To succeed in 21st-century schools, teachers must dynamically respond to the ever-changing environment through a continually reflexive stance. Centered teachers are flexible and active participants in school decision making. They develop personal missions and participate in school missions, resolve conflict in appropriate ways, and use effective…

Tells the story of a partnership that involved university researchers, school administrators, and preservice and inservice teachers in the African and African American Curriculum Program. Examines commitments that brought in participants, tensions encountered, and areas of learning about curriculum reform and collaboration. (SM)

Analyzes Kenyan educational research conducted over the past 25 years. Examines choice of research topics, research methodologies, training of researchers, funding, and research utilization. Advocates more action and participatory research, greater regional cooperation and coordination, publishing findings in accessible sources, and greater…

Describes one university's Field Based Masters Program. Designed around intact cohorts of experienced teachers who meet weekly over two years, the program involves integrated curriculum and action research projects. The paper describes how group process and collaboration are integral to teachers' learning experiences and ongoing professional…

The new Science and Technology Curriculum Framework recently issued in Taiwan advocates the teaching of integrated science and technology with greater emphasis on basic skills. Science teachers are not used to teach in this way, they need different abilities and skills in order to do so. Using various effective professional development strategies,…

This paper discusses a qualitative participatory action research study, which examined the nature of the cohort learning experience in an online master's program, from both faculty and student perspectives. After describing this online master's program in adult education designed from a social constructivist theoretical frame, this paper discusses…

In the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in 1999, a Community Advisory Committee requested assistance from its university partners (University of North Carolina) to address stress and increased risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). Collected from 12 study work sites, baseline data indicated that IPV rates were higher among blue-collar women in…

This article presents findings from a qualitative research project that explored health care students' activities related to seeking help within a masters program offered exclusively through a WebCT online environment. A constructivist theoretical perspective and an action research approach framed the study. Data sources included one question on a…

Given the current emphasis on the benefits of communication and information technologies (C&IT) for sustainable rural community development, effective evaluations of C&IT initiatives are increasingly important. This paper presents outcomes of a project that aimed to build capacities of people in two Australian rural communities to evaluate…

During the 2001 summer holidays, the main Social Science classroom at St Ursula's College, a Catholic Secondary Girls' school of 740 pupils in Toowomba, Queensland was renovated. A mini-computer laboratory of four nests of computers was incorporated into the traditional teaching space. (See Diagram 1 and photograph). This room was named the…

In response to environmental degradation, the Lesotho government, in collaboration with the Danish government, introduced an Environmental Education Support Project in schools in 2001. In order to optimise the achievement of the project goals the, Monitoring and Research Team was established to formatively evaluate the project as it unfolded. The…

This paper reports on the results of an action research project at Coventry University that consisted of the evaluation of a curriculum innovation supported by the use of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) WebCT, i.e. a new module (course): "Academic and Professional Skills for Language Learning". The project was carried out…