In an increasingly integrated global business arena, local singularities still play a crucial role in many aspects. Business ethics is affected by this duality in profound ways. Legislators have tried to provide uniform ethical guidelines for transnational companies. In this effort to streamline the ethical management of the multinational corporation, regulation could be thought of as an attempt to reduce the role of the leader. We argue that this solution mistakenly presumes a high degree of uniformity across countries. In this paper, we consider how different legal traditions can be used to explain the divergences in implementation and configuration of ethics hotlines. We find that although national regulators established a legal standard (Sarbanes Oxley Act) for global companies, significant differences exist across legal traditions, which sometimes go even deeper, to region and country specific nuances. Legal regulation may never substitute a leader in ethical matters. / Incluso en un mundo empresarial cada vez más globalizado, las singularidades locales aún desempeñan un papel crucial en muchos aspectos; por lo tanto, la ética empresarial se ve afectada por esta dualidad. El legislador ha intentado crearpautas uniformes para compañías de carácter internacional y en el marco de este esfuerzo por uniformizar la gestión ética de las empresas multinacionales, la regulación puede verse como un intento de reducir el papel del líder. Este trabajo plantea que esta solución presupone de manera errónea un alto grado de uniformidad entre países puesto que las diversas tradiciones legales pueden usarse para explicar las diferencias en implementación y configuración de las líneas éticas. A pesar de la instauración de un sistema legal al respecto (la Ley Sarbanes-Oxley) para las compañías transnacionales, aún existen diferencias importantes entre las distintas tradiciones legales, que a veces llegan a manifestarse en variaciones específicas a la región o el país. Es por esto que quizá la regulación legal no pueda llegar a sustituir al líder en temas de naturaleza ética.

El presente trabajo hace una revisión de conceptos sobre el género, el juego infantil y el liderazgo del docente, además de su relación en la construcción de género en educación inicial. En este trabajo, destacamos los fundamentos teóricos con relación al género, este es un objeto de estudio que permite comprender cómo se construyen roles de género y desarrollar prácticas educativas que sean equitativas. De igual modo, revisamos investigaciones sobre el juego, ya que numerosas investigaciones mencionan que el valor del juego incide en el desarrollo integral del niño y forma parte de las discusiones actuales en torno a la calidad educativa infantil. Además, el modo como lo conciben en las aulas tiene incidencia en la construcción de género, que muchas veces promueve inequidad entre los niños y las niñas. Su importancia radica en que es una herramienta pedagógica que impulsa la construcción de equidad. Por último, se profundizó en la conceptualización del liderazgo pedagógico, con el fin de identificar la importancia de este concepto en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes y en la mejora educativa. / This paper reviews concepts about gender, child play and teacher leadership, as well as their relationship in the construction of gender in initial education. In this work, we highlight the theoretical foundations in relation to gender, this is an object of study that allows to understand how gender roles are constructed and develop educational practices that are equitable. Similarly, we review research on play, as numerous studies mention that the value of play affects the integral development of the child and is part of current discussions about the quality of education for children. In addition, the way they conceive it in the classroom has an impact on the construction of gender, which often promotes inequality between boys and girls. Its importance lies in the fact that it is a pedagogical tool that promotes the construction of equity. Finally, the conceptualization of pedagogical leadership was deepened to identify the importance of this concept in student learning and educational improvement. / Trabajo de investigación

Although personality, leadership, and critical thinking have been widely studied over the years, as well as the relationships between two of those variables, few studies have addressed the relationship between all three variables. This study was aimed at determining the mediating effect of critical thinking on the relationship between personality and leadership by conducting a correlational study to test four hypotheses. The first hypothesis was related to personality and leadership style, the second was related to personality and critical thinking, the third was related to critical thinking and leadership style, and the fourth placed critical thinking as a mediator between personality and leadership style. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied, using SmartPLS 3 software, on a sample of 139 middle managers from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The subjects completed standardized assessments to determine personality (NEO-PI test), leadership style (MLQ test), and critical thinking (WGCTA test). Only the hypotheses that related personality and transformational leadership, personality and passive-avoidant leadership, and personality and critical thinking, were accepted. The study determined that there is no mediation effect of critical thinking on the relationship between personality and any of the leadership styles, thus calling into question the generalized idea that leaders should be critical thinkers. This study reveals the relevant academic and practical implications, and provides recommendations for practice and future research involving the relationships between personality, leadership, and critical thinking. / Aunque la personalidad, el liderazgo y el pensamiento crítico se han estudiado ampliamente a lo largo de los años, así como las relaciones entre pares de esas variables, pocos estudios han abordado la relación entre las tres variables. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo determinar el efecto mediador del pensamiento crítico sobre la relación entre personalidad y liderazgo mediante la realización de un estudio correlacional para probar cuatro hipótesis. La primera hipótesis se relacionó con la personalidad y el estilo de liderazgo, la segunda se relacionó con la personalidad y el pensamiento crítico, la tercera se relacionó con el pensamiento crítico y el estilo de liderazgo y la cuarta situó el pensamiento crítico como mediador entre la personalidad y el estilo de liderazgo. Se aplicó el Modelo de Ecuación Estructural de Mínimos Cuadrados Parciales (PLS-SEM), utilizando el software SmartPLS 3, en una muestra de 139 mandos intermedios de Colombia, Ecuador y Perú. Los sujetos completaron evaluaciones estandarizadas para determinar personalidad (prueba NEO-PI), estilo de liderazgo (prueba MLQ) y pensamiento crítico (prueba WGCTA). Solo se aceptaron las hipótesis que relacionaron la personalidad y el liderazgo transformacional, la personalidad y el liderazgo pasivo-evitativo, y la personalidad y el pensamiento crítico. El estudio determinó que no existe un efecto mediador del pensamiento crítico en la relación entre la personalidad y ninguno de los estilos de liderazgo, cuestionando así la idea generalizada de que los líderes deben ser pensadores críticos. Este estudio revela las implicaciones académicas y prácticas relevantes, y proporciona recomendaciones para la práctica y la investigación futura que involucran las relaciones entre personalidad, liderazgo y pensamiento crítico.

El estudio se centró en la validación de un modelo que examina el efecto del capital psicológico en el estrés laboral, la mediación del liderazgo auténtico y el efecto moderador del género en esta relación. El estudio utilizó un análisis de ecuaciones estructurales para validar las hipótesis de la investigación en una muestra de empresas de diferentes sectores. Los resultados confirman que el capital psicológico tiene un impacto negativo en el estrés laboral, así como una relación positiva con el liderazgo auténtico, y este último tiene un impacto negativo en el estrés laboral. También se confirma el efecto mediador del liderazgo auténtico en la relación entre el capital psicológico y el estrés laboral. Además, la moderación por género muestra que el impacto del capital psicológico en la reducción del estrés laboral es mayor en las mujeres que en los hombres. Los resultados aportan información conceptual para mejorar el rendimiento de los empleados al validar empíricamente la relación entre tres constructos que no se habían estudiado anteriormente de forma integrada. También tiene en cuenta las diferencias entre hombres y mujeres a la hora de afrontar el estrés laboral, lo cual es muy importante para las organizaciones. Las encuestas sobre los constructos estudiados son una fuente potencial de información para los directivos porque ayudan a identificar los factores que contribuyen a mejorar el rendimiento de los empleados. Como toda investigación que examina constructos psicológicos. El estudio tuvo limitaciones relacionadas con la operacionalización de estos constructos. Futuros estudios podrían replicar y ampliar la investigación en otros sectores económicos y con otras variables demográficas y culturales. Se podría identificar la influencia de otros contextos en las relaciones estudiadas. / The study focused on validating a model that examines the effect of psychological capital on work stress, the mediation of authentic leadership, and the moderating effect of gender on this relationship. The study used a structural equation model to validate the research hypotheses in a random sample of firms from different industries. The results confirm that psychological capital has a negative impact on work stress, as well as a positive relationship with authentic leadership, and the latter has a negative impact on work stress. The mediating effect of authentic leadership on the relationship between psychological capital and work stress was also confirmed. In addition, gender moderation shows that the impact of psychological capital in reducing work stress is greater in women than in men. The findings provide conceptual information for improving employee performance by empirically validating the relationship between three constructs that have not previously been studied in an integrated manner. It also takes into account the differences between men and women in coping with work stress, which is very important for organizations. The surveys of the constructs studied are a potential source of information for managers because they help identify factors that contribute to improved employee performance. As with all research that examines psychological constructs. The study had limitations related to the operationalization of these constructs. Future studies could replicate and extend the research in other economic sectors and with other demographic and cultural variables. The influence of other contexts on the relationships studied could be identified.

Australian policy contexts are promoting school transformation through teacher learning and the development of schools as professional learning communities. However, Australian practitioners have very limited contextualised research to guide their efforts in response to these policies. The researcher’s involvement in a school revitalisation process provided the impetus for this research study that investigates the practitioner experience of a developing professional learning community at RI College (pseudonym for a large independent girls’ school in Brisbane). This study endeavours to gain a more informed and sophisticated understanding of developing a professional learning community with the intention of ‘living’ this vision of RI College as a professional learning community. Praxis-oriented research questions focus on the practitioner conceptualisation of their school as a developing professional community and their experience of supporting/hindering strategies and structures. The study gives voice to this practitioner experience through the emerging participatory/co-operative research paradigm, an epistemology of participative inquiry, a research methodology of co-operative inquiry and mixed methods data collection strategies. Incorporating ten practitioner inquiries over two years, recursive cycles of action/reflection engaged practitioners as co-researchers in the collaborative reflective processes of a professional learning community while generating knowledge about the conceptualisation and supporting/hindering influences on its development. The outcomes of these first-person and second-person inquiries, together with a researcher devised online survey of teachers, were both informative and transformative in nature and led to the development of the researcher’s theoretical perspectives in response to the study’s research questions. As outcomes of co-operative inquiry, these theoretical perspectives inform the researcher’s future actions and offer insights into existing propositional knowledge in the field. Engagement in this practitioner inquiry research has had significant transformative outcomes for the co-researchers and has demonstrated the power of collaborative inquiry in promoting collective and individual professional learning and personal growth.

This research study explores the issue of teacher leadership in South-East Queensland Anglican schools. An initial exploration of the context of Anglican education in South-East Queensland confirmed that both nationally and within the Anglican system, hierarchical understandings of school leadership were being challenged amidst a growing expectation of teacher leadership. However, despite this expectation of teacher leadership, there was little in respect to formal policy and resource support for teacher leadership within South-East Queensland Anglican schools. This research study seeks to gain a more informed and sophisticated understanding of teacher leadership, with particular focus on the perspective of classroom teachers. A comprehensive analysis of key literature in educational change, professionalism in education and educational leadership, revealed a number of key insights that informed this study. Significant socio-economic change in recent decades has brought about corresponding educational change. This has resulted in a call for greater professionalism in education and a new paradigm of educational leadership. Within this context, there is new interest in distributing leadership beyond the formal role of the principal and into the hands of teacher leaders. However, a further review of the literature highlighted the lack of a clear conceptualisation of teacher leadership. While teacher leadership is predominantly considered in the literature as the domain of those in formal, positional roles, less is known about informal, in-class teacher leadership. Based on these insights, the researcher identified one major research question: How do teachers, who are recognised as teacher leaders in South-East Queensland Anglican schools, conceptualise teacher leadership? To answer this research question, four research sub-questions were posed: Behaviour of teacher leaders - What do they do? Purpose of teacher leadership - Why do teachers strive for this? Feelings of teacher leaders - How do they feel about what they do? Support for teacher leaders - What do they need? This research study is situated within the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism. As both a perspective and a method, symbolic interactionism is situated within a pragmatic constructivist research paradigm. This research study explored a restricted group of 16 teachers within three South-East Queensland Anglican schools, and employed qualitative research methods including Experience Sampling Method and focus group interviews. The findings of this research study suggest that teacher leaders in South-East Queensland Anglican schools have a confused conceptualisation of teacher leadership, with little common symbolic language to delineate the phenomenon. This study made the following conclusions in relation to teacher leadership in South-East Queensland Anglican schools: The broad understanding of teacher leadership is unrecognised in the field of education. Teacher leadership is a complex phenomenon. Teacher leadership is principled action in support of learning. There is untapped potential for teacher leaders to act as change agents in school revitalisation. Collegial relationships, the provision of time, relevant professional development and administrative support enable teacher leadership There is a need for a role-making policy to support teacher leadership. The development of teacher leadership in South-East Queensland Anglican schools requires support from the Anglican Schools Commission, school principals and the teachers themselves, through deliberate action in developing appropriate policy and practice.

In the early 1990s Graham Nuthall and Adrianne Alton-Lee developed a model of the learning and remembering process which has profound implications for teaching and learning at all levels. Using their model they were able to predict what selected primary school students would and would not learn and remember from the teaching of a series of Science and Social Studies units and to do so with an accuracy of between 80 to 85 per cent. The Nuthall model states that for a student to learn and remember a new fact or concept he or she needs three to four learning opportunities with the complete set of information needed to learn the new fact or concept, and a gap of no more than two days between any pair of those two learning opportunities. It had always been Graham Nuthall's intention to test the model he developed with Adrienne Alton-Lee in a series of experiments. Tragically, Professor Graham Nuthall died before this was possible. The ten experiments in this thesis put the Nuthall model to the test.

This research describes teachers’ perceptions on the teaching of the reviewed (2000) Business Studies Curriculum in Samoa. McGee (1997) states that curriculum as a field is concerned with making decisions about what is the most worthwhile knowledge for students to learn, why they should learn it and how they should learn it. The aim of this study was to find out teachers’ views on teaching the reviewed Business Studies Curriculum in secondary schools which was drafted and documented by the Samoan Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (MESC) Commercial Studies when it was first introduced in 1986 was a syllabus in Years 9, 10 and 11 (an outline of topics such as banking, shipping, transportation, insurance, exports and imports, employment, manufactures with one or two accounting topics). This clearly indicated an imbalance of topics between economics and accounting in all levels especially in Year 11 where it was all pure accounting. Students’ books were the only curriculum materials prepared and available for teachers to teach this old syllabus. In 2000, the Ministry of Education made changes and developments to its educational system where Commercial Studies changed its name to Business Studies, a combination of both economics and accounting topics to be taught in Years 9, 10 and 11 and become two separate subjects in Years 12 and 13. McGee (1997) believes that teachers are key curriculum decision makers. They make a number of decisions with respect to the implementation of any given curriculum and to reach these decisions, they need to take into account the learning abilities of their students, the curriculum documents, resources available and their own strengths. Teaching is a continuous activity; a teacher is in the middle or center of the class (a group of students) and the center of the classroom. (National Committee of Inquiry to Higher Education, 1997). The purpose of this research was to find out how Business Studies teachers made sense in using the curriculum materials to implement the new Business Studies curriculum. This study was conducted in two colleges in Samoa, one government (a school owned and operated by the Samoan government) and one mission (school owned and operated by the Samoan Congregational Christian Church). These schools were chosen because this would provide comparison of views of teachers who were teaching the Business Studies Curriculum. The information was collected from three visits per school, two teachers who were teaching Business Studies in Years 9, 10 and 11 were selected from each school. The first visit was to brief teachers at the start reminding them of the purpose of the research, reassure them of the confidentiality of their contributions and explain my approach. The second visit was the individual interviews with each teacher and the third visit was observation during classroom teaching.

The Tracks rites of passage are processes that mark the adolescent transition, for the participant, the family and the community, between the two life stages of childhood and adulthood. Adolescent initiation rites offer a community led journey of separation, transition and integration as a way to work meaningfully with adolescents as they move between the life stages of childhood into adulthood. In Aotearoa/New Zealand the Tracks programme provides a five day contemporary rite of passage for adolescents and, where possible, their fathers. The rite of passage is based on the assumption that adolescents need opportunities to find their voices and make meaning if they are to become more aware of who they are and where they belong. The methodology recognises that I, as researcher and insider in the Tracks organisation, needed to develop a holistic approach to insider research so that I could call on my understandings of the organisation and also guard against bias. The holistic approach involves the four interpenetrating strategies of appreciative inquiry, narrative inquiry, a blend of approaches to self-study that include meditation and critical reflection, and most importantly organic inquiry. The four strategies are based on coherence theories that describe learning as being organic, interconnected and emergent. Data were gathered from interviews and cycles of critical self-reflection in the form of a learning journal. Data comes from interviews with the mother or fathers and young men of six families who have participated in the Tracks rite of passage programme. I have also discussed this work with a number of professionals in the field of youth work. The project found that Tracks had created conditions that empowered these young men with an increased capacity to make sense of their lives. Fathers expressed how challenging and rewarding they had found it to speak in honest terms with their sons, and that they were supported to do the inner work necessary to be able to speak in such ways. All of the family members expressed a need to have more support after the event. The findings suggest a need to explore further the nature of the work happening at Tracks. It validates Lashlie’s (2005) theory that adolescents need their fathers and other men to be involved in their lives at the time of transition. Tracks also helps fathers to get to grips with the inner work of developing emotional maturity. The work happening at Tracks invites further research into and debate on the value of emotional intelligence. The Tracks rite of passage offers an alternative perspective to understand the unacceptably high rates of adolescent morbidity and mortality happening in New Zealand.

This case study examines some key factors that influence student engagement in a blended learning environment, in particular, when using interactive online resources to learn Carpentry theory. The participants were volunteers from two parallel classes of secondary school students working toward Level 1 Building Construction and Allied Trade Skills Certificate designed for secondary schools by the Building Construction Industry Training Organisation. The participant researcher was also the teacher for both classes. Data in this case study was collected by observation, reflective journal writing, student records, group discussion and analysis of student course results. It showed that the students responded positively to the blended classroom environment and the interactive online resources developed by the researcher for this study. The blended learning environment in the classroom increased student participation, aided classroom management, and more than halved the time needed for both classes to finish the Instrumental Drawing Unit Standard 7502 while the interactive online resources enhanced student engagement and achievement in other areas of their theory. Students responded positively to the automated formative feedback and were encouraged by knowing their results instantly; working to gain top results and correct answers rather than just completing an activity by filling in the blanks. A competitive element was introduced by integrating a timer into the resources. Challenges encountered included limited access to computers and the necessity for students to share computers, a network failure which made the online resources unavailable for an extended period, and storage problems for the online resources to allow them to be accessed from the online learning environment at school and at home. This study concluded that technology can enable teachers to enhance their teaching and enrich the student learning environment through the introduction of a variety of media. Students still depended on face-to-face teacher input but, in the blended classroom environment and the online environment, the role of the teacher changed noticeably to a role of facilitator.