Examines the legal and sociological aspects of worker participation programs. Contends that the judicial doctrine may promote an ideology that furthers managerial control over workers and enables management to undermine support for union representation through participatory techniques. (Author)

Explores ways to identify and meet the housing goals of college campuses. Stresses the participatory approach through open communication between stakeholders in order to resolve design issues before construction funds are spent. Provides an example of Lafayette College's (Pennsylvania) experience with this approach. (GR)

Compares definitions and core elements of learning organizations promulgated by Peter Senge, Victoria Marsick and Karen Watkins, Nancy Dixon, Michael Marquardt, Mike Pedler, and others. Discusses leadership implications and the need for employees to create a new learning infrastructure incorporating new leaders, critical thinking, and envisioning.…

Examined government legislation and institutional collective agreements between colleges and faculty in two countries, Canada and the United States, for impediments to shared governance in community colleges. Concluded that except in one legal jurisdiction, shared governance is either impeded legally or not supported by government legislation. (EV)

Introduces a theme issue on the politics of participation in school reform, examining types of participation and participatory reforms and noting the simultaneous top-down, often punitive reform movement involving high stakes student testing, emphasis on standards, school ranking by test scores, and adoption of packaged reforms. Discusses…

Discusses the benefits of using devolved budget models in further education and the tensions that may arise from their introduction. Addresses resistance to the change and the cultural and management style prerequisites for successful implementation of devolved budgets. (EV)

There is a link between faculty trust of administration and their subsequent levels of participation in the governance process.

This article examines experiences in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces with devolved school governance, introduced in 1996 to promote democratic participation in education decision making. Utilizing the ''theory of action'' framework, this analysis is an effort to de-center the school governance debate by moving from a central government…

The sharing of all decisions with school staff helps by getting collective wisdom of staff members making the system more effective. Teachers should be trusted to make decisions about organization, which affect their lives and the lives of students by involving them in committees like safety committee, parent advisory board and budget committee.

I reflect on the preceding five contributions in this issue by focusing on the power dimensions of participation. I emphasize how power underlies and frames not only the activities and management of participatory development, but also our own personal/institutional involvement as development researchers and workers. I end with some thoughts on…

This study examines the effects of coalition leadership and governance on member participation in voluntary community health coalitions. Path modeling was used to explore how leadership and governance processes in coalitions affect existing member costs, benefits, and levels of participation. It was hypothesized that the effects of coalition…

This paper examines two questions: What does it mean to take a distributed perspective on leadership in schools? What are the entailments of taking a distributed perspective for research on school leadership? Arguing that the practice of leadership should be a key concern in scholarship on school leadership, the authors explore the leader-plus and…

Legislation has directed schools to convene school councils that typically address issues related to curriculum, instruction, budget, and governance as one means to improve schooling. However, the expectation for improved schools through this involvement remains a challenge. The study examined issues connected to council operation in two large…

This article describes the leadership journey of Kathryn, an educational leader, in relation to current research on women's experiences as educational leaders. This life history was developed as a grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) study. Conducted over a two-year period, the semi-structured interviews used to conduct the study were…

School improvement demands focus. Staff members at James Cashman Middle School in Las Vegas, Nevada, believe that student achievement comes from challenging every student and ensuring that no student is overlooked. Adopting this belief could not have come at a better time for the school. Cashman's students were struggling. The school was in the…