This document contains three papers from a symposium on learning at the top that was conducted as part of a conference on human resource development (HRD). "Learning at the Top: An Investigation of Nonprofit CEOs' (Chief Executive Officers') Learning Experiences" (John J. Sherlock) reports on a study that used Mezirow's theory of adult…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on self-directed learning and self-management. "Validating a More-Dimensional Conception of Self-Directed Learning" (Gerald A. Straka, Cornelia Schaefer) discusses the development and validation of a conception of self-directed learning as a dynamic interplay between behavior,…

The relationship between life history, gender, and the discourse of modernization was examined from the perspective of a researcher with extensive experience performing evaluations about modernization within human services in Denmark. Three stories about site-based management in two human service institutionsa youth center and a boarding school…

General education and professional education are both important in a learning society. Pedagogy has devoted all its attention to developing general education while regarding professional education as a type of nonobligatory education. From the beginning, general education and professional education have been divided, with the former oriented…

This document critiques various discourses about mentoring within the context of adult learning environments in general and adult literacy programs in particular. Mentoring is defined as an enabling or developmental relationship that occurs in partnerships wherein experienced individuals kindle knowledge and offer support to protgs in joint…

Australia's culturally and linguistically diverse society is an important consideration in the role of adult literacy and numeracy in lifelong learning and socioeconomic well-being. A case study highlights the complexities diversity brings to development of language and literacy practices and challenges facing educators in developing a culturally…

Research on how the brain works has resulted in wider-scale adoption of the principles of problem-based learning (PBL) in many areas of education, including technology education. The PBL approach is attractive to curriculum developers because it is based on interdisciplinary learning, results in multiple outcomes, is integrated and…

A somatic approach to education implies education that trusts individuals to learn from and listen to the information they are receiving from the interaction of self with the environment. Somatic or embodied knowing is experiential knowledge that involves senses, perceptions, and mind-body action and reaction. Western culture has been dominated by…

This book is a step-by-step guide for teachers interested in collaborating with their peers to promote their mutual professional development. The book integrates the principles of self-directed learning, cooperative learning, and critical reflection into a system in which teachers coach one another and collaborate in action research as the primary…

Metacognition refers to the ability of learners to be aware of and monitor their learning processes. Cognitive skills are those needed to perform a task, whereas metacognitive skills are necessary to understand how it was performed. Metacognitive skills are generally divided into two types: self-assessment (the ability to assess one's own…

This book is an exploration of the current debate about quality in higher education. Using a construct of "heresies," it suggests a set of guiding principles in four key areas of university life: curriculum (because selecting what is worth learning in universities is not random); teaching methods (because universities offer opportunities…

This document provides guidelines for designing mentoring programs to facilitate the professional development of adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) instructors. Chapter 1 discusses the rationale behind mentoring in ABE programs. Special attention is paid to the following topics: how mentoring fits with adult…

To raise vocational completers' academic achievement through school reform, the High Schools That Work (HSTW) network of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) promotes 10 key practices for raising academic achievement. The impact of these key practices was examined in a study of how 424 schools adopted them in the following six clusters:…

Educational research is distinctive inasmuch as it shares the moral objective of education, which is to help people make the best of themselves through processes of learning. Educational research is a service industry for education. As such, its contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of educational processes can be increased by focusing…

Under the old system of trade skills education, instruction was delivered largely through kinesthetic methods. Currently, however, secondary and postsecondary trade skills education programs institutions in Australia and elsewhere are changing their educational emphasis from traditional skills to more technology-based skills. This shift raises the…