Ethical theory and business ethics: the search for a new model

The following thesis is an attempt to propose a 'model' to begin an analysis on a specific dilemma within business ethics. The model will utilise both 'metaphorical' and 'literal' language in the form of questions based on modem moral philosophical theory. The motivation in providing these questions is that there will be less ambiguity if a 'tool' was used to analyse the dilemma, rather than use intuition or abstract moral philosophy. The model, called the Comb, will be used to analyze a comprehensive case study - the case of the Newfoundland Fishing Industry. The case is in the form of an illustrative dilemma and examines the restructuring of the Newfoundland fishing industry. Newfoundland is one of the island provinces of Canada and its main industry, the offshore and inshore fisheries, has recently been 'decimated' by a number of factors. The case will hopefully demonstrate that the restructuring of the Newfoundland fishing industry may be portrayed as an ethical dilemma in business. The analysis will hopefully 'sort' and 'arrange' some of the ethical issues emanating out of the restructuring. The thesis is also an attempt to develop an argument for approaching business ethics from a reflective standpoint. The end result is designed to make the user of the questions developed through the Comb think reflectively, to open new lines of debate within the subject area of business ethics as well as the case of the restructuring of the Newfoundland fishery. The questions of the Comb provide the framework which may be seen as absent in a business ethics analysis. It would seem that the answers about why business is ‘unethical’ are quite easy to produce - the capitalist system, the emphasis on short-termism, managerial incompetence and so on - but are they the answers to the right questions? The Comb specifically and this thesis as a whole are attempts to develop a practical, reflective method to a examine specific dilemma in business ethics. It may be seen as an attempt to develop 'detachedness’ within the 'involvement' of a case study. The thesis is a personal search. Not a search to find answers but one which will propose questions to expand the author’s understanding of the dilemma of the restructuring of the Newfoundland Fishery. It is a search to attempt to understand the subject area of business ethics and how to operationalise the theory behind it. Moreover, it is a search to see if a systematic and simplified model is possible within the subject area of business ethics. The thesis will conclude that while the model may be seen as valid for improving the author’s understanding of the subject area of business ethics and the case study of the Newfoundland fishery, improvements may be made through, for example, establishing alternative 'metaphors’. It will also argue that the 'context' of a business ethics analysis is very important. Business ethics and the model may have to understood as the right ‘tool' for the times

Authority and Esteem Effects of Enhancing Remote Indigenous Teacher-Assistants' Mathematics-Education Knowledge and Skills

The interaction between Australia's Eurocentric education and the complex culture of remote Indigenous communities often results in Indigenous disempowerment and educational underperformance. This paper reports on a mathematics-education research project in a remote community to support Indigenous teacher assistants (ITAs) in mathematics and mathematics tutoring in an attempt to reverse Indigenous mathematics underperformance. It discusses teachers' and ITAs' power and authority within school and community, describes the project's design, and summarises the project's results in terms of affects and knowledge. It draws implications on the relation between ITA professional development (PD), affect, esteem, knowledge, authority, teacher-ITA partnerships, and enhanced Indigenous mathematics outcomes

Creating Your Own Symbols: Beginning Algebraic Thinking With Indigenous Students

Because mathematics education devalues Indigenous culture, Indigenous students continue to be the most mathematically disadvantaged group in Australia. Conventional wisdom with regard to Indigenous mathematics education is to utilise practical and visual teaching methods, yet the power of mathematics and the opportunities it brings for advancement lie in symbolic understanding. This paper reports on a Maths as Story Telling (MAST) teaching approach to assist Indigenous students understand algebra through creating and manipulating their own symbols for equations. It discusses effective Indigenous mathematics teaching, describes the MAST approach, analyses it in terms of Ernest’s (2005) semiotic processes, discusses its applications, and draws implications for Indigenous mathematics learning

Indigenous Students and Mathematics: Teachers' Perceptions of the role of Teacher Aides

This study examined teachers' perceptions of the role of teacher aides in mathematics classrooms in rural and remote Indigenous communities. Twelve teachers from three schools in rural and remote Queensland participated in the study. The results from the first year of the project indicated that there were differences in how these teachers worked with their teacher aides, particularly the specific roles assigned to them in the mathematics classroom, with non-Indigenous teacher aides being given greater responsibilities for student learning and Indigenous teacher aides for behavioural management. As a result of teacher aide in-service on mathematics learning, teachers' perception of the Indigenous teacher aides changed, resulting in each being given greater responsibility for student learning

Exploring Young Students' Functional Thinking

The Early Years Generalising Project (EYGP) involves Australian Years 1-4 (age 5-9) students and investigates how they grasp and express generalisations. This paper focuses on data collected from six Year 1 students in an exploratory study within a clinical interview setting that required students to identify function rules. Preliminary findings suggest that the use of gestures (both by students and interviewers), self-talk (by students), and concrete acting out, assisted students to reach generalisations and to begin to express these generalities. It also appears that as students become aware of the structure, their use of gestures and self- talk tended to decrease

"Aim High - Beat Yourself": Effective Mathematics Teaching in a Remote Indigenous Community

In 2004, a young, non-Indigenous, second-year teacher in a remote Queensland Indigenous community developed a mathematics Unit based on an "Aim High - Beat Yourself" theme he developed to overcome the perceived unwillingness of his students to achieve in both sport and school. This paper investigates the apparent effectiveness of this Unit and draws inferences for mathematics teaching and learning in Indigenous communities. It describes the research and teaching contexts in which the Unit was developed and the students’ responses to the Unit. The paper provides further evidence for the efficacy of integrating mathematics learning with more generic programs that build pride, confidence and self worth in Indigenous students and challenge them to perform (Sarra, 2003)

Assessment of available anatomical characters for linking living mammals to fossil taxa in phylogenetic analyses

ORCID: 0000-0003-4919-8655© 2016 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. The file attached is the published version of the article