Business, labor, and education representatives from Canada and the United States exchanged positions on workplace literacy. Discussed were the need for a consumers' guide to workplace literacy, labor's stake in literacy, educators' negotiations with businesses in providing services, and program evaluation. (JOW)

Workplace-English-as-a-Second-Language (WESL) programs are successful to the extent supervisors can be involved and supportive. They know that language and literacy needs are pertinent to tasks at hand and are the individuals that employees try to please most. Supervisors need help, encouragement, and information about the WESL program from…

Training must be preceded by a well-articulated quality strategy and must be designed to facilitate its implementation. Each phase of the training curriculum should build on the preceding phase so that people will have the knowledge and skills they need when they need them. (JOW)

Examined relationship between research self-efficacy, research training environment, and research productivity among 125 graduate students in counseling psychology. Subjects completed measure of self-efficacy in research, Research Training Environment Scale, and demographic questionnaire that included measure of research productivity. Results…

An Australian principal who participated in an exploratory study to ascertain the extent and sources of stress among school principals realized that many of his colleagues felt isolated and unsupported. The study relates the high incidence of anxiety and depression among principals to conceiving educational administration as a technical activity.…

Describes a project developed by AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph) and Indiana University that focused on the needs and tasks of sales personnel by building prototypes of components of a performance support system. Combining innovative technology to support a changing work environment is discussed, and the evaluation process is reported.…

Tested model relating work-family conflict to heavy alcohol use and cigarette use among employed mothers via domain-specific (job- and family-related) and general negative effect. Data from 366 employed mothers of adolescents revealed that work-family conflict was indirectly related to both heavy alcohol use and cigarette use via negative effect.…

Educators possess a wealth of understanding and experience that can help colleagues deal with heavy work pressures more effectively within the framework of a whole school policy for stress management. The coping strategies discussed embrace a wide range of skills, knowledge, techniques, relationships, thoughts, and activities that may be…

Data analysis from a sample of 685 responses to the Quality of Employment Survey found that stress from job constraints increases strain regardless of the level of social support. The buffer hypothesis was supported by the finding that stress caused by workload and conflict are dependent on the level of managerial and co-worker support. (SK)

Describes a method that can be used by family therapists to assist people in identifying and examining the ways in which family-of-origin dynamics affect their lives at work. Describes rationale for this work, cites relevant literature, and discusses professional and ethical issues involved in conducting family-of-origin workshops in the work…

A bakery foreman states that employers need (1) a sustained standard of living; (2) job security; (3) creativity; and (4) dignity in work. He suggests that foreman must find ways to increase productivity while treating employees as individuals. (SK)

A study of safety training programs in 66 Canadian companies found that those who provided tailor-made training already offered better working conditions, greater management involvement in safety work, and more safety activities than those who used outside training sources. This suggests that safety regulations benefit good companies more than…

Observation of nine subjects with mild intellectual disabilities working in competitive employment settings revealed that subjects' social networks lacked complexity, with few interconnections among the network modes. Major sources of social support emanated from the family and organizations catering to people with disabilities. Social support…

"Anna and the Kaleidoscope" (Ingram) notes that work force diversity can apply to differences in aptitudes, outlooks, backgrounds, and learning styles as well as race, gender, and physical ability. "Managing Diversity in the Classroom" (Steffey) presents tips for uncovering the abilities of diverse participants and incorporating them into the…

A study of 27 Fortune 500 companies established benchmarking as a continuous quality improvement tool used in implementing exemplary work force diversity practices. Applicable in educational settings as well, it is a lifelong educational process for the individual and the organization. (JOW)