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When twelve-year-old Iqbal Masih, former child laborer in a Pakistani carpet factory came to Boston in 1994 to receive Reebok’s Youth in Action Award, he asked to meet youth his own age. Reebok selected Broad Meadows Middle School in Quincy, Massachusetts because of its Human Rights curriculum and reputation for student activism. Iqbal’s inspirational visit and untimely murder five months later, on his return to Pakistan, inspired the middle school students to start a grassroots activist campaign to build a school in his memory. Due to the campaign’s success Broad Meadows was chosen as a pilot school for Operation Day’s Work, USA, (ODW, USA) an American adaptation of Norway’s highly effective youth global social action program. ODW has been operating successfully as an after school program at Broad Meadows since 1996. Global Activism in an American School: From Empathy to Action analyzes the evolution of the Kid’s Campaign and Operation Day’s Work at Broad Meadows. It demonstrates how teacher facilitator, Ron Adams, in conjunction with his students created a democratic after school community and provides teachers with unique field tested strategies they could use to promote student activism at the global or local level. Twenty percent of the royalties for this book will be donated to GoodWeave International.

Objectives The effectiveness of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) has been established in many randomized controlled trials. However, effect sizes are often modest, and there remains ample scope to improve their effectiveness. One approach to this challenge is to offer a “follow-on” course to people who have completed an MBP and are interested in further skill development. We developed and tested a new 8-week course for this purpose based on awareness of feeling tone ( vedanā ), an understudied aspect of mindfulness in many current MBPs, incorporating new developments in neuroscience and trauma sensitivity. We examined its effectiveness and the frequency and severity of unpleasant experience and harm. Methods In an open trial, 83 participants, 78 of whom had previously taken part in an MBP (majority MBSR or MBCT), completed the program in nine groups. Participants completed questionnaires before and after and gave qualitative written feedback at completion. Results Participants reported significantly reduced depression ( d  = 0.56), stress ( d  = 0.36), and anxiety ( d  = 0.53) and increased well-being ( d  = 0.54) and mindfulness ( d  = 0.65) with 38% meeting criteria for reliable change on anxiety and depression. As expected, about three-quarters of participants reported some unpleasant experiences associated with mindfulness practice during the course, but none reported harm. Five participants showed “reliable deterioration” (an increase) in either depression or anxiety, but four of these five also gave anonymous qualitative feedback describing benefits of the course. Conclusions Findings support the added value of a follow-on course based on the exploration of feeling tone for participants who have a range of previous mindfulness experience.

Background: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been found to have significant health benefits in studies conducted in the global North. Aim: This study examined the effects of MBSR on stress, mood states and medical symptoms among urban South Africans to inform future research and clinical directions of MBSR in local settings. Setting: Participants completed an 8-week MBSR programme based in central Cape Town. Method: A retrospective analysis of 276 clinical records was conducted. Mindfulness, stress, negative and positive mood, medical symptoms and psychological symptoms were assessed before and after the intervention using self-report questionnaires. We compared pre and postintervention scores and examined the relationship between changes in mindfulness and changes in stress, mood and medical symptoms. Results: Mindfulness scores were significantly higher after intervention, both on the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS) and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). Changes on the KIMS were associated with reductions in stress, negative mood, psychological symptoms and total medical symptoms, and improvement in positive mood. Changes in mindfulness, as measured by the MAAS, were significantly correlated only with reduced total number of medical symptoms. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence for the positive health impact of MBSR on urban South Africans, and in turn acceptability and feasibility evidence for MBSR in South Africa and supports the case for larger trials in different local settings.

This paper explores participant leader experiences of mindfulness at the workplace and presents an inductive model that highlights the potential of the mindful individuals to transform their work world in the domains of productivity, relationality and power. The model highlights the resources and capacities built through practice and considers capacities developed as antidotes to the three Buddhist poisons of greed, hatred and delusion. Using a phenomenological approach and semi-structured interviews from 53 participant leaders working in a variety of organizational contexts, this paper explores how individuals trained in mindfulness applied and understood this capacity at work. Participant leaders had trained in one of the three different Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs): Executive MBA (EMBA) Mindful Leadership Program, Mindfulness Teacher Training, and an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. The research distinguishes some key individual meta-capacities (awareness of the wandering mind, embodiment, equanimity and kindness) and individual capacities (resilience, sense of self, multiple perspectives and possibility) that develop. These individual capacities enhanced participant leaders' abilities to work with difficult emotions. The individual changes allowed for new behaviors and experiences in the areas of productivity, power and relationality.

This one-of-a-kind collection of chapters takes the reader on a tour to explore innovative practices from classrooms, schools, districts, communities, and faraway places in the world. Each of the chapters-organized under six headings-tells an authentic, compelling story of a pioneering and successful initiative that breaks the traditional mold of instructional delivery and time-honored school organization. Breaking the Mold of School Instruction and Organization guides readers through examples of education initiatives which go beyond traditional classroom restraints to achieve surprising success.

The snaking lines entering polling stations all over the country, the old man being brought in a wheelbarrow to vote, black and white standing together, chatting, sharing food and water, the excitement, expectation, and relief palpable. This was the miracle of the first democratic election held in South Africa in 1994. The ushering in of a new era. A bloodless revolution.

Federal dietary guidance outlines in the 2000 edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans and depicted in the Food Guide Pyramid is intended to help consumers choose diets that improve health, reduce their risk for diet-related chronic disease, and meet their nutritional guidelines. The USDA Economic Research Service has developed new methods to adjust the food supply data in terms of servings recommended by the Food Guide Pyramid. Researchers can gain a more complete understanding of US dietary patterns by comparing food supply servings at the national level with estimates generated at the individual level by food intake surveys. Loss-adjusted servings calculated from the food supply data can be compared with the servings recommended by the Food Guide Pyramid to gauge America's progress in following the new Dietary Guidelines.

Problem and purpose. While we live in a world that increasingly relies on technology, it is essential for students to receive education and training that will prepare them for the workforce. Are we preparing our students for the future? Are students being adequately trained to meet workforce demands? Are American corporations taking responsibility and helping prepare students? The purpose of this study was to describe the development and delivery of a technology camp for middle school students offered in several cities as an example of one corporation's step to address the issue of training students in technology skills. ABC Corporation has offered a Technology Camp since 2000. Research question. The study's research question was: What was the nature of ABC Technology Camp offered over a period of 3 years: 2000–2002? Method. The answers to the research questions are divided in 2 sections: Part One focuses on ABC Technology Camp in 2000. Part Two focuses on ABC Technology Camp held in 2001 and 2002. The answers to the research questions in this study were developed through review of archival data collected through the camp's evolution, deliver, and follow-up. The study includes data collected from campers that consisted of pre-camp self-assessment technology skills surveys from 2000, pre- and post-camp self-assessment technology skills surveys collected from campers in 2001 and 2002, and interviews with support staff and corporate executives. Results. The findings derived from a comparison of the pre- and post-skills assessment indicated that there was general skills improvement in the 3 areas the campus focused on: General Skills, Internet Skills, and Word Processing Skills. The interviews with the staff and executives indicated that the camp is achieving its purpose and goal and that there is a continued need for such camps. Location, cost, and cultural diversity are examples of issues that executives continue to explore.

Goodwin discusses her summer position as teacher intern at FedEx World Tech Center in Collierville TN. She stresses the importance of partnerships between businesses and schools for students in the K-12 world, praises the commitment of businesses supporting local communities, and inspires educational professionals to take an active leadership role in creating similar opportunities for children and for themselves.