The retention and success of under-represented groups in a Bachelor of Education program in New Zealand

For several decades researchers have raised questions regarding factors that enable undergraduate students, particularly those from ethnic minority groups living in low socio-economic areas, to persist with their studies to degree completion. Seeking answers to these questions becomes more urgent as universities around the world enrol increasingly diverse cohorts of students. This article reviews the patterns of participation and success for students enrolled in a Bachelor of Education program at one university, distributed across three different locations and attracting different cohorts of students. This provided the university with a unique opportunity to learn about the retention and success of diverse cohorts, particularly those traditionally under-represented at undergraduate-level study. At least 75% of students in the under-represented groups passed their courses. Surprisingly the pass rates of students at the three campuses were similar, despite dissimilarities in ethnicity, socio-economic status and previous academic success.     

School-level Education Policy under New Labour and New Zealand Labour: A Comparative Update

This article compares the school-level education policies of the Labour-led coalition government elected in New Zealand in late 1999 with those of New Labour in England. It illustrates that the policies being introduced by the Labour coalition have been generally less managerial and market-oriented than New Labour's even though neo-liberal pressures are likely to constrain what appears to be a shift to the left in New Zealand. The difference between the two settings is explained through reference to party political and contextual factors and policy and research implications are also discussed.     

Fostering the academic success of their children: Voices of Mexican immigrant parents

Latinos, particularly Mexican immigrants, are the fastest-growing population in the United States but lag behind others in educational attainment. Parent involvement in their child's education has been linked to positive student academic outcomes, but few studies have focused specifically on Latino/a parents. To identify and promote culturally salient parent involvement approaches for Mexican immigrant parents, this qualitative strength-based study investigated motivations, actions, and culture of 11 Mexican immigrant parents of students who attended a selective college preparatory high school. The study found that a parent's effort to help their children succeed is not dependent on high levels of parent education or income. Rather, the home-based strategies, many of which are rooted in the Latino culture, and specific outreach by educators influenced parent involvement.     

Restorative justice: two examples from New Zealand schools

In this article, Janice Wearmouth, formerly professor of education at the University of Wellington, New Zealand and now at Liverpool Hope University, Rawiri McKinney, an advocate for Rangatahi who has recently completed his Master of Education degree, and Ted Glynn, foundation professor of teacher education at the University of Waikato, discuss two examples of restorative justice in practice to illustrate how community norms and values can help to encourage more socially appropriate behaviour. Both examples come from a New Zealand Maori context and interventions undertaken with young men whose behaviour was of concern in school and in the local neighbourhood. The interventions operated through traditional Maori protocols to shift the focus away from individuals on to the whole community in order to focus on'putting things right'between all those involved in the wrong-doing. These examples show how the use of traditional community conflict resolution processes was able to resolve tensions, make justice visible and re-establish harmonious relations between the individuals, the school and between members of the community. The use of restorative practices in schools is not straightforward, however. The authors of this article argue that it requires that schools do not own or completely control the process but are responsive to the local context and recognise the important sources of support that may be found in some of the families and local voluntary community groups within it for addressing problematic student behaviour.     

地方性本科高校人才招聘有关问题研究

中国高等教育在扩招后发展迅速，而地方性本科院校在扩招后面临更多的机遇和压力，其中尤以师资队伍结构调整和高层次人才招聘的压力较大。地方性本科院校在人才招聘中存在很多问题：学历、职称优先，忽略人才的智商、情商的考评；追求学科专业的人才数量，忽略人才学历、职称的含金量；受地缘人际等因素影响，在人才招聘中忽略公平公正的原则。在人才招聘中，应做到：职得其才，才得其职，才职匹配；智商与情商综合考评，考察专业能力与举习潜力。注重学习精神与团队精神：公平公正．择优进才．     

The Future of the University: Reflections from New Zealand

Over the past two decades, references to "crises" in tertiary education – and in universities in particular – have appeared with increasing frequency in popular and academic texts. Some commentators have concentrated on shortfalls in funding and the exploitation of staff; others have focused on the "moral collapse" of the university, or on issues of curriculum reform and "political correctness" in the classroom. In New Zealand, as in many other countries of the Western World, serious concerns have been raised about the commodification, marketisation and privatisation of education at the university level. This paper provides a concise overview of recent changes in the tertiary sector in New Zealand, and considers possible futures for higher education in the 21st century. Special attention is paid to three themes: the emergence of the "perpetual chooser"; potential changes in conditions of work for academics; and the reconfiguration of academic priorities in the age of the market. The prospects for resistance against elements of the marketisation process are briefly assessed.     

Quality Assessment Lessons from Australia and New Zealand

This article describes two recent efforts to rank the quality of higher education institutions in Australia and New Zealand. After a brief discussion of goals, methods, and results, the author evaluates each ranking using the following questions: Does this methodological approach achieve its objective? Can other countries use the methodology by extension? What can we learn about a country's higher education system using this approach? The aim is to provide readers with a framework for thinking critically about rankings, and about the role they might play in measuring and influencing higher education quality on a global scale.     

论中国新诗的三种声音

中国新诗在历史发展和艺术探索中,形成了三种声音,这是中国新诗的重要艺术特征。第一种声音即宣示的声音,是在应对启蒙使命和诗人主体觉醒后在新诗发生期出现的,然后在历史发展中向着大众群体代言和心灵独白诉说两个方向变异。第二种声音即戏剧角色的声音,反映的是现代诗歌非个人化的抒情技巧,随着现代主义诗歌发展经历若干阶段,形成戏剧独白、戏剧对谈、诗人旁白、主体分层和人称变化等艺术表现手法。第三种声音即独语,重要特征是声音的单向抒发或自言自语,这种声音在卞之琳和冯至等人的玄思性诗中发展到成熟的地步。     

The development of adult and community education policy in New Zealand: insights from Popper

This paper examines the process by which all post‐compulsory education in New Zealand has become integrated under one administrative structure, the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), with the intention of developing a single coordinated system of tertiary education. In particular, adult and community education (ACE), the least formal and organised sector, is required to develop programmes that align with an externally conceived set of priorities, which themselves arise from the Tertiary Education Strategies. Using Popper’s concepts of ‘holistic’ versus ‘piecemeal’ change, it is argued that such large‐scale change is potentially dangerous as there are likely to be unintended, damaging consequences of such policies; consequences which are difficult to fix in modern, complex societies. In particular, ACE which is built on an insider, community‐focus ethos, able itself to identify and respond to community‐learning opportunities, is likely to be changed fundamentally so that the very characteristics that have made ACE effective in the past will be lost in the process.     

Professional Preparation for Older Women: A View from New Zealand

An increasing population of older women necessitates an inquiry into employment-related education for this group. The aim of this research was to examine professional preparation for women over the age of 50. Qualitative methods were employed; data were collected through interviews with 21 women working in New Zealand in early childhood education services. The findings have indicated both the benefits and challenges for older women. Further, a lack of recognition of the learning needs of older women is evident at the policy level. A reconsideration of professional preparation for older women is recommended.     

Transfer from middle to secondary school: a New Zealand study

Issues related to pupils’ transfer into secondary schools have been well-documented (Brown and Armstrong, in: M.B. Youngman (Ed.), Mid-schooling transfer: Problems and proposals, NFER-Nelson, Windsor, UK, 1986; Hargreaves, Two cultures of schooling: The case of middle schools, Falmer Press, Basingstoke, UK, 1986; Power and Cotterell, ERDC Report No. 27. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1981). A common feature of the research is the disparity between the environments of primary and secondary schools (Ward, NZ Principal, 27, (1997); Forbes and Ward, NZ Herald, 47, 11 December (1996)). The research suggests that the greater the difference between the two schools’ cultures, the greater the need for support for those transferring. In part, this need has traditionally been fulfilled in New Zealand by Intermediate Schools, two-year transition schools for Years 7 and 8. More recently, some of these schools have become four-year middle schools. By delaying transition to secondary school for two years (i.e., to Year 11), the middle schools offer an alternative route to secondary school. The research study described in this chapter tracked the movement of a class of pupils who chose to stay on at a middle school for Years 9 and 10, rather than transferring to secondary schools at the end of Year 8. Their perceptions of transition and those of a sample of school parents are detailed.     

Well-being in schools: Chinese and New Zealand approaches

Educational Research for Policy and Practice - Educational authorities across countries are concerned to promote the well-being of their children. We discuss the approach that two systems, China...     

转型:新西兰职业教育中的开放与远程学习——在“2008世界开放与远程教育论坛”上的主题报告

本文的目的是考虑在当前的政策改革形势下,在新西兰出现的推动高等教育的新的“网络”范式,并就开放与远程学习在这个过程中的潜在作用谈一些看法。尽管新西兰的情况从某方面来说具有特殊性,我希望其内在的主题和问题是普遍的,从而可以为您的组织和管辖区域提供一些思考。     

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.     

Lifelong learning policies and discourses: critical reflections from Aotearoa,New Zealand

This article examines New Zealand experiences and understandings of lifelong education and lifelong learning over the past 30 years or so. It investigates the place of lifelong education and lifelong learning discourses in shaping public policy in Aotearoa as well as questions about the similarities and differences between the discourse in New Zealand and in Europe and the UK. The aim of the paper is to throw light on the following questions: what effects, if any, have notions of lifelong education or lifelong learning had on public policy discourses on tertiary education and the education of adults? Is there evidence to suggest that notions of either ‘lifelong education’ or ‘lifelong learning’ have provided a vision or sense of purpose or set of guidelines in developing public policies? Have they served to justify or legitimate new initiatives or funding arrangements? And, if so, what is the nature of this influence? Finally, in the light of this discussion the article also examines the question whether notions of ‘lifelong education’ and ‘lifelong learning’ as they have featured in the academic and policy literature are predominantly located in a Euro‐centred discourse and hence how they might be reconstituted to reflect more adequately discourses of learning and education in other parts of the world.     

Developing and Enacting Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Voices of New Teachers of Color

ABSTRACT

A group of preservice and first year teachers share their experiences as new teachers of Color entering the profession in urban public schools. Specifically, these novice teachers discuss the transition from an urban education teacher preparation program into the classroom and their successes and challenges enacting culturally relevant pedagogy. Findings showcase understanding self, community, and collaboration among critical pedagogues and navigating theory and practice as emergent themes. These new teachers speak to the journey of becoming the teachers they want to become and the challenges they encounter in public K-12 schools. Implications are presented to highlight the power and passion of these new teachers and how we, as critical scholars, must learn from them and work with them as we seek to disrupt the dominant, middle class, white discourse in teacher education programs and educational research.