The 1979 American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) President, Jan Margolis, discusses the organization's challenges and role. Identifies 1979-80 ASTD goals which cluster in four areas: representation and leadership in the human resource field, professionalism, member and leadership development, and maintaining a healthy organization.…

Discusses the problems related to evaluating in-service minicourses at Macquarie University, Sydney, and the results of two preliminary studies. The first examined participants' perceptions of the degree to which specified objectives were achieved for each course. The second was a questionnaire surveying the opinions of past participants.…

Describes 10 principles considered useful in planning short-term vocational education professional development activities. Thorough planning, active involvement of participants, and a lively mix of presentation styles is emphasized. (HD)

Describes the planning cycle being used in the Lincoln, Nebraska, schools and explains the role of staff development in the total program improvement model. (Author/IRT)

Surveyed 659 family support workers regarding their training and services for families with 10- to 15-year olds. Found that 30 to 50% rated training as inadequate or poor, had inaccurate knowledge about young adolescent development, and felt they were doing an inadequate job promoting developmental assets for youth. Higher quality training was…

The United Kingdom lacks a framework of nationally recognized professional qualifications for outdoor trainers and facilitators. Various definitions of competence are examined, and suggestions are offered for improving approaches to establishing staff competence. Includes a model of personal development dimensions, and compares U.K. and U.S.…

In mentoring, individual, group, or organizational issues may arise, and mentors must discern the difference in order to tailor interventions accordingly. An important dynamic is the unconscious: what individuals or organizations are unaware that they are communicating. (SK)

Responding members of the Florida Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (196 of 600) were 93% white; they served a wide variety of cultural groups. Primary sources of support for working with diverse populations were colleagues, friends, and personal background. Members rarely received financial support for diversity training, which they…

A Finnish nursing home's team development process included brainstorming on the characteristics of good teams, profiling of team members' nursing skills, analysis of tasks, and identification of ways to improve work quality and information flow to residents. Team building required clarification of work structures, determination of the…

An Irish bank's program for entry-level college-educated workers involved short-term training and long-term development activities, structured on-the-job training, personal development planning, peer learning groups, and learning logs. Retention increased 12%; 24% of these workers were promoted to management. The program was highly cost effective.…

Surveys of 38 managers identified critical components in their effectiveness in performing a teaching role with subordinates: acceptance of the manager/teacher role, effective teaching methods, and the acceptance of the teaching by learners. Influences on the role were perceived performance pressures and rewards, ability to simplify complexity,…

Focus group interviews with 49 hourly employees explored job satisfaction and the role of career development activities. Satisfied workers were either not interested in advancement or felt they had advancement opportunities. Dissatisfied workers perceived inadequate rewards and lack of opportunities. Results suggested that fairness issues may…

Human resource functions have "devolved" to line managers, raising issues related to supervisors' ability and willingness to develop employees and the benefits and costs to the organization. Devolution of this work also has implications for the career development of human resource managers and line managers themselves. (Contains 39 references.)…

An ideal world-class corporate university would integrate four elements: knowledge systems, networks and partnerships, learning processes, and people processes. Case studies of two British corporate universities illustrate how they use current technology, develop networks with learning providers, and share information about learning resources,…

Training for small businesses requires an entrepreneurial rather than a conventional approach. Critical trainer competencies include profiling the business, segmenting the market, understanding the business development process, introducing the relevant environment, delivering enterprise skills training, and teaching across the board. (SK)