‘Opening the door’: An authentic approach to decolonizing arts education in Aotearoa/New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Feast ◽  
Christina Vogels
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Arts Education ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
World View ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Learning Activity ◽  
Collaborative Practices ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Educative Experiences

Educators in universities in Aotearoa/New Zealand have the responsibility to ‘live and model’ the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. However, tertiary education has often treated the principles in an inauthentic way. There are few courses in art, design and communication in New Zealand that integrate the principles authentically. This article showcases features of a course – Mahitahi | Collaborative Practices – that engages with Te Tiriti principles by teaching collaboration from te ao Māori (the Māori world). Our findings draw from a focus group we conducted with academic staff who taught into a pilot iteration of the course. Three central themes emerged from the focus group relating to the issue of decolonizing arts education. First, that regardless of the educators’ intentions to design a course that privileges te ao Māori, the features of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s colonial reality are still present. Second, the students’ primary learning activity was principled reflection, where they successfully engaged with te ao Māori in an authentic way. Third, students’ connection to te ao Māori was jeopardized by designing part of the assessment that took on a Pākehā (non-Māori) world-view. Consequently, students may have missed the opportunity to engage more fully with educative experiences relating to lifelong learning. We argue that to maintain an authentic connection to te ao Māori, the curriculum should be consistently designed around principles embedded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Making a difference: The role of the Māori administrator in Universities

Te Kaharoa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
World View ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Making A Difference ◽  
European Values ◽  
The Government ◽  
The University

The Tertiary Education Strategy 2010 – 2015 in Aotearoa/New Zealand states that the Government aims to ‘increase the number of Māori students achieving at the higher level’ (Tertiary Education Commission 2010, p10). For this to be achieved universities need to play their part in assisting Māori students to progress beyond the undergraduate degree and into postgraduate study. Universities take their origins from western European values, ideals and world view which are reflected in the curriculum, management systems and processes.  It is predicated that by 2020 over half the tertiary student population will be Māori due to a youthful Māori population (Department of Labour, 2008). This will be a challenge for universities.  Therefore, the role of a Māori administrator within the university system becomes critical in being able to provide useful insight to the university on how to retain Māori students in this changing environment. This paper draws on my Master of Philosophy research.  It will critically examine the role Māori administrator’s play in the recruitment and retention of Māori students in universities in Aotearoa/New Zealand including culturally specific pastoral care, accurate course advice, information on degree requirements, appropriate learning pathways for students and supporting academic staff to track student progress through to completion. These additional responsibilities, often unrecognised by the university, demonstrates the important role a Māori administrator can make in retaining Māori students in the academy. 

Navigating the secondary-tertiary education border: refugee-background students in Southern Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Vivienne Anderson ◽  
Sayedali Mostolizadeh ◽  
Jo Oranje ◽  
Amber Fraser-Smith ◽  
Emma Crampton
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

Health(y) education: A critical analysis of the role of public health regulation in and on tertiary education in Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
pp. 147821032199501
Author(s):  
Susan Shaw ◽  
Keith Tudor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Educational Design ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Public Health Regulation

This article offers a critical analysis of the role of public health regulation on tertiary education in Aotearoa New Zealand and, specifically, the requirements and processes of Responsible Authorities under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act for the accreditation and monitoring of educational institutions and their curricula (degrees, courses of studies, or programmes). It identifies and discusses a number of issues concerned with the requirements of such accreditation and monitoring, including, administrative requirements and costs, structural requirements, and the implications for educational design. Concerns with the processes of these procedures, namely the lack of educational expertise on the part of the Responsible Authorities, and certain manifested power dynamics are also highlighted. Finally, the article draws conclusions for changing policy and practice.

scholarly journals Desires and doubts on cultural sustainability: A study from Aotearoa New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 452
Author(s):  
Tahera Afrin
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Early Childhood Teacher ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Cultural Components

The original research project of this study was aimed to find out the components of culture and their impacts on ako (teaching-learning) within the early childhood teacher education programmes. Ethics Approval was obtained from AUT Ethics Committee. Under a socio-cultural theoretical framework, twelve lecturers from three Tertiary Education Organisations (TEOs) were interviewed. Three cohorts of student teachers from the same TEOs participated in focus groups. Using manual thematic coding, nine broad areas of cultural components were identified. These were bicultural contexts of Aotearoa, ethnicities and multi-culturalism, individual identities, cross-cultural interactions, comfort zone, female majority, socio-economic struggles, spirituality and technology. A recently developed framework for cultural sustainability (Soini and Dessein, 2016) were applied to these areas. Some of these components were identified as more inert and less dynamic, while the rest were recognised at the other end of the framework.The data and the principle findings were contextual to Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the discussion considered the overall global trends in relation to education.Keywords: Cultural diversity, cultural sustainability,

Experiences of Implementing a Large-Scale Blended, Flipped Learning Project

2018 ◽  
pp. 3839-3849
Author(s):  
Hazel Owen ◽  
Nicola Dunham
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Flipped Learning ◽  
Tertiary Institution ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Personal Reflections

In the context of ongoing global adoption of all forms of technology eLearning has continued to evolve, informed by a growing body of research. Many schools, tertiary institutions, and other organisations, are implementing a variety of eLearning initiatives, although, frequently it appears the investment does not always equate to more engaged, knowledgeable, skilled learners. Tertiary education in Aotearoa, New Zealand covers all post-secondary education and is analogous to the term Higher Education in other countries. This chapter draws on the implementation of a large-scale blended, flipped learning project at a tertiary institution in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The project (within the Health Science faculty) was driven by a desire to improve student learning experiences, and develop a common semester with a suite of interdisciplinary postgraduate qualifications. The discussion is based on personal reflections, which provide different perspectives of the initial phases, from three participants in the associated study (two of whom are also the authors of this chapter). During the project two key prevalences were observed. The first was an ingrained set of beliefs, often unquestioned, that shaped overall expectations of what an eLearning experience might comprise. Interpretations and implications are discussed using the lens of mindsets to illustrate how beliefs of ‘self' fundamentally influence a person's ability to embrace - and thrive in - a period of change. The second prevalence was a familiarity with large-scale, ‘monolithic' eLearning developments, which translated into discomfort with an agile approach. The overall aim of this chapter is to provide sufficient detail to draw educators and administrators together to apply the recommendations offered, while providing support for 'change agents' - as well as those ambivalent about reform. The authors are keen to highlight how ultimately rewarding, but also emotionally and physically demanding, the implementation of reform can be for those educators on 'the front lines'.

scholarly journals First Birth at Home or in Hospital in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Intrapartum Midwifery Care and Related Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Suzanne Claire Miller
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Emotional Health ◽  
Care Provision ◽  
First Birth ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Foetal Monitoring ◽  
First Time Mothers ◽  
First Time ◽  
At Home

<p>A woman's first birth experience can be a powerfully transformative event in her life, or can be so traumatic it affects her sense of 'self' for years. It can influence her maternity future, her physical and emotional health, and her ability to mother her baby. It matters greatly how her first birth unfolds. Women in Aotearoa/New Zealand enjoy a range of options for provision of maternity care, including, for most, their choice of birth setting. Midwives who practice in a range of settings perceive that birth outcomes for first-time mothers appear to be 'better' at home. An exploration of this perception seems warranted in light of the mainstream view that hospital is the optimal birth setting. The research question was: "Do midwives offer the same intrapartum care at home and in hospital, and if differences exist, how might they be made manifest in the labour and birth events of first-time mothers?" This mixed-methods study compared labour and birth events for two groups of first-time mothers who were cared for by the same midwives in a continuity of care context. One group of mothers planned to give birth at home and the other group planned to give birth in a hospital where anaesthetic and surgical services were available. Labour and birth event data were collected by a survey which was generated following a focus group discussion with a small group of midwives. This discussion centred around whether these midwives believed their practice differed in each setting, and what influenced care provision in each place. Content analysis of the focus group data saw the emergence of four themes relating to differences in practice: midwives' use of space, their use of time, the 'being' and 'doing' of midwifery and aspects relating to safety. Survey data were analysed using SPSS. Despite being cared for by the same midwives, women in the hospital-birth group were more likely to use pharmacological methods of pain management, experienced more interventions (ARM, vaginal examinations, IV hydration, active third stage management and electronic foetal monitoring) and achieved spontaneous vaginal birth less often than the women in the homebirth group. These findings strengthen the evidence that for low risk first-time mothers a choice to give birth at home can result in a greater likelihood of achieving a normal birth. The study offers some insights into how the woman's choice of birth place affects the care provided by midwives, and how differences in care provision can relate to differences in labour and birth event outcomes.</p>

“We are not privileged enough to have that foundation of language”: Pasifika young adults share their deep concerns about the decline of their ancestral/heritage languages in Aotearoa New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-139
Author(s):  
Lina-Jodi Vaine Samu ◽  
Helen Moewaka Barnes ◽  
Lanuola Asiasiga ◽  
Tim McCreanor
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
National Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Group Interviews

Focus group interviews conducted with Aotearoa New Zealand–born Pasifika young adults aged 18–25 years highlighted their intense apprehension about the diminishing abilities of New Zealand–born Pasifika people to speak their ancestral/heritage Pasifika languages in Aotearoa. Some Pasifika languages are also declining at their homeland wellsprings. There has been no comprehensive strategic national language policy developed in New Zealand where Pasifika heritage and other community languages can flourish. New Zealand appears to default to a monocultural given where English prevails without critique. Minority languages are battling it out with each other for legitimacy of existence. Resulting from New Zealand’s failure to create a comprehensive languages strategy for all, younger generations of Pasifika neither have fluency in their ancestral languages which impact negatively on their identity security and their ability to attain critical fluency in English to thrive as their migrant parents and grandparents envisioned they would in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Tertiary Learning Advisors in Aotearoa/New Zealand (Part 2): Acknowledging our contribution

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 25-43
Author(s):  
Caitriona Cameron
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Professional Profile

Defining and re-defining identity is important for any profession, particularly so for tertiary learning advisors (TLAs) in the increasingly uncertain tertiary education environment in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the past ten years, two national surveys of learning centres in tertiary institutions sketched the professional status of TLAs, based on data from managers; there has been little research, however, on individual TLAs’ perspectives of their professional status. This special issue, ‘Identity and Opportunity’, reports on a project designed to address that gap, in three parts: building a professional profile, acknowledging learning advisors’ contribution, and rewards and challenges of the role. The findings indicate that TLAs are highly qualified and experienced but – for many – their skills and experience are not adequately recognised by institutions. There are significant barriers to progression within their institution, stemming mainly from organisational policies. Despite that lack of clear career opportunities, and other frustrations, overall satisfaction with the TLA role is high. Underpinning the findings, however, are issues of identity and recognition that should be addressed to ensure a resilient profession. Keywords: professional identity, tertiary learning advisor, higher education, career, job satisfaction

Tertiary Learning Advisors in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Part One: Building a Profile of Our Profession

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Caitriona Cameron
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Career Opportunities ◽  
Professional Profile

Defining and re-defining identity is important for any profession, particularly so for tertiary learning advisors (TLAs) in the increasingly uncertain tertiary education environment in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the past ten years, two national surveys of learning centres in tertiary institutions sketched the professional status of TLAs, based on data from managers; there has been little research, however, on individual TLAs’ perspectives of their professional status. This special issue, ‘Identity and Opportunity’, reports on a project designed to address that gap, in three parts: building a professional profile, acknowledging learning advisors’ contribution, and rewards and challenges of the role. The findings indicate that TLAs are highly qualified and experienced but – for many – their skills and experience are not adequately recognised by institutions. There are significant barriers to progression within their institution, stemming mainly from organisational policies. Despite that lack of clear career opportunities, and other frustrations, overall satisfaction with the TLA role is high. Underpinning the findings, however, are issues of identity and recognition that should be addressed to ensure a resilient profession. Keywords: professional identity, tertiary learning advisor, higher education, career, job satisfaction

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