This book identifies how consensus on vocational education and training (VET) policy is sought in a number of countries where interesting models have emerged. The focus of the book is on the principles of stakeholding and consensus applied to policy formulation and implementation in vocational education and training. The international case studies…

The Learn-Ed Nations Inventory was designed by a panel of American Indian and Alaska Native master educators to determine how and to what extent a school is serving Native students and supporting their needs. The inventory encompasses all factors impinging on students, both directly and indirectly. Nine key school areas were identified to be…

If democratic workplace theories now popular in Scandinavian countries were to be widely applied in the United States, major changes would be necessary in education. To produce workers able to participate in problem solving and decision making, the schools would have to liberate learning from authority-bound, drill-oriented practices. (PP)

Conflicting socioeconomic forces have influenced problem-solving and decision-making methods in special education. Before the 1970s, a medical model was used that emphasized identification of disabilities. The legal model stresses individual needs and shared decision making among educators and their clients. Advantages and disadvantages of each…

This paper attempts to evaluate and explain the dynamic processes of decision-making and leadership development through participatory research, using the Malaysian experience as a case study. The focus is on the structural and situational constraints in the Malaysian rural society, the formal political machinery and the implementation of…

Discusses the move toward teaching strategies designed to empower students, sharing one university professor's experiences with a cooperative learning method of student assessment in a teacher training multicultural education course that utilized an empowering model. (SM)

Describes participants' experiences in collaboratively teaching a social studies methods course as part of a Professional Development School project, noting changes in participants' attitudes and apprehensions. Data from taped conversations, journals, and interviews indicated that weekly interactions and joint decision making helped surmount…

Presents findings from a study assessing the reactions of 34 community colleges to California Assembly Bill 1725 passed in 1988, which mandated shared governance for the state's 107 community colleges. Concludes that AB 1725 is working as it was intended in the majority of schools. Contains 69 references. (JDI)

A year-long ethnographic investigation examined how stakeholders in an Appalachian Kentucky high school addressed educational problems that they had targeted for reform while resisting state priorities and policies mandated in the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). Contrasts KERA objectives with cultural themes prominent in this poor…

Through a four-part survey, compares male and female faculty (n=51) in terms of their involvement in and perceptions of their participation in campus service, governance, and policy-making activities. Recommends service involvement as a means for women to affect policy and institutional change as well as prepare for future administrative…

The paper satirically describes three public school environments that promoted teacher collaboration. It examines the effect of teacher collaboration in the workplace and investigates the importance of two issues (time and authority) in shaping the extent to which collaboration can succeed. (SM)

Describes a partnership between the School District of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education. The Taking Stock/Making Change collaborative action research project supported schools as they moved toward school-based management and shared decision making. Though participating schools had some problems,…

Defines inclusion and the importance of inclusive education. Suggests that reciprocity built on self-empowerment, mutual need, ethics, and rationality builds partnerships for inclusion. Illustrates creating reciprocal partnerships by describing one effort to build a developmentally appropriate classroom. Describes a seven-step exchange model for…

Examines collaborative decision making in middle schools and methods to facilitate this underused strategy. Examines research on collaboration in the areas of school environment, classroom instruction, student learning, and decision making in schools. Factors of successful environments are examined including principal commitment, trust, focus on…

Describes a model class for instructing general and special educators in best practices in inclusive education. The class emphasized cooperative learning and decision making, highly structured problem solving activities, and use of in vivo case studies involving children with disabilities in local schools. These components were designed to model…