title: The principal as learner: perceptions, beliefs and experiences of nineteen New Zealand principals

authors: Townsend, Frances Mary

abstract: The research began with a personal question about how one learnt educational management. The research participants consisted of 19 principals who were selected on the basis of distribution between primary, secondary, male and female. Two questions guided the research. How did these principals perceive that they learnt to be principals? How did they perceive that their learning impacted on their practice? A self-study paralleled the study of the principals, as a study of an educational manager who was not a principal.

The qualitative methodology applied in the study was grounded theory. The methodology and the retrospective, biographical nature of the study through interview, meant that the research was phenomenological and interpretative. The main source of raw data was the transcripts of interviews, documents and literature. 

These principals perceived that their critical learning related to educational management was learning of attitudes and values as well as knowledge and skills. This learning could be traced in the first instance to family and upbringing, to their own education and their careers in teaching and middle management. Because this learning was the foundation on which their learning as principals, was based, I called this foundational learning. The research indicated that foundational learning influenced the nature of the principalship.

The learning of principals after appointment was conceptualised as experiential and intentional. Experiential learning occurred in the contexts of initiation, dealing with crises and problems, routine management, managing change, taking part in specific events, and through the process of being a principal for an extended period. Experiential learning appeared to consist of two main types, situational and emergent. The latter comprised new learning created by learning over time from a variety of experiences. Intentional learning aimed to meet learning needs and included all the deliberate formal and informal learning activities such as gaining qualifications, attending courses and conferences, visiting other institutions and reading professional literature. Barriers and limitations to learning constituted another relevant aspect of principals’ learning.

The principals perceived that their foundational learning had a major impact on practice as the source of values, attitudes, systemic knowledge of educational management and management skills. They perceived that their experiential learning had the most direct and significant impact on their practice because it was most likely to produce practical and relevant learning. Intentional learning had a subsidiary function, supporting and growing experiential learning. In this way, intentional learning impacted on practice. Personal, systemic and external learning barriers and limitations appeared to impact on practice in idiosyncratic ways.

Foundational, experiential and intentional learning was cumulative, contextualised within particular schools and situations and inter-related through impact on practice. Consequently each principal’s story was different and unique. I concluded that each principal was a unique product of learning, accumulated over a life time and developed within schools, each of which represented a unique environment. As a result, each particular combination of principal and school represented a unique configuration in terms of learning to be and being a principal. The self-study supported these conclusions. On the basis of the findings of the research, I drew out a number of professional development implications. If heeded, the professional development implications could reorient educational management education by focusing on the unique configuration of principal as sum of foundational, experiential and intentional learning, and his or her particular school or organisation as a particularised environment of educational problems. These problems may need to be defined uniquely to be resolved.

text: The principal as learner: perceptions, beliefs and experiences of nineteen New Zealand principals The research began with a personal question about how one learnt educational management. The research participants consisted of 19 principals who were selected on the basis of distribution between primary, secondary, male and female. Two questions guided the research. How did these principals perceive that they learnt to be principals? How did they perceive that their learning impacted on their practice? A self-study paralleled the study of the principals, as a study of an educational manager who was not a principal.

The qualitative methodology applied in the study was grounded theory. The methodology and the retrospective, biographical nature of the study through interview, meant that the research was phenomenological and interpretative. The main source of raw data was the transcripts of interviews, documents and literature. 

These principals perceived that their critical learning related to educational management was learning of attitudes and values as well as knowledge and skills. This learning could be traced in the first instance to family and upbringing, to their own education and their careers in teaching and middle management. Because this learning was the foundation on which their learning as principals, was based, I called this foundational learning. The research indicated that foundational learning influenced the nature of the principalship.

The learning of principals after appointment was conceptualised as experiential and intentional. Experiential learning occurred in the contexts of initiation, dealing with crises and problems, routine management, managing change, taking part in specific events, and through the process of being a principal for an extended period. Experiential learning appeared to consist of two main types, situational and emergent. The latter comprised new learning created by learning over time from a variety of experiences. Intentional learning aimed to meet learning needs and included all the deliberate formal and informal learning activities such as gaining qualifications, attending courses and conferences, visiting other institutions and reading professional literature. Barriers and limitations to learning constituted another relevant aspect of principals’ learning.

The principals perceived that their foundational learning had a major impact on practice as the source of values, attitudes, systemic knowledge of educational management and management skills. They perceived that their experiential learning had the most direct and significant impact on their practice because it was most likely to produce practical and relevant learning. Intentional learning had a subsidiary function, supporting and growing experiential learning. In this way, intentional learning impacted on practice. Personal, systemic and external learning barriers and limitations appeared to impact on practice in idiosyncratic ways.

Foundational, experiential and intentional learning was cumulative, contextualised within particular schools and situations and inter-related through impact on practice. Consequently each principal’s story was different and unique. I concluded that each principal was a unique product of learning, accumulated over a life time and developed within schools, each of which represented a unique environment. As a result, each particular combination of principal and school represented a unique configuration in terms of learning to be and being a principal. The self-study supported these conclusions. On the basis of the findings of the research, I drew out a number of professional development implications. If heeded, the professional development implications could reorient educational management education by focusing on the unique configuration of principal as sum of foundational, experiential and intentional learning, and his or her particular school or organisation as a particularised environment of educational problems. These problems may need to be defined uniquely to be resolved.

year: 1999

title: Arnold Trowell - Violoncellist, Composer and Pedagogue

authors: Griffiths, Martin

subjects: Trowell

abstract: This thesis is the first study of Arnold Trowell, cellist, composer, conductor and teacher.  It is primarily concerned with the cellist’s contribution to pedagogy and composition as informed by biographical detail. The latter begins with an initial examination of the life of his father, Thomas.

Starting in the 1880s with Thomas’ arrival in Wellington, New Zealand the family background is discussed in terms of the musical climate of that city. Arnold’s creative and professional life in Great Britain and Europe provides the main body of the subsequent chapters of this study.

Arnold Trowell was born in Wellington in 1887. He was an eminent and successful musician in England from 1907 until his death in 1966. Virtually forgotten since, he wrote a large number of pedagogical compositions that are still played by young cellists, as well as numerous substantial works for a variety of chamber music ensembles and symphony orchestra.

After studying cello and composition in Frankfurt and Brussels from 1903, Trowell moved to England where, in 1906, he began teaching, performing and publishing. His compositions include seven concertos, three sonatas, four symphonic poems and numerous pieces for cello and piano. 

Trowell was Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal College of Music and a cellist who was described by Edmund van der Straeten as “in a line with the greatest virtuosos of the present time.”  He gave hundreds of concerts throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland and broadcast frequently with the BBC.

The thesis addresses three research questions: What was the context and nature of his career as a virtuoso cellist? Was Trowell’s main contribution to music in the pedagogical field? If so, was it primarily for composition or his teaching? 

Three major sections relate to Trowell’s career as performer, teacher and composer. A chronological framework is adopted for Part One: Life of Arnold Trowell that focuses on the early years of the cellist’s life. Part Two begins with a survey of the development of cello technique in the early twentieth century and ends with a detailed analysis of Trowell’s solo and accompanied cello works. Musical illustrations from Trowell’s scores and the similar works by other composers are provided. Part Three addresses the chamber and orchestral music.

Appendices include a list of Trowell’s complete works, further information on contemporaneous cellists, etudes and bow techniques of the early twentieth century, a detailed and select list of Trowell’s students, as well as his writings on technique and pedagogy. A complete edition of the 24 Etudes Technology of Violoncello Book IV and a compact disc recording of works by Arnold Trowell are included.

The conclusion is that Trowell’s major contribution to music was in the area of cello pedagogy, in particular, the composition of teaching etudes and miniatures.

text: Arnold Trowell - Violoncellist, Composer and Pedagogue This thesis is the first study of Arnold Trowell, cellist, composer, conductor and teacher.  It is primarily concerned with the cellist’s contribution to pedagogy and composition as informed by biographical detail. The latter begins with an initial examination of the life of his father, Thomas.

Starting in the 1880s with Thomas’ arrival in Wellington, New Zealand the family background is discussed in terms of the musical climate of that city. Arnold’s creative and professional life in Great Britain and Europe provides the main body of the subsequent chapters of this study.

Arnold Trowell was born in Wellington in 1887. He was an eminent and successful musician in England from 1907 until his death in 1966. Virtually forgotten since, he wrote a large number of pedagogical compositions that are still played by young cellists, as well as numerous substantial works for a variety of chamber music ensembles and symphony orchestra.

After studying cello and composition in Frankfurt and Brussels from 1903, Trowell moved to England where, in 1906, he began teaching, performing and publishing. His compositions include seven concertos, three sonatas, four symphonic poems and numerous pieces for cello and piano. 

Trowell was Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal College of Music and a cellist who was described by Edmund van der Straeten as “in a line with the greatest virtuosos of the present time.”  He gave hundreds of concerts throughout Great Britain and Northern Ireland and broadcast frequently with the BBC.

The thesis addresses three research questions: What was the context and nature of his career as a virtuoso cellist? Was Trowell’s main contribution to music in the pedagogical field? If so, was it primarily for composition or his teaching? 

Three major sections relate to Trowell’s career as performer, teacher and composer. A chronological framework is adopted for Part One: Life of Arnold Trowell that focuses on the early years of the cellist’s life. Part Two begins with a survey of the development of cello technique in the early twentieth century and ends with a detailed analysis of Trowell’s solo and accompanied cello works. Musical illustrations from Trowell’s scores and the similar works by other composers are provided. Part Three addresses the chamber and orchestral music.

Appendices include a list of Trowell’s complete works, further information on contemporaneous cellists, etudes and bow techniques of the early twentieth century, a detailed and select list of Trowell’s students, as well as his writings on technique and pedagogy. A complete edition of the 24 Etudes Technology of Violoncello Book IV and a compact disc recording of works by Arnold Trowell are included.

The conclusion is that Trowell’s major contribution to music was in the area of cello pedagogy, in particular, the composition of teaching etudes and miniatures.

year: 2012

title: Te Mauri o te Kaitiaki - Exploring Te Ao Māori in environmental relations and kaitiakitanga  in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Wareka, Mona-Lisa

subjects: Te Ao Māori

abstract: Indigenous environmental empowerment is on the rise as humans look at ways to slow the adverse effects of anthropogenic environmental degradation. In the context of Aotearoa New Zealand, the concept and practice of ‘kaitiaki’ and ‘kaitiakitanga’, respectfully, play a significant role in the co-existence of Māori with the natural world. Previous research shows the innate connections and responsibilities encompassed in being kaitiaki which extend beyond the human element to encompass nonhumans and spiritual manifestations. This research aims to illustrate how Māori use cultural values, concepts and practices in local-level conservational practices through ethnographic research in Matapōuri. I investigate the conflicts and convergences of a rāhui recently placed on two cultural significant areas to the local hapū, and through this, I analyse the practical and spiritual application of kaitiakitanga. Based on this ethnography, I discuss a model for relating environmental degradation with the wellbeing of Māori within Aotearoa New Zealand today. Here, I wish to highlight the ecological and cultural threats present from continuing in the current system. Lastly, I argue that the assertion of kaitiakitanga at the local-level is also an assertion of Indigenous autonomy for Māori and the environment.

text: Te Mauri o te Kaitiaki - Exploring Te Ao Māori in environmental relations and kaitiakitanga  in Aotearoa New Zealand Indigenous environmental empowerment is on the rise as humans look at ways to slow the adverse effects of anthropogenic environmental degradation. In the context of Aotearoa New Zealand, the concept and practice of ‘kaitiaki’ and ‘kaitiakitanga’, respectfully, play a significant role in the co-existence of Māori with the natural world. Previous research shows the innate connections and responsibilities encompassed in being kaitiaki which extend beyond the human element to encompass nonhumans and spiritual manifestations. This research aims to illustrate how Māori use cultural values, concepts and practices in local-level conservational practices through ethnographic research in Matapōuri. I investigate the conflicts and convergences of a rāhui recently placed on two cultural significant areas to the local hapū, and through this, I analyse the practical and spiritual application of kaitiakitanga. Based on this ethnography, I discuss a model for relating environmental degradation with the wellbeing of Māori within Aotearoa New Zealand today. Here, I wish to highlight the ecological and cultural threats present from continuing in the current system. Lastly, I argue that the assertion of kaitiakitanga at the local-level is also an assertion of Indigenous autonomy for Māori and the environment.

year: 2020