title: Book reviews: "Godwinian Moments: From the enlightenment to romanticism" and "The Letters of William Godwin: Volume 1: 1778-1797"

authors: Weston, Rowland

abstract: This article reviews the books: “Godwinian Moments: from the Enlightenment to Romanticism” edited by Robert Maniquis & Victoria Myers and  “The Letters of William Godwin. Volume 1: 1778-1797” edited by Pamela Clemit.

text: Book reviews: "Godwinian Moments: From the enlightenment to romanticism" and "The Letters of William Godwin: Volume 1: 1778-1797" This article reviews the books: “Godwinian Moments: from the Enlightenment to Romanticism” edited by Robert Maniquis & Victoria Myers and  “The Letters of William Godwin. Volume 1: 1778-1797” edited by Pamela Clemit.

year: 2012

title: Developing a Corporate Governance Regime for State Owned Enterprises in Papua New Guinea

authors: Matui, Mange John

subjects: Corporate Governance

abstract: Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a developing economy and the Government controls three quarters of it. Control, in a way, provides the Government with power to give effect to the aspirations of the people enshrined in the National Goals and Directive Principles. State Owned Enterprise (SOE) is one of the means that the Government utilizes to participate in the economy, particularly delivering goods and services to the people. SOEs are established as separate legal entities and intended to be independent of the government so that they can be efficient and/or profitable, replicating the private sector, in their role in production of goods and delivery of services. There is a principal and agent relationship in an SOE. On the one hand the government is a shareholder with multiple interests, including public interest considerations and on the other hand there is the management that is responsible for strategic decisions and operations, creating a principal and agent relationship. The important question in this relationship is to what extent the government, as principal, should be involved in the business and affairs of SOEs. The use of SOEs by government creates controversies. Since Independence in 1975, SOEs have been increasingly facing problems in corporate governance. Some of the problems identified in PNG include situations where procedures are not complied with in appointing and terminating directors and chief executive officers (CEOs), most of which end up in court; responsible ministers, directors or CEOs involved in self-interested activities; and appointment of political associates and family members as directors and managers who do not have skills, knowledge or experience. These are issues in corporate governance; however they are not looked at from that perspective because corporate governance is a new concept that has never been substantively discussed in PNG. Thus, this study examines and records the law and practice of corporate governance, and identifies deficiencies and ways in which the corporate governance regime in SOEs can be improved. Given the fact that corporate governance is a new phenomenon in PNG, the thesis made use of case study methodology. There were five SOEs selected for case studies. Two are under the category of statutory corporation and three under state company. These SOEs were selected for purposes of comparing and contrasting under their individual category and between the two categories. The data was collected through documents and semi – structured interviews. The participants in the interviews were senior managers, former and current directors and CEOs, and consumers of SOEs. The research found many flaws of corporate governance in SOEs. These flaws were the consequence of lack of understanding and appreciation of corporate governance. Further, they were the consequence of inconsistencies between different laws, between laws and the practice, and deficiencies in the laws. The result of the research suggests first that the Government controls SOEs and is involved in both operational and policy matters of SOEs. Second, boards of SOEs are ineffective. Nearly all directors are on a part-time basis and lack understanding of the business and affairs of SOEs and their own roles and responsibilities. Third, the role of public institutions such as Ombudsman Commission and Public Accounts Committee is unclear among the participants interviewed. Consequently, the Government that controls SOEs is not held to account for its conduct in relation to them. Finally, the majority of consumers from each SOEs interviewed, stated that the quality and efficiency of services in SOEs are poor. This can partly be related to lack of good corporate governance.

text: Developing a Corporate Governance Regime for State Owned Enterprises in Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a developing economy and the Government controls three quarters of it. Control, in a way, provides the Government with power to give effect to the aspirations of the people enshrined in the National Goals and Directive Principles. State Owned Enterprise (SOE) is one of the means that the Government utilizes to participate in the economy, particularly delivering goods and services to the people. SOEs are established as separate legal entities and intended to be independent of the government so that they can be efficient and/or profitable, replicating the private sector, in their role in production of goods and delivery of services. There is a principal and agent relationship in an SOE. On the one hand the government is a shareholder with multiple interests, including public interest considerations and on the other hand there is the management that is responsible for strategic decisions and operations, creating a principal and agent relationship. The important question in this relationship is to what extent the government, as principal, should be involved in the business and affairs of SOEs. The use of SOEs by government creates controversies. Since Independence in 1975, SOEs have been increasingly facing problems in corporate governance. Some of the problems identified in PNG include situations where procedures are not complied with in appointing and terminating directors and chief executive officers (CEOs), most of which end up in court; responsible ministers, directors or CEOs involved in self-interested activities; and appointment of political associates and family members as directors and managers who do not have skills, knowledge or experience. These are issues in corporate governance; however they are not looked at from that perspective because corporate governance is a new concept that has never been substantively discussed in PNG. Thus, this study examines and records the law and practice of corporate governance, and identifies deficiencies and ways in which the corporate governance regime in SOEs can be improved. Given the fact that corporate governance is a new phenomenon in PNG, the thesis made use of case study methodology. There were five SOEs selected for case studies. Two are under the category of statutory corporation and three under state company. These SOEs were selected for purposes of comparing and contrasting under their individual category and between the two categories. The data was collected through documents and semi – structured interviews. The participants in the interviews were senior managers, former and current directors and CEOs, and consumers of SOEs. The research found many flaws of corporate governance in SOEs. These flaws were the consequence of lack of understanding and appreciation of corporate governance. Further, they were the consequence of inconsistencies between different laws, between laws and the practice, and deficiencies in the laws. The result of the research suggests first that the Government controls SOEs and is involved in both operational and policy matters of SOEs. Second, boards of SOEs are ineffective. Nearly all directors are on a part-time basis and lack understanding of the business and affairs of SOEs and their own roles and responsibilities. Third, the role of public institutions such as Ombudsman Commission and Public Accounts Committee is unclear among the participants interviewed. Consequently, the Government that controls SOEs is not held to account for its conduct in relation to them. Finally, the majority of consumers from each SOEs interviewed, stated that the quality and efficiency of services in SOEs are poor. This can partly be related to lack of good corporate governance.

year: 2010

title: Fanning the divine spark: Gaining understandings of micro-interactions in New Zealand classrooms

authors: Eley, Elizabeth Martha Ann

subjects: micro-interactions

abstract: New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi was signed by representatives of Iwi Māori (Indigenous tribal groups) and the British Crown.  Inherent in the heritages of both signatory groups is the ontological positioning that children are born of greatness; carriers of the divine spark from Tama-nui-te-rā (the central sun) and created in the image of God.  Almost all New Zealand children attend school.  For some, their ongoing classroom experiences with educators fans their divine spark and works towards the realisation of their innate potential.  For others, schooling is not a positive experience and their divine spark may be neither recognised nor celebrated.  

This research explores the relationships and pedagogical practices that underpin the classroom micro-interactions experienced by children.  Children’s schooling experience is made up of small interactions in classrooms that are situated in the social, political and legal contexts of schooling.  Therefore, this research applies both a centripetal and a centrifugal examination of the macro and micro contexts of classroom interactions.  

In examining the macro-context, ontological views of the child and the theoretical frameworks that guide pedagogy are considered.  The Education Acts governing New Zealand schooling have successively contained an ontological contradiction that enforces both a factory model as the preferred means of schooling for New Zealand and a requirement to honour the Treaty of Waitangi, including the worldviews of both signatories.  I conclude that educators within the compulsory schooling sector are not provided with specific guidance on how to navigate these contradictory worldviews.  Neither ontological views of how children are perceived within the system, nor theoretical frameworks that could and should inform views of knowledge and how learning occurs, are made explicit for educators.  

At the micro-context level, relationships and pedagogical practices are explored through case studies in three different New Zealand classrooms.  In each case, from video-recordings of classroom interactions, critical incidents were extracted and used to support interviews with participating teachers, students, parents and members of the wider school community.  Employing culturally responsive research methodologies, the interactions with participants were relational and dialogic.  The research found that classroom micro-interactions are pervasive and complex.  All participants, students, teachers and whānau, draw from the knowledge, understandings and positionings of the individual’s own cultural toolkits in classroom interactions.  Their cultural toolkits contain a range of factors to support learning, all of which were necessary and interdependent.  

The thesis calls for all children to receive an education that fans their inherent divine spark.  While this experience is not yet the case for all, there is opportunity in the rhetoric and structures already within New Zealand’s education system for this to occur.  Some schools and communities have begun to successfully challenge and address the prevailing theoretical and pedagogical status quo.  Therefore, there is reason for radical hope for a system-wide fanning of the divine spark in every child.

text: Fanning the divine spark: Gaining understandings of micro-interactions in New Zealand classrooms New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi was signed by representatives of Iwi Māori (Indigenous tribal groups) and the British Crown.  Inherent in the heritages of both signatory groups is the ontological positioning that children are born of greatness; carriers of the divine spark from Tama-nui-te-rā (the central sun) and created in the image of God.  Almost all New Zealand children attend school.  For some, their ongoing classroom experiences with educators fans their divine spark and works towards the realisation of their innate potential.  For others, schooling is not a positive experience and their divine spark may be neither recognised nor celebrated.  

This research explores the relationships and pedagogical practices that underpin the classroom micro-interactions experienced by children.  Children’s schooling experience is made up of small interactions in classrooms that are situated in the social, political and legal contexts of schooling.  Therefore, this research applies both a centripetal and a centrifugal examination of the macro and micro contexts of classroom interactions.  

In examining the macro-context, ontological views of the child and the theoretical frameworks that guide pedagogy are considered.  The Education Acts governing New Zealand schooling have successively contained an ontological contradiction that enforces both a factory model as the preferred means of schooling for New Zealand and a requirement to honour the Treaty of Waitangi, including the worldviews of both signatories.  I conclude that educators within the compulsory schooling sector are not provided with specific guidance on how to navigate these contradictory worldviews.  Neither ontological views of how children are perceived within the system, nor theoretical frameworks that could and should inform views of knowledge and how learning occurs, are made explicit for educators.  

At the micro-context level, relationships and pedagogical practices are explored through case studies in three different New Zealand classrooms.  In each case, from video-recordings of classroom interactions, critical incidents were extracted and used to support interviews with participating teachers, students, parents and members of the wider school community.  Employing culturally responsive research methodologies, the interactions with participants were relational and dialogic.  The research found that classroom micro-interactions are pervasive and complex.  All participants, students, teachers and whānau, draw from the knowledge, understandings and positionings of the individual’s own cultural toolkits in classroom interactions.  Their cultural toolkits contain a range of factors to support learning, all of which were necessary and interdependent.  

The thesis calls for all children to receive an education that fans their inherent divine spark.  While this experience is not yet the case for all, there is opportunity in the rhetoric and structures already within New Zealand’s education system for this to occur.  Some schools and communities have begun to successfully challenge and address the prevailing theoretical and pedagogical status quo.  Therefore, there is reason for radical hope for a system-wide fanning of the divine spark in every child.

year: 2020