Three educational programs for personal and social change--community development with Aboriginal people, cultural awareness and antiracism in Alice Springs, and preparation of adult educators at the University of South Australia--illustrate the risks and limits of intervention, the importance of clarifying teacher and learner interests,…

This paper offers a model of the nature and development of talents, which views genetic factors as determining potential strengths and setting limits and views abilities, aptitudes, and intelligences emerging as a result of experiences, motivations, and styles. Specific talents are characterized by precocity, creative insight, a functional…

This preliminary investigation examined issues of gender, the home situation, access to curricula, and access to work in school and postschool placements for 80 individuals (ages 13-18) with severe intellectual disability in Australia. The investigation generated the hypothesis that young women with severe intellectual disability are doubly…

Presents results of study of British elementary school boys aged seven to nine, comparing disruptive behavior to heart rate. Distinguishes this study from earlier ones that found relationship between low base heart rates and low reactivity to mild stress among high school boys. Reports that this study disproves prediction that results would be…

Advocates the implementation of the same developmentally appropriate principles and practices that govern good preschool programs in elementary school programs as well. These practices involve understanding children and their levels of development, working with the whole child, fostering integrated learning, and encouraging parent participation.…

Initial findings and case studies of a 30-year follow-up of gifted students and adults suggest that characteristics such as love of one's work, persistence, purpose in life, love of challenge, high energy level, and a sense of mission may be more important in the long run than creative ability, intelligence, and high school achievement. (DB)

Asked adults and children ages 7 to 15 to detect changes in an unaccompanied drumbeat. Found significant differences in performance as a function of age when drumbeats fluctuated. Found musical training more influential than age when drumbeat was constant. Discusses a multiprocess model for the perception of tempo. (NL)

Maintains that music teacher education should attend to the development of personal skills for effective classroom teaching. Describes the following exercises for skill development: positive-negative experience inventories, personal self-assessment questionnaires, and situation scenarios addressing specific areas. Illustrates how these exercises…

This study with 82 gifted males (grades 1-12) used a questionnaire which focused on self-confidence, perfectionism, relationships with parents, relationships with peers, hopelessness, and discouragement. Findings indicated a significantly higher level of discouragement and hopeless feeling for junior high school boys as compared with senior high…

Explores the childhood and adolescence of the Hispanic American poet Luis Rodriguez, who grew up in Los Angeles (California) and was involved in gangs with other children of Mexican immigrants. Rodriguez's autobiography is offered so that adolescents, including his own son, may learn from his experience. (SLD)

Reports on study in which 81 high school students were interviewed about group stratification and its impact on individual adolescents. Finds many students labeled as "nerds" in middle school were able to improve their self-concept and reconstruct themselves as "normal" in high school. Contends expanded range of school activities and more diverse…

Presents specific ways teachers can create a safe, just, inclusive, communicative, inviting, and caring elementary classroom community that promotes academic achievement. Focuses on teachers becoming more caring and competent by being honest, cultivating communication skills, being flexible, being empathetic, promoting humor, being kind,…

Based on her experiences requiring acceptance of continuous changes, a school library media specialist reveals the importance of remaining flexible in this dynamic environment. Highlights include embracing technology, changing districts, a difference in perspective on teacher education, and changing teaching strategies. (AEF)

Presents findings from a survey of avocational teachers at the beginning and end of a three-year project to recruit and prepare volunteer teachers for a religious school. Reveals that participants joined to improve their children's education and enhance their own Jewish learning, and that the quality of the school improved. (DSK)

Examined age differences in objectified body consciousness (OBC) based on cultural, developmental, and familial contexts of women's body experience in undergraduate women and their middle-aged mothers. Found that mothers scored lower on surveillance and body shame. Found no differences in appearance-control beliefs, body-esteem, or restricted…