bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
In Search of Effective Principal Appraisal
Authors:   , Chapman Patricia 
Published: November 2021

<p>The board of trustees of each New Zealand state and integrated school is responsible for the performance appraisal of its principal. Empirical data on the effectiveness of the appraisal for principals and boards is scarce. This research set out to describe principal appraisal within a region containing approximately one tenth of New Zealand schools. A survey to collect quantitative and qualitative data on the 2006 appraisal was completed by the principal and/or chair of just under half the schools in the region. The results suggest four critical success factors: the way in which the appraiser is selected and their personal qualities; the fairness and clarity of the process; the specific expectations that principals and chairs have of the outcome; and the completeness and congruity of principals' and chairs' understanding of appraisal. The reported experiences were mostly positive. However, understanding and resourcing of effective practice was found to be limited. A professional external appraiser and good interpersonal chemistry are dominant contributors to a satisfying appraisal experience. A functioning process with adequate resourcing and time for evidence gathering and evaluation, appear to be important appraisal prerequisites but do not guarantee a satisfying outcome. Unsatisfying appraisal experiences can be traced to a lack of clear understanding of appraisal aims and practice, together with resources to support their development. It is further compounded by the transient nature of boards. Four key action programmes are suggested to address shortcomings and recommendations are outlined for key stakeholders.</p>
Reviving Hedonism about Well-Being: Refuting the Argument from False Pleasures and Restricting the Relevance of Intuitive 'Evidence'
Authors:   , Turton Daniel Michael 
Published: November 2021

<p>Throughout the vast majority of its history, hedonism about well-being has been perennially unpopular (Feldman 2004). The arguments in this essay take steps towards reviving the plausibility of hedonism about well-being. The main argument currently used to refute hedonism about well-being, the Argument from False Pleasures, is shown to lack sufficient evidence to be compelling. The main evidence provided for the Argument from False Pleasures comes in the form of two thought experiments, the Experience Machine (Nozick 1974) and the Deceived Businessman (Kagan 1998). These thought experiments typically produce strong intuitive responses, which are used to directly support the Argument from False Pleasures. This essay investigates how theories of well-being are currently evaluated by moral philosophers, with a specific focus on the place our intuitions have in the process. Indeed, the major role that moral intuitions play in evaluating theories of well-being, despite their sometimes dubious epistemic credentials, leads to an in-depth enquiry into their inner workings and potential for containing normatively significant information. The investigation, which draws on the work of Woodward and Allman (2007), concludes that intuitions about unrealistic thought experiments should not play an important role in evaluating theories of well-being. Rather, they should only act as a warning sign, highlighting moral propositions for further analysis. Based on these findings, a new method for assessing theories of well-being is suggested and applied to a specific internalist account of hedonism about well-being to show how the Deceived Businessman and Experience Machine thought experiments lack normative significance, leaving the Argument from False Pleasures without sufficient evidence to be compelling. Indeed, this essay concludes that the Argument from False Pleasures should no longer be thought to provide any good reason to believe that hedonism about well-being is implausible. This result is only one step on the road to reviving hedonism about well-being, but it is a very important one.</p>
Bureaucracy, Democracy and Westminster: The Quest for Political Control
Authors:   , Somers Jean-Christopher 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis argues that a Weberian process of bureaucratisation poses a serious threat in itself to the central values and ideals of liberal democracy. Such a threat arises not only from the bureaucratic pathology of 'goal displacement' of substantive ends by instrumental means, but also, because of this pathology, its tendency to mask and embed ideological challenges to liberal democracy. An effective liberal political constitution is therefore necessary to maintain the democratic control of bureaucracy while exploiting the efficiency benefits of bureaucratic administration. Such a political constitution is in fact contained in the Westminster tradition of liberal constitutionalism, based on the principles of parliamentary sovereignty, ministerial responsibility and political neutrality. Through this theoretical lens, the thesis proceeds to examine the trajectory of public sector reforms against the changing political contexts in New Zealand over the past 20 years and its constitutional implications. The NPM reforms in New Zealand, whether intended or unintended, displaced the political and constitutional safeguards implicit in the traditional model of public service with managerial norms which simultaneously serve to embed the neoliberal ideology. Despite the claim of NPM reformers to control bureaucracy, the paradoxical effects of the reform have been to accelerate the process of bureaucratisation and attenuate democratic control. Recent initiatives aimed to address some apparent weaknesses of NPM, have not changed the fundamentals of the managerial system, and thus fail to reverse this trend of declining democratic control of bureaucratic power. A reassertion of the fundamental norms of the Westminster system is recommended to arrest this decline of liberal democracy.</p>
What Lies Beneath the Stated Meanings: a Transactional View of Language Learners Making Meaning with Texts
Authors:   , Marianne  
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis reports on a year long case study conducted into the processes and products of English Second Language (ESL) learners reading fiction texts for pleasure in a high school extensive reading program. Although 'extensive reading' is usually associated with interactive language learning perspectives such as 'Second Language Acquisition' (for one view within this perspective see Krashen [1982]), a different theoretical perspective was applied in the present study. Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reader response is used to analyse and discuss data made about teenagers reading for pleasure in an extensive reading program. At the heart of Rosenblatt's transactional theory is the assumption that every reading event is unique to the person, text and context of that reading experience. To understand what it means to make meaning with a text, each of those things must be considered. Thus in order to better understand ESL learners' processes and products of reading for pleasure, this thesis provides a fine grained, deep description of how one reader made meaning with texts. This description is contextualised and enriched through the inclusion of case study data from other ESL and native English speaker participants. By focusing on one reader, the complexity of the interrelationships of reader, text and context are amply demonstrated. This, it will be argued, provides a valuable lens through which teachers and researchers may view other readers, other texts and other contexts. Conclusions drawn from this study will claim that Rosenblatt's transactional theory not only readily facilitates language learning goals (for example, extensive use of the target language) but importantly provides another perspective, apart from the predominant interactive language learning perspectives, on what it might mean for readers to make meaning with texts read for pleasure. Understanding the processes and products of reading for pleasure from a transactional view has pedagogical import for the utilization of extensive reading programs, and perhaps most importantly, for the intellectual development of second language learners.</p>
The Portrayal of the Germani in German Latin Textbooks
Authors:   , McNamara James 
Published: November 2021

<p>This study investigates the ways in which the Germani have been portrayed in textbooks used for teaching and practising the Latin language in schools in Germany from 1872 to 2007. It is a contribution to the reception history of Roman ethnographic and historical writing about the Germani, especially Tacitus' Germania, but also Tacitus' Annals and Histories, and Caesar's Gallic War.The study also provides a perspective on the place of classics in education and society at large since the 1870s. Concentration on Germany has been necessary for the sake of time, space and thoroughness, though many of the trends discussed are related to developments in other countries or are indicative of broader trends across Europe. The first chapter discusses Christian Ostermann's textbooks from Prussia in the late 19th century. The content of these textbooks' practice sentences often reflects Nationalist trends in German society and the education system. In the second chapter the influential Ludus Latinus series represents the Weimar Republic. The series attempted to make Latin appealing to young learners and also shows the influence of the Kulturkunde theory, which made understanding of German culture the centre of the education system. In the third chapter the influence of National Socialism on Germany's education system is discussed with reference to a variety of textbooks of the period from 1938 to 1945. During this period, under the influence of racial ideology, nationalistic interpretations of ancient history and the close identification of Deutsche with Germani reached an extreme. Chapter four deals with the years from 1945 to 1970. After 1945, associations with the ideology of National Socialism made Germania and the Germani unpopular topics. Latin and Greek also became unfashionable subjects and experienced a 'crisis' from which they only slowly recovered due to radical reforms in the methodology of ancient language teaching (described in chapter 5), including the production of textbooks that aimed at providing greater understanding of the ancient world and challenged long-entrenched stereotypes. Public interest in Germany's ancient heritage (both Roman and Germanic) has increased in recent decades, and the content of textbooks reflects this trend. In addition, the process of European unification has led to new perspectives on the ancient world and its relevance to modern Germany and Europe as a whole.</p>
Quasi-Empirical Fictionalism as an Approach to the Philosophy of Geometry
Authors:   , Waygood Scott 
Published: November 2021

<p>The central claim of this thesis is that geometry is a quasi-empirical science based on the idealisation of the elementary physical operations that we actually perform with pen and paper. This conclusion is arrived at after searching for a theory of geometry that will not only explain the epistemology and ontology of mathematics, but will also fit with the best practices of working mathematicians and, more importantly, explain why geometry gives us knowledge that is relevant to physical reality. We will be considering all the major schools of thought in the philosophy of mathematics. Firstly, from the epistemological side, we will consider apriorism, empiricism and quasi-empiricism, finding a Kitcherian style of quasi-empiricism to be the most attractive. Then, from the ontological side, we will consider Platonism, formalism, Kitcherian ontology, and fictionalism. Our conclusion will be to take a Kitcherian epistemology and a fictionalist ontology. This will give us a kind of quasiempirical-fictionalist approach to mathematics. The key feature of Kitcher's thesis is that he placed importance on the operations rather than the entities of arithmetic. However, because he only dealt with arithmetic, we are left with the task of developing a theory of geometry along Kitcherian lines. I will present a theory of geometry that parallels Kitcher's theory of arithmetic using the drawing of straight lines as the most primitive operation. We will thereby develop a theory of geometry that is founded upon our operations of drawing lines. Because this theory is based on our line drawing operations carried out in physical reality, and is the idealisation of those activities, we will have a connection between mathematical geometry and physical reality that explains the predictive power of geometry in the real world. Where Kitcher uses the Peano postulates to develop his theory of arithmetic, I will use the postulates of projective geometry to form the foundations of operational geometry. The reason for choosing projective geometry is due to the fact that by taking it as the foundation, we may apply Klein's Erlanger programme and build a theory of geometry that encompasses Euclidean, hyperbolic and elliptic geometries. The final question we will consider is the problem of conventionalism. We will discover that investigations into conventionalism give us further reason to accept the Kitcherian quasi-empirical-fictionalist approach as the most appealing philosophy of geometry available.</p>
The Effects of Different Water Quality Parameters on Prawn (Macrobrachium Rosenbergii) Yield, Phytoplankton Abundance and Phytoplankton Diversity at New Zealand Prawns Limited, Wairakei, New Zealand
Authors:   , MacGibbon Daniel John 
Published: November 2021

<p>Aquaculture is the fastest growing industry in the food sector and demand for aquaculture products is continuing to grow as many wild stocks from capture fisheries continue to decline. It is imperative that water quality in an aquaculture system is closely controlled in order to maintain the health of the species under culture and maximize production. New Zealand Prawns Limited (NZPL) is an aquaculture facility in Wairakei, New Zealand that cultures the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Dramatically reduced yields of prawns have been observed in ponds following periodic blooms of benthic algae. In this study, water quality variables were measured in grow out ponds at 9-11 day intervals. I measured temperature, phytoplankton abundance, phytoplankton diversity, turbidity, and concentrations of ammonia, nitrate, orthophosphate, dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll a. This data was combined with information on pond depth and prawn yield in order to investigate what variables influence the abundance and diversity of phytoplankton, benthic algal blooms and prawn yield. The difficulty of combining scientific endeavour with commercial enterprises resulted in only a small data set being available for analysis but it appears that benthic algal blooms at NZPL may be due to excessive light penetration to the benthos due to shallow pond depths, and reduced shading of the benthos when phytoplankton abundance is low. Low phytoplankton abundance may possibly be a result of low orthophosphate. There was insufficient data to determine what impacts, if any, the variables investigated have on prawn yield or how water quality variables change with time. Future studies and experiments are recommended in order to increase knowledge of farming M. rosenbergii; a valuable crustacean that has been shown to have a lower social and environmental impact than many other more common aquaculture species.</p>
Maturation and Personhood in Wellington, New Zealand and Shizuoka, Japan
Authors:   , Theng Judith Helen 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis is a comparative study of maturation and personhood in two modern societies: Wellington, New Zealand and Shizuoka, Japan. It examines the interrelations between cultural and ideological constraints and pragmatic choice in the maturation of young people. It explores how concepts of personhood and 'becoming a person' affect the decisions and choices made by young people of senior high school age and upward as they negotiate transitions toward fuller social personhood. It demonstrates how modernity carries different implications for young people in Wellington and Shizuoka despite large areas of commonality. In terms of the current debate concerning the nature of modernity, it is supportive of multiple modernities. The thesis argues that 'becoming adult' is central to young people's maturation in Wellington whereas in Shizuoka maturation involves sequential transitions through time. The different perceptions of 'adulthood' in Wellington and of transitional change in Shizuoka are analysed in relation to a number of themes. These themes include ideas of the self/person, the significance of gender, concepts of independence, and relations between self and others; the importance of school, part-time work, tertiary education, employment and careers; and orientations toward the family, leaving home, marriage and the future. The thesis argues that the distinctiveness of each society may be found at the interface between sociocultural knowledge of what makes a person and the construction of self. It suggests that the direction of transformations in each society results from choices and decisions that attempt to reconcile socoiocultural ideals and personal desires. This approach is one that leads to a better appreciation of fundamental differences between modern societies.</p>
Tiakina Kia Ora: Protecting Our Freshwater Mussels
Authors:   , Rainforth Hannah Jane 
Published: November 2021

<p>Matauranga (traditional ecological knowledge) built up by Whanganui iwi during their long association with the Whanganui River provides information on local biota and anthropological changes to the river. This matauranga records a decline in one local species, the kakahi (Echyridella menziesii (Gray, 1843)). Reasons suggested for this decline include alterations to flow and desiccation following a hydropower scheme, sedimentation, domestic and agricultural pollution, gravel extraction and channel modification. Decline was confirmed by a survey of historic kakahi beds: decline was evident at 16 (73%) of 22 sites. Of those 16 sites, there were 7 sites where decline was so severe that the population had been extirpated. Of the 15 historic beds where kakahi are still extant, four (27%) were remnant populations. Evidence of recruitment was found at only four (27%) of the 15 extant populations, or 18% of the total number of sites searched. Effect of suspended sediment concentrations ranging from 5.5 to 1212 mg.L-1 on ka kahi feeding behaviour and physiology was explored. Both filtration rate and rejection rate increased with increased sediment load (from 1.62 mg.h-1 to 190.88 mg.h-1 and from 0.62 to 201.53 mg.h-1 respectively) but clearance rate decreased with sediment increase (from 0.42 to 0.20 L.h-1). Behaviour was unaffected, with kakahi filtering on average 78% of the time. As particulate organic matter increased, clearance rate decreased and filtration rate increased. Filtration rate declined with increasing % organic matter. Kakahi can continue feeding under very high sediment loads for short periods. Much remains uncertain about kakahi, from their early biology to reasons for decline. Restoration options were explored using an adaptive management framework within which different hypotheses can be trialled in an experimental manner. This proved difficult due to confounding factors. However, given the established link between vegetation clearance and sedimentation, an initial restoration focus which evaluates catchment revegetation and its impact on kakahi survival and growth is suggested.</p>
Multiple Dispatch in Practice
Authors:   , Muschevici Radu 
Published: November 2021

<p>Multiple dispatch uses the run time types of more than one argument to a method call to determine which method body to run. While several languages over the last 20 years have provided multiple dispatch, most object-oriented languages still support only single dispatch - forcing programmers to implement multiple dispatch manually when required. This thesis presents an empirical study of the use of multiple dispatch in practice, considering six languages that support multiple dispatch. We hope that this study will help programmers understand the uses and abuses of multiple dispatch; virtual machine implementors optimise multiple dispatch; and language designers to evaluate the choice of providing multiple dispatch in new programming languages.</p>
Could New Zealand's Domestic Purposes Benefit in Conjunction with the Tax Systems Impact Low-Income Women's Decision Regarding Family Formation and Childbearing?
Authors:   , Yosyingyong Sorraya 
Published: November 2021

<p>This thesis provides a descriptive analysis of whether New Zealand's Domestic Purposes Benefits (DPB) and some Family Assistance programmes, mainly Family Support, creates incentives for low-income women to become single mothers. This concern arises from two sources: firstly, eligibility criteria for many of these programmes require recipients to be single parents and secondly, assessment units for the welfare and income tax systems are different, resulting in relatively high Effective Marginal Tax Rate (EMTR) for low-income earners when they form a union with their partners. The Household Labour Force Participation Survey (HLFS) was used in the study over the period 1986 to 2004, during which significant welfare policy changes were introduced. If welfare policies do affect incentives for child-bearing and partnering among actual or potential welfare recipients, we would expect these policy changes to have had an impact on these outcomes. Our results indicate that low educated women demonstrated a continuous decline in partnering up rates, whereas high educated women revealed an increase in the partnering up rates over this period. Nevertheless, there were no fluctuations in partnering up rates among low-educated women, in response to these policy changes. Also, the pattern in the childbearing behaviour is similar among low and high educated women. Hence, without a comprehensive regression analysis, this study suggests that the New Zealand DPB and FS, in conjunction with the income tax system, might not have had an impact on actual or potential beneficiaries' decisions to form a union with their partner and to have a dependent child.</p>