Aka, S. (2020). A quantitative comparative study of employee engagement among full-time Seventh-day Adventist pastors in the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists and its relationship to level of participation in annual pastoral continuing education (CE) (Publication No. 1728) [Doctoral dissertation, Andrews University]. Digital Commons.
Research was needed to determine the relationship between pastoral continuing education (CE) and employee engagement to guide policy implementation as well as future efforts for pastoral professional development within the Adventist organization. This study presents a new theoretical Adventist pastor development model integrating several theories and concepts. Major research findings indicate that pastors, perhaps inevitably as humans, are complex, and several factors seem to work synergistically to result in positive hygiene and motivation (employee engagement) scores including: the call, age, having adult children, ethnicity, a combination of CE and age, and a combination of children and CE. Of key importance, increased knowledge and specific life experiences work together to create a more engaged pastor. CE as a stand-alone factor did not have a statistically significant positive impact on hygiene or motivation employee engagement scores based on this data. The most popular CE activity of Adventist pastors was conventions, the least favorite was creating CE content for peers.
Lampadan, N. (2021). Involvement in community service and spiritual activities as correlates of socially responsible leadership among undergraduate students at Asia-Pacific International University, Thailand (Publication No. 1756) [Doctoral dissertation, Andrews University]. Digital Commons.
Institutions of higher education invest considerable resources to provide students with leadership experiences through extracurricular activities, especially in community service and spiritual programming. The interrelationship among these variables (socially responsible leadership and spiritual and community involvement) have not been investigated in faith-based institutions of higher education in Southeast Asia. A survey in questionnaire format was developed and administered to all students who were enrolled at Asia-Pacific International University (AIU) during the 2019–2020 academic year. In general, students at AIU were involved in community service and spiritual activities to a moderate degree. Correlation between community service and spiritual activities involvement was moderate. The findings in this study suggest that socially responsible leadership among undergraduate students in a faith-based university was related to involvement in community service and spiritual activities. Involvement in these two institutions of higher education programs encouraged students to reflect and practice service to God and humanity.
Mwansa, P. (2019). School principal’s leadership style and teacher’s self-efficacy in high and low achieving schools in Chikankata, Zambia (Publication No. 1717) [Doctoral dissertation, Andrews University]. Digital Commons.
Much research has been done in past years on the topic of student achievement, with most of those studies focusing on factors that contribute to student achievement. Little to no research has been done, especially in the country of Zambia, that has focused on the relationship between leadership style, teacher self-efficacy, and the extent to which these constructs impact student achievement. This study explored the school principals’ leadership style, teacher self-efficacy, and the extent to which these factors contribute to student achievement in Chikankata District, Zambia. A quantitative and non-experimental design was utilized to collect data through a survey questionnaire from 18 school principals and 211 teachers from Chikankata District. The Chikankata District study showed that the school principals’ leadership style, particularly transformational and transactional, plays an essential role in influencing student achievement. High-achieving schools were more likely to have high transformational leadership styles and lower transactional leadership styles, suggesting that schools where principals use higher levels of transformational leadership and lower levels of transactional leadership tend to be associated with high-achieving schools.
Nielsen, A. P. (2020). Coaching and being coached: A qualitative study of the experiences of education leaders in the Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (Publication No. 1751) [Doctoral dissertation, Andrews University]. Digital Commons.
The Florida Conference has been intentional about developing leaders of transformation. To effect change, and to properly equip and reeducate its leaders, workshops and seminars introduce leaders to a process or system of support called “Leadership Training.” Through the process, leaders are taught skills to move them toward confidence in their leadership ability, to make them accountable to themselves for their dreams and vision, and to allow them the vulnerability to engage in the coaching process. This study was based on a phenomenological approach, utilizing narrative inquiry through semi-structured interviews, in a face-to-face setting at a location chosen by the participant. The study revealed that participants recognized the importance of peer coaching, perceived coaching as a safe space for personal discovery combining theory and practice, identified some drawbacks of the coaching training process, experienced significant benefits to the coaching training experience, and unexpectedly found the visioning exercise and subsequent core values assignment to have a major impact on their relationships during their tenure as leaders.
Reece, S. D. (2019). The third space: The meeting of Jew and Christian in the act of remembering, restoring, and reconciling—A case study of the Matzevah Foundation(Publication No. 1693) [Doctoral dissertation, Andrews University]. Digital Commons.
Due to long-standing religious, racial, and cultural tensions, a complex and challenging relationship exists between Jews and Christians. Consequently, they struggle to interact and engage in meaningful dialogue. Dialogue bridges the gap between Jew and Christian, allowing them to meet in the third space—the liminal space of the Jewish cemetery in Poland. This study was conducted as a qualitative case study of the work of The Matzevah Foundation (TMF) in its efforts to bring Jew and Christian together in the space of the Polish-Jewish cemetery to work cooperatively to care for and restore cemeteries. It was discovered that Jews and Christians reacted to the work of TMF in five ways: developing relationships, engaging in loving acts, remembering, restoring, and reconciling. These reactions produced the footing for dialogue. The data revealed a framework for dialogue that emerged from Jewish and Christian interaction, which consisted of seven components: addressing proselytism, developing common ground, gaining understanding, building a sense of community, speaking about matters of faith, confronting the present past, and overcoming differences among them.
Tsui, T. M. Y. (2021). Perceived effectiveness of a mentoring program for training Adventist Chinese evangelists(Publication No. 1763) [Doctoral dissertation, Andrews University]. Digital Commons.
The fact that evangelism in the Unorganized Territories of the Chinese Union Mission was done mainly as personal evangelism and that public evangelism was limited to a one-day seed sowing meeting had led to a serious need for equipping pastors in effective public evangelism methods. It required a model of public evangelism that is adaptable to the local Chinese culture and a mentoring program that accompanies evangelists, who were still developing their skills in public evangelism. This study used a parallel mixed methods design to measure the perceived effectiveness of selected methods in the mentoring program. Participants rated the 10 effectiveness variables of the mentoring program (training materials, learning process, mentoring process, feedback process, evangelistic preaching, appeals, authentic evangelism, dedication, evangelistic series experience, and preparedness for future evangelistic meetings) as being helpful. The overall mentoring program was perceived helpful, and it was perceived to be equally effective in all sites, regardless of gender, age, and pastoral experience.
You can find a complete list of recent Leadership Department dissertations here: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/leadership-dept-dissertations/