personal behaviour

Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life
$37.99
This book, one of several I have read by Paul and Elder, provides an impressive, comprehensive approach to the complex topic of critical thinking. Although critical thinking is indeed a "buzzword" in academic and professional circles, it can be challenging to find accessible yet comprehensive sources that introduce key concepts around critical thinking, provide thorough discussion of these concepts, and offer application opportunities for a reader to apply these new ideas in professional and personal contexts.
The text is appropriately divided into sections with topics such as "The Standards for Thinking" and "Developing as an Ethical Reasoner" that can be read separately, or be read sequentially to give depth and breadth to the topic at hand. The authors provide practical, short exercises called "Test the Idea" which give readers an opportunity to try out concepts and explore their own thinking in terms of the language of the critical thinking model that shapes the framework of the book.
I have used many of these concepts and tools in my own work with higher education faculty, who have since begun to use them with their students with significant success.
One of the advantages of this book is its twin focus on both shaping the readers' theoretical understanding of critical thinking, as well as guiding the reader to be a well-reasoned critical thinker along the way. This book provides a useful glossary to critical thinking terms, an abundance of examples to illustrate its central concepts. This book can be useful to a wide range of audiences from K-12 and higher education educators; to new and seasoned professionals in any career; to individuals who want to gain new insights and tools into critical thinking to "take charge of their professional and personal life."
The emphasis on "taking charge" in the book's title is deliberate. It provides readers with the tools to strengthen their critical thinking in every aspect of their life. It guides them to be keenly aware of their own thinking; to actively examine their thinking and the thinking of those around them; to improve the quality of that thinking in order to act with purpose, assumptions, implications, concepts, and points of view in mind.

Can Do!: How to Achieve Real Personal Change and Growth
$26.95
Ben Tiggelaar has written a highly pragmatic book, which outlines a step-by-step approach to implementing personal change. It is a very systematic approach, which starts with identifying the desired future result and the behavioural changes that are needed to reach these results. The next phase involves formulating plans for activating the new behaviours, taking into account resistances and hindrances that may arise. Finally the plans are put into action, results are measured, and success rewarded.

The method is a useful guideline for managing change. In essence, Tiggelaar helps us to make conscious the essential steps in change management that we tend otherwise to gloss over or ignore, thereby undermining our own efforts to transform.

Perhaps what is missing from the approach is the element of 'letting go of the old' as a precursor to embarking on the actual change, which is something that William Bridges deals with well in his work on 'transitions'. Also missing is how change can sometimes happen in an inspired or imaginative or intuitive way that defies the 'rules' or logic of change. But neverteless, Ben Tiggelaar's book belongs on the shelf of any serious change agent.

Coping with Aggressive Behaviour: Personal and Professional Development
$42.95
The product was what I expected, a tool to help cope with aggressive behavoir within the school system. I highly recommend this book a a reference tool.

Personal Development for Life and Work
$71.95
I received this book in a very timely manner and in great condition. Thank you for helping me make my school experience easier.