At their worst, meetings can waste time, lack focus, foster a combative spirit, or be just plain boring. At their best, meetings can be a positive, dynamic experience that nurtures individual strengths while inspiring teamwork to successfully accomplish an established task. The fate of a meeting lies in the skill of the facilitator, and this…

Recently, the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis at the University of Southern California conducted a national study of public higher education governing board performance. 130 board members, presidents, coordinating board officials, governors, legislators, and education department staff were interviewed about ways to improve performance…

Managing the psychological depth of responses to adventure activities calls for the leader to attend to own language and language of group participants. Describes eight levels of psychological depth occurring during group discussion and interaction. Addresses the need to stay at or above the agreed-upon level and avoid moving into psychotherapy.…

This guide discusses the use of focus groups in marketing research for higher education. It describes the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, and examines when it is appropriate to use focus group research, when it is not, and why. The guide describes a step-by-step approach in how to plan, formulate, moderate, and report…

Many children with emotional and behavioural difficulties behave well in a one-to-one situation with an adult. It is when they are in a group with their peers that their behaviour deteriorates dramatically. The more teachers understand about group dynamics, the better equipped they will be to support children who find such skills as turn-taking…

Procedures used by the Eugene (Oregon) Public Schools to train staff members as organizational development specialists are described. School employees volunteer time to work as internal consultants, using organizational management concepts to help colleagues in the school system improve their organizational capabilities, interact effectively,…

Cooperative learning is a generic classroom technique that requires students to work and talk together about academic material while learning effective interpersonal skills. This packet, prepared in conjunction with the Minnesota School Effectiveness Program, describes the benefits of cooperative learning and defines its critical attributes,…

Defines emotional crises in an adventure education context. Discusses crisis intervention from a mental-health perspective and presents nonviolent intervention techniques for anxiety, disruptive behavior, and harmful behavior. Describes two techniques--critical incident stress debriefing and traumatic stress defusing--aimed at managing traumatic…

A group of students with emotional disturbances generated a list of rewards and received rewards after accumulation of points determined by the daily behavior of each group member. Use of this motivator and behavior management tool seemed to increase the cohesiveness of the group and prosocial behavior of its members. (JDD)

This report describes the links between group relations training, process consultancy, and psychoanalysis and relates these to the kinds of training which may be needed to develop consultation programs within an institution, specifically the Open University (OU) in England. A list of recommended readings and institutions which may provide training…

Relationships among teachers, exceptional children, and their peers should be considered when determining causes of misbehavior and the strategies to correct them. Checklists outline possible teacher and student behaviors which contribute to student misbehavior, and such interventions as independent, dependent, and interdependent group…

Suggestions for facilitating inclusion of people with mixed abilities in outdoor adventure programs focus on creating an atmosphere of trust, cooperation, and mutual respect through open lines of communication, patterns of inclusive decision making, valuing of efforts and nonphysical accomplishments, emphasis on group challenges and activities,…

In the first of a three-part series, the authors examine the origin of the organizational development movement, instrumented team learning seminars for managers, their experimental programs for industry at various locations, the development of the "managerial grid," management by objectives, behavior modification, and other approaches to…

This booklet provides an orientation tool and quick reference for camp counselors, and is designed to help them understand and enhance youth behavior and development. Chapter 1 discusses the camp environment, the camp counselor's responsibility as a role model, the benefits of camp for kids, establishing a positive relationship with campers at the…

Experiences in using positive reinforcement while teaching on an Indian reservation are presented for teachers and administrators. Several "positive reinforcers," intended to prevent potential discipline problems from occurring, are described, including student involvement in deciding on classroom rules, election of classroom officers, class…