title: NATO's strategic communication as international public relations: The PR practitioner and the challenge of culture in the case of Kosovo

authors: Schoenberger-Orgad, Michèle Anne

subjects: circuit of culture

abstract: The role of supranational organizations is changing as they are becoming more involved in, responding to, and finding solutions for, many different events occurring in our world. This article discusses one such organization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its public relations strategies during its military campaign in Kosovo in 1999. The circuit of culture model provides the basis for a discussion of the public relations practitioner as cultural intermediary, and aligns the model with the method of critical discourse analysis to examine the public relations strategies used by NATO during this campaign. The article contends that the charismatic skill of the NATO spokesperson played an important role in establishing the organization as a humanitarian military powerhouse through discursive positioning of the organization acting in the interests of the international community. By doing so and, at the same time, NATO legitimized its own continuation as a viable supranational organization for the 21st century.

text: NATO's strategic communication as international public relations: The PR practitioner and the challenge of culture in the case of Kosovo The role of supranational organizations is changing as they are becoming more involved in, responding to, and finding solutions for, many different events occurring in our world. This article discusses one such organization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its public relations strategies during its military campaign in Kosovo in 1999. The circuit of culture model provides the basis for a discussion of the public relations practitioner as cultural intermediary, and aligns the model with the method of critical discourse analysis to examine the public relations strategies used by NATO during this campaign. The article contends that the charismatic skill of the NATO spokesperson played an important role in establishing the organization as a humanitarian military powerhouse through discursive positioning of the organization acting in the interests of the international community. By doing so and, at the same time, NATO legitimized its own continuation as a viable supranational organization for the 21st century.

year: 2011

title: The Relevance of the “h-” and “g-” Index to Economics in the Context of A Nation-Wide Research Evaluation Scheme: The New Zealand Case

authors: Anderson, David L.

subjects: “h-” and “g-”indexes

abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance of the citation-based “h-” and “g-” indexes as a means for measuring research output in economics. This study is unique in that it is the first to utilise the “h-” and “g-”indexes in the context of a time-limited evaluation period and to provide comprehensive coverage of all academic economists in all university-based economics departments within a nation state. For illustration purposes, we have selected the New Zealand's Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) as our evaluation scheme. To provide a frame of reference for “h-” and “g-”index-output measures, we have also estimated research output using a number of journal-based weighting schemes. In general, our findings suggest that “h-” and “g-”index scores are strongly associated with low-powered journal ranking schemes and weakly associated with high powered journal weighting schemes. More specifically, we found the “h-” and “g-”indexes to suffer from a lack of differentiation: for example, 52 per cent of all participants received a score of zero under both measures, and 92 and 89 per cent received scores of two or less under “h-” and “g-” respectively. Overall, our findings suggest that “h-” and “g-”indexes should not be incorporated into a PBRF-like framework.

text: The Relevance of the “h-” and “g-” Index to Economics in the Context of A Nation-Wide Research Evaluation Scheme: The New Zealand Case The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance of the citation-based “h-” and “g-” indexes as a means for measuring research output in economics. This study is unique in that it is the first to utilise the “h-” and “g-”indexes in the context of a time-limited evaluation period and to provide comprehensive coverage of all academic economists in all university-based economics departments within a nation state. For illustration purposes, we have selected the New Zealand's Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) as our evaluation scheme. To provide a frame of reference for “h-” and “g-”index-output measures, we have also estimated research output using a number of journal-based weighting schemes. In general, our findings suggest that “h-” and “g-”index scores are strongly associated with low-powered journal ranking schemes and weakly associated with high powered journal weighting schemes. More specifically, we found the “h-” and “g-”indexes to suffer from a lack of differentiation: for example, 52 per cent of all participants received a score of zero under both measures, and 92 and 89 per cent received scores of two or less under “h-” and “g-” respectively. Overall, our findings suggest that “h-” and “g-”indexes should not be incorporated into a PBRF-like framework.

year: 2013

title: Equity, inclusivity and shared humanity:  Addressing intergenerational failure of schooling for Māori

authors: Egan, Margaret

subjects: Equity of Māori learners

abstract: Despite decades of education reform aimed at Māori students succeeding in schooling, the New Zealand education system’s failure to engage effectively with Māori is persistent with Māori underachievement remaining chronic and seemingly intractable.
This thesis examines the interface between leadership and professional learning in a single sex secondary school during their engagement with Te Kotahitanga (Unity of Purpose). The school’s leaders were focused on closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori students and asserted that if students remained engaged at school into the senior year levels, they were more likely to “achieve success”. Te Kotahitanga’s initial focus on teaching and learning in the junior years 9 and 10 presented a potential solution. As this school began to engage with Te Kotahitanga, Ka Hikitia (to step up), a strategy aimed at Māori students achieving educational success as Māori, was launched. Thus, a mandate for school reform focused on Māori potential supported the professional learning provided by Te Kotahitanga.
The findings, presented as quantitative and qualitative evidence, show that school leaders focused on their teachers implementing a more culturally responsive and relational pedagogy at Years 9 and 10 in order to close the achievement gap between Māori and their non-Māori peers. They believed that this would prepare Māori students for the more formal and traditional learning experience required in the senior school, aimed at getting through important national qualifications. While teachers and leaders who were fully engaged in Te Kotahitanga transformed the classroom experiences for their junior and senior learners, not all teachers and leaders engaged, therefore not all learners experienced the change in pedagogy throughout their time at this school. The findings also uncover layers of bias within the school and its community which prevented Māori families from contributing to their children’s education on their own terms. The two key foci, closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori and retaining Māori students into the senior school obfuscated a focus on shared humanity, equity, belonging and better engagement for all.
While this research took place in New Zealand with Māori students these findings can contribute to those involved with school reform especially those in other colonised countries where indigenous students and their families face similar issues.

text: Equity, inclusivity and shared humanity:  Addressing intergenerational failure of schooling for Māori Despite decades of education reform aimed at Māori students succeeding in schooling, the New Zealand education system’s failure to engage effectively with Māori is persistent with Māori underachievement remaining chronic and seemingly intractable.
This thesis examines the interface between leadership and professional learning in a single sex secondary school during their engagement with Te Kotahitanga (Unity of Purpose). The school’s leaders were focused on closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori students and asserted that if students remained engaged at school into the senior year levels, they were more likely to “achieve success”. Te Kotahitanga’s initial focus on teaching and learning in the junior years 9 and 10 presented a potential solution. As this school began to engage with Te Kotahitanga, Ka Hikitia (to step up), a strategy aimed at Māori students achieving educational success as Māori, was launched. Thus, a mandate for school reform focused on Māori potential supported the professional learning provided by Te Kotahitanga.
The findings, presented as quantitative and qualitative evidence, show that school leaders focused on their teachers implementing a more culturally responsive and relational pedagogy at Years 9 and 10 in order to close the achievement gap between Māori and their non-Māori peers. They believed that this would prepare Māori students for the more formal and traditional learning experience required in the senior school, aimed at getting through important national qualifications. While teachers and leaders who were fully engaged in Te Kotahitanga transformed the classroom experiences for their junior and senior learners, not all teachers and leaders engaged, therefore not all learners experienced the change in pedagogy throughout their time at this school. The findings also uncover layers of bias within the school and its community which prevented Māori families from contributing to their children’s education on their own terms. The two key foci, closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori and retaining Māori students into the senior school obfuscated a focus on shared humanity, equity, belonging and better engagement for all.
While this research took place in New Zealand with Māori students these findings can contribute to those involved with school reform especially those in other colonised countries where indigenous students and their families face similar issues.

year: 2022