title: The Educational Practice of Ethical Leaders: A Case Study of Chilean School Leaders

authors: Cuellar, Carolina

subjects: Ethical leadership

abstract: It is widely acknowledged that ethical leadership is of great importance to schools. Behaving ethically is indeed an imperative for school leaders. Being an ethical educational leader is something different. It is not only about behaving according to standards but rather involves an ethical way of being that engages the leader holistically in their attempt to do the right thing for students. The purpose of this constructivist study was to explore the educational praxis of ethical school leaders in Chile. A multiple case study design was employed to gain insight into the feelings, beliefs and thoughts of ethical school leaders regarding their educational experiences. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight identified ethical school leaders. The data focused on the commonalities and uniqueness within and across participants. Six main themes about the nature of ethical leadership were identified. They included: holding personal and professional ethics as inseparable, ‘consistently’ inspiring practice, valuing others, sustaining a humane view of education, being sensitive to the complex local context, and leading as serving. These themes reflect the experience of being ethical as a school leader in Chile. It has been found that ethical leadership influences the relational context of leaders’ practice. Ethical leaders in education have been shown to influence educational contexts from a moral imperative that is grounded in a critical and humanistic concern that deeply affirms ‘others’ as a common good, rather than through any instrumental or technical change that they may initiate. The findings provide key elements of ethical leadership within the Chilean school context that can influence current and future school leaders’ practices and professional development. Moreover, becoming and being an ethical leader is indeed an experiential journey that integrates the leader’s personal and professional way of being. This research calls for priority to be given to the encouragement and development of ethical leadership.

text: The Educational Practice of Ethical Leaders: A Case Study of Chilean School Leaders It is widely acknowledged that ethical leadership is of great importance to schools. Behaving ethically is indeed an imperative for school leaders. Being an ethical educational leader is something different. It is not only about behaving according to standards but rather involves an ethical way of being that engages the leader holistically in their attempt to do the right thing for students. The purpose of this constructivist study was to explore the educational praxis of ethical school leaders in Chile. A multiple case study design was employed to gain insight into the feelings, beliefs and thoughts of ethical school leaders regarding their educational experiences. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight identified ethical school leaders. The data focused on the commonalities and uniqueness within and across participants. Six main themes about the nature of ethical leadership were identified. They included: holding personal and professional ethics as inseparable, ‘consistently’ inspiring practice, valuing others, sustaining a humane view of education, being sensitive to the complex local context, and leading as serving. These themes reflect the experience of being ethical as a school leader in Chile. It has been found that ethical leadership influences the relational context of leaders’ practice. Ethical leaders in education have been shown to influence educational contexts from a moral imperative that is grounded in a critical and humanistic concern that deeply affirms ‘others’ as a common good, rather than through any instrumental or technical change that they may initiate. The findings provide key elements of ethical leadership within the Chilean school context that can influence current and future school leaders’ practices and professional development. Moreover, becoming and being an ethical leader is indeed an experiential journey that integrates the leader’s personal and professional way of being. This research calls for priority to be given to the encouragement and development of ethical leadership.

year: 2010

title: Multi-decadal variations in Southern Hemisphere atmospheric ¹⁴C: Evidence against a Southern Ocean sink at the end of the Little Ice Age CO₂ anomaly.

authors: Turney, Chris S.M.

abstract: Northern Hemisphere-wide cooling during the Little Ice Age (LIA; CE 1650-1775) is associated with a ~5 ppmv decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Changes in terrestrial and ocean carbon reservoirs have been postulated as possible drivers of this relatively large shift in atmospheric CO₂, potentially providing insights into the mechanisms and sensitivity of the global carbon cycle. Here we report decadally-resolved radiocarbon (¹⁴C) levels in a network of tree rings series spanning CE 1700-1950 located along the northern boundary of, and within, the Southern Ocean. We observe regional dilutions in atmospheric radiocarbon (relative to the Northern Hemisphere) associated with upwelling of ¹⁴CO₂–depleted abyssal waters. We find the inter-hemispheric ¹⁴C offset approaches zero during increasing global atmospheric CO₂ at the end of the LIA, with reduced ventilation in the Southern Ocean and a Northern Hemisphere source of old carbon (most probably originating from deep Arctic peat layers). The coincidence of the atmospheric CO₂ increase and reduction in the inter-hemispheric ¹⁴C offset imply a common climate control. Possible mechanisms of synchronous change in the high latitudes of both hemispheres are discussed.

text: Multi-decadal variations in Southern Hemisphere atmospheric ¹⁴C: Evidence against a Southern Ocean sink at the end of the Little Ice Age CO₂ anomaly. Northern Hemisphere-wide cooling during the Little Ice Age (LIA; CE 1650-1775) is associated with a ~5 ppmv decrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide. Changes in terrestrial and ocean carbon reservoirs have been postulated as possible drivers of this relatively large shift in atmospheric CO₂, potentially providing insights into the mechanisms and sensitivity of the global carbon cycle. Here we report decadally-resolved radiocarbon (¹⁴C) levels in a network of tree rings series spanning CE 1700-1950 located along the northern boundary of, and within, the Southern Ocean. We observe regional dilutions in atmospheric radiocarbon (relative to the Northern Hemisphere) associated with upwelling of ¹⁴CO₂–depleted abyssal waters. We find the inter-hemispheric ¹⁴C offset approaches zero during increasing global atmospheric CO₂ at the end of the LIA, with reduced ventilation in the Southern Ocean and a Northern Hemisphere source of old carbon (most probably originating from deep Arctic peat layers). The coincidence of the atmospheric CO₂ increase and reduction in the inter-hemispheric ¹⁴C offset imply a common climate control. Possible mechanisms of synchronous change in the high latitudes of both hemispheres are discussed.

year: 2016

title: Genre and authentic written discourse in Maori and their relevance to the education of students in upper secondary and tertiary Maori-medium educational settings

authors: Houia-Roberts, Ngaere

subjects: Māori medium education

abstract: I report here on part of a research project whose primary aim was to investigate a range of authentic Māori texts in terms of the search for commonly occurring organisational and cognitive patterns, and to consider the pedagogic implications of this investigation in terms of the teaching of writing skills in Māori-medium educational settings. An examination of a range of text segments written by educated and highly proficient users of Māori suggests that, in terms of textual relationships, there are characteristic patterns of organisation that characterise the three genres that appear to be most commonly required of student writers in Māori-medium upper secondary and tertiary educational contexts, that is, the genres of arguing, explaining and describing. Another part of the project – an examination of whole texts in terms of overall, structuring – is reported in the next issue of this journal.

text: Genre and authentic written discourse in Maori and their relevance to the education of students in upper secondary and tertiary Maori-medium educational settings I report here on part of a research project whose primary aim was to investigate a range of authentic Māori texts in terms of the search for commonly occurring organisational and cognitive patterns, and to consider the pedagogic implications of this investigation in terms of the teaching of writing skills in Māori-medium educational settings. An examination of a range of text segments written by educated and highly proficient users of Māori suggests that, in terms of textual relationships, there are characteristic patterns of organisation that characterise the three genres that appear to be most commonly required of student writers in Māori-medium upper secondary and tertiary educational contexts, that is, the genres of arguing, explaining and describing. Another part of the project – an examination of whole texts in terms of overall, structuring – is reported in the next issue of this journal.

year: 2003-09