In a reprinted speech, DeJong relates key incidents and times in his life that contributed to his writing career and helped shape the themes found in his works. (CRH)

Serious practitioners need continuing education that goes beyond the provision of information to help integrate knowledge and action. The author's description of career support workshops for clergy at mid-life illustrates one strategy for professional growth. (SK)

The nature of institutional research in small, private colleges is examined. It is suggested that institutional researchers in small colleges are responsible for their own professional development and must generate their own plans and learning situations. (Author/SF)

College health nurses are alerted to their responsibilities and the responsibilities of their employers to keep professional practice updated and to promote continued growth as a professional. (JD)

Summarizes membership growth and progress of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) for the 1996-97 year, and the Association's effort to raise awareness of children's needs and provide opportunities for improving experiences of young children. Provides suggestions for targeting membership drives to increase…

Discusses five factors affecting college faculty members' sense of belonging-academic hierarchy, satisfaction with interpersonal relations, degree of autonomy, orientation to the institution, and opportunities for professional development. Recommends strategies in each category that help build community among instructors. (Contains 20 references.)…

This study examines the personal and professional growth for three student-caregivers as they began working with infants and families in child care. Findings suggest that new infant caregivers experience thoughts and feelings similar to those of new teachers of older children. Challenges include adjusting to the physical and emotional intensity of…

Notes that recent research, particularly that employing life history methodology, has highlighted the relationship between the personal and professional dimensions of teachers' lives. Suggests that recognition of the varying personal experiences, interests, and needs of individual teachers can assist in the planning of relevant professional…

Shares the educational change and renewal stories of 13 secondary and college teachers who are doctoral students (reentry, rhetoric graduate program writing teachers) enrolled in summer classes at a midsize northeastern university. (SR)

Examines how professional early childhood caregivers care for themselves. Notes two basic human challenges: the need to make good contact with peers, parents, teachers, and others; and the need to achieve a good sense of self. Discusses four deterrents to meeting these challenges, and how to overcome them to achieve a healthy sense of balance and…

Professional learning nourishes practice. Sometimes we are able to navigate daily within a community of learners or find such fellowship online. At other moments we seek out books and journals to stimulate inner voyages. The author describes how different books, journals, and Web pages have helped her along her own learning voyage. (AEF)

In this article, the author discusses seven critical lessons for navigating a leadership position in higher education. The author focuses on developing a personal means of remaining centered regardless of circumstances or situations as well as building an ethical foundation for one's work. He uses spiraling as a metaphor to describe his own…

Research indicates that ongoing, high-quality staff development is essential to achieving significant standards-based reform. Currently, the majority of teachers do not regularly participate in staff development practices in the United States. Staff development decisions have traditionally been made by school administrators to meet the needs of…

All the articles in this collection share at least three common features. First, they all give a narrative account of a change that took place within an activity system; in this, they follow Vygotsky's (1978) injunction to investigate the history of the system in order to understand its "causal dynamic basis" (p. 62). Second, in so doing, they…