Education: Theses and Dissertations

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Open Access
Investigating the effectiveness of a morphology-infused literacy intervention on Year 5 and 6 students with literacy learning difficulties
(2024) Ladbrook, Steve
Research has shown that there is a relationship between literacy and psychosocial outcomes. The aim of the current research was to determine the effects of a morphology-based literacy intervention on general literacy and writing skills, as well as to determine if the intervention would result in improvements in psychosocial development, including self-esteem, self-efficacy, and resilience. To achieve this, 13 students with learning difficulties, from Year 5 and 6, participated in an intensive literacy intervention that focused on morphology, phonology, vocabulary, and sentence construction. The results and analysis showed significant improvement in most literacy and writing measures, as well as positive and modest improvements in most psychosocial aspects, with greater improvements in ASE and social interaction. Pearson correlations revealed complex and varying links between literacy and psychosocial outcomes. The findings suggest that a morphology-based literacy intervention can have a positive impact on both literacy and psychosocial outcomes, and that students in Year 5 and 6 with literacy difficulties can benefit from such interventions.
Open Access
Exploring the teaching of writing through the self-regulated strategy development approach in years 5-8 classrooms.
(2023) Gilmore, Fiona
Writing research has been relatively scarce and small in scale in NZ, and the most recent writing achievement data shows by the time students reach Year 8, achievement rates have dropped or at best remained static. Despite research identifying indicators of effective writing teaching practices, there appears to be growing uncertainty for teachers about their role in the teaching of writing at Years 5-8. This study explores the influence of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) approach and specifically the use of REVISE strategy. Previous research has mostly focussed on using small numbers of students with learning difficulties and completed in controlled settings implemented by trained external facilitators. In contrast this study used purposive sampling to select eight teachers from four schools, who received Professional Learning Development (PLD) so they could implement SRSD/REVISE over a ten-week period. Schools were grouped into two Case Studies, forming the units of analysis. Case Study A consisted of three year 7/8 and one year 5/6 classes, while Case Study B were all Year 5/6. Using a mixed methods convergent research design, quantitative data was gathered to establish the influence on student writing achievement (overall writing effectiveness and number of revisions) using a writing task and a student attitudinal questionnaire. Student and teacher perspectives of the enactment of SRSD/REVISE were collected by using individual teacher interviews and student groups were used to obtain qualitative data. All data was collected concurrently at three time points throughout the course of the study and used to establish the influence of SRSD/REVISE immediately after enactment and maintenance (three months after). Quantitative analysis of the writing tasks used the t-test for non-independent (paired) groups as students were not randomly assigned. The student questionnaire was analysed using frequency of responses to identify patterns or trends. A thematic analysis approach was used to guide the qualitative data analysis. Joint display analysis was used to integrate all data and was grouped using the following headings: Knowledge of the Student Writer; Knowledge of the Writing Process; Knowledge of the Teaching of Writing and Influences of Enactment: Constraints and Enablers. Findings identified that enactment of SRSD/REVISE influenced writing achievement measures, although improved outcomes took longer to show for the older students. The use of the SRSD/REVISE approach enabled teachers to implement modelling using a variety of self-instructions while providing the mechanism to introduce and sustain peer conferencing and individualised goals. The REVISE writing strategy enabled students to actively revise their writing throughout the writing process. School based PLD facilitation throughout enactment supported teacher implementation of SRSD/REVISE. This allowed the facilitator to model, collaboratively plan, introduce writing strategies, and clarify implementation. Results from the teacher and student data indicate that teaching practices promoted student writing self-regulation behaviours, and enabled teachers to utilise effective writing approaches and instructional strategies.
Open Access
Facing the future : developing innovative learning environments in secondary English classrooms.
(2024) Connor, Lynne
Future-focused education has been a concern of jurisdictions around the world since the closing decades of the twentieth century. The shift in educational paradigms has led to a dismantling of the standardisation of the industrial era, to embrace an educational approach that is more concerned with flexibility, adaptation and choice, with the premise that this will better equip students to face an uncertain future. In New Zealand, as well as many other countries, this process of change has been accompanied by a renewed interest in school building design, with policy specifically emphasising the development of flexible learning spaces. Through deliberate design choices, flexible learning spaces are intended to promote student-centred and collaborative teaching practice, creating an innovative learning environment which is adaptable and future-focused. Through the lens of Lefebvre’s spatial triad of conceived, perceived and lived space and the methodological sensitivity of actor-network theory, this thesis focused on the work of seven English teachers working within flexible learning spaces in one New Zealand secondary school. Using ethnographic methods of classroom observation, interviews and document analysis, the research aimed to explore the ways in which the innovative learning environment was envisaged and enacted, and to identify factors which supported or limited the enactment of the innovative learning environment vision. By adopting actor-network theory, I shifted the focus on teachers as agents of pedagogical change to consider the ways in which non-human actors also contributed to the existence of an innovative learning environment. By examining and critiquing the common elements of the future-focused educational discourse, as well as considering the participants’ interpretations of space and the affordances of the New Zealand curriculum, a more holistic vision of future-focused education emerged. This vision moved beyond a focus on the development of employment-related skills to include ideas around social responsibility and personal fulfilment, and encompassed what the participants hoped to achieve within the innovative learning environment. However, this vision was not always enacted in the everyday reality of classroom practice. Adopting actor-network theory to understand how conceived, perceived and lived space were constructed highlighted that multiple conceived versions of space existed, and these competed for dominance as teachers interpreted the space. Analysis of the actors involved in these conceptions revealed that, while the same physical elements of the spatial design contributed to each conception, invisible policy actors differed and influenced the ways in which the design elements were perceived. Therefore, the lived experience of the space depended on which policy actors were dominant at particular moments. Overall, the thesis highlights the multiplicity of innovative learning environments, confirming that the existence of flexible learning spaces alone does not lead to sustained pedagogical change. Instead, innovative learning environments exist in various forms, some of which are more aligned with the conceived vision than others. However, in order to more fully enact the conceived vision of an innovative learning environment, there is a need for teachers, as well as architects and policy makers to develop greater awareness of the unintended consequences of various actors and their interactions.
Open Access
Understanding the capabilities of marginalised students within the context of teacher training programmes in rural Nepal and Kathmandu.
(2023) Thapa, Eurica
Agency and structure have a symbiotic relationship. As agency is not created in a vacuum, an analysis of structure sheds light on understanding a person’s agency better. Drawing on the capability approach and employing concepts from Bourdieu, such as habitus, and forms of capital and field, this study explored the capabilities, functioning and obstacles of marginalised students in the mountainous region of rural Nepal and Kathmandu. Within a broader context of a teacher training programme, teachers’ and education development officers’ perspectives of students’ capabilities were compared with students’ own perceptions of their capabilities. The influence of Western, rights-based neoliberal policies are problematic in Nepal as they do not relate to the unique cultural set-up of Nepal. While this problem has received significant attention in the literature, there is little empirical research of whether marginalised primary and secondary school students’ capabilities are enhanced or diminished by trained teachers in Nepal. That was the focus of this study. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with primary and secondary school students, teachers and education development officers. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The study found that students taught by trained teachers did not experience a learner-centred education. Students’ social, economic and cultural capital played a role in how their teachers perceived them and how students perceived their teachers. The study highlighted the need for teacher training programmes in Nepal to be robust and train teachers to reflect on their habitus and worldview. This would enable them to understand caste-based discrimination and to intervene in school-based corporal punishment. It was recommended that further empirical studies be conducted in different regions of Nepal to highlight the factors that enhance students’ capabilities and can inform educational policy in Nepal.
Open Access
Newly qualified technology teachers : is there a connection between their prior experiences and their classroom-based formative assessment practices?
(2024) de Boo, Ceri
Significant changes are taking place in New Zealand secondary schools. The assessments used for NCEA Level 1 have been redeveloped and the New Zealand Curriculum is under review. To be able to apply the NCEA assessments Materials Technology teachers require versatile knowledge. This research investigates the place of teacher accumulated prior knowledge (APK) in formative assessment practices within the Materials Technology classroom. In addition, this study investigates what professional learning and development (PLD) is needed for newly qualified career changer teachers who have recently completed an initial teacher education programme. The literature from a New Zealand context refers generally to the specific skills and knowledge required for Materials Technology education but is not state in a meaningful way what APK is required. Within international literature, specific aspects of APK, formative assessment practices, and professional learning and development needs are discussed. To investigate the problem, from the participants’ perspectives, an interpretivist worldview was used as the theoretical framework. The methodological approach was an exploratory case study, which enabled the participants to share their lived experiences in order for the study to answer the research questions. Six participants were purposively recruited. Semi-structured interviews were used to find out their perceptions about, the role of their APK in the MT classroom, their experiences with formative assessment, and their views on their future PLD needs. The data was collated through a process of coding, and then analysed to identify the key findings. This study has three main findings; the accumulated prior knowledge of career changer MT teachers means they are well positioned to meet the requirements of NCEA assessment practices, participant understanding of formative assessment, and PLD needs for MT teachers. These findings generated a model for the development of newly qualified career changer MT teachers’ knowledge, which has implications for PLD, NCEA assessment capabilities, and initial teacher education.
Open Access
Mourning as an open-ended kin-making encounter : (re)storying multispecies lives and deaths through Daoist philosophy and Haraway’s ideas.
(2024) Bae, Shil
Drawing from Haraway, Daoist philosophy, de-colonising studies, affect theory, and feminist new materialist theories, this thesis engages with a sustained and thoughtful mourning practice and elaborates on what this mode of mourning practice teaches us about the rich and complex material-semiotic realities of interdependent multispecies lives and deaths on Earth. This multispecies autoethnographic study inhabits the time and space of mourning as an ongoing and relational kin-making encounter (Haraway, 2008) where a more ethical and convivial mode of thinking and becoming with morethan- human kin may emerge. Applying concept as method (Jackson, 2017; Mazzei, 2017), a post-qualitative research method, this project enters and stays with/in the mourning process, (re)configuring the dualistic divide between the dead/living, subject/object, human/animal, virtual/actual, knower/to be known, and past/present as a contact zone (Haraway, 2008) where different modes of being and knowing intra-act (Barad, 2007). As a means to think beyond the human-centric knowledge system that privileges the logical gaze of the Sovereign human philosopher ‘I/eye’, this thesis works with Haraway’s concept of SF, Daoist philosophical fables, and the Korean mythical trope of Kumiho (the nine-tailed fox lady), (re)claiming storytelling as a political, ethico-onto-epistemological (Barad, 2007) multispecies kin-making practice (Haraway, 2004; Tallbear, 2007). Thinking with both personal and wider loss/suffering, local (Aotearoa New Zealand) and global, human and non-human, past, present and future, and East and West, this project (re)stories mourning as a relational, ethical, embodied, and transformative process to become with multispecies lives and deaths.
Open Access
Exploring secondary teachers’ experiences of collaboration in open plan learning spaces
(2024) Taylor, Megan
Following shifts in education policy and ideology, school buildings in Aotearoa New Zealand have in recent years been built and refurbished in line with principles of connectedness and flexibility. Also called innovative or flexible learning environments, the new large, open learning spaces call for teachers to work collaboratively with larger cohorts of students. This represents a significant disruption to established teacher practice, particularly in the secondary school sector, where teachers have traditionally been subject specialists teaching a range of classes and year levels. This thesis sheds light into a blind spot in the literature base, by exploring the secondary teacher experience of teaching collaboratively in open, shared teaching and learning spaces. The research approach includes both theoretical and empirical elements. A conceptual model is proposed, locating the collaborative teaching experience within a complex ecology, where socio-cultural, spatial and organisational factors have both constraining and enabling effects on collaboration. Five cases of teacher collaboration across two secondary school sites were explored through a multi-site, phenomenological, interpretative case study. Data, sourced primarily from interviews, were analysed thematically, through an iterative, largely inductive process. The intrinsic qualities of each case are described and themes across the cases are elaborated. Teachers’ social and spatial practices are discussed in relation to Lefebvre’s (1974/1991) spatial triad and Giddens’ (1984) theory of structuration, illuminating the ways in which teachers who work collaboratively in open learning spaces both shape, and are shaped by their environments. The findings of the study show that the complexities of enacting collaborative teaching in secondary schools are not captured in the existing conceptualisations of teacher collaboration available in the literature. Neither are they well accounted for in Ministry of Education policies and support materials. While teachers enjoy working collaboratively with colleagues and perceive it to infer a number of benefits, they also face some significant tensions and challenges. Those working in multiple collaborative teams carried a relational burden associated with huge student numbers and diverse, complex working relationships with colleagues. The large learning spaces were busy social environments where teachers found it difficult to respond to and manage challenging student behaviours in ways that maintained a positive environment conducive to learning. Furthermore, findings highlight a misalignment between notions of flexibility. While building policy has focused on the physical flexibility of learning spaces, teacher participants placed more value on pedagogical flexibility. The thesis makes a theoretical and empirical contribution to the field of research into innovative learning environments and argues that to realise the potential of collaborative teaching in secondary schools, spatial, socio-cultural and organisational factors all need to align. Drawing on the findings, a number of implications are identified which have relevance for secondary school organisation and learning space design.
Open Access
Exploring teaching practices that support ELLs (English Language Learners) in developing their english proficiency.
(2024) Phan, Hoa Thi Thanh
Acquiring proficiency in an additional language is a complex process influenced by numerous factors. Of these, teaching practices in the classroom context are the most critical factors that directly impact language learners. The present study aims to explore teaching practices that support English Language Learners (ELLs) in developing their English proficiency from the perspectives of students. A qualitative research design using a case study, the aim of this research was to gain insights and perspectives from students on teaching practices that benefit their English proficiency. The present research constituted a small-scale investigation that explored the experiences of five high-school English language learners who were migrants and attended an Englishmedium secondary school situated in rural Canterbury. The research design incorporated interviews with five teachers to supplement the students' responses and provide a more comprehensive picture of the research questions. The study group was selected based on a voluntary basis. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews that focused on the students' experiences. Data was analysed using NVivo qualitative data analysis program. The analysis generated themes that described the students' experiences concerning their studies at an English-medium school and their perspectives on effective teaching practices that enhanced their English development. The results of the study found that teaching practices, namely form-focused and contentfocused teaching combination, differentiated instruction, culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practice, interactive and motivational instruction, and fostering a supportive learning environment, were particularly effective in improving the English proficiency of ELLs. In tandem with these findings, the data analysis also identified a crucial need for teachers to have a deeper understanding of additional language acquisition and to embed teaching strategies that cater to the needs of ELLs. The knowledge of form-focused and content-based language teaching in mainstream classes is crucial in teaching ELLs. This indicates the importance of close collaboration between ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and mainstream teachers in constructing effective teaching practices that cater to the unique needs of ELLs. Additionally, grouping ELLs based on their appropriate level and abilities for pull-out ESOL lessons can optimise the benefits of teaching practices for students. These findings have significant implications for school administrators and teachers. It is recommended that teachers continuously receive professional development to improve their knowledge and understanding of second language acquisition. Additionally, administrators should establish a structured and systematic framework to assist teachers in implementing effective teaching practices that cater to the needs of ELLs.
Open Access
Japanese junior high school teachers’ perspectives on teaching English as a foreign language.
(2024) Tomita, Hanako
How do language teachers position grammar instruction and interaction in their teaching? This study postulated that, in a context where a communicative approach to language teaching is promoted over a structuralist/behaviourist approach, teacher perception of grammar instruction and interaction might be where the tension between the two approaches would surface. Exploration in this scope is relevant in Japan, where it has been twenty years since an action plan to nurture the national communicative skills in English was announced by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in 2003. The action plan prescribed the incorporation of learner-centred interactive teaching approaches, and the principles of the action plan continue to be enacted in the present Japanese national curriculum standards of junior and senior high schools (MEXT, 2017a; MEXT, 2018). Yet statistics indicate that Japanese students struggle in expressing themselves in writing and speaking (MEXT, 2019; MEXT, 2022). This study focused in on teacher perception on grammar instruction because extant literature suggests that language teachers hold persistent belief in transmitting explicit grammar rules for students’ deductive application, when research indicates that consciously attained explicit knowledge does not equate to language proficiency (Krashen & Terrell, 1983). Furthermore, the current study enquired into teacher views on interaction and bilingualism. Not only must teachers balance grammar instruction with dialogic activities, but their views of students as potential bi-/multilingual speakers might impact how they design a lesson. Based on a constructionist epistemology, relativism ontology, and a theoretical underpinning of Blumer’s (1969) symbolic interactionism, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 Japanese junior high school English-language teachers. A thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) on the collected data demonstrated that teacher perceptions regarding grammar instruction, interaction, and bi-/multilingualism were varied, depicting fluidity and uncertainty around pedagogical choices among the participant teachers, but a tendency toward communicative language teaching and scepticism toward monolingual instruction. I conclude that more theory-based discussions would lead to teacher confidence in their practice.
Open Access
More than just results! Leadership actions for effective use of assessment information
(2024) McKenzie, Dean
The New Zealand Ministry of Education expects secondary schools to make effective use of assessment information (Ministry of Education, 2011) to guide student learning and achievement. This expectation is not unique to New Zealand. The quest for more effective data use in schools has been growing in popularity throughout the globe. My study investigates how New Zealand secondary schools are responding to the challenge of using data from the New Zealand Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) to shape their teaching and learning strategies. A pragmatist paradigm is applied to my study. This includes a mixing of both qualitative and quantitative research methods including a national online survey and semi-structured interviews. This required a form of paradigmatic pluralism, a mixing of both qualitative and quantitative methods, achieved by engaging in an explanatory sequential mixed method research design. This approach enabled a broad view of the landscape of assessment information use across a wide range of New Zealand schools. This is then followed by a narrowing of focus to explore the process of assessment information use in greater detail by focussing on a small number of case study schools. The findings reveal inconsistent use of NCEA assessment information and considerable frustration and dissatisfaction from school leaders and teachers. Challenges such as data literacy, the tension between accountability and professional development, and capacity to engage with NCEA assessment information are interrogated. The layers of leadership and the impact they have on NCEA assessment information use in New Zealand are also examined. My study aids in expanding understanding of how the process of NCEA assessment use is complex and multifaceted. NCEA assessment information use is perhaps even more complex than the education sector is currently aware. Recommendations are presented to guide practice, including a model to assist school leaders in New Zealand make effective use of NCEA assessment information. This model is built upon the foundation of the DIKW hierarchy and uses data conversation protocols, along with a visual representation of the contributing factors, to show how NCEA assessment information can be transformed from data to actionable wisdom. Although my study is firmly rooted in a local context, the results have implications for the wider challenges that school leaders face in terms of expectations to leverage nationally collected data for enhancing student learning and achievement.
Open Access
Leading the transition to innovative learning environments: insights for and by principals.
(2023) Taylor, Lynda
This thesis examines how two principals have led the transition from teaching and learning in conventional classrooms to teaching and learning in innovative learning environments. Key findings emphasise the link between leadership and learning to ensure the necessary knowledge, conditions, abilities, and skills to maximise student learning. The study applies a qualitative case study approach focusing on two schools. Data are sourced from three interviews with principals and their leadership teams to help understand what helps and hinders the change process. A sample of teachers are interviewed alongside researcher observations, and document analysis at each site. The thesis culminates with a change leadership model using the metaphor of a windmill as a possible scaffold for principals to use for collective buy-in. This model consists of four blades, each highlighting leadership actions to initiate, implement and embed change. These blades revolve around a central hub (the students) emphasising the moral purpose of change initiatives. The complexity of this work necessitates acknowledging the uniqueness of each school when planning actions for change. The metaphor of a windmill is pertinent for principals as leaders of change, responsible for developing actions when responding to the reality of their change contexts (the unexpected winds).
Open Access
Intertwining leadership and change to embed Te Tiriti o Waitangi within a university.
(2023) Brown, Elizabeth Rowellyn
The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (United Nations, 2007) challenged the tertiary education system at a global and individual country level to meet the needs of Indigenous peoples. In New Zealand, the indigenising of education is premised on Te Tiriti o Waitangi | Treaty of Waitangi (hereafter Te Tiriti), the founding partnership document of the nation signed in 1840. The intention of Te Tiriti, as advanced by Matiaha Tiramorehu, a high-ranking rangatira | chief, was that the “white skin would be made just equal with the dark skin” (as cited in Ngāi Tahu, 2005, section 1, Te Kerēme). To give effect to this partnership, all education leaders and managers must develop and foster stronger and more meaningful partnerships with iwi (Indigenous tribes) based on shared aspirations, goals, and outcomes. This relationship should be premised on Te Tiriti, with a recognition that power and authority need to be in balance with a focus on meeting the interests of both. Historically, this has not been the case; Māori interests and aspirations have rarely been met. However, the future can no longer be about one group being dominant over another, nor can it be about compromise by only one group – Māori. Lifting the educational achievement of Māori (the Indigenous people of New Zealand) will help to raise the overall performance of the New Zealand education system, the economy and productivity (Ministry of Education, 2013; Penetito, 2010). Future Māori leaders will need to be skilled in Māori culture and lore, as well as the universal disciplines of science, business, law, and the humanities. Therefore, a significant rationale for a strong Māori presence in higher education is linked to the national benefits likely to accrue from knowledge creation at the interface between indigenous knowledge, science, philosophy, and commerce (Durie, 2009). This case study contributes to our understanding about leading and implementing bicultural change within a university setting and to how a Te Tiriti-based relationship is manifested. Specifically, it examined how the wider institutional context created conditions for change in initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. To date, most research on bicultural change and leadership has tended to focus on the compulsory education sector, with little consideration given to the tertiary sector, particularly universities. This study therefore extends our knowledge base by examining the university sector. In this study, ‘bicultural’ was contextualised as incorporating at least two epistemological traditions; Māori and non-Māori (Penetito, 2010). Addressing this research gap is important, as future teachers within the compulsory education sector develop their pedagogical skills and knowledge and gain their qualifications from the tertiary education sector, whilst also drawing upon their own educational experiences. This study investigated the drivers and mechanisms for bicultural change and leadership within a university, and sought to acknowledge the issues and challenges, opportunities and successes that arose for academic staff as they developed their bicultural competence and confidence. Whilst this research focused on a case of ITE, it is hoped that the findings provide insights for other academic units and other areas of universities more broadly and contribute to the literature on bicultural change and leadership within a tertiary education context.
Open Access
Contributions of working memory and vocabulary to inference making in Chinese children.
(2023) Liu, Yang
The Construction-Integration model has suggested that written discourse comprehension involves the construction of a propositional text base from which an integrated and coherent mental representation or situation model is formed. This requires readers to go beyond written words and sentences and make inferences on the discourse level to form a coherent understanding of the text. Previous research has suggested that individual differences in vocabulary and working memory explain unique variance in inferencing in the English language. However, less well understood is whether these factors play a similar role in inference making in a non-alphabetic orthography, such as Chinese characters. Given the phonological, morphological and orthographic differences between the English and Chinese languages/orthographies, better understanding of the processes that contribute to Chinese inference making is of theoretical and practical importance for Chinese readers. Studies 1 and 2 examined the contributions of vocabulary and working memory to the generation of inferences when reading Chinese texts. In Study 1, Chinese oral vocabulary, working memory (backward digit span, reading span, nonword repetition and backward spatial span) and Chinese inference making measures were administered to 65 Mandarin– speaking children in Grades 5 and 6. The Chinese inference making measure involved children reading narrative and expository passages and answering text-connecting and knowledge-based inferences on the texts. Correlational analyses found that Chinese vocabulary and verbal working memory (Chinese backward digit span, reading span and nonword repetition) were associated with Chinese inference making. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses revealed that Chinese vocabulary and verbal working memory, as measured by the backward digit span task, were found to uniquely predict inference-making scores produced by this cohort. Study 2 further explored the contributions of Chinese vocabulary and verbal working memory to inference making after controlling for the Chinese character word reading ability. Chinese oral vocabulary, character word reading, verbal working memory and inference making measures were administered to 60 children in Grades 5 and 6. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses revealed similar results to Study 1, in that Chinese vocabulary and backward digit span tasks made unique contributions to inference making in this cohort. However, after controlling for character word reading, Chinese vocabulary was not a significant predictor of inference making; Chinese character word reading and backward digit span tasks were found to explain significant variance in inference making. Separate analyses for each grade suggested different patterns: after controlling for character word reading, Chinese vocabulary and backward digit span tasks uniquely predicted inference making in Grade 5, whereas none of the factors was found to predict inference making in Grade 6. Study 3 investigated the contributions of verbal working memory and vocabulary to inference making among a group of Chinese–English bilingual children in Grade 8. The study examined potential influences of first language Chinese predictors on second language English inference making. Fifty-five eighth graders who used Mandarin as their first language and English as a second language completed parallel tests of verbal working memory, vocabulary and inference making in both Chinese and English. Participants performed significantly better in the Chinese measures. Regression analyses revealed that Chinese vocabulary uniquely predicted Chinese inference making but neither English vocabulary nor English verbal working memory predicted English inference making. Cross- language analyses suggested that Chinese vocabulary was a significant predictor of English inference making. The aim of the three studies was to inform theories of inference making in Chinese children and the findings have practical implications to educators in highlighting the importance of nurturing children’s Chinese vocabulary and word reading abilities to facilitate inference making during reading. The findings also suggest that further studies of the phonological and central executive systems of working memory would be useful in determining those factors influencing inferential comprehension, particularly for the Chinese fifth and sixth graders. Furthermore, the finding that Chinese vocabulary knowledge uniquely predicted bilingual eighth graders’ English inferential processing argues for the need to consider first language competency when investigating bilingual reading abilities.
Open Access
Understanding the effects of critical reading skills on reading comprehension among Chinese university English language.
(2023) Quan, Wenxin
Critical reading requires readers to engage in thinking actively about a text, to ask questions when concentrating on the text, and to better comprehend the content and the meaning of the given text (Collins et al., 2018). Although critical reading has been studied among Chinese university English Language Learners’ (ELL) (Li, 2008; Liu & Guo, 2006), there is a paucity of studies on the relationships between critical reading skills and reading comprehension within the same language and across languages (in the case of the current research, Chinese L1 and English L2). This study aims to investigate whether there are relationships between Chinese university ELLs’ reading comprehension and critical reading skills in Chinese or/and English. The study also aims to determine if there is evidence that critical reading skills in one language may support the development of similar skills, or reading comprehension in general, in another language. This study comprised measures of English vocabulary size, English reading comprehension, English critical reading skills, English decoding skills, Chinese reading comprehension and Chinese critical reading skills. All measures were based on those found in the relevant literature on reading, then adapted for the current study before being piloted and revised as necessary. An English Learning Experience Questionnaire was also developed to examine the participants’ use of English outside the English classroom setting. Data for the main study was collected online. The six measures and one questionnaire were completed by 143 Chinese undergraduate students from a public university in China. The findings revealed significant moderate correlations between participants’ critical reading skills and their reading comprehension in both Chinese and English. These correlations were evident among groups of students divided into high and low English reading comprehenders. In addition, there was a significant moderate positive correlation between participants’ Chinese-L1 critical reading and English-L2 reading comprehension but this was identified in the high-level English reading group only. There was also a relationship between critical reading levels in the two languages for this group of students. Regression analyses showed that the English critical reading of the high-level English reading group is predictive of variability in English reading comprehension. A significant level of prediction is maintained after controlling students’ demographic characteristics, English learning experiences, English decoding and English vocabulary, and Chinese reading comprehension and Chinese critical reading. However, the results of the low-level English reading group suggested that the participants’ English critical reading did not explain additional variability in their English reading comprehension after controlling these same variables. For these low-level reading students, their English vocabulary levels was the main predictor of variability in English reading comprehension. Furthermore, Chinese critical reading explained extra variability in Chinese reading comprehension after controlling demographic variables in both reading groups. Also, cross-language regression analyses suggested the data may support an additional influence of Chinese critical reading on participants’ English reading comprehension in the high-level English reading group after controlling demographic and English variables. Finally, the data from the English Learning Experience Questionnaire indicated that participants’ use of English outside classroom settings was limited, particularly for the participants in the low-level English reading group. These findings suggested that the high-level English reading group may rely on both English vocabulary and English critical reading in processing their English reading comprehension. However, the low-level English reading group may rely more on English vocabulary in processing English texts rather than English critical reading. In addition, the findings of the high-level English reading group may support an additional influence of Chinese critical reading on their English reading comprehension after controlling demographic and English variables. These findings have both theoretical and educational implications, which are discussed in this thesis.
Open Access
Examination of the effectiveness and fidelity of a parent-led emergent literacy intervention.
(2023) Morton-Turner, F. L.
Emergent Literacy (EL) encompasses the foundational early literacy related skills required for later formal literacy success. Given the importance of EL knowledge, establishing efforts to successfully enhance children’s EL development is an important avenue by which literacy outcomes for all New Zealand children may be improved. Parents play a critical role in the development of children’s EL knowledge and parent-led interventions have been identified as an important context for building children’s foundational skills. However, one limitation of parent-led EL approaches is relatively low intervention fidelity rates, which likely weakens children’s response to the intervention. In this thesis, a series of studies addressing the need to develop and trial a parent-led EL for the New Zealand context is presented, considering the impacts of various techniques designed to enhance fidelity in the delivery of the intervention. The first study utilises a descriptive design to describe the EL skills, oral language skills, and Home Literacy Environments of 118 3- and 4-year-old children attending early childhood education centres in Aotearoa New Zealand. Analysis of the obtained results indicates a relative strength in oral language and some needs in printbased EL knowledge. Most children came from well-resourced HLE. The second study explores the effectiveness of a new shared reading intervention, called Sit Together And Read New Zealand. A controlled pre-test/posttest research design was utilised to measure the impact of the 16-week intervention in supporting families to develop children’s EL skills and to strengthen their HLEs. The findings demonstrate that the intervention was effective in supporting the development of children’s CAP knowledge. This intervention effect was also observed for children with lower oral language levels within the sample. However, no effect was found with respect to the other measures. The impact of parental fidelity on the development of EL knowledge in children was also examined. The results showed that half of the parents implemented the programme with high levels of fidelity, while the remainder implemented it with a medium or low level of fidelity. The analysis indicated that there was no relationship between parental fidelity to the intervention and children’s outcomes in the PWPA (Justice & Ezell, 2001) assessment task. The third study involves a comparison of the implementation fidelity of three behaviour modification conditions designed to support parents in overcoming potential existing barriers to implementing STAR-NZ with fidelity. Parents were randomly assigned to receive either weekly coaching, praise/feedback, a financial reward ($10 supermarket voucher), or to the control condition. Through analysis of parental fidelity across the four intervention conditions, it was found that parents assigned to the financial remuneration and praise/feedback intervention condition adhered to the STAR-NZ programme with a high level of fidelity (i.e., between 80– 100%), parents assigned to the standard condition (i.e., control) adhered to the programme with medium fidelity (60%–79%), and parents assigned to the coaching condition adhered to the programme with low fidelity (<59%). Further analysis indicates that the impact of the intervention on children’s CAP knowledge was stronger under the praise/feedback condition, compared to the financial and coaching conditions. The high fidelity rates for the praise/feedback condition, alongside the strong growth in CAP scores, suggest that this is the most effective method for supporting parental fidelity regarding the STAR-NZ intervention. The fourth study provides a detailed analysis of two case studies of participants who responded strongly to the STAR-NZ intervention, in order to understand potential facilitators of success. Child factors (oral language status), parental factors (intervention condition), and educational factors (support from the early childhood centre) were identified as factors contributing to delivery of the intervention with high fidelity. Survey data from the teachers of the case study children allowed for identification of areas to strengthen in future use of the research intervention. The findings of this thesis have important implications for the development and implementation of parent-led EL interventions within the New Zealand context. The difference in effectiveness of the various techniques used to support fidelity in this study, compared to the American literature, also indicates the need to examine facilitators and barriers to implementation of evidence-based research within the context in which it will be delivered.
Open Access
Fostering student agency in a maths classroom: a qualitative practitioner study.
(2023) Mitchell, Tracey
This thesis explores and problematises student agency in a New Zealand primary maths classroom. Although the term is widely used, the concept of student agency is less understood and definitions vary. There is an urgency for a common definition of student agency in maths to realise its potential for learners. This research focuses on understanding how student agency can be fostered during collaborative maths challenge lessons in a typical classroom from a teacher-researcher perspective. Student agency is explored through the experiences of twenty-five students using a qualitative case study design. The main data sources were participant observations, focus group interviews (using stimulated recall) and student agency reflections written by the students. Data were collected during 11 maths lessons, over a 9-month period and analysed using a thematic analysis process. The students exercised influence and control in the maths lessons by making many choices. The justifications for their decisions included personal learning orientations, maths learning intentions and intentions to fulfil the classroom norms. Thinking and talking about mathematical choices supported the students to become more aware of their decisions and actions in future maths lessons. My findings highlight the conditions necessary to foster agency in maths. These findings pertain to deliberate teacher strategies. The first is paying attention to learner intentions associated with social relationships and maths choices. The second relates to planning and setting up the mathematical task, the lesson structure and routines, and the establishment of a maths learning community to reinforce student agency. The remaining finding is about teacher responsiveness and in-the-moment encounters with students to further their agency. Within this context, examples include the encouragement of talk for maths sense-making, students’ sense of belonging and the co-construction of classroom norms. This study contributes to the understanding of the concept of student agency in the maths classroom. It demonstrates possible actions by classroom teachers to create the conditions for student agency and students’ responses through the choice of maths methods, representations and equipment.
Open Access
Critiquing a neoliberal conceptualisation of education, and envisioning a compassionate alternative.
(2023) Joy, Robert
This thesis utilises existing literature to critique the ongoing influence of neoliberal policies on education. It investigates how they conceptualise the roles of students, teachers, educational institutes, and the part this plays in reinforcing neoliberal ideals. These ideals include the elevation of the economy, and the promotion of individualism and competition. It argues that a focus on neoliberal ideologies leads to the ignoring, or de-valuing, of aspects of education which can help create more well-rounded individuals. Furthermore, it contends that educational spaces, and their outcomes, can be particularly problematic for subjects, and groups, whose identities do not align with neoliberal tenets. The argument is made that many of the outcomes of neoliberal education systems are negative, even for those who appear to be benefiting. The thesis points to issues which include increased inequality, and environmental destruction, as consequences of neoliberal education. The role education plays in shaping subjectivity, and therefore informing behaviour, is discussed. Then, the possibility of an end to neoliberalism as the dominant political and economic theory is explored. The case is made for education systems with reduced political influence. Finally, drawing on the work of Arthur Schopenhauer, a critique of the stimulation of egoism caused by neoliberalism is offered, alongside an argument for education based on a philosophy of compassion.
Open Access
Inclusive practice in mathematics : the influence of policy and assessment on teaching mathematics in New Zealand primary schools.
(2023) Roberts, Heidi
Since early 2000, the inclusiveness of mathematics teaching in New Zealand has become a much-debated topic. Both international (Boaler, 1997, 2008; Larkin & Jorgensen, 2016; Marks, 2013; Tereshchenko et al., 2019) and national studies (Anthony & Walshaw, 2009; Hunter et al., 2019; Hunter, 2010) have examined the teaching and learning of mathematics and found that some teaching practices can promote or prevent student access to, and engagement in learning, mathematics. This study explores how policy, assessment, and differentiated teaching practice can influence mathematics learning in New Zealand primary schools. This study was a qualitative multiple-case study involving three New Zealand primary school teachers, their students, and school curriculum leaders. By drawing on symbolic interactionism, this study considered how teacher interactions with factors such as policy, school curricula, and assessment might influence how teachers determine what mathematical content they will teach and how they facilitate student access to and engagement with learning mathematics. The findings of this study provide insights into how mathematics is represented within New Zealand primary schools and how this representation can influence how teachers teach mathematics. Analysis of three educational policies, the New Zealand Curriculum, the Numeracy Development Project, and the Mathematics Standards, suggest that mathematics is structured horizontally (by content) and vertically (by level, stage, or year group). The vertical organisation of mathematical content within policy and participating school curricula suggests a model in which students learn mathematics by building on previously taught mathematical ideas that they must know before moving on to more complex mathematical concepts. Additionally, analysis of participating school curricula and assessment expectations combined with educational policy suggests an over-representation of the number content area compared with the other content areas such as algebra, statistics, geometry, and measurement. Finally, teacher participants indicated that they used assessment data to organise students into vertical groups, referred to as ability groups. These vertical groups influenced teacher assumptions about what students could do independently in mathematics and controlled what mathematical content students were permitted access to. Given these findings, this thesis suggests that the promotion of the number content area and the vertical organisation of learning mathematics within policy and school curricula could influence how teachers conceptualise student learning needs in mathematics and therefore affect how they facilitate student access to and engagement with mathematics.
Open Access
“I don't really care what they do, as long as they write”. Exploring writing beliefs and practices of years 5-8 primary school teachers.
(2023) Stubbings, Trisha Mary
Decreasing levels of student achievement in writing and the need for evidence about what drives New Zealand primary school teachers' practices provides the purpose for this research. This study investigates New Zealand upper primary school teachers' beliefs and influences related to writing instruction. A mixed methods exploratory sequential research design was utilised, and the first phase of data gathering consisted of eight case studies of eight different teachers of year 5-8 students. This provided the rich qualitative data required when exploring a topic with little research. Data gathering methods in this research included semi structured interviews, observations of writing practice and writing policies and planning documents. The case studies findings were analysed using the NVivo programme for constant comparative content analysis. These findings were then used to design the second phase of the study which was a nationwide online survey sent via Qualtrics to all schools with year 5-8 teachers. Descriptive statistics have been used to interpret the survey results and open-ended questions have been coded for content analysis. Both phases of data gathering have been used to discuss and answer the research questions. Findings from this research demonstrate that the influences on teachers practice are widely variable and complex, going well beyond the individual. Teachers primarily espoused constructivist philosophies about writing, and were highly focused on student engagement in writing, rather than writing achievement. Meaningful purpose and audience were considered essential to good writing practices and teachers employed a range of strategies to engage students in writing. Digital devices and tools for writing were used in a variety of ways although teachers also believed handwriting to be important. These findings raised questions of equity and time to teach a diverse range of transcription skills. Overall, teachers had difficulty articulating explicit links between classroom practice and both theory and curriculum. Writing was articulated as a complex skill to teach in comparison to other curriculum areas, partly due to the view of writing as subjective and personalised. Moreover, missing from the findings was a strong link to teacher-led, specific strategy instruction and content knowledge about writing. The strongest contextual factors influencing writing practice were identified as colleagues and resources, and the present research recommends using both these factors to influence teachers writing practice. These findings highlight the need for greater teacher support and structure in writing instruction driven from evidence of best practice research and theory.
Open Access
O le Fa’atamasoali’iga a Tautai Matapalapala A Soul-Searching and Far-Reaching Voyage of the Tautai (The Master Navigator): How and why effective educational leadership can advance Pacific students' learning, health and wellbeing
(2023) Taleni, Tufulasifa’atafatafa Ova
Six decades ago, after World War 2, many Pacific families migrated to Aotearoa, leaving behind their aiga (families), fanua (lands), nu’u (villages) and traditional ways, but migrating with commitment and aspirations for their children to have an education that would lead to better employment and a positive future. However, the children of many of these Pacific migrants have experienced underachievement in the New Zealand education system, the realities of which can result in poverty, low-paid jobs, high unemployment, poor health, a high incidence of youth suicide and poor housing. This research is about ‘talatalaina ole upega lavelave’, untangling the tangled net of the issues that so adversely affect children and their families. The issues have motivated Pacific families and communities to work collaboratively with schools to ensure their children make a better start for their learning, health and wellbeing. Pacific parents’ educational aspirations are carried through by the waves of the echoing sound of the Foafoa (conch shell) from the Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa (Pacific Ocean) to the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa. The sound reminds them of the hope and the purpose they brought or bring to their migration, which includes securing a better future for their children through education. For approximately the last 40 years, the New Zealand Ministry of Education has developed and led robust Pacific strategies to guide planning and implementation of programmes designed to lift Pacific learners’ engagement and achievement across all school sectors. These strategies have included the development of several Pacific education plans from 2001 to 2017 and then beyond with the development of the Action Plan for Pasifika Education 2020–2030 (Ministry of Education, 2020a). Ongoing Pacific education reviews and monitoring systems over the years have provided useful reports on student underachievement and key recommendations for future improvement. One particularly important resource has been the Ministry of Education’s Tapasā: Cultural Competency Framework for Teachers of Pacific Learners (Ministry of Education, 2018a). The primary aim of this framework has been to improve teachers’ and educators’ understanding of culturally responsive practices so they can better engage with Pacific children and thereby help raise their educational achievement. The Ministry of Education has also been influential over the years in leading key Pacific initiatives and teachers’ professional development (PLD) programmes designed to improve student engagement and the partnership between schools, families and communities. These initiatives include, among others, home–school partnerships, the Pacific Islands School Community Parent Liaison Project (Gorinski, 2005), and Talanoa Ako previously known as the Pacific PowerUp programme. The current strong emphasis on supporting children’s learning in their early (preschool) years so children have a better start from the time they enter compulsory schooling was initiated by the government’s A Better Start: E Tipu e Rea project. The project was a response to one of the government’s National Science Challenges, established in 2014 “to tackle the biggest science-based issues and opportunities facing New Zealand” (Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, 2013). Since it was launched in 2016, A Better Start: E Tipu e Rea - National Science Challenges has brought together a “community of learners” in both education and health to lead research projects directed towards helping students make a better start in their learning. A Better Start supports the work that the Ministry of Education has implemented over many decades in response to the questions that Pacific families and communities continue to ask as to why their children’s educational achievement is so slow to improve. My interest in educational leadership combined with my Indigenous Samoan leadership and Samoan epistemology inspired my research. A considerable body of research shows that effective leadership is a catalyst for influencing schools to make changes that turn low student achievement into achievement. Moreover, in regard to Pacific students, the research emphasises the need for schools to make school achievement for these students a priority and to ensure the school culture reflects those students’ cultural needs. Research furthermore shows that the critical indicators of success on both these fronts within schools include access to culturally responsive and inclusive pedagogical practices; acknowledgement and valuing of Pacific cultural identities, languages and cultures; and close connections, through respectful relationships and partnerships, with Pacific families and communities. My doctoral research is an inquiry into the educational leadership characteristics effective in bringing about the changes in schools that support Pacific children to make a better start in their learning, health and wellbeing. At a more specific level, my inquiry also sought to identify strategies that school principals use to inspire and empower teachers to improve students’ learning in culturally inclusive and responsive ways. I selected three different educational leadership groups to contribute their voices as I carried out my investigation: Samoan Matai Indigenous leaders, Pacific community leaders and school principal leaders. I used thematic analysis to interpret the conversations and discussions I had with these leaders both individually and in groups. My analysis of what they said led me to identify eight key leadership qualities that need to underpin and inform the strategies school principals use to help guide teachers as they strive to support Pacific students’ learning, health and wellbeing: ta’imua (lead from the front), tausimea (keeper of measina, treasures) tautua (service), teu le va (nurturing relationships), fa’asinomaga (identity), ta’iala (vision), auala a’oa’o (pedagogy), and agaga ma le loto (emotional and spiritual connections).