Aligning theory with practice, chapter-by-chapter activities and discussion questions examine the critical role of a strong learning community in implementing effective school reform, with a focus on Blanksteins six guiding principles:Common mission, vision, values, and goals Systems for prevention and intervention Collaborative teaming for teaching and learning Data-driven decision making and continuous improvement Active engagement from family and community Building sustainable leadership capacity With the Facilitators Guide to Failure Is NOT an Option™, you can effectively lead others through dialogue, reflection, and application of Blanksteins principles. It is an ideal resource for school principals, district administrators, teacher leaders, and educational policy makers, and perfect for groups of any size-pairs, small workshops, and large seminars.

This publication is a product of the experiences and lessons learned while implementing agroenterprise projects in eastern and southern Africa. A Market Facilitator's Guide is based on a resource-to-consumption framework, which is the central theme of the "enabling rural innovation" approach for rural development. This approach seeks to empower farmer groups with the necessary skills to make informed decisions for their economic development, based on an analysis of their surroundings, assets and skills. The methodology also aims for outcomes that are equitable, gender focused and participatory.

A companion volume to Diversity in the Classroom, this guide presents 13 cases designed to help individuals and groups reflect on teaching. Specifically, it offers the information needed to use these cases in structured professional development experiences.

As the workforce ages and younger trainers and managers emerge, facilitation skills take on a new importance and, with the increased use of social networks, new facilitation skills are needed. Written by two facilitation gurus, this book shows how to make any learning environment come alive. It outlines proven guidelines any trainer can use to unify groups, inspire creativity, and get audiences, teams, and colleagues to speak up, talk back, participate, and engage in meetings.

Unleash the transformative power of face to face groups The third edition of this ground-breaking book continues to advance its mission to support groups to do their best thinking. It demonstrates that meetings can be much more than merely an occasion for solving a problem or creating a plan. Every well-facilitated meeting is also an opportunity to stretch and develop the perspectives of the individual members, thereby building the strength and capacity of the group as a whole. This fully updated edition of The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making guides readers through the struggle and the satisfaction of putting participatory values into practice, helping them to fulfill the promise of effective group decision-making. With previous editions already embraced by business and community leaders and consulting professionals around the world, this new book is even more insightful and easy to use. New for this edition: 60 pages of brand new skills and tools Many new case examples Major expansion and reorganization of the advanced sections of the book. New chapter: Teaching A Group About Group Dynamics Doubled in size: Classic Facilitator Challenges. Substantially improved: Designing Realistic Agendas – now three chapters, with wise, insightful answers to the most vexing questions about meeting design.

"Best-selling author Alan Blankstein shares the results of his research with top educational experts and describes a five-step process of finding and scaling excellent practices within learning communities"-- Provided by publisher.

This book provides a unique guide to value management and sustainability in construction to researchers and professional. The book provides a better understanding of the concept of value management, the basis of sustainable construction and thereafter, demonstrates how using the principles of value management can help to achieve successful construction projects that are financially viable, socially beneficial and do not damage the environment. The book serves as an introduction to value management for scholars and researchers at all levels; and also as a practical guide for construction professionals, employers and other stakeholders in the construction industry.

While sexual misconduct on our college and university campuses, both public and private, is dismayingly widespread, it continues to be significantly underreported because most victims perceive that judicial recourse, with its legalistic adversarial approach, fails to address--in a healing way--the harms done to them. Fewer still file formal complaints, many for fear that they may lose agency and that the process may rekindle the trauma of their experience.Recognizing the reality that supermajority of sexual harms in higher education are rarely addressed through established legalistic practices, this book offers a range of alternative approaches based on restorative justice.Starting from the premise “What if we started with the goal of healing in mind”, this book opens with an overview of common restorative practices and accounts of application and lessons learned by practitioners who have implemented a range of restorative justice and alternative-based approaches. Subsequent chapters cover procedural elements, recommendations around documentation. and interventions for individuals who have caused harm through sexual and gender-based misconduct.The book addresses facilitation; the need to pay attention to self, people, and systems, identities, and power dynamics; the considerations for working restoratively with both complainants and respondents; offers cases and adaptable examples of resolution; and concludes with reflections on institutional implementation from the perspectives of administrators, facilitators, and a student survivor.Recognizing there will always be a need for a formal investigatory approach to cases of sexual misconduct, the book offers a wide range of alternative options that empower those who are most directly affected to make the call for themselves. In doing so, it may increase reporting and, furthermore, in offering a healing justice that addresses individual and community needs, may work to reduce sexual misconduct on campus.

This guide includes a wealth of practical information for inexperienced group leaders as well as new tools for seasoned facilitators --more than 100 reproducible forms, checklists, planning aids, and guides. Selected contents are reproduced in CD-ROM format so that you can customize tools to meet your specific needs.