The authors report an attempt to base a school-industry curriculum on the perceptions young children already have of work. Perceptions of 60 children were investigated using observation, interviews, and questionnaires. Data showed that children have sophisticated conceptions and understandings of work but that these are not without contradictions.…

Examined tasks performed by counselors working in elementary schools and had counselors assess activities in terms of how highly they valued them and how much time they spent in each activity. Respondents reported valuing most activities more than they participated in them. Findings have implications for counselor education programs. (NB)

Summarizes a study using latent-trait theory to construct a variable that conceptualizes practitioner perspectives about the deputy principalship in self-managing (Australian) primary schools. A sample of 403 deputy principals, 179 principals, and 138 teachers was analyzed according to both actual and ideal situations, using a Rasch measurement…

Summarizes two Israeli case studies concerning an internal curriculum coordinator functioning as a school staff member and an external curriculum coordinator delegated by a national project. The schools had similar (participative) educational philosophies. Studies highlighted the principal-coordinator relationship, personal factors affecting the…

Summarizes findings of a study identifying problematic aspects of the deputy principalship (job dissatisfaction and lack of a significant professional identity) in self-managed Western Australia primary schools. Deputy principals can reshape their positions by increasing their role awareness, assuming greater policymaking responsibility,…

Examined elementary school counselors' perceptions of their current interventions with families, their ideal forms of family interventions, and barriers to working with families. Findings from 249 counselors revealed that counselors preferred to work with children individually and consult with teachers more than doing parent consultation.…

A study of 103 (of 143) teachers' expectations of occupational therapists working with exceptional children in Ontario public schools found that (1) teachers consider therapists to be important; (2) they think therapists should define their role and responsibility further; and (3) they believe therapists should work with special needs children…

A study used a Personal Construct Theory/Repertory Grid approach to examine the work of 12 Welsh primary headteachers. Analysis of thematic work-activity grids suggests principals have a more coherent view of their work (as centered on children and education) than Henry Mintzberg's observational studies portrayed. (Contains 36 references.) (MLH)

This study attempted to determine the effects of a twice-weekly, four-month-long, cross-age tutoring program on children's reading achievement levels and self-concepts. A total of 240 students, stratified by grade and sex, were randomly assigned to four experimental groups. Within each group, students were matched by grade: grade four with grade…

The influence of variations in school setting on the development of ethnic role taking skills and ethnic identity were examined in English speaking Canadian children in grades 1-5. Their instructional settings were either monolingual in the first language (English), monolingual in a second language (French), or bilingual (French and English).…

Analyzes findings from a special (British) program that explored emotional dimensions of primary headteachers' leadership. Conceptualizes the emotions' role in organizations. Principals felt they had to abandon their humanity to lead, had sole responsibility for holding things together, and considered "good-enough" (imperfect) leadership…

The perceptions of 14 teachers from 14 different public schools about their changing roles and responsibilities as they moved into inclusive settings with students with severe disabilities were explored. Their experiences of cultural dissonance as they left the segregated culture of special education and attempted to assimilate themselves into…

The primary headteacher's role has undergone significant changes since Britain's Education Reform Act (1988). This article explores headteachers' perceptions of change resulting from their career paths, imposed legislation, and relations with key stakeholders. Many changes are contradictory and generate paradoxes. Heads manage, but are more than…

The decentralization policy of Tomorrow's Schools entrusted individual schools with their own operational funds, and responsibility for property and personnel decisions and for staff development. As a result, the role of the primary principal became wider, calling on new knowledge and skills. Principals were also given a greater workload and a…

Preschoolers and second and fifth graders were interviewed to determine their understanding of an actor's motives and the intentionality of his act after watching films and hearing stories which portrayed an actor who intentionally or accidentally injured another for either good or bad motives. (JMB)