Common misconception is that only heroic, authoritative people can alter normal flow of a school or district to ensure all students learn successfully. Research shows effective schools and districts are led by individuals believing learning in democracy must be inclusive. Leader's vision cannot endure unless he or she can create critical mass of…

Discusses learner autonomy in formal language learning contexts. The author considers how autonomy is to be fostered, focusing first on learning strategies and learner training and then on the pedagogical dialogue and role of the teacher. It is argued that learning arises from interaction, which is characterized by interdependence. (26 references)…

Draws upon findings from research on multiracial primary schools in three English local education authorities to question how far ethnic minority support staff are treated as professionals, compared with mainstream teacher and assistant colleagues. LEAs' attempts to professionalize ethnic minority support staff (using "Section 11"…

Investigates the relationship between teaming and empowerment by comparing the perceived empowerment of middle-school teachers working in departmentalized organizations to those of teachers working on interdisciplinary teams. Interdisciplinary team members felt significantly more empowered in all six factors (decision-making, professional growth,…

The two reform orientations termed "hard" and "soft" policy do not represent a set of mutually exclusive choices for policymakers. Bureaucratically and professionally based decision-making approaches must coexist in schools and school districts. The dual policy approach necessitates a rethinking of administrative posture and gives shape to a…

Discusses reevaluation of the status of the physical education profession. To achieve professional respectability, physical educators must produce scholarly and scientific knowledge. The article reviews U.S. medicine at the turn of the century, noting the medical profession's struggles 100 years ago were similar to those faced by physical…

Discusses the cultural, political, and institutional barriers to population education in Madagascar and the strategies and initiatives that have been adopted to overcome them, including emphasizing the national character of a project, accommodating the values and ideals of the people involved, and assuring teachers of their classroom autonomy.…

Explores possibilities for developing collaboration within and between schools and colleges to subvert central government pressures for greater competition between institutions. Examines the collaboration concept, issues connected with its promotion, potential links between collaboration and state schooling as a public professional service, the…

This article describes a professional development six-part model based on a holistic approach which assumes that educators' professional behavior is not influenced by a single factor in their professional environment, but by the totality of their educational and professional experience. (IAH)

Since site-based management supports the separate-schools concept, promotes interschool competition, and allows community pressures to influence decision-making, great disparities in resource allocations can occur. To ensure equity, central management must define and limit principals' roles, provide training for principals, build consensus,…

A study of 17 charter schools in 10 California districts concludes that these schools have not lived up to the assumptions propelling them. Charters fell short on accountability, administrative autonomy, funding efficiency, choice and admissions, infusion of competition, and instructional innovation. Public school educators claim charters are…

The influence of curriculum control policies on sense of autonomy and job satisfaction was studied for 195 high school mathematics and social studies teachers in California, Florida, and New York. Teachers reported high personal control over content and pedagogy, and there was little evidence that constraints affected efficacy or satisfaction.…

Examines the experiences of a small group of (British) teachers who have assumed leadership roles that have enhanced their teaching. Respondents point to the significant effects of work culture on teacher development. Those involved in leading such developments must be sensitive to each school's peculiarities and use what works locally.…

Group discussions and interviews with counselors in small and rural schools in Maine and upstate New York focused on the advantages and disadvantages of working in small schools, role generalization and confusion experienced by school counselors, professional autonomy and accountability, and the need for relevant inservice training. (Contains 33…

This article investigates some of the antecedent conditions underlying the imputation of autonomy within conceptions of "teaching" and "learning". It links the history of those concepts with the separate roles and functions assigned to males and females in specific instances of educational practice. "Teaching" and "learning" are psychoanalysed as…