Describes various strategies for directors of youth ministries, Catholic school principals, and pastors for managing change in the parish. Asserts that parish leaders should move away from control and direction and toward nurturing, sharing, collaborating, empowering, and networking. (JDI)

Students at Clovis (California) Unified School District are benefiting from GoalSHARING, a program growing out of the district's first annual education congress. Hundreds of educators, parents, and community leaders convened to determine better ways to run the schools. Parent teams now initiate changes at district and school levels. (MLH)

The Lewisburg (Pennsylvania) Area Middle School has successfully implemented an alternating-day block schedule that has yielded improved academic performance. The positive effect may derive from administrative support, teacher empowerment, and community agreement. The culture of the traditional schedule and school year remains essentially intact,…

Describes outdoor education students' developmental needs for belongingness, acceptance, care and friendship, praise and recognition, responsibility, self-respect, creativity, achievement, and new experiences. Explains how upward, outward, forward, and downward models of personal growth can be linked to developmental needs to enhance and evaluate…

This qualitative exploratory study investigated what teachers and second graders learned when student questions were the nucleus of literature discussions. Data showed that students were eager to pose questions that addressed what they needed and wanted to understand about literature and life and that teachers have a tendency to impose their own…

This article examines the role of leadership in establishing a school climate where ethical deliberation undergirds educational decision-making. A major focus is on educational leaders who can facilitate planning for more inclusive educational settings for minority group students, however, shared leadership and empowerment of teachers and…

A study evaluated effects of a staff training package on the number of choice responses and performance responses made by adults with disabilities in a community purchasing activity. After training, all four staffers generalized offering choices and promoting performance across settings and adults with disabilities and maintained the skills.…

Presents seven elements of a safe classroom in controversy-driven courses, where students can exchange ideas rather than emotions as they learn and discuss. The elements are: collegiality, empowerment, role modeling, preparation, shared purpose, reflection, and commitment. Explains how teachers can create and nurture safe classrooms, describing…

A major challenge in implementing educational change is redefining leadership and power. A broader conceptualization of leadership includes teacher empowerment, shared decision making, and facilitation. Ideas valuable to facilitating leadership for change include not relying on one leader, not relying on force to oppose force, and honoring the…

A phenomenological study examined experiences of eight urban American Indian women participating in a 6-week intervention aimed at reclaiming and adapting Native women's traditional roles as part of bicultural resynthesis. Psychoeducational methods were used to uncover past ethnic shame, facilitate a return to American Indian pride and identity,…

Provides guidelines for implementing portfolios in the social studies classroom that focus on the Vietnam era and incorporate Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences. Outlines the portfolio project, lists eleven portfolio components, and addresses the intelligence of each. (CMK)

Participant responsibility in outdoor education programs is placed on a continuum from passenger status through participant and partner to practitioner. Corresponding leader roles are directive, coaching, supporting, and delegating. The disempowering effects of the passenger approach to risk management and the value of teaching a group to manage…

Discusses ways to nurture students' creative responses for building four categories of external assets for their education: supportive environment, student empowerment, boundaries and expectations, and constructive time use. Describes three strategies for promoting creative response: InQuest procedure, RAFT technique, and simulated journals. (JPB)

Examines the experiences of a group of urban, bilingual teacher-researchers. Considers how teacher research raised teachers' awareness about political dimensions of their own practices and how these teachers took steps to improve their practices and school settings. Proposes that teacher research empowers teachers to think and act like…

Explores whether Postgraduate Certification in Education student teachers felt that the Individual Action Planning (IAP) process either gave them personal control or controlled them. Concludes that neither elements of empowerment nor discipline are an adequate conceptualization of IAP, although from the student perspective feelings of 'control'…