Nowhere is teachers' lives and work more challenging than in Jamaican schools. Teachers in Jamaica are regularly faced with limited resources and challenging students. Teacher pay has been historically low and current conditions continue a long tradition of providing minimal compensation for teachers' work. Recent school reform efforts has been successful in producing a teaching force that is better educated than ever before, and yet, teachers are seldom given the autonomy in decision-making and/or respect that accompanies the work of comparable professions. Coupled with these issues, teachers regularly face hunger, poverty, behavioral issues and a lack of parental support as part and parcel of their experience in 21st century schools. If teachers are perceived as having low professional status, it is not surprising that they are often blamed for the shortcomings of Jamaican schools. The citizens of Jamaica are firmly committed to the notion that "every child can learn, every child must learn;" however, the reality is that while all children can learn, many children do not learn in this country where the allocation of resources favors the rich and disowns the poor. Public schools in Jamaica vary tremendously across the fourteen parishes. Geography and social class regularly determine both the context and circumstances of teachers' work, and yet, discussions of teachers seldom acknowledge the differences. There is a place for a more in-depth examination of teachers' work and teachers' lives in Jamaica where a consideration of the emergence of teacher leadership and higher professional status can intersect with a vision of new roles and responsibilities for teachers. While many of the reports on Jamaican education consider the role of administrative leaders, there is an absence of any discussion of the role of teacher leaders is school reform. It is interesting that a country can advocate for higher levels of teacher preparation and an upgrading of the professional status of teachers, and yet, ignore the potential power of teachers as major actors directing efforts to reform the schools. Teachers acting as leaders, in a profession dominated by women, would challenge the status quo and usurp preconceived notions regarding the work of teachers. In this book, 21st century descriptions of teachers' lives and work will accompany a consideration of how the transformation of the teaching profession could positively impact both schools and classrooms across the island.

Nowhere is teachers' lives and work more challenging than in Jamaican schools. Teachers in Jamaica are regularly faced with limited resources and challenging students. Teacher pay has been historically low and current conditions continue a long tradition of providing minimal compensation for teachers' work. Recent school reform efforts has been successful in producing a teaching force that is better educated than ever before, and yet, teachers are seldom given the autonomy in decision-making and/or respect that accompanies the work of comparable professions. Coupled with these issues, teachers regularly face hunger, poverty, behavioral issues and a lack of parental support as part and parcel of their experience in 21st century schools. If teachers are perceived as having low professional status, it is not surprising that they are often blamed for the shortcomings of Jamaican schools. The citizens of Jamaica are firmly committed to the notion that "every child can learn, every child must learn;" however, the reality is that while all children can learn, many children do not learn in this country where the allocation of resources favors the rich and disowns the poor. Public schools in Jamaica vary tremendously across the fourteen parishes. Geography and social class regularly determine both the context and circumstances of teachers' work, and yet, discussions of teachers seldom acknowledge the differences. There is a place for a more in-depth examination of teachers' work and teachers' lives in Jamaica where a consideration of the emergence of teacher leadership and higher professional status can intersect with a vision of new roles and responsibilities for teachers. While many of the reports on Jamaican education consider the role of administrative leaders, there is an absence of any discussion of the role of teacher leaders is school reform. It is interesting that a country can advocate for higher levels of teacher preparation and an upgrading of the professional status of teachers, and yet, ignore the potential power of teachers as major actors directing efforts to reform the schools. Teachers acting as leaders, in a profession dominated by women, would challenge the status quo and usurp preconceived notions regarding the work of teachers. In this book, 21st century descriptions of teachers' lives and work will accompany a consideration of how the transformation of the teaching profession could positively impact both schools and classrooms across the island.

Psychopaths continue to be demonised by the media and estimates suggest that a disturbing percentage of the population has psychopathic tendencies. This timely and controversial new book summarises what we already know about psychopathy and antisocial behavior and puts forward a new case for its cause - with far-reaching implications. It presents the scientific facts of psychopathy and antisocial behavior. It addresses key questions, such as: what is psychopathy; are there psychopaths amongst us; what is wrong with psychopaths; is psychopathy due to nature or nurture; and, can we treat psychopaths. This title reveals the authors' ground-breaking research into whether an underlying abnormality in brain development leaves psychopaths with an inability to feel emotion or fear. The resulting theory could lead to early diagnosis and revolutionize the way society, the media and the state both views and contends with the psychopaths in our midst.

Psychopathy is a disorder embedded in mystique, controversy and fantasy. Consistently portrayed in the media and popular culture as unusual, inhumane and emotionless creatures, individuals with psychopathy are the bogeymen of today's society, and the label psychopathy is used widely to describe a broad range of notorieties from political figures to serial killers.

This timely new book separates fact from fiction. It presents the scientific facts of psychopathy and antisocial behavior, addressing critical issues such as the definition of psychopathy, the number of psychopathic individuals in society, whether they can be treated, and whether psychopathy is down to nature or nurture.

More controversially, the authors present their ground-breaking research into whether an underlying abnormality in brain development, reducing emotional learning, is at the heart of the disorder. The resulting theory could lead to early diagnosis and revolutionize the way society, the media, and the state both view and contend with the psychopaths in our midst.

The Joker lives in The Musical Kingdom. He has everything: prestige, power, respect. Yet, he feigns happiness, wondering all the while - is there more to life? It's his mysterious friend, The Pied Piper, who tells him of a certain path. It's a narrow way and only a few ever find it. It leads to The Great Cascade. Those who have followed this path claim it's the only way to love, peace, and courage. Seeking is difficult. Finding is daunting. Choice is the biggest challenge of all. What will The Joker choose?

It's the 1960's when Vickie begins her search for purpose in life. The Vietnam War headlines the news. Hippies are roaming the hillsides proclaiming free love and marijuana for all. Flower children handing out carnations, claim to hold the key to world peace. Rock musicians sing tunes to give an emotional high into worlds of non-conformity. It's all a mixture where things unrealistic get passed on as realism after all. It's in this world of half-truths that Vickie encounters the realities of God. Her spiritual journey begins. In the years to follow, there are times when her thoughts go in a topsy-turvy, whirlwind spin of praise and adoration to God one moment, and self-doubt and despondency the next. On these pages, Vickie shares her journey of discovering God. Both joy and pain accompany her along the way, but guiding the entire expedition is The Master Potter Himself.

In 1991, Vickie J. Blair embarks on an adventure to the USSR. She is the first foreigner to teach in the English Language Department at the University of Kyrgyzstan. Shortly after arriving, the Soviet Union collapses. Caught in the middle of the birth of a country, Vickie seizes opportunities to help in the struggling economy. She forms a humanitarian organization, assisting the country with medical, educational, and social concerns. As the work grows she faces one obstacle after another, including surveillance by the police and threats from Islamic followers. Even so, she has a powerful reason to endure - God has led her to this land.

Dr. Vickie J Blair has worked with Christians in economically poor situations and those persecuted for their faith. Now she, too, finds crisis knocking on her door. Join Vickie as she shares her heart through a period of time that was definitely - a year not wanted.

Lament for a First Nation tells the legal history of the dispossession of the subsistence hunting and fishing rights of seven Ontario Mississauga and Chippewa First Nations. In the 1994 Howard case, the Supreme Court of Canada concluded that one First Nation had surrendered its treaty rights to hunt and fish in a 1923 treaty, effectively extinguishing the rights of the others. No other First Nations in Canada have ever been found to surrender similar rights.Peggy J. Blair argues that the circumstances leading to the 1923 treaties resulted from a change in Crown policies that began in the mid-1800s. Before then, the Crown had affirmed and protected Aboriginal harvesting activities through treaties. However, as settlement pressures developed, the Crown began to increasingly restrict hunting and fishing, and, eventually, denied ever having made treaty promises to protect these activities. Blair posits that Crown policies were the means by which large tracts of lands and resources were opened up for the use of whites, and that the decision in Howard was determined as much by the Eurocentric assumptions of Canadian courts as by the failure of Canadian governments to live up to the honour of the Crown.Lament for a First Nation will appeal to scholars and students in legal, historical, and Native studies.

This new edition of Karen Blair's popular anthology originally published in 1989 includes thirteen essays, eight of which are new. Together they suggest the wide spectrum of women's experiences that make up a vital part of Northwest history.

""Women in the Pacific Northwest" provides abundant examples of women's active roles as citizens who helped shape regional events, and adds new information to the growing literature on western women." -"Western Historical Quarterly"

"New insights into the lives of pioneer Japanese women, urban black women, and the women of the Colville Indian Reservation make the reading of this collection well worthwhile. A solid regional study." -"Choice"

"This book contributes to the task of bringing the lives of Northwest women out of the shadows and provides an excellent model for others to follow. It is of value for the specialist in women's history as well as anyone interested in exploring all the corridors of Pacific Northwest history." -"Oregon Historical Quarterly"

"This anthology is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature concerning the history of women in the United States and particularly the history of women in the American West. Its essays, which address the issues of woman suffrage, women's work, race and ethnicity, and the arts... begin to remedy the long-time dearth of knowledge about women in the Pacific Northwest." -"Montana, the Magazine of Western History"