This workbook is designed for leaders and members of work teams in educational and social-service systems. It presents in a systematic fashion a set of tested facilitation tools that will allow teams to work more efficiently and harmoniously, enabling them to achieve their goals, to deal directly with both personal and work-related issues that…

Investigated the effects of participative versus assigned goal setting on intrinsic motivation for interesting and boring tasks. Participative and assigned goal setting had no significantly different effects on performance if the goal was held consistently difficult, but had different effects on intrinsic motivation at different levels of task…

Suggests combining the Delphi technique and the nominal group process technique to improve the collective decision-making of school curriculum and other committees. Both methods require group members to respond in writing. A five-step agenda with sample questions illustrates the approach. (MLF)

Two general models for bringing about change--the structural model and the people model--are described. Team leadership and team building are seen as people-oriented approaches to change that also affect the structure of an organization. Both targets of change--people and structures--should be approached in tandem. (MLW)

The merits of managerial and collegial models of governance are discussed. The experiences of a faculty member turned trustee of a public consortium of colleges in Colorado are described. (MLW)

This interview with the chief executive of Donnelly Mirrors, Inc. explains the basis of the company's leadership in participative management and discusses why it is more successful than traditional authority-based management styles. (Author/JG)

A community forum provides a setting and a structure for people to deliberate on issues. School district forums organized by the Center for School Study Councils are characterized by diverse participation; and a structure that encourages deliberation and clear outcomes. (MLF)

Discusses a postal survey of British primary headteachers showing that most principals have senior management teams (SMTs). Makes comparisons with secondary-school SMTs; summarizes heads' accounts of their teams' origin, structure and role; and presents tentative models of team decision making. Describes heads' criteria for judging team…

Summarizes a Louisiana study that asked teachers and new principals in 24 restructuring schools to assess their level of involvement in shared decision making, the kinds of information used to reach decisions, and their perceptions of various information sources' usefulness. Results showed high involvement but little valuing of information beyond…

Collaborators sparked by creative ideas and obsessed by a common task may not realize they're part of a "hot group"--a term coined by business professors Harold J. Leavitt and Jean Lipman-Blumen. Spawned by group decision making and employee empowerment, hot groups can flourish in education settings. They're typically small, short lived,…

Since 1974, the Scottish education system has legally recognized that all children are educable. Since all children are of equal worth, their individual needs are given equal priority. Structural inequalities are being addressed by early intervention and mentoring schemes and links with higher education. Schools are inclusive in their curricular…

Discusses "partnerships" in child protection as they relate to the families of children subject to these services. Suggests that parents are ignored or deliberately excluded from the process, leading to "learned helplessness." Claims that good intentions of professionals are necessary but insufficient for partnership, which can…

Describes the everyday micropolitical facilitative strategies and personal characteristics of exemplary principals who have influenced and enhanced teachers' sense of empowerment. Data were drawn from a qualitative study that interviewed 275 teachers in 11 schools affiliated with C.D. Glickman's League of Professional Schools in Georgia.…

Suggests the capacity for synergistic planning should be fostered in the staffing and work of all educational decision-making bodies. In this model, all people in the organization examine the whole situation before action is taken on incremental parts. Defines synergistic planning; discusses issues surrounding data, integration, technology, and…

Describes six research-based traits of school culture that affect student achievement: shared vision, traditions, collaboration, shared decision-making, innovation, and communication. Draws practical implications for teachers and administrators. (Contains 17 references.) (PKP)