The purpose of this article is to provide a new perspective on the intricacies of the work life in schools that motivate and satisfy teachers. The authors review the literature related to the improvement of school environments and the concept of "flow" as defined by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (1990). He describes flow as a "state in which people are…

Collectively, globalisation and flexibility strategies have changed the nature and structure of employment, and as such careers academics, careers practitioners and governments have argued that individuals need to manage their careers in fundamentally new ways to ensure continued employment. We have become concerned that the promise of shared…

Politics are a daily reality in the ministry. In order to identify how pastors develop their political knowledge, eleven pastors were interviewed using a qualitative form of the critical incidents technique. Analysis of the interviews revealed that formal education was seen as helpful, but limited in practical application for daily ministry. Four…

The 14 chapters of this book review and synthesize research on the influence of college on students. Chapter 1 provides a detailed discussion of the evolution of research on college outcomes as an area of study, outlines the conceptual framework that guided the review, and provides a general overview of the study. Chapter 2 summarizes the major…

These six research papers were presented as public lectures: "Federal Child Care Policy" (David M. Blau) outlined the role of the federal government in child care, the failure of market-based care programs, and the ideal goals of a federal child care policy as well as its cost (4 tables; 41 references); "Thinking About Child Care…

The 5-year impacts of mandatory welfare-to-work programs on welfare recipients and their children were examined by using a rigorous research design called a social experiment to examine 11 welfare-to-work programs in 6 states (California, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Oregon). Four employment-focused and seven education-focused programs…

Despite the administrative leadership that most principals receive in university courses, their most useful learning doesn't occur until they are on the job. The new knowledge--much of it the result of trial and error, success and failure--is gained in relative isolation. This book focuses on the critical work of school principals, offering…

Work-Family Programs (WFPs) are among the most popular and publicized workplace innovations of the 1990s. These programs are intended to alleviate employees' work-personal conflicts by addressing issues such as child care assistance, parental leave, elder care, flexible working arrangements, wellness and fitness, and stress management. The problem…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated the factors perceived by teachers as significant to the development of a safer school-work environment. The case study involved a 4-year project to decrease school violence in an urban, elementary, Chapter 1 school. Data were obtained from administration of the School Level Environment…

This publication is intended for teachers attempting to handle stress at school as well as for administrators seeking to help and encourage teachers, and teacher trainers. The book consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 defines teacher stress, explores stress symptoms, and describes how to create a personal stress profile. Chapter 2 suggests 30 areas…

This document describes two activities of the Literacy Leader Fellowship research project, which addressed the needs of adult educators for knowledge of job skills and of business and unions for information about adult literacy efforts. The first section describes the following efforts related to skill standards and other policy initiatives: (1)…

This study examined organizational climate at the University of Cyprus 4 years after its establishment in order to obtain the perceptions of employees and promote more open and constructive communication among faculty, clerical and professional staff, and the university leadership. The Personal Assessment of the University Climate Survey was…

An important issue in the education reform debate is the effect of comparatively low salaries on teacher quality. Prose literacy scores are one of the best available measures of verbal ability, a factor identified by research as being associated with teacher quality. If teachers have lower prose literacy scores relative to college graduates in…

This book was designed to help managers and employees to decipher the two crucial elements in work design and human resource planning: the role network that surrounds every position and the key stakeholders whose expectations define the essence of the job. It provides a structured process for analyzing one's own job as well as the jobs of…

Trust, respect, and caring are crucial components in achieving or maintaining school effectiveness. This paper presents findings of a case study that examined the ways in which one urban school manifested particular characteristics of community--those of respect, caring, and trust. The one-year case study at an elementary school in Los Angeles…