AIJ 2013 Conference Proceedings.inddSupervising a Student Managed
Investment Portfolio Ms. Teri Allen
Developing a Graduate Program in Healthcare Management Using a
Competency Based Curriculum Methodology Dr. Kevin LaFrance
The High Cost of Bullying Ms. Marcy Tanner
24-26Addressing Uncertainty during Workplace Change: Communication
and Sense-Making Dr. Richard Parsells
An Analysis of Online Cheating: An Empirical Examination of Online
Proctors Dr. Randall Valentine and Dr. Dawn Valentine
Competency-Based Learning: Proof of Professionalism Dr. Michael
Williams
United Way Bright Beginnings on Professional Development and
Retention Among Administrators and Teachers Dr. Nicole Andrews and
Ms. Amanda Rutter
15-18 Increasing Intercultural Effectiveness Through a Global
Citizenship Approach Dr. Kelly Fish
The Wise Leader Dr. Shirley Garick 19-21
Students’ Experiences and Expectations of Inquiry Based Learning
(IBL) in Nursing Education Ms. Hephzibah Samuel 7
A Case for Teaching Geography Mr. Richard Huck 22-23
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Advisory Board 4
Editorial Board 4
Environment Matters: Exploring the Role of Personality and
Accountability on Performance Dr. Jermaine Vesey
33-38
The Tale of Two College Experiences: A Cluster Analysis of Obama’s
Argument for Higher Education Reform Dr. Justin Walton
39-42
43-46
Advisory Board Members
Dr. Les Crall Associate Dean, Southwestern Oklahoma State
University School of Business & Technology
[email protected]
Dr. Mary Aspedon Bernhardt Professor, Southwestern Oklahoma State
University Department of Education
[email protected]
Dr. Jama Rand President, Seattle Research Partners, Inc.
[email protected]
Dr. Michael Williams Dean, Thomas Edison State College School of
Business and Management
[email protected]
Dr. Virgil Van Dusen Bernhardt Professor of Pharmacy, Southwestern
Oklahoma State University College of Pharmacy
[email protected]
Editorial Board Members
Dr. Patsy Parker Managing Editor, Southwestern Oklahoma State
University School of Business & Technology
[email protected]
Dr. Kelly Moor Copy/Production Editor, Idaho State University
Senior Lecturer, Academic Programs
[email protected]
Dr. Lisa Appeddu Research Editor, Southwestern Oklahoma State
University College of Pharmacy
[email protected]
Mr. Frederic Murray Editor-at-Large, Southwestern Oklahoma State
University Al Harris Library
[email protected]
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Ms. Teri Allen Southwestern Oklahoma State University
This paper discusses how a student-managed investment fund is used
in conjunction with a portfolio management course in an effort to
offer students real-world experience while students at a regional
university. The class and portfolio are su- pervised by a member of
the finance faculty, and investments are processed through a local
stock broker. Students are re- sponsible for generating an
objective statement for the fund, setting a benchmark for the
portfolio, creating an investment strategy, evaluating current
holdings, selecting stocks to purchase (or sell), as well as
portfolio analysis and evaluation. General guidelines are given for
each task, but students retain the majority of the decision making
power for the manage- ment of the portfolio. Students are evaluated
based upon their participation in weekly meetings and online
discussions, as well as on outside research, written reports, and
presentations to the university foundation.
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Developing a Graduate Program in Healthcare Management Using a
Competency Based Curriculum Methodology
Dr. Kevin LaFrance University of the Incarnate Word
Within a sea change in the structure and process of providing
health services, the field of health administration education has
moved decisively and concretely from a teaching-centered model of
education based on the assumption that knowl- edge equals
competency to a learning-centered model. The learning-centered, or
student-centered, model is based on the assumption that competency
is related to the ability to demonstrate mission- and
market-relevant knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes. This
presentation provides a comprehensive, non-prescriptive approach to
the development of a new competency-based graduate program in
health administration within an urban-based, private university
located in the Southwest United States. The presenters will
describe the structure and process used to align the program’s
competencies and curricula to the market needs by incorporating the
healthcare community’s input. The first part of the presentation
ar- ticle addresses the components of the program development
framework, including the determination of a program vision and
philosophy and the establishment of a program development group and
advisory board. The second part concludes with a discussion of the
process used in the selection of a competency model and its
application to the course curricula.
This article has been published in Volume 3, Issue 1 of the
Administrative Issues Journal. To read the full article, visit:
http://swosu.edu/academics/aij
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Students’ Experiences and Expectations of Inquiry Based Learning
(IBL) in Nursing Education
Ms. Hephzibah Samuel Anglia Ruskin University
The Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) approach derives ultimately from
the Problem Based Learning (PBL) model. This was origi- nally
developed in Canada at McMaster University, to be used in their
medical school as a way of overcoming learner pas- sivity and
linking theory and practice. Nursing Education needed a more
flexible curriculum which would help to develop lifelong learning
skills and show the importance of competence in practical skills.
To achieve these objectives, the use of student-centered learning
methodologies such as IBL was encouraged.
Many students have difficulty in adapting to IBL. They feel very
insecure and uncertain of the whole process. Students at- tending
the program are from different cultures and their previous exposure
to, and experiences of, the learning process are very different.
This needs definite attention if the goal of the institution is to
give the best learning experience to its students.
The results of the study will allow insight into the current
experiences that the Nursing students undergo during the IBL
process and what are some of their actual expectations of what IBL
should be. These findings will help the IBL facilitators to make
any changes that may be required to enhance their students’
learning. This will contribute to greater satisfaction on the part
of both the students and the facilitators.
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Ms. Marcy Tanner Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Bullying in health care professions is epidemic, and is often
considered a rite of passage. Bullying has many deleterious
effects, including a physical and emotional toll on those who are
victimized or observe others being victimized, as well as myriad
financial and administrative effects on the organization itself.
Bullying has been implicated in increased absentee- ism, workplace
errors, reduced productivity, attrition, and increased costs in
terms of insurance claims and litigation. Both the victim and the
organization can anticipate immediate and long-term consequences of
bullying. However, the majority of organizations have not created
or enforced policies to prohibit and address bullying. A literature
review of several pro- fessions indicated that bullying has many
antecedents, and uncovered best-practice measures for proactively
addressing bullying. This information can guide the creation of
administrative policies and procedures for addressing bullying in
order to mitigate the costs both to the organization and to those
who would otherwise be victimized.
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An Analysis of Online Cheating: An Empirical Examination of Online
Proctors
Dr. Randall Valentine Dr. Dawn Valentine Georgia Southwestern State
University
A study is conducted using data from online unproctored exams and
exams using Proctor U, an online service that proctors via a
computer webcam. Students in an undergraduate Business Finance
class are given the same exam. One class section uses no proctor
and the other section uses Proctor U. We find that students taking
the unproctored exam score 14% higher on the exam. Further, using a
T Test we find a significant difference between the 2
sections.
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Dr. Michael Williams Thomas Edison State College
Over the past decade competency-based education has garnered
attention as an alternative educational model in higher education.
Increasingly, industry and higher education leaders are
acknowledging that current traditional models and practices of
education no longer adequately prepare college and university
graduates for the cognitive and competency rigors of the 21st
century workplace. To meet the evolving expectations of industry
leaders, higher education must be re- sponsive to calls for
educational reforms associated with preparing graduates for
contemporary careers or risk educational irrelevance. While these
leaders discuss and debate educational reform, a number of
colleges, universities and secondary schools are addressing
workforce readiness through implementing competency-based education
programming. This pa- per addresses current trends in
competency-based education and explores three emerging perspective
central to this edu- cational approach; Journeymanship and
Education, Faculty as Facilitator and Learner as Learning
Steward.
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United Way Bright Beginnings on Professional Development and
Retention Among Administrators and Teachers
Dr. Nicole Andrews Ms. Amanda Rutter University of Houston
Administrators and teachers are leaving the field of education at
alarming rates that has caused a rise in concern for the future of
education. Each year, troves of administrators and teachers vacate
their posi- tions for various reasons including retirement,
termination, and voluntary resignation. Carroll (2007)
found that between1994 and 2004, U.S. schools hired more than 2.25
million teachers while losing 2.7 million during the same time
period. Approximately 50 percent of teachers in the nation leave
the field within their first five years of working citing poor
working environments and not having enough support as two of the
main reasons for pursuing alternative careers (Ingersoll &
Smith, 2004). Similarly it was also noted by Pomanski et al. (2010)
that a lack of motivation and “disengagement from one’s work”
occurs in response to a lack of resources and poor working
conditions (Pomanski et al., 2010; p. 1341). Moreover Whitebrook
and Sakai (2004) argue that turnover rates among early childhood
education staff may be at a higher rate compared to national
averages with between one fifth and one third vacating their
positions annually. In the State of Texas, nearly 40 percent of
teachers leave their position in the first three years costing the
state $329 million annually (Greenlee & Brown, 2009).
Compounding these already frightening statistics is the reality
that approximately 50 percent of current education administrators
and teachers are baby boomers that are expected to soon retire
(Huling, Resta, & Year- gain, 2012).
Each time an educator is lost, time and money must be spent on
recruiting, hiring, and training new staff. The high turnover rate
of administrators and teachers in schools are detrimental not only
financially but in terms of creating continuity and stable learning
environments for impressionable students. When an educator is lost,
so is the sense of community the educator established within the
school and with fellow staff members, students, parent, and
families.
It is well known knowledge that retaining administrators and
teachers in the field of education is a challenge faced each year
within the United States and is costly to the education system.
Attrition rates of teachers within their first few years in the
profession are alarmingly high with many educators citing lack of
support for leaving the profession before the age of retirement.
Moreover, many educators feel they must “sink or swim” in the
current educational environment. The fast rate of attrition of
educators concerns administrators and policy makers alike. As such
there is a need to prepare new and ef- fective teachers as well as
to support administrators to sufficiently staff their schools and
create nurturing environments for students and teachers alike. This
training extends to administrators providing quality professional
development that is viewed as increasingly important in order to
promote high-quality educational programs that serve every student.
Participating centers in the United Way Bright Beginnings program
were administered quarterly professional development courses to
improve teaching and administrative skills. The participants
included directors and teachers from seventeen centers. Results
indicated that the self-efficacy of administrators and teachers
alike were enhanced as well as retention rates of staff were higher
than national averages.
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In contrast, research has shown that through supportive
environments and quality professional development and continuing
education, administrators and teachers can build higher levels of
self-efficacy, thus remaining longer in the field of education.
Moreover, research suggests that when teachers receive adequate
support from adminis- trators and additional education training
including professional development, classroom quality improves
(Barnett 2004, Bowman 2011, Whitebrook, Gomby, Bellm, Sakai, &
Kipnis, 2009).
In 2002, United Way of Greater Houston and Exxon Mobil created an
innovative early childhood education program entitled Bright
Beginnings aimed at aiding children from lower-income families in
achieving social, emotional, physi- cal, and cognitive milestones
as well to have program participants enter school ready to succeed.
In addition, this program aimed to strengthen the quality of child
care and early childhood programs through staff training and lead-
ership development to create competent and confident directors and
teachers. In order to strengthen administrators and teachers United
Way Bright Beginnings provided quarterly professional development
training.
Method
In 2012, United Way Bright Beginnings consisted of seventeen
participating learning centers staffing 17 directors and 119
teachers. During 2012, UWBB provided quarterly professional
development trainings with the goal of building the confidence of
directors and teachers. In order to accomplish this goal, teachers
received on-site coaching as well as participated in 24
professional development training hours specific to their teaching
assignment. Teaching assign- ments were allocated to four different
professional development tracks: new teacher, infant cohort,
toddler cohort, and preschool cohort. During professional
development training hours, teachers met with teachers of other
centers who shared the same teaching assignment. Additionally, UWBB
encouraged and provided support to teachers to complete their
CDA.
Directors participated in 114 professional development training
hours. UWBB provided three day training on the GOLD assessment to
help directors learn about and understand the assessment process.
Additionally, directors re- ceived training on the
parent-child-provider relationship in the first six years of a
child’s life from the Brazelton Touch- points Center. This training
aimed at helping directors understand the importance of
partnerships between parents and providers and to boost directors
feeling of competence in communicating with and serving their
parent com- munity. Many directors also attended five local, state,
and national conferences. Directors travelled to the Chicago
Commons for Reggio Emilia Inspired Learning Tour in which they
learned how Reggio teaching philosophies can be implemented in
American classrooms to engage children in meaningful play.
Results
The Annual Survey revealed that 77% of teachers attended three or
more of the quarterly professional develop- ment trainings while
23% attended two or fewer. Additionally, teachers reported changes
in their teaching prac- tices regarding observation, documentation,
communication, confidence, and collaboration. 82 percent of
teachers reported a change in their confidence as a result of
participating in UWBB professional development trainings. One
teacher shared that “I’ve always been confident, but UWBB
appreciates me and sees me as a professional and for that I am
grateful.”
Directors indicated that they felt a greater sense of community and
improved relationships. Several directors noted that their
confidence grew in response to their improved stress management
skills. Moreover they indicated that by being able to better manage
their own responsibilities and stressors, they in turn improved
their listening and com- munication skills, being able to better
support their staff and be a team player.
During 2012, 42 staff members left their positions: 14 staff
members were dismissed or voluntarily left, 21 left for personal
reasons (school, health, family, retirement, moves), and 5 left for
better pay. Among the staff that left, 71 percent had less than 4
years of teaching experience, 26 percent had between 4 to 9 years
of experience with an average of 5.3 years, and 3 percent had over
9 years of experience. Overall, 105 staff members remained in their
posi- tions, a retention rate of 72 percent. Thus, UWBB turnover
rate for 2012 was that of 28 percent, at the low end of the
national average.
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Discussion
United Way Bright Beginnings has seen success and higher rates of
retention by offering quality professional devel- opment training
to directors and teachers. Directors of UWBB centers average 10.7
years of experience as directors of centers and 8.9 years of
childcare teaching experience. Teachers have an average of 10.1
years of experience, 21 percent under 4 years, 39 percent between 4
to 9 years, and 40 percent with 10 or more years of
experience.
By continuing to educate, develop, support, and supervise teachers
and administrators beyond formal training, we create educators of
quality which in turn positively impacts student achievement.
Analysis of norm referenced tests indicated that students of UWBB
centers who are predominately high risk populations (children of
teen mothers, liv- ing in poverty or homeless, new immigrants, and
victims of domestic abuse) are consistently ranking as high as or
higher than both the national average and HISD average on the
Stanford reading and mathematics, Aprenda reading and mathematics,
and STARR reading and mathematics tests.
Thus, in order to change the climate of education, we must first
build competent and confident administrators and teachers
supporting their growth professionally and providing them with
opportunities for further education and ex- ploration of practices,
As stated by Elliot, Isaacs, and Chugani (2010) “the development of
and progression of.. teach- ers [and administrators] into truly
skilled professionals requires continued support and supervision.”
(Elliot, Isaacs, & Chugani, 2010, p. 141) In order to be
successful, professional development should be “engaging, regularly
repeated, and monitored for implementation” (Morgan &
Kritsonis, 2008, p. 4). Building confident and competent teachers
and administrators is the way to build the success of current and
future students.
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References
Andrews, N., Houston, W. R., Tobe, P., Zhang, A., Powers, K., &
Kelley, E. (2013). A Program of the United Way of Greater Houston
and ExxonMobil: 2012 Program Evaluation. Institute for Urban
Education, 1-39.
Barnett, W. S. (2004). Better teachers, better preschools: Student
achievement linked to teacher qualifications. Pre- school Policy
Matters, (2).
Bowman, B. T. (2011). Bachelor’s degrees are necessary but not
sufficient: Preparing teachers to teach young children. In E.
Zigler, W. S Gillman, & W. S. Barnett (Eds.), The Pre-K
Debates: Current controversies & issues (pp 54-57). Baltimore:
Paul H. Brookes.
Carroll, T. G. (2007). Policy Brief: The High Cost of Teacher
Turnover. National Commission on Teaching and America’s
Future.
Elliot, E. M., Isaacs, M. L., & Chugani, C. D. (2010).
Promoting self-efficacy in early career teachers: A principal’s
guide for differentiated mentoring and supervision. Florida Journal
of Educational Administration & Policy, 4(1), 131-146.
Greenlee, B., & Brown Jr. J. J. (2009). Retaining teachers in
challenging schools. Education, 130(1), 96-109.
Huling, L., Resta, V., & Yeargain, P. (2012). Supporting and
retaining novice teachers. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 140-143.
Ingersol, R. M., & Smith, T. M. (2004). Do teacher induction
and mentoring matter? NASSP Bulletin, 88(638), 28-40. Morganm M.
M., & Kritsonis, W. A. (2008). A national focus: The
recruitment, retention, and development of quality teachers in
hard-to-staff schools. National, Journal for Publishing and
Mentoring Doctoral Student Research, 5(1), 1-7. Pomanski, G.,
DeLongis, A., Frey, D., Short, K., & Woehrle, T. (2010). When
the going gets tough: Direct, buffering and indirect efforts of
social support on turnover intention. Teaching and Teacher
Education, 26(6), 1340-1346.
Whitebrook, M., Gromby, D., Bellm, D., Sakai, L., & Kipnis, F.
(2009). Preparing teachers of young children: The current state of
knowledge, and a blueprint for the future. Berkley, CA: Center for
the Study of Child Care Employment, Insti- tute for Research on
Labor and Employment, University of California, Berkley.
Whitebrook, M., & Sakai, L. (2004). By a thread: how child care
centers hold on to teachers, how teachers build lasting careers.
Economics of Education Review, 25(6), 677-678.
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Dr. Kelly Fish Arkansas State University
Many colleges and universities today seek to increase their
students’ global skill sets in order to prepare them for the
complex integration of cultural, political, social and business
processes that await them in today’s world (Lane, Maznevski&
Mendenhall, 2004). Indeed many accreditation agencies have for the
past several
years included globalization of the curriculum as part of the
evaluation process. In this paper, we will measure how one
introductory course for freshmen students can increase their global
mindset and enhance their intercultural ef- fectiveness. We will
use the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale(IES) (Mendenhall,
Stevens, Bird, Oddou and Osland, 2011) to gain insights into
students’ continuous learning, interpersonal engagement, hardiness
and overall intercultural effectiveness by measuring such traits at
the beginning of the global citizenship class and again at the end
of the semester. Our results indicate that such a class can inch
increase student global mindset thus improving their inter-
cultural effectiveness.
The IES Scale
The IES scale discussion that follows draws heavily on the IES
Instructor’s Guide (2011) as the instrument analyzes three
dimensions of intercultural effectiveness: Continuous Learning,
Interpersonal Engagement, and Hardiness. Each dimension has two
subdomains: Continuous Learning is made up of self-awareness and
exploration; Interper- sonal Engagement is comprised of global
mindset and relationship interest; while Hardiness involves
positive regard and resilience. The IES results report also
contains scores on Continuous Learning, Interpersonal Engagement,
and Hardiness which are combinations scores of their respective
subdomains. Lastly, an Overall IES score is generated by combining
the results of the six subdomains. The scale consists of fifty-two
items on a five-point Likert-like scale.
Self-awareness is defined as the extent to which a person is aware
of his/her personal values weaknesses strengths behavioral
tendencies, interpersonal style, as well as, the impact of these
things on others. Individuals scoring high in this sub domain are
aware of their own personal values and behavioral tendencies while
low scorers are not involved in self-discovery. Exploration
measures the degree to which a person is open to and pursuant of
understanding new ideas, norms, situations, behaviors, and values
that are different from one’s own. It measures a person’s
willingness to seek new experiences that result in learning or
changes in perspective and behavior. High scorers are extremely
inquisitive and curious, while low scorers have a preference for
current habits and traditions.
The authors conduct pre-treatment and post-treatment observations
on students taking a first semester freshman course designed to
enlighten them about their role in the world as global citizens.
The authors use the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale to measure
the students across the dimensions of Continuous Learning,
Interpersonal Engagement and Hardiness. Results suggests that
students undergoing such a course may increase their intercultural
effectiveness, especially in the area of interpersonal engagement,
as well as, global mindset.
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Interpersonal Engagement is the next dimension and it is comprised
of global mindset that measures the extent to which a person is
interested in and wants to learn about other people and their
cultures. Additionally, it mea- sures the degree to which one seeks
out information outlets such as newspapers, the Internet, movies,
and other modes of information in order to expand his/hers global
mindset. A global mindset provides the foundation to interact more
effectively with people from other cultures. High scorers tend to
seek information about cultures other than their own, while low
scorers tend to avoid learning about other cultures and do not go
out of their way to expose themselves to information about new
cultures. Relationship interest is the degree to which a per- son
is likely to initiate and maintain positive relationships with
people of another culture. Specifically, it measures the extent to
which engaging others is an energy producing or energy depleting
activity. For example, a person’s willingness to use a foreign
language in developing a new relationship is an important aspect of
this sub domain. Persons that score high are interested in
developing friendships with people from other cultures while those
that score low do not put very much effort into developing such a
friendship.
The third dimension to be measured by IES is Hardiness which is
comprised of the subdomains open-mindedness and emotional
resilience. Open-mindedness is a measure of the extent to which a
person withholds judgments about people or situations that are new
or unfamiliar. It is a reflection of the extent to which a person
is open to alternative perspectives and behaviors. High scorers
have a tendency not to rush to judgment intend to refrain from
stereotyping as they first desire to understand the situation or
people. Low scorers have a tendency to make quick judgments about
situations or people and they tend to use stereotyping in order to
make sense of the world around them. Emotional resilience measures
a person’s capacity to recover from challenging emotional ex-
periences. High scorers have the ability to cope well with such
situations and are able to continue learning about a new culture
while low scorers find it difficult to handle emotionally
challenging experiences. Their recovery from such experiences tends
to take a long amount of time and this limits their ability to
remain open to others.
The Global Challenge Course
The Global Challenge course is mandatory and taught to first
semester freshman students enrolled in the Col- lege of Business.
The following is the course description contained in the syllabus
(citation omitted as it would identify an author):
“The Global Challenge will help prepare the students for thinking
globally. Not only will this course demonstrate the global
dimensions of several crucial contemporary issues, including the
problem of global conflict, the global environment, and health and
population concerns, it also will underline the necessity of an
interdisciplinary approach to understanding these issues.
Scientific questions have political, social, economic, and ethical
dimensions. Similarly, economic matters are inextricably linked
with their cultural, psychological, political, techno- logical,
geopolitical, and moral aspects. The concerns of The Global
Challenge demonstrate the relational thinking students will be
called upon to exercise in other academic contexts, and throughout
the rest of their personal and professional lives. In other words,
this course is as much about how to study and think about global
problems and relationships as it is a course about specific global
issues. Students will be required to participate in a service
learn- ing project during the semester break.”
The course has seven learning modules - Welcome to the
World,Ethnicity and Global Diversity, Moral Reasoning and the
Global Challenge, Global Economic Issues, Global Environmental
Issues,Global Population and Health Issues, and Global Conflict in
the 21st Century. Students are required to participate in a
cross-cultural service learning project outside of class either in
a domestic or international setting.
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Results Since students are tested at the beginning of the course
and then again at the completion of the course, the appro- priate
statistical test is a series of paired sample t-tests. The results
shown in Table 1 indicate that students complet- ing the global
challenge course scored slightly higher in most measures of
intercultural effectiveness. However with n=72, only a few of these
measures were deemed statistically significant.
Table 1 – Results of Paired T-tests
On average the students scored 2.70 on global mindset before the
course, this increased to 3.08 after the course and this difference
was deemed statistically significant at the .000 level. Student
interpersonal engagement scores increased from 3.19 to 3.33 and
this difference was significant at the .003 level. Lastly, students
overall IES score in- creased from 3.39 to 3.46 while this
difference was deemed statistically significant at the .033 level.
Although many of the post course scores were higher on several of
the dimensions these were the only difference is deemed
statistically significant.
Conclusion
First semester freshmen students were enrolled in a course designed
to teach them global citizenship that included a module on
cross-cultural service learning. Our results suggest that such a
course can increase intercultural effective- ness of students
primarily by increasing their interpersonal engagement which is
most largely a result of increasing their global mindset. Students
increased their interest in actively learning about other cultures
and their people through films, cross-cultural in class
assignments, and hands-on service learning. Although most
components of intercultural effectiveness saw a rise in the various
subdomains and dimensions from pre-class testing to post class
testing, only three of those differences were deemed statistically
significant however, a larger sample size and further study could
be insightful in this regard.
Pair Dimension Mean Sig (2-tailed) Self-Awareness/pre 3.78
Self-Awareness/post 3.9 Exploration/pre 4.1 Exploration/post 4.12
Global Mindset/pre 2.71 Global Mindset/post 3.08 Relationship
Interest/pre 3.68 Relationship Interest/post 3.59 Positive
Regard/pre 2.91 Positive Regard/post 2.86 Resilience/pre 3.17
Resilience/post 3.23 Continuous Learning/pre 3.94 Continuous
Learning/post 4.01 Interpersonal Engagement/pre 3.19 Interpersonal
Engagement/post 3.33 Hardiness/pre 3.04 Hardiness/post 3.05 Overall
IES/pre 3.39 Overall IES/post 3.46
10 0.033
7 0.306
8 0.003
9 0.887
4 0.191
5 0.471
6 0.309
1 0.095
2 0.785
3 0
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References
Lane, H.W., Maznevski, M.L., & Mendenhall, M.E. (2004).
Hercules meets Buddha. In , Lane H.W., Maznevski, M.L., Mendenhall,
M.E., & McNett, J. (eds). The handbook of global management: A
guide to managing complexity. Oxford, UK: Blackwell
Publishing
IES Instructor’s Guide (2011), The Kozai Group, Inc.
Mendenhall, M.E., Stevens, M.J., Bird, A., Oddou, G.R. &
Osland, J.S. (2011), Intercultural ffectiveness scale:
technical
report, The Kozai Group, Inc.
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Dr. Shirley Garick Texas A&M University- Texarkana
MLeadership is crucial to any organization from Medicine to Nursing
to Hospital to privately owned busi- nesses/corporations. Success
generally must have a centralized locus of competent leadership for
an orga- nization to flourish. An example of leadership gone amuck
is the great “Enron” debacle, Lehman Brothers
and Washington Mutual. There are many other examples, too numerous
to mention but in all cases leadership of an organization is of
primary importance. The gap between effective leadership and
incorporating moral behaviors into a business entity is large. The
general public, who has been hit hard by greed and fraud, are angry
and distrustful of business.
Nonaka and Takeuchi (2011) in their article, The Wise Leader,
points out that the severe recession we have experience on a global
dimensional plane has placed enormous demands on leadership. The
authors point out that Corporate Executive Officers (CEO”s)
struggle to retool and cope with the rapid changes in technology,
let alone keeping track and ensuring that their work force operates
and adheres to ethical standards.
These authors point out the gulf between theory and practice when
it comes to ethical behaviors. At this point, they draw on
philosophical theories of Plato which is the grounding for western
behaviors and conclude with the axiom that if a theory isn’t
working there must be something wrong with reality.
It needs to be understood at this juncture, that these theoretical
perspectives are better placed into a branch of phi- losophy called
Axiology where there is a clarification of values which puts
ethical standards in place by determining what is valued by a
society, group, and organizations. After considering the failures
of the recent past, the suggestion was noted that natural sciences
need not be the only path to leadership but making social sciences
a more determi- native guide for leaders to consider.
The authors speculate on sole dependence on explicit knowledge,
meaning the scientific deductive, theory first approach leading to
universal and predictive outcomes. This tends to leave out the
social phenomena with leaders making decisions based on economic
gains rather than including within this the shared social
value.
The authors bring in the idea of practical wisdom which lies in
Aristotle’s Nicomachean ethics and his concept of ph- ronesis, that
is a “state of true and reasoned capacity which acts in regard to
the things that are good or bad for man” (Nonaka I; Takeuchi H.
p.3).
Aristotle also identified two types of wisdom; metaphysical and
practical wisdom and the authors postulate that this comes from
knowledge based on experience. This type of knowledge gives help to
the leaders pursuit of a balanced approach of leading by giving
service to people as the right course to follow.
This paper is an article review of the Wise Leader, written by
Nonaka, I; Takeuchi, H (2011) in the Harvard Business Review. These
authors offer salient advice on what a wise leader needs to
understand, regardless of your administrative leadership role. It
can quality and apply across all dimensions of leadership roles
from executive to managerial to employees.
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The concept of Episteme which again falls into Aristotle sphere
implying valid scientific knowledge, where as tech- nique implies
skill/technical know-how and phronesis implies what should be
done.
The authors then go on to explain the six abilities of phronetic
leaders. The first abilities are called, wise leaders can judge
goodness. The essence of this first ability revolves around four
ways of capturing this ability. These are your own experience of
adversity, principles of life experience & the ability to share
them; the relentless pursuit of excellence and the leader should be
well versed in philosophy, history, and literature plus fine arts
helps the executive practice.
The second phonetic ability is wise leaders can grasp the essence.
In this paradigm, the wise leader is able to sense what lies behind
the situation, develop a vision of the future and/or consequences,
and then take action to realize the vision. Practical wisdom allows
this to happen through intuitive understanding of the nature and
meaning of people, things and events. The exercises that are
offered to help this develop is the constant of asking “why” and
“what”. The next item is the see the “forest and the trees”
together, not as single entities and the third is constructing and
testing hypotheses.
The third is wise leaders create shared contexts. This phronetic
leader is consistently creating the opportunity for se- nior
executives and employees to work together and learn from each
other. This is simple and straight forward with interaction that
brings about a shared sense of purpose.
Fourthly, the phronetic leader must demonstrate the ability to
communicate in ways where everyone is able to un- derstand. This
may entail metaphors, stories and perhaps figurative language which
let individuals of differing ven- ues and experiences to grasp
things intuitively. Rhetoric may also be used to touch the areas of
heart and mind and it is crucial to understand that communication
can bring dreams to life. Remember Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech
of “I have a dream”.
The fifth ability is wise leaders exercise political power. This is
where the phronetic leader spurs people to action and develops this
into the single minded pursuit of their goals. Here the leader uses
political judgment within the pur- view of having a critical grasp
of viewpoints and emotions of others. Along with this the leader
attempts to attain an understanding of the good and bad in human
nature. This art of being able to hold two opposing views and at
the same time continuing to function at a high level is critical to
using political power in a creative and successful way.
The sixth and last ability is wise leaders foster practical wisdom
in others.
Here the authors practice the sharing of practical wisdom at all
levels and with all employees of the organization. This distributed
phronesis lets the organization develop flexibility and creativity
within a particular setting and may include part-time workers.
Other ways of including practical wisdom is to use exemplars who
exhibit leadership qualities which draw people to them. They may
inspire average people to perform in extraordinary ways.
In summary, these authors describing a more philosophical approach
to capitalism by taking on communitarianism with a philosophical
leader who can deal with the changing duality of business at all
levels. This ideal leader must be a philosopher, master craftsman,
an idealist, a politician, a novelist and a teacher with strong
values and principles. They must be able to balance the inductive
and deductive precepts to acquire a new vision in an ever changing,
rap- idly paced world of leadership within the realm of business.
This leader will shy away from excess and greed and focus on
companies living in harmony with society.
Leadership might be designated as and art as well as a science. The
art form of it would include the individual’s per- ceptive nature,
intuition and receptiveness to lead. The science part could include
multiple skills and workshops of training based on leadership
theories and how to become an excellent administrative leader.
However, given the many personalities involved within a leadership
milieu, the essence of leadership lends itself to the ethical
dimen- sions that are universal.
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Reference
Noaka, I; Takeuchi H. (2011). The Wise Leader. Harvard Business
Review May;
Vol. 89 (5), PP. 58-67, 146.
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Mr. Richard Huck St. Charles Community College
It is clearly remembered how we used to line up at dismissal time
at St. Anthony of Padua Parish Grade School in South St. Louis for
dismissal, lunch, recess, etc. While we stood in line by the wall
we would look at the huge world map that hung on the wall. One of
the boys grew very excited once when he found a city named St.
Louis on the
west coast of Africa in what is now Senegal! What a neat discovery!
I also remember the old globe my grandfather had, and how I would
sit on his couch playing with it, spinning it around and marveling
at all the exotic places. It was an old globe, depicting places
that are gone with the passage of history, such as French
Equatorial Africa. My grandfather was an old Austrian. He was
rarely seen without a book or newspaper and beer in his hand. From
him I learned a love for reading, geography and history. Later I
studied and obtained degrees in Geography from St. Louis U.
Eventually it was my karma to land work in Sales and Marketing at a
large local company where I worked for 32 years. After retiring, I
applied for an Instructor of Geography position at Harris-Stowe
State U., and was hired. Later I was able to teach another class at
St. Charles Community College. So now my experience inludes five
years of teach- ing college level Geography.
It amazes me how small the world has become. Just one hundred years
ago the only way to get from New York to London was by ship, which
took weeks. Now it just takes a few hours by plane. Letters would
take forever, now we have emails in an instant. With these
technological advances, far away places are no longer so far away.
Today, we have Americans fighting and dying in Iraq &
Afghanistan and other places. We have dependence on various
minerals and foods from foreign countries, such as the mineral
Bauxite, the ore of aluminum, and oil from Venezuela. There are
rogue nations such as Iran threatening to cause trouble by closing
the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic, and to shoot missiles at
Israel. Then we also have N. Korea trying to coerce S. Korea and
Japan and the U.S. by rattling the sabre of their missiles which
they only have by starving their own people so they have the money
for a huge military.
In my classroom, my students are told that “we cannot understand
ourselves as a people unless we understand our history; and there
is no way we can understand history without understanding the
geography behind that history”!
It is incredible how little of geography our young people
understand!
At the beginning of each semester my students are given a
questionnaire. Of 150 students questioned, most from local St.
Louis Metro Area High Schools, the results are very sad. Peruse the
following:
The knowledge of geography is clearly lacking in college students.
“We cannot understand who we are unless we under- stand history,
and there is no way we can understand history if we do not
understand the geography behind it”! How can we understand the
Civil War without understanding the importance of the Mississippi
River? A great many students cannot locate the Mississippi River on
a map!
This paper is original research based on my classroom experience
and on a questionnaire given to my students at the begin- ning of
each semester. About 150 students have been given this
questionnaire over the 5 years I have taught Geography.
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Did you take a Geography Class in High School? 48% No
What is the capital of the U.S.? 22% Did not know! A. Washington,
D.C.
What is the capital of Missouri? 18% Did not know! A. Jefferson
City
How many states are in the U.S.? 17% Did not know! A. 50
What river is called “The Father of Waters”? 82% Did not know! A.
Mississippi R.
What river is called “The Big Muddy”? 90% Did not know! A. Missouri
R.
Why is St. Louis called “The Gateway to the West”? 77% Did not
know! A. Settlers moving westward
stopped here for supplies
Label the Continents on a map 70% Did not know!
Label the Oceans on a map 70% Did not know!
Define Geography 83% Did not know! A. The study of man in
time
and space
Again, these students were graduates from local high schools in the
St. Louis Metro Area, and all were college and university students
at either Harris-Stowe State U. or St. Charles Community College.
It is hard to believe that these young people, all intelligent, did
not know about the local geography of our rivers, and that so many
could not iden- tify even the continents and oceans of our planet!
It is also a shame that so many did not know the capital of the
U.S. and of Missouri, the home state for most of them.
Also mind boggling is the fact that so many of these students could
not locate the major physical features of the U.S. on a map, i.e.,
the Rocky Mountains, the Appalachians, the Great Lakes, the
locations of the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, and Hudson
Rivers, and the Erie Canal. It is amazing that these students were
able to pass history courses without learning the locations of
these places. Again, “you cannot understand us as a people unless
you understand history and understand the geography behind it”! How
can you possibly understand the Civil War without under- standing
the importance of the Mississippi River??? Or the Revolutionary War
without knowing the significance of the Hudson River? Or the
economic development of New York City as the commercial and
industrial hub of the na- tion without realizing the importance of
the Erie Canal?
The issue becomes even more questionable when it becomes apparent
that these young minds have no idea where our soldiers are
fighting. They have no idea where Afghanistan and Iraq are. Nor do
they know where Israel is. They do not know of the importance of
the Suez and Panama Canals, and do not know of the historical
importance of Is- tanbul (formerly Constantinople), nor what drove
Columbus and other explorers to try to find sea routes to India and
China (they were looking for trade routes to bring spices and silks
to Europe since the age old trade routes to the east were cut off
by the Muslims). These students are also unaware of the location of
N. Korea, and the threats posed by that nation to S. Korea, Japan
and the Philippines. It also becomes apparent that they are
oblivious to the fact that we almost had Armageddon when the
Russians tried to put missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from
Miami.
Young people need to talk with their fathers & grandfathers
about World War II, the Cold War, Korea, & Vietnam to become
aware of what hardships were involved.
It is also necessary for them to have a good understanding of what
has led to the religious extremism causing so much tension among
Jews, Muslims and Christians.
Aside from all this, they need to be aware of the interdependence
among the different parts of our own country; i.e., the Wheat Belt,
the Industrial Areas, the mining areas, fisheries, the importance
of trade and transportation on the Mississippi and Great Lakes
waterways, etc., which also ties in with the problems associated
with invasive species on our ecosystems such as the Golden
Carp.
The purpose of this article is to emphasize that it is necessary to
teach Geography at all levels of education; elemen- tary, junior
high, senior high, and college. It is necessary to achieve an
understanding of who we are as a people, and why the world is like
it is. Again, “We cannot understand who we are as a people unless
we understand history, and there is no way to understand history if
we do not understand the geography behind it” !!!
A I
Dr. Richard Parsells St. Edwards University
Change is a commonplace occurrence in today’s organizations. In
order to survive in an extremely competitive marketplace,
organizations and their employees undergo change frequently. The
ability to manage change and to learn from this experience is now
viewed as a key competency for sustainable competitiveness in
most
business markets (Burnes, 2009; Connor, 1998). However, while
change management processes are employed and followed, a high
percentage of change efforts are judged to be unsuccessful by upper
management (Armenakis, Harris, & Field, 1999; Clegg &
Walsh, 2004). Moreover, a number of scholars suggest that
communication strategies during organizational change are an
important element to the success of a change initiative, yet such
strategies are not given primacy in the research literature (“A
critical analysis of communication approaches,” 2012; Burnes,
2009). This suggests the need to further investigate communication
factors which aid in the successful implementation of change in the
workplace.
The purpose of this paper is to add to the discourse on
communication and workplace change initiatives by reporting on a
research project that explored communication actions which were
employed and viewed as useful by those ex- periencing a change in
the workplace. This paper will present the findings that emanated
from the study and explore their meaning in relation to selected
scholarly literature on communication and change.
The study took place in a quasi-governmental organization located
in the south central region of the United States. The organization
operates four general business lines within an operating budget of
approximately 650 million, em- ploying close to 2,500 individuals.
The workplace change included new budgeting software and revisions
to the chart of accounts. Through purposeful sampling, nine
individuals were selected for the study. All of the study
participants were involved in supporting the budget process. Three
personal interviews and two critical incident reports were
completed with each participant over the course of the change,
which was a period of six months. All study partici- pants were
receptive to, and supportive of, the change initiative, and,
therefore, the study focused on the implemen- tation phase of the
change
Change is a commonplace occurrence in today’s organizations. In
order to survive in an extremely competitive market- place,
organizations and their employees undergo change frequently. The
ability to manage change and to learn from this experience is now
viewed as a key competency for sustainable competitiveness in most
business markets. However, while change management processes are
employed and followed, a high percentage of change efforts are
judged to be unsuccessful by upper management. Moreover, a number
of scholars suggest that communication strategies during orga-
nizational change are an important element to the success of a
change initiative, yet such strategies are not given primacy in the
research literature. This suggests the need to further investigate
communication factors which aid in the success- ful implementation
of change in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to add to
the discourse on communication and workplace change initiatives by
reporting on a research project that explored communication actions
which were employed and viewed as useful by those experiencing a
change in the workplace. This paper will present the findings that
emanated from the study and explore their meaning in relation to
selected scholarly literature on communication and change.
Suggested implications for practice and future research are also
explored.
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Three themes were identified through an analysis and evaluation of
the data: individual experimentation, along with communication with
coworkers, were important factors for sense-making and learning;
contextual reasons for major modifications during implementation of
the change, along with details of why and reasonable adjusted
timeframes, facilitated study participants’ handling of their roles
and functions in support of the change efforts; and, statements of
appreciation for their work, along with expressions of empathy,
from management were valued by study partici- pants.
The first theme aligns with a number of concepts contained in the
literature on change communication and sense- making. The
combination of taking action through experimentation in addition to
dialogue with co-workers for help in problem-solving and/or
confirmation of beliefs aligns with the concept of “social-mutual
understanding”; a shared interpretation and understanding through
interaction with others, a form of meaning creation (“A critical
analysis of communication approaches,” 2012). In addition, this
theme very closely resembles the concept of sense-making as defined
by Weick & Sutcliffe (2005) as the “interplay of action and
interpretation” (p. 409), and includes such factors as being action
oriented and involving the social system of the work
environment.
The second theme appears to be supportive of the positions of
scholars who advocate for ongoing and consistent communication that
strives for clarity, the reduction of ambiguity in one’s work, and
an understanding of the ex- pectations of management (Lewis, 2006;
Duck, 1998). While study participants were receptive to the change
they all reported experiencing uncertainty and frustration in their
work with the new software system and the ongoing changes that
occurred in the development of the new chart of accounts, within
tight timeframes.
The final theme could be associated with the celebrating of
accomplishments as asserted by a number of change transition
scholars, along with the recognition and normalization of the
internal feelings experienced by the employ- ees involved with the
change (Bridges, 2009). Aside from celebration serving as a ritual
to mark the beginning of a “new normal”, communicating success
along with empathy appears to have addressed participants’ personal
efficacy, and had the potential of forming a strong achievement
oriented group identity.
These findings suggest several implications for practice. First,
while support for the change is critical there is also a need for
communication during the implementation phase where much
uncertainty and ambiguity can occur. In addition, it appears that
sense-making is a social phenomenon that occurs within credible
circles of workers. This would suggest the need for management to
assist in strengthening intragroup communication, through such
means as arranging physical space strategically that will allow
for, and encourage, interactive dialogue; conducting frequent
meetings of working groups to discuss and problem-solve issues that
arise; and, advocate for information in areas that need to be
addressed. In addition, it appears that recognition of the anxiety
brought on by uncertainty and am- biguity is helpful in minimizing
frustration and allowing for continued motivation of employees to
pursue problem- solving. Management may play a significant role in
modeling behavior through the way they frame an issue and by acting
in a problem-solving manner. Lastly, success can enhance confidence
and competence, and the recognition of success by management
through spoken and/or written words could send messages of personal
and group mastery along with a sense of personal value.
There are limitations to this study. This is a single case study
with limited participants who were of the same profes- sional field
and worked within the same corporate culture. Future studies should
be conducted that explore commu- nication and sense-making actions
during the implementation phase of a change for those in different
professions and from different organizations in order to assess
similarities and differences with the findings from this
study.
A I
Bridges, W. (2009). Managing transitions (3rd ed.). Philadelphia,
PA: Capo Press.
Burnes, B. (2009). Managing change. New York: Prentice Hall.
Clegg, C. & Walsh, S. (2004). Change management: time for a
change! European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,
13(2), 217-239.
Connor, D.R. (1998). Leading at the edge of chaos; How to create a
nimble organization. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Duck, J. (1993). Managing change: The art of balancing. Harvard
Business Review, 71(6), 109-118.
Lewis, L.K. (2006). Employee perspectives on implementation
communication as predictors of perceptions of success and
resistance. Western Journal of Communication, 70, 23-46.
Weick, K., & Sutcliffe, K.M. (2005). Organizing and the process
of sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4), 409-421.
A I
In a recent issue of the Administrative Issues Journal, Dr. Michael
Williams encourages readers to be ready to ‘seize the day’ when
presented with unexpected opportunities and the accompanying
“contexts-of-change” (Williams, 2012). “Contexts-of-change are
potentials,” writes Williams, “…unique alignments between an
opportunity and our
knowledge and skills that, if properly used, can enable us to
benefit from engaging the opportunity” (p. 3). Williams serves as
the Dean of the MBA Program at Thomas Edison State College (New
Jersey) and may have been directing his comments to aspiring
entrepreneurs and business leaders, but the advice is equally valid
for education. In particular, I think it valid for the legions of
America’s public school administrators now managing a crucible of
financial, political and social problems impacting public
schools.
Rise of the Expert
Public participation is defined “as any process that involves the
public in problem solving or decision making and uses public input
to make decisions,” (International Association of Public
Participation, 2006, p. 2). Central to pubic participation is the
idea that individuals or groups affected by a particular decision
should be given an opportunity to be engaged in making that
decision. However, when institutional leaders bypass the difficult
work of inclusionary decision making, the outcomes can include
inadequate or misinformed decisions, diminished stakeholder trust
and buy-in, increased disengagement from public affairs, rejection
of institutional policies and decisions, and refusal to provide
advocacy, monetary support and volunteer time. Accordingly,
administrators of public institutions are evalu- ating their
decision making processes and exploring strategies to authentically
and systematically engage stake- holders to better understand
shared problems and the collective well-being (Mathews, 2006). This
requires working through the complexities posed by individual
interests, perceptions and positions to find workable solutions
that garner stakeholder support (Yankelovich & Friedman,
2010).
From the early twentieth century to the present, citizen
participation in U.S. public institutions—particularly schools—has
continually decreased. The trend has been linked to the
bureaucratization of public schools and their increasing reliance
on expert knowledge for solutions to school- and education-related
problems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a
parent training program designed to increase a school district’s
capacity for public participation by parents and other citizens.
The program—known as Leadership St. Vrain—provided citizens
knowledge about school district operations and man- agement
(know-how) and relationship-building opportunities with key
decision makers (know-who). This article focuses on the experiences
and participation of the citizens from a mixed-methods study that
collected data using two original sur- vey instruments, follow-up
interviews, and archival documents. Of the five domains studied,
this paper focuses on findings for the domains of knowledge,
relationships, and action as well as the secondary ripple effect
from participants to others who did not participate in the
training.
A I
Loss of Social Capital
Insulating schools from citizen involvement strained the formerly
close bonds that existed between the citi- zens and their schools.
Fewer parents attended school-related functions, joined committees,
or sought leader- ship roles on Parent Teacher Organizations (PTO)
and school boards (Putnam, 2000). The experiences and per-
spectives parents had previously provided to complement the
findings and recommendations of professional educators were
significantly lessened. The lack of citizen involvement also
resulted in greater distrust and less buy-in for the decisions
made. According to McNeil (2002), “There has perhaps been no time
in our history when links between public education and democracy
have been as tenuous as they are right now” (p. 234). Some have
argued that this distancing between institution and citizens has
resulted in school districts losing valuable input, public support,
and commitment for new policies and change initiatives. In the
absence of collaborative problem solving, policymaking, and shared
governance, administrators grow comfortable conducting business and
implementing policies without working through complex or
controversial problems with parents and other stakeholders.
The Case for Public Participation in Schools
In the twenty-first century, leaders of U.S. public
institutions—town councils, police departments, and school
districts—are expected to manage conflicts that emerge from the
competing interests and values of citizens. Seemingly mundane
issues such as school menus, bus schedules, school boundaries, and
curriculum choices routinely evoke intense controversy between
citizens and school staff members or central office administrators.
When leaders facilitate opportunities for citizens to deliberate on
shared school-related problems, citizens de- velop a greater
understanding of the complexity of issues involved and strengthen
their skills of deliberation and judgment (Yankelovich &
Friedman, 2010). Unfortunately, officials frequently go the
opposite direction when, empowered with expert knowledge, they
develop solutions and then implement a “decide, announce and de-
fend” (Yosie & Herbst, 1998, p. 24) strategy to achieve a
preferred and predetermined outcome. Even when such an initiative
is successfully implemented, increased public distrust resulting
from an exclusive process can take years to reconcile.
Leadership St. Vrain
The study was based on a training program designed to increase the
capacity of a public school district for public participation and
stakeholder engagement. In the program, invitations were broadly
disseminated invit- ing citizens to a series of meetings to gain
information about school district operations and management (re-
ferred to as know-how), and relationship-building opportunities
with key decision makers associated with the school district
(referred to as know-who). The purpose of the study was to
determine if the training increased participant knowledge,
relationship, and action with or about school district and
education-related issues, and whether the training had a secondary
ripple effect on other individuals and groups in the school
district and community.
The training, called Leadership St. Vrain (LSV) took place in the
St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), located in northern
Colorado. SVVSD includes 53 schools with a growing enrollment
nearing 30,000 students. Participants, mostly parents, attended 10
meetings over eight months during the course of the school year,
with each meet- ing approximately 2.5 hours in length. The know-how
components of LSV were based on presentations about all aspects of
district operations, including school finance, state education
funding, state and federal school laws and policies, state and
district-level governance, school board policies, regulatory
requirements, curriculum, and information about school operations
and management. Each meeting included a know-who portion with op-
portunities for relationship building with SVVSD administrators and
board members, as well as state elected and appointed officials,
who were invited speakers.
Methodology
The mixed-methods study contained 3 phases of data collection:
Phase 1 was comprised of quantitative surveys of two citizen
populations from the LSV and PTO groups, Phase 2 was comprised of
face-to-face interviews of LSV participants and PTO members, and
Phase 3 was a review of archival materials documenting the presence
and/ or influence of activities related to LSV in the greater
community.
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Findings
The qualitative and quantitative findings indicated that a majority
of the LSV participants either agreed or strongly agreed that the
training significantly increased their knowledge of school district
operations, improved their relationships with key influencers in
the district, and increased their involvement in education- and
district- related activities. Findings also indicated that the
training had a “ripple effect” that extended beyond the trainees
and impacted education- and district-related issues in the greater
community.
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References
Farkas, S. & Johnson, J. (1993). Divided within, besieged
without: The politics of education in four American school
districts. New York, NY: Public Agenda Report to the Kettering
Foundation.
International Association of Public Participation. Student manual:
Planning for effective public participation. (2006). Thornton,
CO.
Mathews, D. (2006). Reclaiming public education by reclaiming our
democracy. Dayton, OH: Kettering Foundation.
McNeil, L. M. (2002). Private asset or public good: Education and
democracy at the crossroads (Editor’s introduction). American
Education Research Journal, 39 (2), 243-248.
Poynton, J. (2012). Organizational training and relationship
building for increasing public participation in a public school
district (Doctoral dissertation, Colorado State University).
Retrieved from http://digitool.library.colostate.edu.
Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of
American community. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
Putnam, R. D. (2001). Community-based social capital and
educational performance. In D. Ravitch and J. P. Viteritti (Eds.),
Making good citizens: Educated and civil society (pp. 58-95). New
Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Williams, M. (2012). Seizing opportunity: A special invitation
collection. Administrative Issues Journal, 2(2), 3-6.
Yankelovich, D. (2010). How to achieve sounder public judgment. In
D. Yankelovich & W. Friedman (Eds.) Toward wiser public
judgment. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
Yankelovich, D. & Friedman, W. (2010). Toward wiser public
judgment. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
Yosie, T. F., & Herbst, T. D. (1998). Using stakeholder
processes in environmental decision making: An evaluation of les-
sons learned, key issues, and future challenges. Washington, DC:
Ruder Finn Washington.
A I
Dr. Diane Taylor Tarleton State University
University – based teacher education programs are currently under
attack by the public for producing non- effective teachers. In
order to combat the perception of the “disintegration of teacher
preparation” (Baines 2010), Teacher Preparation Programs need to
demonstrate to the public the rigor of their screening
measures
and admissions criteria as a beginning to demonstrating program
rigor. In addition, the field of education also deals with the
general public attitude that teaching is not a profession and
therefore anyone can do it. In order for educa- tion to be viewed
through the same lens as other equivalent professions, University
TEP’s must act with similar stan- dards as organizations the public
deems to be professions.
This study presupposes the idea that teachers need to be proficient
in content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical skills,
and have positive attitudes towards teaching (Casey & Childs,
2007). Given this idea, screening measures and admission criteria
to teacher preparation programs should focus on these four areas,
however, current research indicates teacher preparation programs
have a variety of screening measures and admissions criteria that
focus on varying of aspects of quality teachers (Casey &
Childs, 2007, Cohen-Schotanus et al., 2006, Helm, 2006, Uno,
Blackwell, & Leonardson, 2001).
As university-based teacher education programs continue to come
under fire, it becomes increasingly important to maintain the
boundaries on who is qualified to become a teacher. Holding high
standards of admission to teacher education programs requires a
coherent plan for admitting candidates (Fallon & Ackley, 2003,
Salvatori 2001, Truell & Woolsley, 2008), which, in turn,
requires universities to evaluate current admissions requirements.
This study exam- ined Texas university-based teacher preparation
program screening measures and admission criteria, illuminating
measures and criteria that either address or neglect to address the
candidates’ content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical
skills, and attitudes towards teaching. The paper will detail the
results of the research and the analysis of data.
During presentation of research, authors will discuss with
participants trends revealed in the study and solicit input
regarding research findings.
University – based teacher education programs are currently under
attack by the general public for producing non-ef- fective
teachers. In order to combat the perception of the “disintegration
of teacher preparation” (Baines 2010), Teacher Preparation Programs
need to demonstrate to the public the rigor of their screening
measures and admissions criteria as a beginning to demonstrating
program rigor. This presentation will detail one university’s
efforts to collect and analyze admission criteria to Teacher
Education Programs in universities across the state.
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Baines, L.A. (2010). The disintegration of teacher preparation.
Educational HORIZONS, Spring, 153 – 163.
Casey, C. E., & Childs, R. A. (2007). Teacher education
admissions criteria and what beginning teachers need to know to be
successful teachers. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration
and Policy, 67, 4 – 24.
Cohen-Schotanus et al. (2006). The predictive validity of grade
point average scores in a partial lottery medical school admissions
system. Medical Education, 40, 1012 – 1019.
Fallon, M., & Ackley, B. (2003, April). Standards for admission
to teacher education programs. Paper presented at the annual
meeting of American Education Association, Chicago, IL. Retrieved
from ERIC database. (ED4777753)
Helm, C. M. (2006, Jan/Feb). Teacher dispositions as predictors of
good teaching. The Clearing House, 117 – 119. Salvatori, P. (2001).
Reliability and validity of admissions tools used to select
students for the health professions. Ad- vances in Health Sciences
Education, 6, 159 – 175.
Truell, A., & Woolsly S. (2008). Admissions Criteria and other
variables as predictors of business student graduation. College
Student Journal, 42(2), 348 – 356. Retrieved from Education
Research Complete database.
Uno, T., Blackwell, T. R., & Leonardson, G. (2001). Admissions
criteria of undergraduate teacher preparation. Education, 101(4),
315 – 321.
Vaughn, M., & Everhart, B. (2005). A process of analysis of
predictors on an assessment continuum of licensure cand- dates’
success in K-12 classrooms. Research for Educational Reform, 10(1),
3 – 15.
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Dr. Jermaine Vesey University of San Antonio at Texas
This paper examines the role of accountability in the workplace.
Accountability is defined as the need to justify or defend one’s
actions to an evaluator who has potential reward or sanction power
(Frink & Klimoski, 1998). While accountability is a growing
research conversation among scholars, more focus needs to be
dedicated to understanding how the dispo- sitional traits of
employees interact with workplace accountability mechanisms.
Specifically, this manuscript explores the interaction of
personality and the accountability environment on employee
performance. The findings from this empirical investigation
indicate that there is a significant interaction between
personality and accountability environment when it comes to
predicting employee performance.
This paper examines individual and department level accountability
and its relationship to employee behavior. Accountability is
defined as “[T]he real or perceived likelihood that actions,
decisions, or behaviors of an indi- vidual, group or organization
will be evaluated by some salient audience, and that there exists
the potential
for the individual, group, or organization to receive either
rewards or sanctions based on this expected evaluation” (Hall,
Frink, Ferris, Hochwarter, Kacmar, & Bowen, 2003, p.33). The
aforementioned definition reflects current under- standing of the
construct; specifically, it includes language which acknowledges
the social nature of accountability (i.e., interaction with
relevant others) as well as its ability to motivate and shape human
behavior.
Despite increased scholarly attention, researchers are still
unraveling accountability’s role within organizations. Over the
past decade, scholars have refined the definition of accountability
(Cummings & Anton, 1990; Frink & Klimoski, 1998; Schlenker
& Weigold, 1989), explored a select number of antecedents
(Lerner & Tetlock, 1999), and tested a number of outcome
variables (Frink & Ferris, 1999; Hall et al., 2003).
According to Katz & Kahn (1978) attributes of the person and
organizational factors influence the way in which role episode
(i.e., social cues) is interpreted by the focal person (i.e.,
receiver or agent). This is an important part of understanding how
social influence theory and accountability integrate. This idea has
been explored in several accountability research studies. Frink and
Ferris (1999) found that the interaction of personality and
accountability was significantly related to performance outcomes.
More specifically, the study showed that under accountability
conditions more conscientious individuals performed at higher
levels than less conscientious. In another study, Ferris, Dulebohn,
Frink, George-Falvy, Mitchell, & Mathews (1997), found that job
and organization characteristics interact with employee
accountability in such a way that influences employee
behavior.
Because people seek approval and status, informational cues
received from relevant others (not just those who hold the employee
accountable) may influence the decisions made. This is particularly
relevant to the preemptive self- criticism assumption. Preemptive
self-criticism states that when employees are aware that they are
held accountable, but not aware of the accountability standards,
they will engage in greater cognitive evaluation. As such,
employees tend to exert greater effort toward information searches
and engage in increased complex information processing (Chaiken,
1980; Cvetkovich, 1978; Rozelle & Baxter, 1981) prior to making
decisions or taking action. Under this condi- tion, employees are
more likely to entertain informational cues (intentional or
unintentional) from third parties. Using Tetlock’s decision
heuristics as a starting point, social influence, and
accountability can be integrated in a meaningful manner that sets
the stage for greater research and exploration.
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Accountability Environment: Proposed Model
This paper argues that the social environment (i.e., accountability
environment) can affect the accountability expe- rienced by
employees. Specifically, environments that are high in
accountability (e.g., strong accountability environ- ments) will
engender greater employee accountability. Secondly this paper
explores the role that personality, namely conscientiousness, plays
in the accountability performance relationship. While it is argued
that high accountability environments lead to greater employee
accountability, it is equally important to note that certain
personal factors can have an amplifying or dulling effect on
workplace behaviors (i.e., performance). More clearly stated, this
paper presents the notion that high accountability environments are
valuable and do, in fact lead to greater employee ac- countability,
however the relation between personality and employee
accountability will be most pronounced in a weak accountability
environments (as compared to a strong accountability
environments).
Additionally, it is argued that employee accountability is
positively correlated with effort expended.
Accountability Environment
Employee Accountability
Effort Expended
PerformancePersonality (consciousness)
Research hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: A positive relationship is expected between the
outcome variable performance and the predictor vari- ables effort
expended, employee accountability, and personality. Additionally,
employee accountability in a strong accountability environment is
expected to be higher than employee accountability in a weak
accountability environ- ment.
Hypothesis 2: The relation between personality (conscientiousness)
and employee accountability is moderated by accountability
environment, such that the correlation between personality and
employee accountability is less pro- nounced in high accountability
environments, as compared to low accountability environments.
Data and Methodology
Participants: Participants consisted of 230 students at a medium
size university located in southwest Texas; 96 were in the high
accountability group and 133 were in the low accountability group.
The majority of the participants were 21 (23%) or 22 (25%) years of
age. There was an equal distribution between men(50%) and women
(50%). Sixty-one percent of the population were seniors, 33% were
juniors. 78% of the participants are African American, 5% were
white, 2% were Asian, 4% Hispanic, and 7% were in the other
category. The majority of the participants had between 4 years
(33%) and 5 years (30%) of work experience.
Data Analysis and Results
Hypothesis 1 was supported. Multiple linear regression was used to
test hypothesis 1. Results of the high account- ability environment
suggests an overall significance of the equation, overall F value
was as follows: F(8, 82) = 10.38, p <.001 indicating that
personality, employee accountability, and effort expended were
significantly and positively related to the outcome variable
student performance – supporting the hypothesis. See Table 1, 2,
and 3 for support- ing data.
Partial support was found for hypothesis 2. In order to test
hypothesis two, the correlation between personality and employee
accountability was calculated for strong/high accountability
environments (r = .119) p = .055. Similarly, the correlation for
personality and employee accountability was calculated for low
accountability environments (r = .217)
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Conclusion
Accountability is key to the successful functioning of any
organization, as such, it is important that managers under- stand
both their employees and the accountability mechanisms with their
organization. Empirical investigation of the interaction between
dispositional traits and accountability environment would shed much
needed light on how organizations can better use accountability to
drive employee performance. If we concede that human resources
(i.e., employees) are the most valuable resources within an
organization, the natural conclusion is for organizations and
scholars to fully examine the role of accountability within the
workplace.
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36
Z test for accountability Across the Strong and Weak Accountability
Environments
Accountability Environment Employee Accountability Strong .215**
Weak .008**
z test z = 1.61**
Note. Standardized beta values are reported. *** p. <.001, ** p.
< .01, * p. < .05
Table 3
Multiple Linear Regression Results for Hypothesis 1 – High
Accountability Environment
Step and Variable Step 1 Step 2 Step 1: Age 0.297 0.165 Gender
-0.185 -0.016 College Status -0.038 -0.031 Work Experience -0.274
-0.077 Race 0.099 0.116 Step 2: Effort Expended .285** Employee
Accountability .215* Personality .346*** R2 0.136 0.503 R2
0.367
Note. Standardized beta values are reported. *** p. <.001, ** p.
< .01, * p. < .05
Table 1
Multiple Linear Regression Results for Hypothesis 1 – Low
Accountability Environment
Step and Variable Step 1 Step 2 Step 1: Age 0.193 0.180 Gender
-0.07 -0.119 College Status 0.076 -0.014 Work Experience -0.367
-0.281 Race 0.005 0.007 Step 2: Effort Expended .282** Employee
Accountability -0.008 Personality .492*** R2 0.046 0.454 R2
0.408
Note. Standardized beta values are reported. *** p. <.001, ** p.
< .01, * p. < .05
Table 2
Difference Correlations of Personality and Accountability Across
Strong and Weak Accountability Environments
Accountability Environment Employee Accountability Strong
Personality .199* Weak Personality 0.217
z test z = .14 Note. *** p. <.001, ** p. < .01, * p. <
.05
Table 4
Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 Accountability 44.79 7.39 1 2
Personality 55.41 9.42 .22** 1 3 Effort 53.34 10.97 .45** .39** 1 4
Age 23.01 3.99 0.01 -0.01 0.04 1 5 Gender - - -0.04 -0.04 -0.03
-0.02 1 6 College status 3.65 0.54 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.12 0.05 1 7
Work experience 5.67 3.44 -0.07 -0.09 -0.12 .59** 0.02 0.04 1 8
Race - - -0.12 -0.01 -0.08 0.1 -0.03 -0.02 0.08 1 9 Performance -
0.785 .32** .57** .52** 0.01 0.06 0.07 -0.23 0.01 1
N = 230. The table above presents all of the inter-correlations
between this study’s variables. These correlations do not strongly
indicate problems of multicollinearity because none exceeds the .60
benchmark noted by Cohen, Cohen, West and Aiken (2003).
Table 5
Correlation Matrix
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Difference Correlations of Personality and Accountability Across
Strong and Weak Accountability Environments
Accountability Environment Employee Accountability Strong
Personality .199* Weak Personality 0.217
z test z = .14 Note. *** p. <.001, ** p. < .01, * p. <
.05
Table 4
Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 Accountability 44.79 7.39 1 2
Personality 55.41 9.42 .22** 1 3 Effort 53.34 10.97 .45** .39** 1 4
Age 23.01 3.99 0.01 -0.01 0.04 1 5 Gender - - -0.04 -0.04 -0.03
-0.02 1 6 College status 3.65 0.54 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.12 0.05 1 7
Work experience 5.67 3.44 -0.07 -0.09 -0.12 .59** 0.02 0.04 1 8
Race - - -0.12 -0.01 -0.08 0.1 -0.03 -0.02 0.08 1 9 Performance -
0.785 .32** .57** .52** 0.01 0.06 0.07 -0.23 0.01 1
N = 230. The table above presents all of the inter-correlations
between this study’s variables. These correlations do not strongly
indicate problems of multicollinearity because none exceeds the .60
benchmark noted by Cohen, Cohen, West and Aiken (2003).
Table 5
Correlation Matrix
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Kacmar, C. J., & Bowen, M. G. (2003). Accountability in human
re- source management. In C. A. Schriesheim & L. L. Neider
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The Tale of Two College Experiences: A Cluster Analysis of Obama’s
Argument for Higher Education Reform
Dr. Justin Walton Cameron University
During the third week of August 2013, President Barack Obama
presented two televised policy speeches ad- vancing his case for
higher education reform. Underscoring themes of institutional
accountability, efficiency, and affordability, Obama sketched out a
three point agenda aimed at making higher education a “better
bar-
gain” for America’s struggling middle class (Lewin, 2013;
Mauriello, 2013; McMinn, 2013). In this brief essay, I examine the
rhetorical processes President Obama used to justify his argument
for higher education reform through a cluster analysis of his
Henninger High School address. The paper seeks to explore the
general implications of word choice/ style and language arrangement
in political advocacy through a critical reading of his
argument.
Context of Speech
On August 22, 2013, President Obama delivered two policy
speeches—one at the University of Buffalo in Am- herst and a second
at Henninger High School in Syracuse—outlining new initiatives
directed at curtailing the rising costs of higher education. These
speeches were part of a two day bus tour through upstate New York
and Pennsyl- vania aimed at promoting his education plan to the
nation (Lewin, 2013; UPI, 2013). In an interview conducted on
August 23, 2013 on CNN’s morning program, New Day, Obama synopsized
his three point blueprint to anchor Chris Cuomo:
Number one, we want to create a new system of ratings for colleges
so that parents and students know what schools graduate kids on
time, are a good value for the money, lead to good jobs…. The
second thing we want to do is work with colleges who are doing some
really interesting things to figure out, how do you reduce
costs?....And then the third thing we want to do is to build on
something we’ve already done, which is to try to help students
manage their debt (Obama, 2013b).
During the third week of August 2013, President Barack Obama
presented two policy speeches furthering his rationale for higher
education reform. Stressing themes of institutional accountability,
efficiency, and affordability, Obama sketched out a three point
agenda aimed at making higher education a “better bargain” for
America’s struggling middle class. In this brief essay, I examine
the rhetorical processes President Obama used to justify his
argument for higher education reform through a cluster analysis of
his Henninger High School address. The paper seeks to explore