Using a segment of one program from a series of videotaped staff development programs as a data base, this paper investigates the nature of the relationship involved in peer coaching. The segment is a model interview between two teachers who are engaged in a peer coaching program. The series, Coaching for Improved Teaching, promotes the idea that…

Part of the postsecondary educational system in Canada, community colleges offer several types of programs to both students leaving the secondary system and adults who want occupational training or education in the applied arts and human service professions. Like other educational institutions, these two-year colleges have sought to use new…

This paper reports information received from responses to a survey questionnaire from the presidents of 46 universities and their affiliated colleges across Canada. The questionnaire (circulated to all member institutions of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada) included queries about the experiences of the universities with…

Articles in this first special focus issue in Cross Currents' 18-year history include the following: "Courses or Resources" (Alan Maley); "Linguistic Pragmatics and English Language Learning" (S. Kathleen Kitao); "Arriving at the Himalayan Range: Language Learning and Teacher Training" (Subhash Jain); "The Fear…

While language programs often include a cultural component as a requirement for language majors or as an option for other students, there is little agreement about the design of a civilization component for serious programs in languages for business. Although the traditional approach to cultural education is valid, a curriculum focusing on…

One teacher's experiences in incorporating non-hierarchic learning assumptions and values in the second language classroom, especially through the use of dialogue journals, are reported. In the first part, observations of accuracy-based classroom language teaching are contrasted with the meaning-based acquisition model. Six salient characteristics…

This outline and bibliography were prepared by the Institute for Certifying Secretaries, a department of Professional Secretaries International, as a means of acquainting candidates and educators with the Certified Professional Secretary Examination. The first section of the guide outlines six sections of the test, explaining what is tested and…

This learning module, which is part of a three-block series intended to help human service workers develop the skills necessary to solve the problems encountered in their daily contact with elderly clients of different cultural backgrounds, deals with communication and adjustment from the standpoint of Ukrainian culture. The first two sections…

The extent to which video has come of age with respect to language learning is the focus of this special issue, which provides information on sources of materials and offers practical ideas for the effective and creative use of those materials in second language instruction. Articles include: "Video and Language Learning: A Medium Comes of Age"…

Noting that creating an extension education program is more complicated than merely transporting an existing program to an off-campus site, this paper discusses the preliminary issues relevant to deciding whether or not a communication department should develop an extended degree program. The paper first discusses the nature of nontraditional…

One of the seven correlates of an effective school, as identified by the Effective Schools Research, is a positive school climate: a positive attitude on the part of the entire staff and student body exhibited through overt behavior that creates a warm, orderly learning environment. Development of such an environment depends upon: (1) strong…

A plan to diffuse instructional modules for the preparation of transportation professionals is presented, based on research and demonstration projects sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA). The diffusion/adoption plan involves: developing instructional modules; disseminating the modules to professors teaching…

This study investigated the relationship between school staff job satisfaction or morale and a number of organizational changes and practices occurring at the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Junior High School. The issues under examination included homogeneous vs. heterogeneous grouping, class length, school-within-a-school or teaming, department…

The research on effective schools has identified the superintendent's role as critical in the success of school improvement efforts. The New Brunswick school improvement program is featured as an example of a successful program. In 1980 the New Brunswick school system selected a new superintendent who faced a district with myriad problems…

To help children better understand and exert control over the use of narrative language, teachers need not only to devote time to children's literature, but also need to emphasize other narrative forms including the mass media and children's own stories (in their talk, writing, drawing, and play). Giving children experience in mass media…