title: The Effects of a Phonological Awareness and Alphabet Knowledge Intervention on Four Year Old Kindergarten Children

authors: Rachmani, Rachel Margaret

subjects: Phonological awareness

abstract: Phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge are two of the strongest predictors of reading acquisition. Many New Zealand children are entering school with low levels of emergent literacy skills, so an important area of study is how to boost the phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge of four year olds in preparation for their entrance into school. The current research proposed an evidence-based intervention, using games and books, could raise the levels of phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge in children who were shown to have low levels of emergent literacy. The study examined the variation of emergent literacy knowledge, assessed using PALS Pre-K, in a sample of 42 New Zealand four year old children attending kindergarten. The study also investigated the effects of a phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge intervention in a sample of 24 four year old children (taken from the original sample of 42). The results showed 1) a large range in the emergent literacy scores of the 42 four year olds and 2) that a phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge intervention was effective in significantly raising the levels of upper-case letter-naming, letter-sound awareness and beginning sound awareness in the intervention group. The scores for name writing, lower-case letter-naming and rhyming although higher for the intervention group were not significantly so. The results suggest there is a relationship between letter-naming knowledge and letter-sound knowledge and that beginning sound knowledge was a difficult concept for many children to grasp without explicit teaching. The findings showed an evidence-based intervention that is designed appropriately with regard to focus, length of session and group size, can be effective in raising the emergent literacy knowledge of a group of four year old children with low levels of emergent literacy knowledge.

text: The Effects of a Phonological Awareness and Alphabet Knowledge Intervention on Four Year Old Kindergarten Children Phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge are two of the strongest predictors of reading acquisition. Many New Zealand children are entering school with low levels of emergent literacy skills, so an important area of study is how to boost the phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge of four year olds in preparation for their entrance into school. The current research proposed an evidence-based intervention, using games and books, could raise the levels of phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge in children who were shown to have low levels of emergent literacy. The study examined the variation of emergent literacy knowledge, assessed using PALS Pre-K, in a sample of 42 New Zealand four year old children attending kindergarten. The study also investigated the effects of a phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge intervention in a sample of 24 four year old children (taken from the original sample of 42). The results showed 1) a large range in the emergent literacy scores of the 42 four year olds and 2) that a phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge intervention was effective in significantly raising the levels of upper-case letter-naming, letter-sound awareness and beginning sound awareness in the intervention group. The scores for name writing, lower-case letter-naming and rhyming although higher for the intervention group were not significantly so. The results suggest there is a relationship between letter-naming knowledge and letter-sound knowledge and that beginning sound knowledge was a difficult concept for many children to grasp without explicit teaching. The findings showed an evidence-based intervention that is designed appropriately with regard to focus, length of session and group size, can be effective in raising the emergent literacy knowledge of a group of four year old children with low levels of emergent literacy knowledge.

year: 2011

title: The potential and the limits of mindfulness:  When and for whom is it beneficial?

authors: Roemer, Anja

abstract: Mindfulness is an inherent human capacity that is characterised as present moment awareness while maintaining an accepting and nonjudgmental stance. Mindfulness is related to better self-regulation and it enables individuals to refrain from behaviour that is driven by automaticity and impulsivity. While this is a capacity that can be beneficial in many jobs, we do not fully understand the work situations in which mindfulness may be helpful or the conditions under which mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) improve critical outcomes such as mental health and performance. Research investigating the potential and limits of mindfulness in today’s challenging world is therefore warranted. 
This thesis set out to examine mindfulness in various contexts to investigate its potential mental health and performance benefits across different populations (N=564) distributed over five different studies. These five studies involved three different samples including employees (n=301), youth (n=239) and trainees (n=24). Cross-sectional survey designs and experimental intervention studies were used to investigate when and for whom mindfulness is beneficial. Hierarchical and stepwise multiple regression analyses, an ANCOVA and the Wilcoxon-signed rank test were applied to analyse data. It was found that mindfulness can help to buffer the negative effect of inauthenticity on depression in a sample of employees. Furthermore, more mindful employees showed a higher readiness for change in times of organisational change, but only when levels of well-being are high and distress is low. Having established that mindfulness can be beneficial in the workplace, it was investigated whether low-dose MBIs are effective in enhancing mental health and attentional performance. It was found that a low-dose-MBI could protect from performance decline in times of demanding training with positive effects on well-being at follow-up. Moreover, a low-dose MBI alleviated distress, but only for those who had higher levels of mindfulness and well-being at baseline. Finally, the contribution of different mindfulness facets to well-being and distress was investigated. The results demonstrated that the mindfulness facet Nonreacting was the main predictor of well-being, while the facet Acting with awareness was the main inverse predictor of distress.Overall, the findings of this thesis show that mindfulness can help employees to deal with demands at work, such as organisational change, and it can enhance well-being and reduce distress. However, mindfulness may not be beneficial under all conditions and for everyone. Organisations who aim to use interventions should carefully assess employees’ current levels of mindfulness and well-being to assign them to the right intervention format.

text: The potential and the limits of mindfulness:  When and for whom is it beneficial? Mindfulness is an inherent human capacity that is characterised as present moment awareness while maintaining an accepting and nonjudgmental stance. Mindfulness is related to better self-regulation and it enables individuals to refrain from behaviour that is driven by automaticity and impulsivity. While this is a capacity that can be beneficial in many jobs, we do not fully understand the work situations in which mindfulness may be helpful or the conditions under which mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) improve critical outcomes such as mental health and performance. Research investigating the potential and limits of mindfulness in today’s challenging world is therefore warranted. 
This thesis set out to examine mindfulness in various contexts to investigate its potential mental health and performance benefits across different populations (N=564) distributed over five different studies. These five studies involved three different samples including employees (n=301), youth (n=239) and trainees (n=24). Cross-sectional survey designs and experimental intervention studies were used to investigate when and for whom mindfulness is beneficial. Hierarchical and stepwise multiple regression analyses, an ANCOVA and the Wilcoxon-signed rank test were applied to analyse data. It was found that mindfulness can help to buffer the negative effect of inauthenticity on depression in a sample of employees. Furthermore, more mindful employees showed a higher readiness for change in times of organisational change, but only when levels of well-being are high and distress is low. Having established that mindfulness can be beneficial in the workplace, it was investigated whether low-dose MBIs are effective in enhancing mental health and attentional performance. It was found that a low-dose-MBI could protect from performance decline in times of demanding training with positive effects on well-being at follow-up. Moreover, a low-dose MBI alleviated distress, but only for those who had higher levels of mindfulness and well-being at baseline. Finally, the contribution of different mindfulness facets to well-being and distress was investigated. The results demonstrated that the mindfulness facet Nonreacting was the main predictor of well-being, while the facet Acting with awareness was the main inverse predictor of distress.Overall, the findings of this thesis show that mindfulness can help employees to deal with demands at work, such as organisational change, and it can enhance well-being and reduce distress. However, mindfulness may not be beneficial under all conditions and for everyone. Organisations who aim to use interventions should carefully assess employees’ current levels of mindfulness and well-being to assign them to the right intervention format.

year: 2021

title: Empowering Pacific and Māori students via Zoom

authors: Brown, Georgia

abstract: When discussing online teaching, a common refrain is that online teaching doesn’t suit Pacific and Māori students: they learn kanohi ki te kanohi. We present some experiences from students who attended a Zoom tutorial for Pacific students in 2023. These experiences show that a quality online learning experience is possible, and that Pacific and Māori students value and appreciate online options.

text: Empowering Pacific and Māori students via Zoom When discussing online teaching, a common refrain is that online teaching doesn’t suit Pacific and Māori students: they learn kanohi ki te kanohi. We present some experiences from students who attended a Zoom tutorial for Pacific students in 2023. These experiences show that a quality online learning experience is possible, and that Pacific and Māori students value and appreciate online options.

year: 2023