And the truth comes limping after

Keynote Address for ANZEA Conference, July 2018, Wellington

Evaluation for the Anthropocene: Global environmental perspectives

Fellows’ Strand plenary Evaluation for the Anthropocene: Shaping a sustainability-ready evaluation field 2018 Canadian Evaluation Society Conference

The overall evaluative conclusion as an element of evaluation practice

The questions of who values, with whom, in what ways, and under what conditions concern all evaluators but are explicitly considered by some theorists more than others. Theorists placed on the valuing branch of Christie and Alkin’s (2013) evaluation theory tree emphasise valuing in their conceptualisation of evaluation, but even among these theorists there is diversity in the ways in which valuing is considered and realised in evaluation practice. This article explores this diversity within one aspect of valuing—the valuing involved in reaching a warranted conclusion about the overall merit, worth, or significance of an evaluand. It considers the extent to which the literature discusses overall evaluative conclusions as an element of evaluation practice; the extent to which drawing such conclusions is seen as the responsibility of the evaluator or stakeholders; and the methods that may be used to reach a warranted evaluative conclusion. The author concludes that there has been little empirical research undertaken on the valuing involved in reaching a warranted conclusion about the overall merit, worth, or significance of an evaluand. Much of the literature is evaluators theorising from different epistemological positions. Thus, while the literature does not definitively inform evaluators of whether they should always reach an overall evaluative conclusion, who they should involve, and what methods they should use, this review does support evaluators to reflect on these issues in their practice, and to make deliberate, informed decisions about the making—or not—of overall conclusions or judgements in future evaluations.

Evaluation in tertiary education

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) has an evaluative quality-assurance framework for all non-university tertiary education organisations. NZQA expects organisations to engage in their own self-assessment to maintain and improve quality and achieve outcomes. However, NZQA allows each organisation to decide its own methods, so long as self-assessment is systematic and planned, and improvement activities and decisions are evidence based. In 2015, our organisation decided to undertake a programme of evaluation as part of organisational self-assessment. The programme focused mostly on carrying out small-scale formal evaluations of new initiatives, activities, and programmes that were achieving good learner outcomes. This article describes three case-study examples to illustrate the range of evaluation activities completed to date. In our experience, evaluation provides a strong mechanism for education providers to define what quality is, taking into account the outcomes students, communities, and employers are seeking, as well as the external benchmarks and output measures government agencies use. Our experiences of evaluation have implications for evaluators. We have demonstrated that evaluation capability can be enhanced by teaming novice evaluators with those who are more experienced. We have also noted that organisational culture and leadership are crucial in ensuring evaluation findings are implemented. Multiple lenses on quality allow institutions to develop and demonstrate their ability to respond to the changing needs of students and stakeholders and enable students’ skill development to be recognised. We have found that evaluation builds confidence: in teachers to innovate and do things differently; in communities to work closely with providers to ensure their needs are met; in quality-assurance agencies that education standards meet required national and international benchmarks; and in funders who want to know public funding is being used wisely.

Educating Gen Z in a digital world

Keynote Address for ANZEA Conference, 16–19 July 2018, Waipuna Lodge, Auckland Frances Valintine is a “Futurist” thought-leader in emerging and disruptive technologies and has 20 years’ experience across business, technology, and education. In 2013, Frances founded The Mind Lab, a unique collaboration between a public education provider and a specialist education lab dedicated to digital literacy capability and contemporary practice in the teaching profession. In 2016, she launched Tech Futures Lab to navigate the new world of technology-enabled businesses. In 2018, Frances was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her lifetime of contribution to education and technology. She has won a number of awards, including the New Zealand Flying Kiwi Award, a Sir Peter Blake Leader Award, the Westpac New Zealand Woman of Influence (Innovation), and the NEXT New Zealand Woman of the Year (Education). She has also been inducted into the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame. Frances was invited to keynote at the ANZEA Conference to share her insights on future prospects for Aotearoa New Zealand. She spoke about the need for our education system to be responsive to young people who have grown up as digital natives surrounded by technologies that open the world up to them. Conference participants shared that it was riveting to contemplate the responsiveness of evaluation to a data-rich and digitally defined world that young people took for granted.

Evaluation for the Anthropocene: Challenges ahead and making it happen

Fellows’ Strand plenary Evaluation for the Anthropocene: Shaping a sustainability-ready evaluation field 2018 Canadian Evaluation Society Conference