Leadership of Stability and Leadership of volatility: Transactional and Transformational Leaderships Compared

Since the late 1970s, the literature on leadership has featured a debate and program of research exploring relationships between transactional and transformational leadership. To some degree, this work was given an impetus by both the search for appropriate leadership strategies within the increasingly turbulent, unstable and competitive post-World War 2 economic, geopolitical and social environment (Simic, 1998) and the declining significance of the pre-existing ‘social contract’ which had implied long-term employment in return for loyalty (Griffin, 2003). With the apparent demise of a transaction fundamental to organizational leadership and an emerging context of organizational volatility came the search to better understand the leaderships of stability and of change; and the leaderships of contract and of values. This short paper reviews current understandings of these approaches to leadership. It distinguishes between transactional leadership (characterised here as the leadership of stability and exchange) and transformational leadership (the leadership of values and volatility), setting out their similarities, key differences, and relationship to one another

Maternal iodine deficiency and prenatal brain development

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Student Leadership Development Through General Classroom Activities

Student leadership enhancement involves giving students opportunities to practice leadership skills in a supportive learning environment. It is contended that leadership can be systematically developed so that students are more proficient in: project planning; reflection; problem solving; team building; decision making; goal setting; time management; project management and resource allocation; effective communication and networking; conflict resolution; diversity awareness; and self-confidence. These 12 skills are also linked to the four academic enabling skills of: interpersonal relationships; motivation; study skills; and engagement. Using this framework it is argued that student leadership can be embedded within the school curriculum. Two sample lessons illustrate this procedure, which is being introduced into a Brisbane high school. Some feedback from participating teachers is outlined

Students with Late Emerging Reading Difficulties: Reading Engagement, Motivation, and Intervention Issues

This paper investigates the needs of students with late emerging reading difficulties focusing on the motivation requirements of these students. It is argued that educators need to enhance the readers' sense of self-worth and competence by providing materials and a learning environment that is challenging yet manageable. Because students with reading difficulties experience failure over a considerable period of time and have formed negative reading self-concepts, lower expectations, and a decreased incentive to try, this paper outlines suggestions on how teachers can better understand and address these problems, based on the authors' research using tutoring programs for students with reading and comprehension difficulties

The structural evolution of an ancient accretionary prism in the Damara Belt, Namibia

The Southern Marginal Zone (SMZ) of the Damara Belt, exposed in the Gaub Canyon in central Namibia, consists of fourteen lithotectonic units of high strain amphiholite facies rock with pelagic, hemi-pelagic and clastic sedimentary protoliths. These rocks are intercalated With lenses of metabasite. Regional high-pressure - low-temperature metamorphic conditions (~1O kbar and ~600°C) dominate the Southern and Southern Marginal Zones of the Damara Belt, leading to the interpretation that these tectonostratigraphic terranes formed in an accretionary prism along an ancient subduction margin. The structures in the SMZ are the result of progressive deformation, inferred to have initiated under low-grade metamorphic conditions (D₁) and evolved through prograde to peak metamorphism (D₂), ending in relatively low-temperature retrograde conditions (D₃). Each of the deformation phases is characterised by a foliation. D₁ is associated With pure shear dominated layer-parallel extension characterised by disrupted lithological layering and hedding-parallel foliation S₀+₁. D₃ is defined as deformation related to the formation of an axial-planar S₂ caused by folding of S₀+₁ around F₂ hinge lines. Widespread isoclinal recumbent folding resulted in transposition of these fahrics and the general foliation is thus termed S₀+₁+₂. This composite foliation contains a down-dip stretching lineation L₂. Folding was contemporaneous With top-to-the-SE directed thrusting in D₂ faults and shear zones that are seen to displace D₁ fabric. Fold hinge lines parallel to L₂ suggest D₂ is characterised by non-ideal simple shear. D₃ is defined by a crenulation cleavage S₃, at near right angles to S₀+₁+₂ foliation resulting from NW-SE pure shear shortening. This phase of deformation is also associated with retrograde, reverse faulting that is localised along some of the D₂ shear zones

High functioning autism spectrum disorder: a challenge to secondary school educators and the students with the condition

Across the Australian schooling sector, students with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HFASD) can represent a challenge to educators and the nature of that challenge is the focus of this study. The setting for this research is secondary education with the teachers and the students supported through additional services based within an integrated special education service model. In this study students were identified as HFASD if they had a diagnosis of ASD given by an independent medical officer and the students were functioning in the regular classroom and achieving at, or near, grade level on classroom based or standardised tests of achievement. This study investigated the educational issues associated with students with HFASD using both teacher (N = 81) and students with HFASD (N=32) surveys. These surveys were developed after extensive focus group activities with the teachers and the students identified with ASD, and were framed in the language provided by the participants. The teacher survey contained 27 items and the student survey contained 34 items. Both instruments used a 5 point Likert scale. The two main concepts in the mainstream teachers' responses were: (i) the less predictable and at times inflexible social behaviour of the students; and (ii) the level of additional in-class attention required to effectively teach the students in a group context. The two main concepts from the students with HFASD responses were: (i) the students' desire for social relationships and friendships; and (ii) their concerns about their learning environments. The educational implications of these findings are discussed in relation to theory and practice

Ancient Languages and the Modern Learner: The Effective Use of Digital Resources in the Latin Classroom

Ian Colvin and Lisa Hay present the 'University of Cambridge School Classics' Project which has been developed to support school-level teaching. From humble beginnings like simple vocabulary testers, the program has since evolved to a large range of resources including schemes of work for civilisation topics, documentaries on aspects of ancient life, and support for reading authentic literature. By removing some of the 'performance' elements of a traditional classroom, these interactive resources can support positive learning habits, risk taking, and creativity. The core aim of the project remains to help make the classical world accessible to as many students as possible'

echinus, required for interommatidial cell sorting and cell death in the Drosophila pupal retina, encodes a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases

Background: Programmed cell death is used to remove excess cells between ommatidia in the Drosophila pupal retina. This death is required to establish the crystalline, hexagonal packing of ommatidia that characterizes the adult fly eye. In previously described echinus mutants, interommatidial cell sorting, which precedes cell death, occurred relatively normally. Interommatidial cell death was partially suppressed, resulting in adult eyes that contained excess pigment cells, and in which ommatidia were mildly disordered. These results have suggested that echinus functions in the pupal retina primarily to promote interommatidial cell death. Results: We generated a number of new echinus alleles, some of which are likely null mutants. Analysis of these alleles provides evidence that echinus has roles in cell sorting as well as cell death. echinus encodes a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases, which cleave ubiquitin-conjugated proteins at the ubiquitin C-terminus. The echinus locus encodes multiple splice forms, including two proteins that lack residues thought to be critical for deubiquitination activity. Surprisingly, ubiquitous expression in the eye of versions of Echinus that lack residues critical for ubiquitin specific protease activity, as well as a version predicted to be functional, rescue the echinus loss-of-function phenotype. Finally, genetic interactions were not detected between echinus loss and gain-of-function and a number of known apoptotic regulators. These include Notch, EGFR, the caspases Dronc, Drice, Dcp-1, Dream, the caspase activators, Rpr, Hid, and Grim, the caspase inhibitor DIAP1, and Lozenge or Klumpfuss. Conclusions: The echinus locus encodes multiple splice forms of a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases, but protease activity is unlikely to be required for echinus function, at least when echinus is overexpressed. Characterization of likely echinus null alleles and genetic interactions suggests that echinus acts at a novel point(s) to regulate interommatidial cell sorting and/or cell death in the fly eye

Stepping out: information for families of young people with a disability moving from secondary school to adult life

Leaving secondary school means making the change from being a school student to becoming a young adult. It is a critical time and can have a significant impact on the lives of the young person and family members. This transition period involves many changes which can be both challenging and rewarding. It is a time of moving towards independence and may not always be an easy or smooth process. Choices about further study, training for work and moving out of home all need to be considered