Self-directed learning should be interpreted as part of a cultural tradition emphasizing individuals' standing against oppression. This involves recognizing that (1) political issues of control and power are at its heart and (2) authentic practice of self-directedness requires certain political conditions (access to resources). (SK)

Argues for a change in research priorities and a focus on power relationships in the definition of problems. Presents a case study analyzing a failed attempt by a dean of a school of engineering to enlist communication consultants to improve teaching in a department of Computer Engineering. (SR)

Discussion of the concept of authority and the use of authority in evaluating information sources focuses on reputations in academic circles. Relevant literature is reviewed, authority structures within academic disciplines are examined, subject areas and disciplinary boundaries are described, and social recognition and funding support are…

Explains the importance of developing empowered employees, outlines stages of supervisory growth from administrator to coach, defines sources of the supervisory power base, explores differences between traditional and empowered thinking in job design, and describes how to build an organizational learning culture. (SK)

Uses Michel Foucault's concepts of disciplinary technology and panopticism to explain educational inequalities. Describes the Panopticon (an architectural prototype for prisons) as a form of disciplinary technology. Considers schools as technologies of power and discipline, with their conformity to this model contributing to today's social…

Based on the author's experiences working with several elementary schools, this article explores numerous issues confronting change agents who venture directly into grass-roots school reform projects. Focus is on the change-agent role and issues concerning ideology, power, and commitment. Outside consultants should be participants rather than…

Hall and four colleagues review "Dancing on the Ceiling: A Study of Women Managers in Education" (Paul Chapman, 1996). Reviewers agree that Hall's profiles of six British elementary and secondary women headteachers should improve readers' understanding of female managers' development and their preference for "soft,"…

Aware of the invasive aspects of emancipatory research methods, the author constructed a classroom experience to expose her own use of power when conducting such projects. Her student participants had varied responses to a power definition/perception experiment: trapped, captured, and willing. (27 references) (MLH)

Analyzes gender and power in British universities, exploring the position of women in higher education over a 40-year span. Presents two case studies, one at a small technologically oriented university and one at a large mainstream university, of the implications of senior administrative work for the professional lives of academic women. (SLD)

Considers women and their evidence in relation to the agenda of the Bryce Commission, arguing that the agenda reflected concerns with boys' education and that it marginalized girls' education and women's evidence. Focuses on the networks between men and women on the Commission and power relations manifested in giving and taking evidence. (DSK)

Explores the growth of literature proposing corporate spirituality as a means of motivating employees. Suggests that critical analysis articulates and advocates two entrepreneurial views of subjecthood that obscure contemporary corporate power by centering the individual as an autonomous agent. Concludes that these discourses reinforce social…

Ineffective schools are typically led by ineffective principals. This paper examines the ways that administrators can be problematic, how teachers can detect principal ineffectiveness, teacher-response strategies, how teachers can keep the school running, the importance of teachers exhibiting model behavior, and how teachers should return the…

Interviews and observations of three AIDS-prevention programs revealed that in this agency, AIDS education overall was not culturally relevant for African-American women for several reasons: (1) organization image and financing were geared toward White gay males; (2) interpretation of the mission did not include African-American women; and (3)…

A study of 18 exemplary Georgia principals found that major psychodynamic changes can result from developing a shared-leadership style. There were changes in motivation, role conflict, and use of power. Principals sometimes wondered if they were needed, but most reaped major rewards: satisfaction, pride of accomplishment, and good press. Contains…

A study of Swedish workers investigated whether earnings are affected by the gender composition of firms' managerial staff. Gender-differentiated access to organizational power structures proved essential to explaining women's relatively low wages. Women working in male-dominated establishments had lower wages than firms with more women managers.…