Suggestions for facilitating inclusion of people with mixed abilities in outdoor adventure programs focus on creating an atmosphere of trust, cooperation, and mutual respect through open lines of communication, patterns of inclusive decision making, valuing of efforts and nonphysical accomplishments, emphasis on group challenges and activities,…

Significant, multisector community partnerships are a prerequisite for sustained, systemwide pre-Kindergarten through college-level educational reform. Like a few others, the University of Pennsylvania is developing higher education-assisted community schools designed to help educators educate, engage, activate, and serve all community members.…

Scholars theorize that engaging young people in organizational governance promotes positive youth development and organizational effectiveness. To explore this prediction, the study discussed here, based on interview data from 16 youth and 24 adult organizational leaders representing 8 organizations, mapped the developmental processes that occur…

Over the past four decades higher education institutions have faced increasing complexity related to governance (Berdahl, 1991; Birnbaum, 1988; Kezar, 2000; Leslie & Fretwell, 1996). In particular, institutions now face even greater competing priorities and demands to engage the community, business, and industry; to solve social problems and…

In this paper, we take up and advance the project of rethinking "scientific literacy" by Eisenhart, Finkel, and Marion (American Educational Research Journal, 1996, 33, 261-295). As part of a project of rethinking science education, we advance three propositions. First, because society is built on division of labor, not everybody needs to know the…

Against the background of several large-scale innovations in secondary agricultural education, this study explores the relation between teachers' professionality and their participation in school policy. For the research into this, 1,030 teachers of 98 schools for preparatory and secondary agricultural education have filled in two questionnaires.…

Prompted by Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, there is a growing number of examples of children and young people being involved in the policy process. To date this had not been matched by evaluation of the practice. This situation needs to change to ensure that existing experience provides learning for more widespread and…

Children's participation in decision-making is complex: it is undertaken for different purposes and is reflected in different levels of involvement, different contexts and different activities. This paper reviews the current state of participation and, drawing on practice and research literature, highlights several aspects of practice where…

A participatory curriculum development process was undertaken to design and implement a university-level, community-based environmental education training course to target behaviors and thus increase the effectiveness of conservation programs in central Vietnam. The process included (1) stakeholder analysis, (2) training needs assessment, (3)…

This paper paints a portrait of successful leadership that was built through the directorship and ethic of caring of a female site administrator. The paper addresses the major question, "What major principles need to be incorporated into the daily life of those in leadership positions to assist in their success?" The study is framed through the…

Since the 1970s, participatory development has become part and parcel of most practitioner-oriented development studies programs. This reflects a shift in the field of development that has been going on for the past few decades. "Participatory Rural Appraisal" (PRA) is one approach to participatory development that has received much…

Relying on standardized tests to measure performance and determine accountability obscures the fact that only reciprocal rights and responsibilities can create authentic accountability. A student has the right to expect a teacher will begin on time with a well-prepared lesson, the necessary materials, and the skill to conduct a class. A teacher,…

This paper considers four notions of teacher professionalism--traditional, managerial, collaborative and democratic professionalism. While its focus is on England, the increasing convergence of education policy around the world means that its discussion and arguments have much wider relevance. The paper begins by outlining the different…

Much has been written in recent years about advances in assessment technologies designed to aid decision making in the juvenile justice system. Adoption and implementation of this latest generation of actuarial tools, however, have lagged behind their development. Assessment in juvenile justice exemplifies the "science-practice gap" that…

It is frequently asserted that schools and local authorities should become "learning organisations" as a pre-condition for school improvement, but there is very little evidence about the specific processes and activities involved in such a transformation. This paper analyses the initial stages of the implementation by a Scottish local…