Examines empowerment as a communicative process among teachers and students at a Midwestern Montessori school. Explores the praxis of empowerment in the organizational context of three Montessori classrooms. Observes the praxis of empowerment in three specific areas: the nature of the environment; the management of discipline; and the social…

Explores possible causes of low durability and impact for minority mentoring programs. Recommends designing such programs with a conceptual base to ensure meaningful goals and practices. Emphasizes designing programs based on a cogent definition of mentoring, reflection on roles within mentoring relationships, and consideration of cultural and…

Outlines "Bullybusters," a psychoeducational drama developed by a school's counseling and drama departments. The program depicts the negative consequences of the various forms of bullying, while informing students how they might overcome bullying's adverse effects. Subsequent classroom discussion sessions were successful in getting students to…

The subject of discipline is often confused with classroom management. Although related, classroom management and discipline are distinctly different topics. Classroom management deals with how things are done. It entails structure, procedures, and routines, to the point of becoming rituals. When procedures are explained to and practiced by…

Sophia Njaa, a senior at Maine's Portland High and a student representative on the district's school board, is one of a growing contingent of students across the country who are becoming more involved in school decision making through youth-empowerment programs. Her school board seat was established in 2004 through a collaborative effort between…

The relationship between reading and empowerment, though often taken for granted, is complex. The paper describes a pilot research project, which sought to explore how teachers might change their practice in such a way as to empower the children in their care, rather than enculture them into the rather more passive and compliant practices of…

"STOP the Violence--Students Taking on Prevention" is a program designed to involve students and address school violence at its core from the peer-to- peer perspective. Developed by members of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), the program empowers young persons to recognize, report, and reduce the potential for youth…

Yes We Can: Improving Urban Schools through Innovative Educational Reform is a empirically-based book on urban education reform to not only proclaim that hope is alive for urban schools, but to also produce a body of literature that examines current practices and then offer practical implications for all involved in this arduous task. This book is…

Originating as counter normative pedagogies, both service-learning and critical pedagogies hold a common commitment to subvert and transform facets of school life that may alienate and oppress students. This article explores how critical pedagogies and service-learning might provide complementary benefits and become a more compelling emancipatory…

This paper reviews literature on leadership education, including empowerment of individuals with disabilities. The emphasis in early leadership research was on leadership "traits," reflecting the belief that leaders are born, not made. Subsequently research viewed leadership as the outcome of both situational and personal factors, and their…

This book contains papers from a conference on at-risk youth that focused on building strengths and empowering youth by giving them skills for school and life. Following an introduction titled "Motivational Strategies for Empowering Youth-At-Risk" by Dan Rea and Robert Warkentin, the papers are: (1) "The Role of Learning Environments: Social…

Argues that, to transform students into lifelong readers, teachers must conceive a plan to motivate students to develop positive attitudes about reading. Cites self-efficacy as particularly pertinent to motivation. Reviews the research on self-efficacy to examine which instructional strategies are most effective in literacy education. (PA)

Uses critical pedagogy to provide theoretical inspiration for generating ideas about teaching communication courses. Presents a framework for a public speaking course premised on a recognition of teachers and students as holistically situated, multidimensional subjects who bring different experiences to the classroom. Discusses social hierarchies…

Resilience is a set of attributes providing people with the strength and fortitude to confront overwhelming obstacles. The best way to prepare resilient youth for an uncertain future is to help them develop feelings of competence, belonging, usefulness, potency, and optimism via authentic, ongoing school experiences and critical examination of…

Sponsored by Guatemala City's innovative Childhope/Pennat program, 30 teachers coach working children under trees in the park, in the streets next to their stalls, and in small, makeshift "mercado classrooms." Children learn how to do simple math, read official documents, understand their country's history, and manage a small business.…