A 10-step model of techniques for developing effective teams encompasses credibility, ventilation of issues, orientation, group process, group goals, facilitation, intragroup procedures, intergroup processes, different roles for trainers, and setting groups free to function on their own. (JOW)

Interviews with teachers at six high schools that have instituted structures for shared decision making reveal the conflicts, the confusion about the locus of final decision authority, and the need for training teachers in this unfamiliar area. (19 references) (MLF)

The legality of employment involvement programs--participation of workers in workplace decision making--has not been established. Three National Labor Relations Board decisions illustrate the complex legal, policy, and economic issues relayed to faculty unions. (SK)

Data on 48 Japanese manufacturing plants suggest that participative decision making has not led to workplace democracy. Although workers are allowed to present ideas and suggestions, they do not have authority to make decisions, particularly in strategic, organizationwide situations. (SK)

Reviews the literature and analyses of the joint problem-solving strategies that have emerged during the 1980s and are used by management and labor to improve company performance, employee welfare, and labor-management relations. Includes a 58-item bibliography and 32 additional references. (JOW)

A hidden participant/observer working in a Japanese auto plant in the United States discovered worker resistance to Japanese management practices in the form of sabotage, protest, agitation, and confrontation. Results questioned assumptions that participatory techniques increase worker control and decentralized authority increases worker autonomy.…

Summarizes study investigating collaborative curriculum development in Alberta, Canada, elementary schools. Focus is "snapshot" capturing extent, rather than quality, of collaboration, based on stratified random sample of elementary school principals. School staffs are moving toward more collaborative curriculum-development mode but are…

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.

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.