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Little has been written about the practical considerations for reforming schools from the inside. This booklet explores how people responsible for schools can develop better relationships, new forms of colleagueship, and new ways of working together more productively. Three aphorisms describe the phenomenon of faculty-led school improvement: (1) taking a trip without a roadmap; (2) rebuilding the airplane while in flight; and (3) rediscovering the "if it's not local, it's not real" adage. To restructure education effectively, educators must foster the dynamics of group functioning and build an environment in which research-proven teaching methodologies promoting positive student interaction can flourish. Cooperation and collaboration are often hampered when groups of teachers and students are asked to work together without using group building activities, which incorporate heterogeneous grouping, positive interdependence, group reward, and individual accountability. Four chapters discuss specific group builders to enhance positive interactions between administrators and teachers, among teachers, and among both younger and older students. The last chapter discusses approaches to assessing the outcomes of the interactive process. Numerous sources for group-building activities are included, along with a selected bibliography of 35 references. (MLH)

Little has been written about the practical considerations for reforming schools from the inside. This booklet explores how people responsible for schools can develop better relationships, new forms of colleagueship, and new ways of working together more productively. Three aphorisms describe the phenomenon of faculty-led school improvement: (1) taking a trip without a roadmap; (2) rebuilding the airplane while in flight; and (3) rediscovering the "if it's not local, it's not real" adage. To restructure education effectively, educators must foster the dynamics of group functioning and build an environment in which research-proven teaching methodologies promoting positive student interaction can flourish. Cooperation and collaboration are often hampered when groups of teachers and students are asked to work together without using group building activities, which incorporate heterogeneous grouping, positive interdependence, group reward, and individual accountability. Four chapters discuss specific group builders to enhance positive interactions between administrators and teachers, among teachers, and among both younger and older students. The last chapter discusses approaches to assessing the outcomes of the interactive process. Numerous sources for group-building activities are included, along with a selected bibliography of 35 references. (MLH)