Developing leadership in higher education: perspectives from the USA,the UK and Australia

It is broadly acknowledged that leaders in the twenty-first century are required to navigate an increasingly complex landscape and that the types of challenges individuals and organisations face in the knowledge era require the capacity to adapt and respond to continual fluctuations and change. Outcomes from previous leadership research, combined with the perspectives of colleagues and observation over the past decade, prompted concern that leadership in higher education (HE) institutions was, in the main, not demonstrating the level of readiness or capability to effectively respond to the challenges embodied in the transition to the knowledge era. In seeking to establish how well founded this concern was, this study, supported by a Peter Karmel International Travel Grant, investigated leadership development thinking, programmes and practices within the HE sector in the United States of America and the United Kingdom, and explored how this applies within the Australian context. A number of themes emerged that support the idea that the work of leadership will ideally be based on relationships rather than the ‘command and control’ models of the past and on distributed leadership processes and practices throughout the organisation.     

Predictors of developmentally appropriate classroom practices in kindergarten through third grade

This study was designed to (a) test the psychometric properties of a new observation measure of developmentally appropriate classroom practices in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms, and (b) determine how well classroom and teacher characteristics predict developmentally appropriate classroom practices. Teacher-reported and observational data from 69 classrooms provided support for construct validity, internal consistency, and interrater agreement of the Assessment of Practices in Early Elementary Classrooms (APEEC) measure. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that classroom characteristics (grade, class size, number of children with disabilities), teacher characteristics (education level, years of experience) and teacher beliefs (developmentally appropriate beliefs and developmentally inappropriate beliefs) accounted for 42% of the variance in observed classroom practices. With all variables in the model, teacher education, grade, and beliefs in developmentally appropriate and inappropriate practice accounted for most of the variance in observed classroom practices.     

A COMPARISON OF FACTORS INFLUENCING ISSUE DIVERSITY IN THE U.S. AND TAIWAN

The study extends agenda-setting research by examining issuediversity as a consequence of media exposure. Results from twosurveys—one conducted in the United States, the otherin Taiwan—illustrate differences in the cultures of thetwo samples. In general, older individuals who find low utilityin advertising information but who read a variety of newspapersand feel a strong civic duty to keep informed believe thereare many important issues facing the United States. Younger,highly educated individuals who have a high interest in politicalnews and who read a variety of newspapers believe there aremany important issues facing Taiwan.     

Games children play: How they increase the intellect?

This paper contends that games are powerful promoters of intellectual ability and are too little used in educational curricula. It offers nine propositions in support of this thesis. It explores the possibilities of classifying games in categories which relate to their uses and suggests a digital code for indicating both category and status within a category. Finally, the findings of some preliminary and rudimentary research are presented to suggest that the systematic use of games may be as influential as systematic instruction in altering scores on IQ tests.     

Three decades of bilateral copyright negotiations: Mainland China and the United States

The study analyzes the dynamics of intellectual property (IP) negotiations between mainland China and the United States from the late 1970s to 2007. As China has industrialized, it has faced significant pressure from its international trading partners led by the United States to improve protection for intellectual property rights (IPR). Analysis of the progress of IP protection in China provides an opportunity to test and modify a model of IP policy development in developing countries, and the impact of U.S. actions on internal IP politics and cultural development.