A new text in management thought, theory, and practice applied to physical activity education and athletics required justification. Management Theory and Practice in Physical Activity Education (Including Athletics) has been planned primarily for administrators of physical education and athletics at several levels of educational institutions. However, much that is included here can be very helpful as well to the sport and physical recreation manager in public and/or commercial sport and physical activity. In other words, it is the underlying "thought, theory, and practice" that is fundamentally important. The twentieth century has been characterized as a transitional one in human history. Moving into the twenty-first century, we start down the path to finding the answer to this assumption. At any rate, changing times are occasioned by the impact of a variety of social forces on society. Additionally, such change has its accompanying, but often unsteady, influence on the professional training of leaders in the large number of fields that make up the society in which such change occurs. The caliber of young people recruited into the field within education is paramount, as is the way they are prepared for leadership roles as managers, teachers, coaches, performers, supervisors, or exercise specialists. This is OUR responsibility. We should carry out these assignments in a way that is comparable to that used in the finest professions.

The American Crisis in Physical Activity Education was written because the author is terribly upset about what is happening to physical activity education and so-called educational sport within the education system. He lives in North America as a dual citizen, and he feels sad that we appear to be a large part of the world's problem! He thought that the world would be a better place for all people by the year 2000. Because now it definitely doesn't seem to be heading in that direction, he is forced to conclude: (1) that in many ways we are confused about what our values are at the present, (2) that we need to reconsider them and then re-state exactly what we believe they are in light of the changing times, and (3) finally that we will then need to assess more carefully, on a regular basis, whether we are living up to those values we have chosen and so often glibly espouse. Physical activity education, including what is called educational sport, is a field that in the 21st century is facing one more crossroad in its torturous historical development.

The 2014 International Conference on Future Communication, Information and Computer Science (FCICS 2014) was held May 22-23, 2014 in Beijing, China. The objective of FCICS 2014 was to provide a platform for researchers, engineers and academics as well as industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research results and developm

The introduction of this combined text and laboratory workbook - with its "tear-out" sheets on which to complete specific "experiences" - is a "first" in the field! It can be employed either by itself or in connection with a standard text that has limited or no practical exercises included. If desirable, also, the instructor could amplify what is offered here by the addition of other "laboratory experiences" developed from the listing in Part I of well over 100 desirable experiences under the five broad categories included. A comprehensive analysis of management science literature indicated the need to introduce a step-by-step plan for management skill or competency attainment. In doing so, the authors built on Katz's (Harvard) tripartite categorization of skills and expanded it to five subdivisions so as to cover also the personal attributes needed by the prospective manager, as well as those "conjoined" skills gained through a "combinatorial process" that the individual is required to employ on the job. What Katz calls human skills, we now call interpersonal skills so as to distinguish this category from personal skills (No.1 below). These subdivisions or categories are, therefore, as follows: 1. Personal skills (or developing one's own individual competencies prior to concentrating of the managerial task) 2. Interpersonal skills (or acquiring the skills needed to influence people positively to work toward accomplishment of organizational objectives and goals) 3. Conceptual skills (or learning to formulate ideas and plans while on the job as a manager) 4. Technical skills (or acquiring the various skills and techniques needed to cope with the various organizational details and problems that arise) 5. Conjoined skills (or developing the various managerial skills in some combination or proportion to achieve both immediate and long-range objectives and goals) Granting that Katz's categories of human (interpersonal, as we call it), conceptual, and technical managerial skills, along with our additional subdivisions of so-called personal and conjoined skills, are not mutually exclusive, this plan enables the teacher and the students to move selectively from theory to practice within each of the five categories described. The method for working toward the achievement of the specific competencies or skills is (1) through the provision of statements describing the objectives of the modules used to develop the competencies, (2) to offer "knowledge statements introducing the trainee to the theoretic bases of the competencies and their roles and functions in the management process, and (3) by recommending selected laboratory exercises for achieving a degree of success (at least) based on involvement in a variety of problem-solving experiences. After the student comprehends the problem to be met or solved, a questioning process determines (1) what needs to be known, (2) where this information may be obtained, (3) how to organize the actual learning experience, (4) what the probable result will be, and (5) how to evaluate the level of competency attainment (where such is possible). The teaching and learning process employed by the instructor is designed, therefore, to include a variety of laboratory experiences. The tear-out sheets for each laboratory experience are to be completed and handed in as indicated by the course instructor. In addition to standard lecture and discussion techniques that we assume will be included by the instructor, other learning devices available can include use of the case method, role-playing, independent study, interaction with a personal computer, elementary theory formulation, response to questionnaires and self-testing devices, individual projects, small discussion groups, etc. When the instructor wishes, and there is class time available, he or she can introduce action or applied research, based independent investigation (e.g., survey, game theory), debates, internship experiences, panels, forums, and so forth. Basically, a fivefold learning process is recommended. This process employs three steps: (1) understanding of the objective of the learning experience module, (2) reading and comprehension of a "knowledge statement" or "lecturette" about the particular skill involved, and (3) skill learning through analysis and practice. Thus, the instructor can (1) assess initial student status, (2) introduce selected experiences to strengthen areas of possible weakness, and subsequently (3) evaluate competency attainment.

Philosophy of Physical Activity Education (Including Educational Sport) is designed to help you develop an early philosophic perspective of physical activity education, including educational sport. In the process you will also come to understand selected aspects of the field's historical background as a developing academic field and discipline. The field is called sport and physical education in the United States currently. However, as we move along in the 21st century, it is still designated as physical and health education in Canada. The term used most often to name the field worldwide is physical education and sport. Despite its obvious importance, there has been a gradual decline of physical activity education philosophy, including educational sport, within the professional curricula of physical activity educators and coaches. This appears to have taken place since the adoption in the 1970s of an almost pure analytic philosophical approach to the detriment of almost any applied philosophic endeavor. As you develop an understanding about your chosen life work, the author hopes that you, as a prospective professional educator, will be stimulated to examine yourself and your beliefs more carefully than ever before. If you will do this conscientiously, the result will be an under-girding personal philosophy that is sound, consistent, and logical.

A dual citizen of Canada and the United States, Dr. Zeigler has taught, coached, researched, and administered programs at four universities (Western Ontario [twice]; Illinois, UIUC; Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Yale). He has published 55 books and 432 articles. The top six awards in his field in North America have been bestowed on him. He has received three honorary doctorates and is listed in Whos Who in Canada, Whos Who in America, and Whos Who in the World. In this monograph, Dr. Zeigler draws on his seventy years of experience with the field of sport and physical activity education (including athletics) to offer some advice to the counselor and young person either considering entry or just starting out as a young professional. After discussing the decision to enter the field, he explains the five stages of philosophical development that the individual might experience in the course of a career in the field. Initially, he explains the need for self-evaluation with the introduction of a self-evaluation checklist for the prospective teacher to complete (e.g., educational aims and objectives, the educative process, ethics). This is followed by a self-evaluation questionnaire concerning the persons sociopolitical beliefs (e.g., freedom of speech and press, environmental crisis, war and peace). Next the teacher/coach is introduced to decision making in sport and physical activity education through the introduction of a case method technique where detailed analysis might occur (including the possibility of an ethical dimension when needed). The subject of administrator evaluation by faculty members is presented next through use of an appraisal guide. This is followed by an explanation of program assessment through the introduction of strategic market planning. Finally, the professional person is offered a test for self-evaluation of his or her RQ, or recreation quotient. All in all, these several self-testing, evaluative devices and further discussion could be most helpful to the young professional entering the field of sport and physical activity in the twenty-first century.

Dr. Zeigler, the author of Management of Sport and Physical Activity (The Case Method Approach), is convinced that The Harvard Case Method should be used much more extensively and much more knowledgeably in sport and physical activity management in the 21st century. Using this teaching technique students read, analyzed, and then discussed real life administrative problems like those they would have to face in their future careers. The emphasis was on careful analysis and digging for facts. The instructor was very important with this approach, but he/she did not dominate the discussion or seek a predetermined goal. He/she served as (1) a resource person, (2) an evaluator of progress, (3) an informed member of the group, (4) a discussion chairperson, and (5) a summarizer. The student will find, however, that no new supply of knowledge is included one that must be learned. Here instead is an approach to the learning of management that the prospective manager of sport and physical activity has not yet met satisfactorily to a truly significant degree. This text can be used by itself at either undergraduate or graduate levels of instruction, or it may be used as a laboratory manual in conjunction with a more traditional, knowledge-oriented text. (For example, the author's Management Theory and Practice in Physical Activity Education (Including Athletics) was published in 2010 with this in mind (also available at Trafford Publishing, Bloomington, IN.“a href="http://www.trafford.com">www.trafford.com>) Down through the years of the twentieth century, the case method of instruction attracted favorable attention steadily and increasingly in business, law, educational administration, and the social sciences. Many who have managed programs, and who have perhaps taught the management course in the professional program, have felt the need for an improved approach to the subject at hand. Try it youself; you and your students (!) won't be disappointed.

This Encyclopedia of theory and practice in psychotherapy and counseling provides a full overview of the field, traditional and current humanistic practices, and the fundamental analytical theories needed to get a foothold in the field.