To position libraries and librarians as leaders within communities and states, the Internet should be a priority item on their agendas. This article argues that state libraries must provide leadership, promote collaboration between government agencies and libraries, and provide empowerment for local libraries or risk ending up "road kill" on the…

Although General National Vocational Qualifications purport to empower students through transfer-of-learning responsibility, a case study shows students used freedom for their own purposes but resisted the burden of managing their own work. In resisting empowerment, students may in fact be exercising power. (SK)

Describes the development of an instrument to measure substance abuse counseling orientations. The Powerless-Empowerment Scale, which was developed by investigating its reliability and viability, demonstrated initial promise as an instrument that can be used in a variety of settings in the substance abuse field. (Contains 22 references.) (GCP)

Concept mapping of case studies resulted in nine organizational domains for community empowerment: participation, leadership, organizational structures, problem assessment, resource mobilization, critical awareness, linkages, outside agents, and program management. The domains provide a way to define and measure empowerment. (Contains 45…

Comparison of site-based management in 1987-88 and 1993-94 indicates that principals' leadership increased and teachers' leadership stagnated and was focused on classroom rather than schoolwide issues. There were discrepancies in principals' and teachers' perceptions of leadership. Teachers are still not empowered in many areas. (JOW)

Trade unions in Botswana have been weakened by legislation. Many union members are not aware of adult education opportunities. Adult educators from basic to continuing and higher education levels can help empower organizations of civil society, including unions. (SK)

Describes how, in 1988, students at Gallaudet University led a successful movement calling for the appointment of the university's first deaf president; today, that sense of empowerment has carried over into addressing issues related to cultural and ethnic diversity. (EV)

Because elementary education is predominantly made up of women, it is interesting that not much research in the field has been conducted with an inherently feminist perspective. Lisa Goldstein notes that developmental psychology has been the theoretical foundation for early childhood education--an irony, especially considering the pervasiveness of…

This article discusses how two welfare education programs construct workforce success. Discourse about success in these programs falls into two basic camps: an individual-based self-motivation perspective and an external, structural, socioeconomic perspective. Although the individualistic perspective adhered to by the programs came into conflict…

An alternative high school in the US where democracy is truly enacted by the students is described. Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, Colorado, is a unique school where the students' personal voices are valued that helps them develop power, responsibility, and authority over their education.

Psychological empowerment (PE) is presumed to be a second-order latent construct composed of four dimensions: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. Based on the results of two validation studies, it has been hypothesized that loadings of the four dimensions on PE could vary across gender groups. A multiple-group second-order…

Increasingly, professionals are recognizing the need to involve parents and other caregivers in the mental health treatment of children. However, parents and caregivers may not feel efficacious when participating in mental health care. Self-efficacy is a mechanism of human agency that describes people's beliefs about their capabilities to exercise…

Policy-makers' conceptions of teacher professionalism currently differ markedly in England and Finland. In England they are shaped by agendas associated with the drive to raise standards and "commercialized professionalism" whilst in Finland they are influenced by notions of "teacher empowerment". This article analyses findings…

Iris M. Young, Chantal Mouffe, and Ernesto Laclau are known for their political perspective on the politics of difference. The politics of difference concerns the fundamental question of political subjectivity. They argue against the essentialist belief that there is a fixed identity, instead promote the celebration of multiple and diverse values…

This paper examines the controversies over the Women's Committee of the Korean Teachers Union (KTU) or "Chunkyojo"--in particular, the implementation of the quota policy which requires that 50% of the union's representative body be composed of women. Initially, this policy led to concerns that the KTU's militancy may be weakened.…