Item Detail
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21931
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0
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0
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English
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The Development of Serving Leadership : the Case of the Church Educational System in Chile and The Philippines
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New York City, New York
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Columbia University Teachers College
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Ed.D. diss.
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"This dissertation explored the degree to which organizational values were shared by local administrators within the context of the Church Educational System (CES) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More particularly, the study centered on how the organization's value of serving leadership was understood, adapted, and applied to fit indigenous conditions in two culturally different countries where the organization operates religious educational programs: Chile and the Philippines. This research was conducted as a qualitative two-case study. This method was well suited to the overall purpose of this inquiry to capture cross-national interpretations and practices in the language and experience of native participants. Data were collected from a variety of sources including fifty-one interviews with local administrators from both countries. The findings evidenced that the participants were guided by governing values which were larger than themselves, consequently this investigation also identified self-reported deficiencies in the practice of serving leadership as the participants recognized their own inadequacies and self-interests. Additional findings and conclusions included: (1) Learning organizational values and turning them into action involves a holistic approach requiring not only cognitive exertion but also affective and conative effort, (2) Learning values encompasses more than instrumental knowledge, (3) Conceptions and styles of leadership that individuals adopt are influenced largely by their ideas and feelings about the nature of work, (4) Intrinsically-motivated individual learning enhances the capacity of organizations to become flexible, far-sighted and continuous learners, (5) The idea of the learning organization implies the capacity to adapt to change through shared visions, continuous learning and supporting structures, (6) Organizational values can create a high degree of interconnectedness cross-culturally, (7) Organizational visions clarify and deepen personal visions, (8) Development of indigenous leadership is key to the success of organizations operating across different cultures, and (9) Conditions of empowerment and autonomy allow local leaders to develop home-grown strategies to address challenges unique to their immediate stewardship." [Author's abstract]