For Those Who Teach Creative Writing--Study I of VI
  Dan Lukiv

You may be a grade one or a grade 12 teacher, and perhaps you have wondered what creative writing activities in your language arts or in your English courses carry merit. By those of merit, I mean activities that encourage students to actually grow up to be creative writers. Does that last sentence sound, at the global level, grandiose? By grandiose, I mean, how can I address what activities, or events, in school have been the driving force to encourage students to join the world ranks of millions of writers without sounding horribly inflated?    full text >>>

Developing a Networking Strategy: The Virtual Design Database
  Mary L Koontz

Many recent college graduates are finding it difficult to obtain their first professional jobs. And, the outlook does not seem to be offering much optimism for future graduates. Overall, employers expect to keep their levels of hiring new college graduates steady this year compared to last year. But considering that hiring of new graduates dropped 36.4 percent last year from the previous year, still implies a continued hiring slump for graduates. It is becoming more important than ever for students to begin learning about and developing effective job searching strategies as early as possible in their academic careers.

More often than not, students have to learn these skills and strategies and, more importantly, have to be able to successfully implement them in a very short amount of time, as most do not begin this process until their final or senior year. Networking has been identified as one of the strategies students need to learn and, an effective tool for instructors to use in the classroom is informational interviewing. This paper documents the development and implementation of the virtual design database projectÜa student oriented career networking/informational interviewing projectÜwithin two sophomore level courses and, describes how this project will soon be expanded to become a dynamic academic/industry collaboration in career networking for current students, alumni and participating professionals.   full text >>>

The Influence of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Developing Social Cohesion Through Education: A South African Perspective
  Marlene de Beer

This article looks at the influence of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's (non-denominational) Transcendental Meditation (TM) and Consciousness Based Education (CBE) and how these have been adapted by dedicated and committed small groups of individuals in South Africa (SA) to develop social cohesion and to meet educational challenges.

This article uses an explorative and descriptive case study approach to highlight some recent developments within the South Africa (SA) context that is perceived by the service providers, receivers and others as developing social cohesion. Additionally, Andy Green and John Preston (2001) caution: "...quantitative approaches may well miss the key issue for social cohesion. What do people join for and how does it enhance social integration?" (258). I, therefore, argue that the challenge remains to find alternative and creative ways to interpret our current state of bonding, bridging, and binding ties; to understand what holds us together when everything else seems to be pulling us apart, and when so many variables infringe on our current and future quality of life and well-being.    full text >>>