Major points made by the authors of this special journal edition are briefly reviewed. A shift from a general practice model of school psychology to a corporate model is noted. Differences between teamwork in schools and in industry and medicine are described, and team functioning in schools is equated with committee activity. (Author)

America has moved from participatory democracy to protective democracy, with political elites making the decisions. The result has been a culturally disenfranchised people abandoning the political system which does not want them. Calls for a return to participatory democracy and citizenship education programs which foster it. (CS)

The literature suggests collaborative planning is purely egalitarian, but this article identifies a form called "dialectical collaboration" providing situationally determined variations in the locus of control. One district's experience planning an administrators' inservice program illustrates dialectical collaboration. The authors urge…

One alternate approach to school administration centers on the use of two principals, one for administration and one for instruction. This article examines the approach and offers some cautions. (Author/MLF)

Describes an effective administrator as one who acts as a catalyst, consultant, or group resource but who nevertheless accepts risks and expects on occasion to be misunderstood. (Author/JM)

Discusses the tasks of library administration in relation to autocratic, participatory, and contingency approaches to management problems. The psychological and organizational side-effects of the three management styles are considered and a humanistic combination of approaches is suggested. A bibliography is included. (JL)

Instructional situations for adults should not be patterned after those for children. Adult learners should be fully involved in the decision-making processes that affect the teaching-learning situation. (JOW)

Examines a number of specific paradoxical situations found in participative organizations; compares them to the paradoxes found in select Zen stories or koans--each set of stories or examples focuses on one or more aspects of empowerment. Reveals, through narrative analysis, counterintuitive ideas on how to understand and cope with organizational…

The grounded experiences of two participatory evaluation case studies indicate that, when action is the desired outcome of an evaluation, somewhat less rather than more diversity of stakeholder participation is actually what is wanted. A narrowing of diversity is not necessarily in violation of democratic participatory aims. (SLD)

Describes some lessons learned from studying a California middle school participating in the Accelerated Schools Project. Factors facilitating school change include acknowledging school culture's importance, involving all school community members, and developing a clear training philosophy. Clarifies schools' capacity-building strategies for…

Explores experiences of six women on two senior academic committees at a South African university to understand how practices in such committees contribute to the marginalization and exclusion of women and to constructions of subjectivity. Discusses how the presence of women on such committees challenges the consciousness of all members. (SLD)

Describes the author's experience as a classroom teacher working for six years on school reform as a member of her school's site-based decision-making committee. Discusses a sense of belonging to a professional committee, teacher-initiated integrated curriculum, frustration in coping with rotating principals, growing expectations to assess student…

Summarizes an empirical study of New Jersey middle schools that examines important domains of teacher participation in decision making and school climate. Healthy interpersonal dynamics are associated with lower levels of decision deprivation among teachers. Although a healthy school climate may underlie authentic teacher participation, it is less…

Investigates the growing prevalence of participatory management in libraries. The operation of self-managed teams is discussed both in theory and in practice, the latter with examples from Sterling Library at Yale University. Research is summarized that relates to management teams and how they create a sense of empowerment by building shared…

Summarizes a study that interviewed 23 support service staff in five schools concerning their views about site-based management. Fully 85% reported that once SBM was introduced, staff roles changed, their opinions and contributions mattered, and students were positively affected. Comments were largely favorable, but certain labor management,…