Nation's University Word List. The experimental exercises encouraged high quality discussion and increased utilization of context clues to determine word meaning. (26…

Reflective questioning creates opportunities for individuals to reflect aloud, be heard by one or more colleagues, and be prompted to expand and extend thinking through follow-up questions. The article examines the origin of reflective questioning, explains how to develop reflective questioning skills, and discusses outcomes associated with…

Describes student-led discussions as an effective approach that accommodates diverse student populations and a wider variety of texts. Offers the views of two quite different students about its effectiveness, and explores how such discussions naturally give rise to a variety of voices as students cite text and quote one another. (SR)