Although various social groupings--aggregates, dyads, groups, and organizations--have been the subject of much past study, researchers have encountered an absence of a systematic theory to explain behavior within marriage and family units. This paper examines the diversity present in research concerning marriage and family units and suggests that…

This paper offers a sample of the materials available on conflict from four different academic disciplines (psychology, social psychology, sociology, and communications). The author describes sample research dealing with intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict, as well as intragroup conflict and intergroup conflict. She emphasizes that conflict…

How do more experienced school administrators think about and attend to problems in school administration? This paper presents findings of a study that compared how principals and aspiring principals cognitively processed and solved a problem scenario. A total of 30 practicing principals and 24 aspiring principals (referred to as the "novice…

It is proposed that more important than physical elements in the strain within the pharmacy profession are the perceptual elements: the consciousness of basic scientists with regard to clinical practitioners and vice versa. (MSE)

A Canadian public higher education official comments on the use of performance indicators for evaluating and funding higher education institutions. Focus is on putting the controversy over their use into perspective by narrowing the issues and arguments, clarifying them, and acknowledging inherent limitations of performance indicators. (MSE)

To examine the dynamism and productive qualities of multicultural interaction, a chromosomal bivalency model was borrowed from the biological sciences. Dilemmas inherent in contact between cultures emerge from the sites of multicultural conflict. Understanding these dilemmas allows interactants to have insights into other cultures as well as into…

Although many studies have examined the competencies associated with being well-liked by the peer group, far less is known about the competencies children need in order to make and maintain good quality friendships. This study addressed friendship tasks, investigating 5 of 10 previously hypothesized competencies necessary to make and maintain good…

Despite the recent attention to shared decision making, there has been little research investigating the process. This paper presents and compares three case studies describing the leadership and decision making of three shared-decision-making teams over 4 years. The teams--from one primary, one middle, and one high school--were set in one school…

This paper explores the contributions of several disciplines of the social sciences to peace education and peace psychology and focuses on positive gains in several aspects of peace education and conflict resolution witnessed by the researcher in over 10 years of work. The paper contains the following sections: (1) Introduction; (2)…

Fort Hays State Univesity offers a hybrid basic communication course. Competent speakers need to master public speaking skills (including suitable interpersonal skills), demonstrate nonverbal behaviors which support the verbal message, and be able to listen with literal and critical comprehension. However, increasing numbers of schools teach only…

Conflict management has become an integral part of a headmaster's tasks. Headmasters are not required to suppress or resolve conflict, but to manage it. Since 1976, conflict in black schools has increased, and headmasters have had to manage serious and dangerous situations. Unfortunately, there has been little research in conflict management in…

Research on learning styles has shown that students learn better when teachers plan class learning activities to fit students' learning styles. This paper describes three "ways of knowing" and discusses the role they play in "knowing the culture" of a school. The first part relates ways of knowing to the usual three domains of learning--cognitive,…

This study investigated the degree to which the flexible design of an adult literacy program provided for efficient, effective, and satisfying teacher behavior within the social system of the providing organization. The program was a collaboration of junior high school, business community, community college, and federal agencies intended to…

The Accelerated Schools Project (ASP) at the University of New Orleans (UNO) was established in spring 1990, funded by a 3-year grant from Chevron. Beginning with 1 pilot school in 1991, the UNO Accelerated Schools Center has expanded to 36 schools representing 19 school districts in Louisiana and 3 schools from the Memphis City Schools district.…

Issues in the resolution of departmental conflict by university chairs of educational administration departments are discussed in this paper. The need for finding more constructive ways to handle conflict is highlighted by a survey of 808 department chairs at 101 research and doctoral-granting universities, in which chairs identified…