This paper briefly describes two projects--one in the United States, one in England--that studied professional learning communities (PLCs). Part I of the paper describes the two projects. The American project is called the Creating Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement project. The purpose of this study was to document and examine…

A study was conducted to show the effect that participation in workplace committees has on committee members. The subjects were 34 members of Workplace Education Center (WEC) projects of ABC Canada who work on establishing and maintaining workplace literacy initiatives; they were interviewed by phone or in group discussions. The study found that,…

Using the metaphor of a river to describe continuous and lifelong learning, this paper details an action research project aimed at developing effective learning environments in a large, distributed organization called Thiess Contractors Proprietary Limited, an Australian mining and construction company. Two major outcomes of the project are…

Describes the creation of the cooperation, investigation, literacy, and community (CILC) model within a holistic educational project in Acre, a Jewish-Arab mixed city in northern Israel, focusing on the implementation of cooperative learning at the schools and the work of the dropout investigative task force which was created to build community in…

Since the inception in 1987 of European funding programmes the number of students and the range of countries annually involved in international exchange have increased dramatically. In order to comply with this international development, the European Project Semester (EPS) was started in 1995. Since then, more and more students, also from…

Problem: After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1989, it became apparent that there was little recognition of the problems of child abuse and neglect, professionally, legally, or societally. There were no effective systems or laws in place to deal with these problems. Method: Beginning in 1995 the Children's Mental Health Alliance, in conjunction…

Dunblane Primary School, Scotland, and Columbine High School, USA. Two headline tragedies that have led to trauma for their pupils and staff. Trauma that could be devastating because of the psychological impact and the practical requirements a crisis brings. Children's social and personal development can be negatively affected, their academic…

The purpose of this document is to identify the essential components of appropriate programming that are mandated by Alberta Education for students with special education needs, to provide examples of effective practices, to establish a common understanding of the terminology associated with this specialized field, and to clarify the meaning of…

This paper argues that in the pursuit of influencing inclusive education development, definitions of inclusion have been promulgated that remain a distant concept in the minds of the most significant partners in this process, i.e. teachers and schools. This is despite best efforts to share ideas for sustainable change based on such definitions.…

British employers' perceptions of the key skills needed by young workers and all employees were examined through a national study that involved a large-scale survey of 193 employers and in-depth interviews with a subsample of 46 employers selected to be representative from the standpoints of firm size, sector, region, and employment of young…

This study examines the impact of a leadership education retreat through the eyes of six undergraduate college men who participated in The Institute for Men of Principle at a midwestern college. What influences shape their definition and experience of leadership? Entry and exit interviews were conducted along with field notes from observations…

Teams in an organization are more than cooperative working groups. Advantages of group work, as opposed to individual work, include producing a better end result, providing satisfaction for the individual and the organization, and assisting the organization through coordination and work allocation. Disadvantages of group work include producing a…

Describes Southtek, a group of 14 colleges and 14 companies which have formed partnerships with local education authorities to produce effective vocational distance training materials. Topics discussed include the need that precipitated Southtek, its material development and testing methods, and its network of support centers for local users and…

Describes a collaborative action research project at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) which utilized class debates in an international management class to develop students' ability to assess their own and each other's learning. Evaluation suggests the debates enabled students to develop a critical view of the topics and acquire…

Given the drive in higher education institutions to employ web-based learning (WBL) technologies in their curricula, this article sets out to address the question of how staff experience the incorporation of such technologies into their educational practice. The study focuses on an initiative involving four institutions in South and West England…