Health promoting schools: a New Zealand perspective

In the last 20 years the health promoting schools movement has gained momentum internationally. Without strong national leadership and direction its development in New Zealand has been ad hoc and sporadic. However, as the evidence supporting the role of health promoting schools in contributing to students' health and academic outcomes becomes more robust, their potential can no longer be ignored. This paper sets out to provide an overview of the state of the health promoting schools movement in New Zealand and examines the national framework and process in the light of the international literature.     

Competition and reform of the New Zealand tertiary education sector

The purpose of this paper is to use an historical approach to examine the changing nature, size and diversification of education and training in New Zealand. In particular, attention will be concentrated on the impact of the introduction of competition into the New Zealand tertiary education industry since 1989. It will examine the relationship between the various tertiary education institutions as well as the relationship between these institutions and the demands of both students and industry.     

Inclusive academic language teaching in New Zealand: history and responses

Meeting the educational needs of a linguistically diverse population is a challenge for many countries. This is a particular challenge for New Zealand (NZ) which, until the 1980s, had a White Immigration Policy. The last 30 years have seen NZ become a full member of the Asia Pacific Region and move from being a mostly homogenous society to one of the most heterogeneous. This article explores the historical context of education and migration and current initiatives for inclusive academic language teaching (IALT) in NZ. IALT is a teacher-development approach recently developed for multilingual Europe by the European Core Curriculum for Mainstreamed Second Language Teacher Education. The approach rests on principles of acknowledgement of first language and culture, inclusivity and teachers having specialized knowledge of the academic language requirements of their subjects. This analysis seeks to show that knowledge, policy and practices that were once at the margins of the education system must now be central and will benefit all students, particularly those from diverse backgrounds.     

Educator understanding of childhood traumatic brain injury: a New Zealand perspective

ABSTRACT

Approximately 15% of New Zealand children will experience a traumatic brain injury during their school years. Given that educators play an important role in facilitating the successful school re-entry and recovery of these students, it is paramount that educators have adequate knowledge of childhood traumatic brain injury. This study used an online questionnaire to assess knowledge traumatic brain injury among 20 New Zealand educators. It also identified what services educators were aware of within their schools and communities that could assist with the management of students with brain injury, and what further training or information educators required to feel confident in supporting these students in the school environment. Results indicated that although educators possessed sound general understanding of traumatic brain injury, they had some misconceptions regarding the implications and recovery trajectories of these injuries during childhood. Educators reported the need for training relating to diagnostic criteria and strategies for supporting students with traumatic brain injury in the classroom. Providing educators with information and training on how to identify traumatic brain injury and manage the needs of students with traumatic brain injury will allow them to facilitate inclusive and supportive educational opportunities, leading to improved outcomes for these students.     

对话教学:一种透视外语口语教学的新视角

学生的外语口语表达能力是决定其外语水平的主要因素之一。因此必须把口语能力的提高视为外语教学放到最为突出的地位上。将对话教学引入外语口语教学对改革传统教学模式,提高口语教学的质量具有非常重要的意义。在外语口语对话教学中,教师与学生是对话的主体和实施者。在教学过程中,只有积极发挥教师的主导作用,尊重学生的主体性,促进两者的紧密、有效协作,才能实现对话教学整体效能的最大发挥。     

Chalkface challenges: a study of academic dishonesty amongst students in New Zealand tertiary institutions

This paper presents the findings of two investigations into the prevalence and profile of academic dishonesty amongst students in New Zealand’s tertiary institutions and compares this with findings from other studies. Staff and students report on their personal experiences of academic dishonesty and these are compared with official information requested and supplied by the institutions. Ways in which academic dishonesty are dealt with are discussed, including the reasons given by staff and students for lack of action. Staff and student reactions to institutional policies on the issue are presented, analysed and compared with data from other studies. Finally the study examines methods utilised by academic staff to minimise the occurrence of dishonest behaviour.     

Someone else's game: constructing the English teaching professional in New Zealand

In the last 15 years, New Zealand has experienced a range of educational “reforms” driven by a neo-liberal agenda which has insisted that the education system serve the goal of enhancing the nation's economic performance and its competitive edge through the inculcation in learners of the skills requisite to the pursuit of this goal. Fuelled by a perception that the education system needed quality management and greater accountability to its clientele, a series of administrative reforms were put in place in the late 1980s and were followed by a series of radical, state-dictated curriculum and assessment reforms. The subsequent reshaping of curriculum and assessment has had a profound impact on the nature of teachers’ work and their identity as professionals. Using research undertaken in New Zealand in the later 1990s, this article examines ways in which 1990s reforms in New Zealand have worked to reconstruct the professional knowledge (including pedagogical knowledge) of secondary English teachers. It further examines the implications of these changes in teachers’ work for professional identity and discusses some of the implications of these “reforms” for pre-service teacher education.     

课程改革背景下的教学价值选择:中西比较的视角

教学价值问题是教学领域的重要议题。与西方相比,中国传统的教学轻视科学,教学价值取向体现了社会本位、伦理本位的特点。在当代中国基础教育课程改革背景下,教学价值取向要体现出多元价值的和平共存和多元共生,实现满足社会需要和促进个人发展的统一,融汇科学精神与人文精神。     

Learning in later life: a bicultural perspective from Aotearoa/New Zealand

Abstract

This article is concerned with how learning in later life has been constructed and practised by the two most numerous ethnic groups in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Pāk?hā (Europeans) and Māori (Indigenous people). It is argued that learning is heavily influenced by historic features of interaction between these two groups; Pākehā as the dominant cultural and economic group and Māori as subordinate. While contemporary perspectives are necessarily interpreted in the light of historical trends and events, fresh interpretations of what constitutes biculturalism in this country allow for more nuanced understanding of possibilities for and obstacles to older adult learning/education. Themes from lifelong learning are analysed with special reference to older people’s learning, the consequences of Māori sovereignty on pedagogy and trends identified for older adult education. Two linked case studies of Pākehā and Māori older adult education in a New Zealand university are described to illustrate complexities and tensions in provision in a bicultural context.     

Innovating in the real world: exploring institutional effects on tertiary teacher innovations in New Zealand

Abstract

Innovation is a key goal of many tertiary education and distance learning providers. This research explores how teachers and educational designers across three New Zealand tertiary institutions worked to innovatively achieve teaching goals. A longitudinal design using the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) framework explored the influence of individual and institutional factors on innovation in online course design. Data included interviews, observations of practice, and publicly available institutional documents, which were coded using a grounded theory approach. Peer relationships and institutional technologies were significant in enabling staff to work innovatively. Constraining factors included high workload, research pressures, lack of time to experiment, and limited technological support. Contradictions between institutional policies and teachers’ goals in innovating were noted. This research has relevance to those working in a variety of educational settings due to the increasing influence of institutional and government policy on teaching practice.     

Student evaluations of university teaching: A cross-cultural perspective

The applicability paradigm developed by Marsh (1981) was used to investigate the validity of a U.S.-developed model of teaching effectiveness and two related questionnaires at campuses in six different countries representing very different cultural, economic, and philosophical traditions. The data supported the reliability, appropriateness, and to some extent the convergent and discriminant validity of the instruments. Similar patterns of item salience and differentiation between “good” and “poor” lecturers were also identified. Thus, the results generally supported the cross-cultural validity of these two instruments and their underlying model of teaching. This research was supported by funding from the Committee on Research and Conference Grants, University of Hong Kong.     

Passion and enthusiasm: Exemplifying the place of disposition in teaching in New Zealand

Abstract

There is an inconsistency between the importance of professional dispositions for teaching perceived by practitioners and other stakeholders in literature and the omission of dispositions in professional standards in New Zealand. Taking passion and enthusiasm as an example, this study explores the reasons for the inconsistency. Within the context of New Zealand early childhood education (ECE), interview data were collected from 21 practitioners and parents from seven ECE services and 15 teacher educators from eight universities and institutes of technology. Contextual, conceptual, and role-related factors are found to determine the teacher educators’ perceptions of the omission of passion and enthusiasm in the standards documents. “Conditional inclusion” and “contextual mediation” are proposed to negotiate a place in the government-imposed standards for passion and enthusiasm.     

Reciprocal teaching of reading comprehension in a New Zealand high school

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of a trial implementation of reciprocal teaching procedures by high school teachers to address reading comprehension deficits in a group of their students. Forty-six students with the lowest scores on a standardized test of reading comprehension in seven eighth-grade classes participated in the study. Following 3 hours of instruction in reciprocal teaching procedures, four classroom teachers and two support teachers ran eight reciprocal teaching groups. Four of these groups, 20 students in all, were exposed to between 12 and 16 reciprocal teaching sessions, while 15 students in the other four groups received between six and eight sessions. The remaining 11 students served as a no-treatment comparison group. Pre- and posttest scores on the standardized test served as the dependent measure. Significant gains were observed with students in the extended program, with no significant differences observed between the short program and comparison groups. Follow-up assessments of extended program students between 3 and 7 months later showed a maintenance of comprehension gains. Implications for high schools are discussed in terms of the absence of student progress with insufficient spaced practice in metacognitive skill training and strategic resourcing for remedial comprehension instruction.     

Passion for teaching: A perspective for South African teachers

Abstract

This article reports on an investigation into passion for teaching, a complex and demanding profession. Three relevant themes emerged: (1) choosing teaching as a profession; (2) growing the passion for teaching; and (3) sustaining passion for teaching. An interpretive study was conducted during which fieldworkers (Bachelor of Education and Training Level Four students) collected the data in the three months of their teaching practice at schools. These fieldworkers qualitatively interviewed 48 teachers at schools where they were placed. According to the findings, the majority of teachers interviewed indicated that extrinsic motives were dominant determinants for teachers to choose teaching as a profession. This means that the majority of participants probably had less passion for teaching as a result of circumstances in their environment or their passion diminished because of a less sense of enduring efficacy. Based on the findings, a framework is proposed that is flexible to accommodate the different realities. It was created to recommend how to sustain a passion for teaching.