Education: Journal Articles
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Item Open Access Anti-racism commitment in early childhood education: The limits of cultural competency(SAGE Publications, 2023) Azarmandi M, Mahdis; Delaune, Andrea; Surtees, Nicola; Te Rongopatahi, Kari MoanaRacism is pervasive in education in Aotearoa New Zealand, including in early childhood education. The preparedness of early childhood teachers to respond to the Ministry of Education's current anti-racism policy direction is a pressing concern. This is particularly the case, given the early childhood curriculum Te WhÄriki: He whÄriki mÄtauranga mÅ ngÄ mokopuna o Aotearoa offers little guidance to support early childhood teachers to develop anti-racism pedagogies. This primarily theoretical article seeks to contribute to dialogue with early childhood teachers about both racism and anti-racism pedagogies. The theoretical arguments advanced in the article focus on document analysis of Te WhÄriki. Analysis includes consideration of the themes of inclusion, equity and social justice. It also includes consideration of what these themes might imply about expectations for early childhood teachersâ uptake of anti-racism approaches in their practice. Document analysis is supplemented by limited preliminary survey data drawn from the initial findings of the Anti-racism Commitment in Early Childhood Education: Pathways to Inclusion, Equity and Social Justice (ARC-ECE) study. Drawing from race-critical scholarship to further advance the theoretical arguments, the article highlights tensions in early childhood teachersâ understandings about racism. The limits of narrow definitions of racism that explain it as the result of âcultural differenceâ are explored. In making a case for thinking beyond cultural competence and culturally responsive practice, the article calls for an immediate rethinking of racism in (and beyond) the sector.Item Open Access CurrÃculo da Educação Infantil no Brasil e na Aotearoa Nova Zelândia(Universidade Federal de Alogoas) Nogueira, Gabriela; Delaune, Andrea; Maciel Vahl, MÃŽnicaEste artigo trata sobre o currÃculo da Educação Infantil no Brasil e na Aotearoa Nova Zelândia. A partir das Diretrizes Curriculares para a Educação Infantil (2009), da Base Nacional Comum Curricular para a Educação Infantil (2017) e das duas versões do documento Te WhÄriki: He whÄriki mÄtauranga mÅ ngÄ mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early Childhood Curriculum (1996 e 2017), problematizou-se as proposições para as crianças e as implicações para a infância. A análise demonstra a influência dos organismos internacionais e do mercado financeiro no currÃculo e a presença de uma racionalidade neoliberal que contribui para a produção da criança como capital humano e do professor como um tecnocrata. Tensões também foram identificadas, revelando objetivos prescritivos que visão a preparação da criança para atender à s demandas do mercado. This paper considers Early Childhood Education curricula in Brazil and in Aotearoa New Zealand. Propositions for children and their implications for childhood were problematized in the light of the National Curriculum Guidelines for Early Childhood Education (2009) and the National Curriculum Basis for Early Childhood Education (2017), from Brazil alongside both versions of Te WhÄriki: He whÄriki mÄtauranga mÅ ngÄ mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early Childhood Curriculum (1996 and 2017), from Aotearoa New Zealand. The analysis demonstrates the influence of international institutions and the financial market in the curricula and the presence of a neoliberal rationality that has contributed to producing children as human capital and teachers as curricular technicians. Tensions were also identified that reveal prescriptive aims in order to prepare children to meet the demands of the market.Item Open Access Editorial: 20 years Teachers Work - looking back and looking forward (Part 1)(Tuwhera, 2023) Teschers, Christoph; Devine N; Couch D; Teschers C; Devine N; Couch DItem Open Access Designing for empowering curriculum implementation(Victoria University of Wellington Library, 2023) Hipkins, Rosemary; Cowie , Bronwen; Tolbert, Sara; Waiti , PaulineInternational advocacy for future-focused curriculum design often centres on the idea of âcompetenciesâ or âcapabilitiesâ as potentially transformative constructs for high-level curriculum frameworks. This trend is exemplified by the addition of âkey competenciesâ to the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. Despite good intentions, this structural change appears to have made minimal difference to the learning that many students experience, or to the assessment practices used to evaluate that learning. With a Curriculum Refresh currently underway, now is an opportune moment to revisit the use of competencies as a lever for curriculum change and ask how the type of transformative change they are intended to stimulate might be conveyed and implemented in more empowering ways. This paper introduces the idea of âenduring competenciesâ as an umbrella construct for more effective curriculum design conversations. Learning from what has proved problematic in the past, we show how this construct might refocus thinking about purposes for learning, while at the same time being more specific about how and why traditional curriculum âcontentâ might need to change. We illustrate this potential by drawing on our recent collective endeavour to build a small set of enduring competencies for school science education. The paper briefly outlines these four enduring competencies and demonstrates how they build bridges between past (more traditional) and future-focused (more transformative) curriculum and assessment design for the science learning area.Item Open Access Sudanese Young People of Refugee Background in Rural and Regional Australia(The Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA), 2013) Major, Jae; Wilkinson , Jane; Langat , Kip; Santoro , NinettaThis article discusses literature pertaining to the settlement of African refugees in regional and rural Australia, particularly focusing on the specific challenges and opportunities faced by Sudanese young people of refugee background in education. Drawing on a pilot study of the out-of-school resources of regionally located young Sudanese students, we discuss the role of social and other capitals in generating conditions that may facilitate educational success for these students. We argue the case for educational research that takes into account the resources and capital upon which Sudanese young people of refugee background and their families draw in order to achieve in education.Item Open Access What do New Zealand teachers and principals perceive is happening for English as an additional language students with the changing architecture of New Zealand schools?(2023) Everatt , John; Fletcher, Jo; Kim , Jean; Subramaniam , Yogeetha BalaThis paper explores the perceptions of New Zealand teachers and principals about how English as an additional language (EAL) students are faring in the profound changes to the architectural design of school building structures. A national online survey was sent to teachers, middle management and principals in schools and provided qualitative responses to gage the perceptions of participants. Additionally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight teachers at four primary schools. The perceptions of these key people provide a range of lenses to better understand the interplay between EAL studentsâ learning, physical classroom environments and culturally inclusive pedagogical practices. The study found that the innovative architectural design of classrooms may benefit EAL students when the following factors are taken into consideration: (i) peer teaching and student collaboration, (ii) teacher support for EAL students, (iii) classroom noise, and (iv) teacherâs perceptions of EAL studentsâ personality/cultural traits.Item Open Access Teacher Education for Diversity: Online and at a Distance(2005) Major, JaeItem Open Access Exploring how Te WhÄriki and the New Zealand Curriculum prepare students for an Art of Living(2023) Cowper, Alice; Teschers, ChristophThis qualitative study looked at Wilhelm Schmidâs concept of the Art of Living (AoL) in relation to the current New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and Te WhÄriki. The methodology included a brief content analysis of both Te WhÄriki and the NZC in relation to relevant knowledge areas and skills for the development of an AoL, as well as interviews of three participants to provide empirical data. From the participant data, four key themes emerged: support from parents; need for practical aspects within the curriculum(s); post-secondary school guidance; and positive working experiences. The overall findings suggest that Te WhÄriki places a large emphasis on the relationships between kaiako, whÄnau and tamariki, relating to theme one. It was also found that the NZC could provide more opportunities for practical life skills to be included in the curriculum, as well as providing clearer instruction on how to implement effective careers education and other knowledge areas and thinking skills relevant for students to develop their own art of living.Item Open Access Turou hawaiki: Morning karakia and waiata as culturally responsive pedagogy(The University of Queensland, 2023) Karaka-Clarke, T H; Ratima, Matiu Tai; Stevens, Susannah; Motu, E; Watson, MThis article presents the findings of a qualitative case study on voluntary participation in morning karakia (incantation, prayer) and waiata (song) sessions, led by a group of teacher educators. This study is informed by a selective review of literature from three relevant sources: the impact of music therapy practices, culturally responsive pedagogy, and the normalisation of te reo MÄori (MÄori language) and tikanga MÄori (MÄori protocols and customs). This approach to the literature review was necessary given the paucity of research on the impact of indigenous cultural practices such as karakia and waiata in mainstream cultural contexts. Through thematic analysis of a survey questionnaire (N = 65) and semi-structured interviews (n = 9), findings showed that participants experienced an improved sense of wellbeing, an increased feeling of whanaungatanga (relationships and belonging) and greater confidence in engaging with MÄori culture. This study could be considered a catalyst for additional research into the practice of daily karakia and waiata in educational or professional contexts to better understand the long-term effects on wellbeing and on cultural competence and confidence.Item Open Access Refugee young people (re)forming identities: The role of social networks(2019) Langat , Kiprono; Major , Jae; Wilkinson , JaneEducational contexts around the world are increasingly characterized by diversity, including a rise in students from refugee backgrounds. Much research has focused on the educational needs of these students and the particular struggles they experience in educational contexts. The increasing number of refugee and asylum seeking children in Australia calls for rethinking approaches to enhance the acculturation process in ways that build on individualsâ prior knowledge and understanding of self. This paper draws on data from a larger case study that focused on Sudanese young people in regional Australia and investigated their out-of-school activities, networks, and practices and how these contributed to their success across a range of contexts. Drawing on perspectives of identity and theories of social capital, we discuss the role of social networks in generating social capital and what this means in terms of the (re)formation of studentsâ identities in regional locations, and we consider how this can contribute to educational success. We suggest that the resources in regional areas present both a challenge and an opportunity for young former-refugee people in terms of repositioning themselves in new social, cultural, and educational contexts. The paper examines how the young people developed their own momentum, rationality, and legitimacy in their identity (re)formation, and suggests that educational settings need to connect with and understand young peopleâs out-of-school resources to avoid deficit narratives that lead to poor educational outcomes.Item Open Access Pedagogical Innovation in Higher Education(IGI Global, 2020) Major, Jae; Tait-McCutcheon , Sandi Lynne; Averill, Robin; Wood, Amanda; Knewstubb , Bernadette; Mortlock, Anita; Jones , LizQuality teaching in higher education (HE) is gaining increasing international attention and pedagogical innovation is seen as an important construct of quality teaching. The drivers for pedagogical innovation include the need for 21st century skills and understandings, student demographics and empowerment, technological advances, and a turn to teaching in HE. Defining innovative pedagogies is a recurring challenge in the literature and a key focus of this article. Using an investigation into innovative approaches to teaching and learning at one New Zealand university, prevailing themes of newness, benefit, and student outcomes are discussed to develop a working definition. What is missing from the discourses and definitions is specific consideration of the influence of context on what counts as pedagogical innovation. In light of this, the authors offer an emergent definition of pedagogical innovation in higher education.Item Open Access Divorce discourse as a kinship resource in lesbian known donor reproduction: âThe dad has bubba on the weekendâ(Informa UK Limited, 2023) Surtees, NicolaAssisted conception practices contribute to an increasingly complex relational landscape. This article draws from a qualitative study that investigated narratives about the negotiation of relatedness in lesbian known donor reproduction in Aotearoa New Zealand. Twenty-six interviews, with 60 adults, across 21 lesbian known donor familial configurations at different stages of forming family through known donor insemination were conducted. The article demonstrates how parties using this form of insemination â lesbian couples, known donors and known donor partners â invoke divorce discourse as a kinship resource. The families these women and men were creating or had already established were the product of deliberate pre-conception planning rather than the result of separation or divorce following the breakdown of an intimate relationship. Nevertheless, divorce discourse supported them to make sense of possibilities for the kin status and place of known donors and their partners within the kinship structures put around children given they have no obvious place within these structures. The article argues the use of divorce conventions serves to both disrupt and uphold traditional parenting discourses and practices.Item Open Access Working with complexity: Leading school networks in Aotearoa New Zealand and England(SAGE Publications, 2022) Greany T; Kamp, AnneliesInter-school networks have been promoted in many school systems globally to facilitate: knowledge generation and dissemination; responsiveness to increasingly diverse student and societal needs; and emotional and practical peer support for educational professionals. In understanding contemporary education as a âwickedâ problem, this paper explores case studies of inter-school networks in Aotearoa New Zealand (New Zealand) and England through the lens of complexity theory. We focus on how the conditions necessary for complex emergence identified by Davis and Sumara operate and how these conditions, along with their âenabling constraintsâ, facilitate the emergence of new perspectives and practices that enable the achievement of network objectives. This analysis indicates that where particular forms of leadership are in place, challenges â such as fragmentation, competition and the absence of social capital â can be overcome. We argue that network leaders need to balance and bridge three overlapping leadership approaches: operational leadership, entrepreneurial leadership and enabling leadership. We conclude by exploring the implications and insights for school, network and system leaders.Item Open Access The Evolution of an Innovative Online Task to Monitor Children's Oral Narrative Development(Frontiers Media SA, 2022) Kopach A; Scott, Amy; Gillon, Gail; McNeill, BrigidOral narrative abilities are an important measure of children's language competency and have predictive value for children's later academic performance. Research and development underway in New Zealand is advancing an innovative online oral narrative task. This task uses audio recordings of children's story retells, speech-to-text software and language analysis to record, transcribe, analyse and present oral narrative and listening comprehension data back to class teachers. The task has been designed for class teachers' use with the support of SLP or literacy specialists in data interpretation. Teachers are upskilled and supported in order to interpret these data and implement teaching practices for students through online professional learning and development modules, within the context of a broader evidence-based approach to early literacy instruction. This article describes the development of this innovative, culturally relevant, online tool for monitoring children's oral narrative ability and listening comprehension in their first year of school. Three phases of development are outlined, showing the progression of the tool from a researcher-administered task during controlled research trials, to wide-scale implementation with thousands of students throughout New Zealand. The current iteration of the tool uses an automatic speech-recognition system with specifically trained transcription models and support from research assistants to check transcription, then code and analyse the oral narrative. This reduces transcription and analysis time to ~7 min, with a word error rate of around 20%. Future development plans to increase the accuracy of automatic transcription and embed basic language analysis into the tool, with the aim of removing the need for support from research assistants.Item Open Access Giftedness and infancy/toddlerhood: A Foucauldian analysis of discursive constructions(Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented, Ltd., 2023) Delaune, AndreaThis conceptual research study examines the discursive constructions of giftedness, infancy/toddlerhood, and economics/neoliberalism to consider their implications in gifted education. This analysis is undertaken from a Foucauldian perspective and draws from concepts such as power/knowledge, discourses, disciplines, and power relationships to illustrate how these shape individuals within the gifted education milieu. Through an analysis of the layering of discourses, and the multiple subject positions which gifted infants/toddlers experience their formation of identity(ies), the reader is presented with opportunities to examine normative and alternate understandings of power/knowledge arrangements and reconsider the subjectivity of giftedness/infancy/toddlerhood anew. A further layering of economic discourses follows to expand the discussion and consider the gifted infant/toddler within wider social and political networks of power. This subsequent layering invites the reader to reconsider the discursive positioning of the gifted infant/toddler within wider discussions of equity and social justice. A final summation is offered to consider the possibilities of further post-structural analyses to extend rethinking giftedness through other theoretical concepts.Item Open Access Space for you and your baby: Participant perceptions of community-based postnatal parenting support and adjustment to parenthood(2022) Amersfoort L-M; Friesen, MyronSpace for You and Your Baby is a preventative support programme for new parents based on the Australian supported playgroup model. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Space is provided to approximately 2000 participants each year but has never been formally evaluated. This study employed a cross-sectional retrospective research design and examined why new parents attend Space and how Space contributed to their adjustment to parenthood. Over 500 current and former participants completed a mixed-methods survey. The results showed that participants were primarily motivated to attend Space for social support and highly endorsed the programme across all of the targeted outcomes. Facilitator competency moderated these generally positive findings. The results have implications for facilitator training, community partnerships, and point to opportunities for further evaluation research.Item Open Access The impact of student self-disclosure on the stress and wellbeing of tertiary educators during the COVID-19 pandemic(2023) Dutton, Hilary; Sotardi, ValerieWorkplace stress, burnout, and fatigue are commonplace amongst tertiary educators, and are compounded by the ongoing challenges of teaching and learning during a global pandemic. Amid efforts to identify and understand contributors to educator stress, student-teacher interactions have received relatively little attention. However, educators are often expected to engage in pastoral care when students disclose academic and personal problems. Receiving and responding to self-disclosure can be emotionally taxing, particularly in professional contexts of care, and therefore contribute to educator experiences of stress and burnout. In this study, we examined the relations between student self-disclosure and educator stress and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. Almost all of the 318 tertiary educators received COVID-19 related disclosures from students. Findings show that educators whose students had shared personal problems during COVID-19 were more likely to report high stress and poor wellbeing.Such communication was also associated with higher rates of workplace presenteeism, suggesting that these teachers were likely to push themselves to a level that risks illness. Fortunately, these negative impacts were ameliorated when educators also reported a sense of support in the workplace. The implications for educators and tertiary institutions are discussed, including the provision of educator training and well-resourced student support services.Item Open Access A better start literacy approach: effectiveness of Tier 1 and Tier 2 support within a response to teaching framework(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2022) Gillon, Gail; McNeill, Brigid; Scott, Amy; Arrow, Alison; Gath, Megan; Macfarlane, AngusThe Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) is a strengths-based approach to supporting childrenâs literacy learning in their first year of school. Previous research has shown the approach is effective at accelerating foundational literacy knowledge in children with lower levels of oral language. This study examined the impact of the BSLA for children with varied language profiles and across schools from diverse socioeconomic communities. Additionally, a controlled analysis of the impact of Tier 2 teaching within a response to teaching framework was undertaken. Participants included 402 five-year-old children from 14 schools in New Zealand. A randomised delayed treatment design was utilised to establish the effect of Tier 1 teaching. Analyses showed a significant Tier 1 intervention effect for phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge, non-word reading and non-word spelling. There was no difference in intervention effects across socioeconomic groupings. Children were identified for Tier 2 teaching after 10 weeks of Tier 1 implementation. The progress of 98 children in response to Tier 2 teaching was compared to 26 children who met Tier 2 criteria but received only Tier 1 teaching within this study. Children in the Tier 2 group scored significantly higher on phonological awareness, non-word reading, and spelling than the control group at the post-Tier 2 assessment point, after controlling for pre-Tier 2 scores. The results suggest that a proactive strengths-based approach to supporting foundational literacy learning in childrenâs first year of school benefits all learners. The findings have important implications for early provision of literacy learning support in order to reduce current inequities in literacy outcomes.Item Open Access On Institutional Belongingness and Academic Performance: Mediating Effects of Social Self-Efficacy and Metacognitive Strategies(2022) Sotardi, ValerieEducational researchers have provided evidence that students who see themselves as valued members of their university (institutional belongingness) tend to have higher academic performance than students with a weaker sense of institutional belongingness. The current research draws on social cognitive theory to inspect two mechanisms that might explain this correlation: social self-efficacy and metacognitive strategies. We tested a double-mediation model with a large sample of students (n = 1,480) from one higher education institution in New Zealand. Using structural equation modeling, social self-efficacy and metacognitive strategies were meaningful contributors to the relation between institutional belongingness and Grade Point Average (GPA). Our discussion focuses on how universities can design strategies that promote belongingness and, in turn, improve how students interact, learn, and perform.Item Open Access Can the architecture of a school influence learning? What do student teachers think?(NZARE, 2022) Everatt J; Fletcher, Jo