Describes the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Program in Self-Determination, a program facilitating change through the support of "learning community" grants to self-advocacy organizations and others. Local implementation is demonstrating creativity in establishing new tools of self-directed management of resources, listening to…

Aging 2000 is a Rhode Island organization of community-based networks working to improve geriatric health care through consumer empowerment. Evaluation of workshops on health behavior and the health-care system shows the viability of using older adult volunteers as peer teachers. (SK)

Participatory evaluation research empowers the consumers of services to become leaders in evaluation and change. Participatory research methods have been used widely in developing countries and are consistent with family therapy's recent emphasis on nonhierarchical, empowering, collaborative therapies. Presents several examples of participatory…

Presents the metaphor of counseling as a spiritual empowerment, an explanation of spiritual empowerment as a metaphor, and a theoretical framework for counselors. In the use of this metaphor, counselors initiate a spiritual experience with clients, and clients often experience a spiritual awakening in which they discover or rediscover their own…

Examines school reform's effects on principals' professional leadership culture, drawing on research findings from 1993 to 1998, and highlighting possible future reforms in Victoria, Australia. Principals are more satisfied with present, than past, work arrangements. Leadership is more strategic and empowering than heroic or hands-on. (44…

Empowering children to use the Internet safely and responsibly is essential. Students can also be taught to communicate positively with others. The CyberSmart! School Program offers a framework that teachers can use to discuss the Internet with students and raise awareness. Tips regarding etiquette, advertising, and privacy protection are also…

Argues that the artists workshop, a parallel approach to readers-writers workshop, empowers children to express inner thoughts and feelings and helps students and teachers form a classroom community of learners. Describes routines of the workshop, the ways in which writing and literature connect to art, and the climate that encourages children to…

Discusses what multicultural empowerment means and why it should play a major role in educating middle-school students; how elements of multicultural empowerment can be incorporated into middle-school social studies; and how drama pedagogy can be used to integrate middle-school multicultural education and social studies, outlining a progression of…

A case study of health reform in British Columbia followed four health-planning groups' efforts to foster community participation by developing local community health plans. Findings from the case study can inform the theory and practice of community development. (JOW)

Parents must help their children understand the meaning of good decision making. Children who are accustomed to making all the decisions grow up with no understanding of legitimate authority. Understanding appropriate ways to handle issues of empowerment, authority, and age-appropriate decision making are relevant to children of all ages. A…

Advocates abolishing school custodians and training school students to clean up their own messes. Personal responsibility has two philosophical bases: pragmatism and "educational reconstructionism," holding that schools must not only transmit the culture, but transform it. Other countries, such as Japan, stress student maintenance of a…

Presents a new client-centered typology of the information professions with special emphasis given to the empowering professions, including librarianship, which enable clients to use knowledge to take control of their lives. Topics include increasing self-efficacy; reducing self-blame; developing group consciousness; and assuming responsibility…

Discusses ways to create partnerships between volunteers and child care programs. Focuses on recruitment and screening, empowering volunteers, and creating a positive climate by facilitating a team spirit. (KB)

Describes a teaching framework that allows instructors to become facilitators rather than the knowledge source; it also encourages social construction of knowledge and independence. Cites the seven stages of EMPOWER: elicit, monitor, pose, organize, web, engage, and reflect. Notes that these stages take students through a prereading strategy, a…

An expert panel and consensus workshops identified eight general hallmarks and 23 related indicators of person-centered approaches in planning and providing services and supports to individuals with mental retardation. The applicability of person-centered features and indicators to improving services and supports is discussed. (Contains…