An international program in a public K to 12 school district in British Columbia is responsible for international students, their education, and life in BC. An international program leader (IPL) is employed by the school district to lead these programs. The IPL has an influence on the lives of students, parents, school district staff, home-stay families, and study-abroad agents. International program leadership is an emerging area of study in educational leadership, with limited research. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of leadership in public K to 12 international programs in BC and to reflect on theoretical foundations that may influence practice. In-depth interviews with six IPLs using a multiple-case-study approach (Stake, 2006) uncovered perspectives on leading international programs in a BC context. In the cross-case analysis, three themes emerged: (a) the phenomenon of international program leadership is contextual, (b) professional (human) relationships and networks are key elements of international program leadership, and (c) managing and resolving conflicts over values and culture are key elements of international program leadership. The implications of these findings include: (a) the background of the IPL influences leadership, (b) the context of an international program in a BC school district influences IPL leadership practice, (c) human relationships with five key stakeholders are important for leaders, and (d) the role of the IPL as a mediator of conflicts in three key areas: philosophical disagreements regarding international programs from colleagues in a school district, the management of mental health issues for students, and inappropriate living conditions for students. / Graduate

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Nathan P. Hendricks / This dissertation focuses on the prediction of agricultural land values and the effects of water rights on land values using machine learning algorithms and hedonic pricing methods. I predict agricultural land values with different machine learning algorithms, including ridge regression, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, random forests, and extreme gradient boosting methods. To analyze the causal effects of water right seniority on agricultural land values, I use the double-selection LASSO technique. The second chapter presents the data used in the dissertation. A unique set of parcel sales from Property Valuation Division of Kansas constitute the backbone of the data used in the estimation. Along with parcel sales data, I collected detailed basis, water, tax, soil, weather, and urban influence data. This chapter provides detailed explanation of various data sources and variable construction processes. The third chapter presents different machine learning models for irrigated agricultural land price predictions in Kansas. Researchers, and policymakers use different models and data sets for price prediction. Recently developed machine learning methods have the power to improve the predictive ability of the models estimated. In this chapter I estimate several machine learning models for predicting the agricultural land values in Kansas. Results indicate that the predictive power of the machine learning methods are stronger compared to standard econometric methods. Median absolute error in extreme gradient boosting estimation is 0.1312 whereas it is 0.6528 in simple OLS model. The fourth chapter examines whether water right seniority is capitalized into irrigated agricultural land values in Kansas. Using a unique data set of irrigated agricultural land sales, I analyze the causal effect of water right seniority on agricultural land values. A possible concern during the estimation of hedonic models is the omitted variable bias so we use double-selection LASSO regression and its variable selection properties to overcome the omitted variable bias. I also estimate generalized additive models to analyze the nonlinearities that may exist. Results show that water rights have a positive impact on irrigated land prices in Kansas. An additional year of water right seniority causes irrigated land value to increase nearly $17 per acre. Further analysis also suggest a nonlinear relationship between seniority and agricultural land prices.

Organisations exist. An organisation is not just a group of people, a workplace, a structure or system; it is a combination of these and many other aspects involved in its operation. In recent years, the nature and needs of organisations have changed dramatically, challenging them to rethinking how they organise themselves and accomplish their goals in a sustainable manner. This is an important, but not easy, task. The research presented in this thesis aims to contribute to organisational development theory and practice, in terms of how to articulate collective organisational values, and upon which to establish a sustainable workplace framework to govern and improve organisational performance. The research was undertaken in two phases. Phase 1 focused on researching organisational values, which is considered as a critical step towards the development of sustainable workplaces. A values and behaviours study was conducted in the UK offices of the sponsoring company. Schwartz's values survey instrument and values theory are, for the first time, applied extensively in an organisational context, as opposed to the comparative intercultural research conducted at the national/cultural level. The study used a structured, mixed methods approach which Involved virtually all employees, whose values profiles were collected and analysed through an organisation-wide survey. Follow-up workshops and post workshop activities with a company Values Group faCilitated the sharing of common values; they then helped staff representatives develop their own organisational values statements, independent of senior management, before a final stage of negotiation. Meanwhile, a set of core-values-related workplace behaviours and relevant mechanisms were identified and communicated across the whole organisation. The core organisational values are fundamental in governing the workplace behaviours, and the mechanisms represented desirable work practices. This values-based approach facilitated the identification of the grassroots demand for continuous improvement of workplace environmental, social and economic performances, hence formed a foundation for the development of sustainable workplaces. The findings from the first phase revealed the core values of the organisation, highlighted the importance of applying the principles of sustainable development to the workplace context, which prompted further research into the nature of a sustainable workplace (phase 2). Although there is an increasing interest in sustainable workplace development, as an emerging and fast developing area, the body of research is still fragmented and unbalanced. In order to establish a holistic and balanced approach to the development of sustainable workplaces, available guidance documents were systematically categorised, compared and synthesised within a clear framework, to facilitate easy understanding and practice. This revealed that, at present, emphasis tends to be placed on environmental impacts arising from workplace activities, and hence the promotion of environmental awareness among the workforce. Whilst this may be appropriate in itself, it is of concern that other key aspects of sustainable development (Le. social and economic aspects) have been overlooked to a significant extent. A sustainable workplace framework was therefore established which provides a balanced approach for governing all aspects of the workplace development. The data obtained from phase 1 not only highlighted the need for such a balanced approach, but also inform the identification and prioritisation of the indicators within the framework, which offer useful measures for organisational behaviours. Meanwhile, the framework can be used as a tool to facilitate the integration of values into workplace development. The research concludes that to develop an organisation in a sustainable manner, a set of collective organisational values must be articulated, which will serve as guiding principles of work place behaviours and practices, and therefore dictate workplace performance. The shaping of collective organisational values should be based on a clear understanding and communication of employees' personal values, and that Schwartz's circumplex model of human values and associated survey instrument are helpful neutral framing devices to initiate and structure such a debate. As all the elements of sustainability are rooted in values, the identification of the collective organisational values could be considered as a critical step towards the development of sustainable workplaces. Furthermore, the research highlighted that the sustainable workplace is a multidimensional concept which requires holistic thinking. The conceptual framework developed in this research joins together the key aspects/criteria of sustainable workplaces, with the aim to balance the workplace environmental, social and economic performances. By linking the organisational values and related key business issues to workplace sustainable development criteria, the development towards sustainable workplaces could consequently enhance organisational values, therefore improving organisational perfonnance as well as employees' quality of life at work.

This study is a descriptive qualitative analysis of the values and traits of rehabilitation counselor life care planners. Using the theoretical foundation of the Person-Environment fit theory, it reviews the available literature on rehabilitation counselor life care planners and fills in a missing sub-category of research on Person-Group fit within the private rehabilitation field and life care planning. It contains a review of rehabilitation counselor identity in order to provide context to how rehabilitation counselor life care planners view themselves as practitioners, particularly the role of income in career fit given ethical concerns surrounding money in the practice of life care planning. The primary traits resulting from this study are emotional differentiation, counselor as educator/performer, desiring intellectual excellence, detail oriented, and financial awareness. The primary values resulting from this study are recognition of humanity, integrity, objectivity, freedom in work, and social and financial responsibility. These results are discussed within the social culture of rehabilitation counseling to better understand their development.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is designed to target psychological flexibility, broadly defined as engagement with personal values regardless of the presence of difficult private events. As engagement with valued behaviors is imperative to psychological flexibility, clarification of values is an essential skill for clients to learn. Practicing of skills in treatment has historically been a difficult hurdle for clinicians to implement between sessions for clients as well. The present study examined the utility of a novel values card sort activity, as well as the utility of a rubber band to act as a reminding agent for engagement with values. 112 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a values card sort condition, a values card sort condition with a rubber band given to the participant, and a control card sort condition. Each participant completed questionnaires assessing connection with values, lack of contact with values, negative affect, and quality of life at baseline and at a one-week follow-up. A series of ANCOVAs were conducted to determine if there were any group differences between the three conditions at follow-up, with baseline scores as a covariate. The analyses indicate no significant difference between the conditions at follow-up across any of the variables of interest. Endorsement of prior therapy experience suggested unique trends and differential reaction to the card sorting activity. These findings suggest the values card sort may not be an effective intervention for subclinical populations but may be a fruitful intervention for clinically-elevated individuals.

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze how modernization theory of values change and capitalist ideology affect individuals' attitudes toward generosity. Because generosity is a concept rooted in our human value system, it would be worthwhile attempting to explain the interplay between individuals' values and larger socio-economic environment. From modernization theory explanations of values change, it is expected that noble, higher-order values such as generosity will receive more approval and support as economic pressures decline as result of economic development. However, individuals' values are also being influenced by principles of the specific type of economic ideology embraced in each country around the world. This study will explain how the different types of capitalist ideology impact individuals' values. In relation to these, it is suggested that the notion of `economic ideology' should be taken into consideration as a factor interacting with the modernization thesis of values change in influencing individuals' predisposition toward generosity. An economic ideology motivates behavior and determines norms for many human interactions. In this study, `economic ideology' is constructed as the interaction between capitalism characteristics and materialistic values. One hypothesis suggests that capitalism is negatively correlated with the emergence or advancement of generosity. A second hypothesis, examines whether the effect of capitalism is moderated through the presence of materialistic values or specific type of economic ideology. Within this enquiry the study uses a cross-national and a multilevel approach that mainly concentrates on the analysis of the World Values Survey which presents a broad examination of cross-national differences. The results indicate the validity of the economic ideology effect. Initially, at the individual level capitalism is associated significantly, albeit weakly, to generosity. When this relationship is allowed to vary across countries, then capitalism coefficient is not significant. Nevertheless, when the original argument about the influence of the economic ideology on individuals' values is considered, the new model modifies the previously reported results. The capitalism coefficient not only turns out to be significant, but also changes the direction of its coefficient demonstrating the moderating effect of the economic ideology hypothesis.

No description available.

This study was instigated by the lack of human dimensions research undertaken in New Zealand, and seeks to investigate the knowledge and values New Zealanders hold about New Zealand wildlife within three distinct groups of the New Zealand public. These groups were the Royal Forest and Bird Society of New Zealand Inc, the New Zealand Ecological Society (Inc.), and the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association. A questionnaire administered via Association list-serv's was utilised and a total of 52 questionnaires were completed by members of the three stakeholder groups. These were then analysed to investigate the values and knowledge New Zealanders hold toward wildlife in New Zealand. The findings of this study suggest that New Zealander's hold strong utilitarian and negativistic values toward wildlife while the humanistic, moralistic, and naturalistic values were expressed by the majority of respondents. This result could be due to the high level of respondents who were from the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association. Conversely, whiled the data suggests that New Zealander's hold the ecologistic/scientific value only weakly, overall they have a high level of factual knowledge about wildlife. Because of this, it may be suggested that wildlife managers should generate education programmes that specifically address the negativistic value by making them imaginative and interesting. Demographic factors were found to be influential in the ways in which New Zealander's value wildlife and the knowledge they hold although these were not as significant as indicated by studies undertaken in other countries. The lowest levels of knowledge were shown by respondents who were over 60 years of age; and higher income levels corresponded with the negativistic value being held more highly. Several areas of this study showed transgressions from other studies undertaken overseas. Unlike other studies, which suggested that females hold the naturalistic value more strongly than males, this study showed that both males and females held the naturalistic value only weakly. This indicates that findings from studies conducted overseas may not be transferable to the New Zealand situation and therefore, for New Zealand managers to effectively incorporate human dimensions information in decision-making processes, human dimensions research must be undertaken in the New Zealand context. Furthermore, wildlife managers should not make assumptions based on other studies and communities as these can lead to ineffective communication and implementation of wildlife management policies and education programmes.

The Harry Potter series has been a phenomenal publishing success for their author J. K. Rowling. This thesis argues for the use of these books as a worthwhile teaching asset, especially in the promotion of values in our schools. It particularly focuses on the use of these books for Values Education in the curriculum area of Religious Education. While the world continues to change and evolve there are some aspects of our societies that remain unchanged and the power of stories is one of these stable forces. This thesis looks at the importance of stories in teaching our youth about values, especially Christian values. It also provides research on how critics and youth have responded to the stories about Harry Potter through undertaking a review of critical comments and by actually asking young people what they feel about aspects of the novels. Comment is made on what Christian values can be found in the Harry Potter series and how they are shown through the choices characters make. This thesis also looks at how the power to choose is a fundamental basis of Christian religion and that through our choices we live out our humanity. Mention is made of Values Education in both State and Catholic schools and how, in recent years, we have seen increased moves by both Federal and State Governments to instigate Values Education programmes in Australian schools. This study also looked at how curriculum changes in Tasmania, at both State and Catholic levels, encourages the teaching of values through the use of resources that connect with our young people and teaching strategies that encourage higher-order thinking skills. An analysis is also made regarding the connection between the Harry Potter series and the hero journey motif. This connection provides some answers as to why the series is so popular and why our youth feel some connection to the characters in the books.Through research and analysis this thesis found that the Harry Potter series is popular with our youth and that they are connected to the characters in the books and the choices they make. This study also found that the series, through the characters and choices they make, provides itself as a valuable teaching tool because it is able to be used in both secular and Catholic schools regardless of attacks on the books by Christian groups. Studies undertaken indicated that the values presented in the books are compatible with our Australian societal values and that with the use of good teaching strategies the books can assist students in developing their higher-order thinking skills. The Harry Potter series can be used to assist youth in acquiring values that will assist them in their personal development and to help them become useful contributors to our modern world. Through the character of Harry Potter and his experiences students can learn more about themselves and the values they need to overcome those difficulties that they, like all of us, face in life.

This thesis analyses theories of practical reason. In particular I compare desire theories of reasons with value theories of reasons. Desire theories of reasons, as I define them, claim that it is a necessary condition of A having a reason to ф that A’s reason depend on A’s antecedent desires. In contrast, I define value theories of reasons as those theories that claim that it is a necessary condition of A having a reason to ф that A’s ф-ing be valuable. In this thesis my main concern lies with those value theorists who accept the motivational requirement: the claim that if an agent is to have a reason to ф, then it must be possible for the agent to ф on the basis of this reason. In particular, I concentrate on those value theorists who claim that A has a reason to ф iff a) A’s ф-ing is valuable; b) it is possible for A to ф on the basis of this reason. I reject desire theories of reasons on the basis of several criticisms. I claim that our desires are normatively arbitrary, and that according to desire theories of reasons, some of our desires ought to be eradicated. I argue instead for a value theory of reasons that adopts a particular interpretation of the motivational requirement. I distinguish three different interpretations of the motivational requirement, each offering a connection between reasons and motivations that differs in strength. The first, strongest requirement claims that in order for A to have a normative reason to ф, it must be possible for A to ф on the basis of this reason given certain qualities that A possesses (where I take the sense of ‘possible’ relevant to these interpretations to be one that reflects an agent’s capacities). The second and weakest requirement claims that in order for A to have a normative reason to ф, it must be possible for A to ф on the basis of this reason if A possessed certain qualities. The last and moderate requirement claims that in order for A to have a normative reason to ф, it must be possible for A to ф on the basis of this reason if A possessed certain qualities and A either has these qualities, or it is possible for her to get herself into a state where she has them. I argue for a value theory of reasons that employs this last, moderate motivational requirement. I argue that a value theory that adopts the moderate motivational requirement is best, as it allows the theory to be practically useful; reasons on this account have a role in deterrence, encouragement and praise- and blame-worthiness. The theory also aligns with a plausible account of eligible candidates for reasons. While the employment of the moderate motivational requirement in a value theory of reasons likens the theory, in some respects, to a desire theory, it avoids the objections raised against desire theories of reasons. In this way, a value theory of reasons that employs the moderate motivational requirement combines the attractive features of a desire theory and a value theory. Specifically, it generates reasons that are both dependent on an individual’s qualities, and also aligned with an account of value. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2008