title: Kei hea ahau ināianai? Where am I now? An examination of the positioning of disabled children in the discourses of long-day early childhood education and care centres in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Lyons McAdam, Lesley Maree

subjects: early childhood education and care

abstract: In Aotearoa New Zealand’s legislative and policy environment the concept of inclusion for disabled children is positioned as a human rights concern in which all children are afforded the right to attend and participate in all aspects of educational and community life; they are legislatively included. This study examines how the subject positions of disabled children are made available within contradicting discourses currently influencing and being influenced by the largely privately operated long-day early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. The study argues that a predicament has been created by contradicting discourses, confusing the practices of teachers, centre owners and managers in Aotearoa New Zealand’s long-day early childhood education and care sector

Using Foucauldian tools of critical discourse analysis and the work of subsequent post-structuralist writers the study has focused on the understanding that subject positions are created and reinforced by constantly changing social conditions and circumstances. According to Foucault (1984), the normalised subject position is governed by what is deemed appropriate in a context and is maintained by those operating within it. Discourses are explained as not merely reflecting social entities, but as actively constructing them (Ball, 2013; Moss, 2019; Walshaw, 2007).

Employing a Foucauldian lens to examine literature and policy back-grounding provision for disabled children drew attention to the complexities and tensions arising from discourses surrounding inclusion in the sector both at macro and micro levels. The discourses of neoliberalism, biomedicine, and developmentalism were found to position disabled children as other (ab-normalise) and normalise children presenting with typical development.
 
Neoliberal discourse contributing to a view of ECEC as a business investment site (Kilderry, 2006; Meagher & Cortis, 2009; Slee, 2011) was found to be a dominant factor contributing to teachers’, owners’ and managers’ confusion regarding inclusion and presented as a discursive trend I have titled Enlightened Ableism. The discursive trend towards enlightened ableism explains the phenomenon whereby teachers, owners and managers speak positively about inclusion yet when asked about the possibility and practicalities of including a disabled child identify the presence of barriers with connections to discourses which privilege the able.

text: Kei hea ahau ināianai? Where am I now? An examination of the positioning of disabled children in the discourses of long-day early childhood education and care centres in Aotearoa New Zealand In Aotearoa New Zealand’s legislative and policy environment the concept of inclusion for disabled children is positioned as a human rights concern in which all children are afforded the right to attend and participate in all aspects of educational and community life; they are legislatively included. This study examines how the subject positions of disabled children are made available within contradicting discourses currently influencing and being influenced by the largely privately operated long-day early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. The study argues that a predicament has been created by contradicting discourses, confusing the practices of teachers, centre owners and managers in Aotearoa New Zealand’s long-day early childhood education and care sector

Using Foucauldian tools of critical discourse analysis and the work of subsequent post-structuralist writers the study has focused on the understanding that subject positions are created and reinforced by constantly changing social conditions and circumstances. According to Foucault (1984), the normalised subject position is governed by what is deemed appropriate in a context and is maintained by those operating within it. Discourses are explained as not merely reflecting social entities, but as actively constructing them (Ball, 2013; Moss, 2019; Walshaw, 2007).

Employing a Foucauldian lens to examine literature and policy back-grounding provision for disabled children drew attention to the complexities and tensions arising from discourses surrounding inclusion in the sector both at macro and micro levels. The discourses of neoliberalism, biomedicine, and developmentalism were found to position disabled children as other (ab-normalise) and normalise children presenting with typical development.
 
Neoliberal discourse contributing to a view of ECEC as a business investment site (Kilderry, 2006; Meagher & Cortis, 2009; Slee, 2011) was found to be a dominant factor contributing to teachers’, owners’ and managers’ confusion regarding inclusion and presented as a discursive trend I have titled Enlightened Ableism. The discursive trend towards enlightened ableism explains the phenomenon whereby teachers, owners and managers speak positively about inclusion yet when asked about the possibility and practicalities of including a disabled child identify the presence of barriers with connections to discourses which privilege the able.

year: 2021

title: How school leaders address violence against girls/women in schools and its significance for the implementation of universal basic education policy in Papua New Guinea

authors: Wilson Kend, Pes

subjects: violence against girls/women

abstract: The goal of Universal Basic Education (UBE), as agreed to in the formulation of the Education For All Goals in 1990 and later the development of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations (UN) in 2000, is achieving universal primary and secondary education by 2015. However, one of the impediments to the successful attainment of the UBE in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the issue of violence against girls and women (VAG/W) in schools. Addressing violence and gender issues has a significant impact on the ultimate progress and outcome on the goal of UBE because, in practice, PNG is not free from violence and its related issues of gender inequality. Therefore, this study sought to understand, ‘How School Leaders Address Violence Against Girls/Women in Schools and its Significance for the Implementation of Universal Basic Education Policy in PNG’. Its prime focus was to assess the effectiveness of school leadership in handling VAG/W in PNG schools. 
Some schools and their leaders in PNG have been recognised as working effectively in tackling VAG/W in schools. A secondary intention of this study was to investigate those effective practices and recommend them to other schools and for further improvements. Using interviews with adult school leaders (4) and surveys with student leaders and students (101) the research was carried out in two contextually very different schools in PNG, located in the NCD and Central provinces. Descriptive statistics, thematic analysis and content analysis was used to analyse the data. The study concluded that school leaders at the two schools were attending to issues of VAG/W in their schools and, to some extent, were effective within their specific context. Yet there were still many challenges identified that need on-going attention for achieving universal primary and secondary education and addressing VAG/W. As a result of the study I have proposed several recommendations for the schools, for education in PNG more generally and for those engaging in similar research associated with VAG/W in PNG.

text: How school leaders address violence against girls/women in schools and its significance for the implementation of universal basic education policy in Papua New Guinea The goal of Universal Basic Education (UBE), as agreed to in the formulation of the Education For All Goals in 1990 and later the development of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations (UN) in 2000, is achieving universal primary and secondary education by 2015. However, one of the impediments to the successful attainment of the UBE in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is the issue of violence against girls and women (VAG/W) in schools. Addressing violence and gender issues has a significant impact on the ultimate progress and outcome on the goal of UBE because, in practice, PNG is not free from violence and its related issues of gender inequality. Therefore, this study sought to understand, ‘How School Leaders Address Violence Against Girls/Women in Schools and its Significance for the Implementation of Universal Basic Education Policy in PNG’. Its prime focus was to assess the effectiveness of school leadership in handling VAG/W in PNG schools. 
Some schools and their leaders in PNG have been recognised as working effectively in tackling VAG/W in schools. A secondary intention of this study was to investigate those effective practices and recommend them to other schools and for further improvements. Using interviews with adult school leaders (4) and surveys with student leaders and students (101) the research was carried out in two contextually very different schools in PNG, located in the NCD and Central provinces. Descriptive statistics, thematic analysis and content analysis was used to analyse the data. The study concluded that school leaders at the two schools were attending to issues of VAG/W in their schools and, to some extent, were effective within their specific context. Yet there were still many challenges identified that need on-going attention for achieving universal primary and secondary education and addressing VAG/W. As a result of the study I have proposed several recommendations for the schools, for education in PNG more generally and for those engaging in similar research associated with VAG/W in PNG.

year: 2013

title: Key concepts in Māori and iwi histories: A critique of Te Takanga o te Wā (2015)

authors: Palmer, Georgia

subjects: History

abstract: In 2019, the New Zealand government announced a “reset” of the national history curriculum, with the intention of including more Māori content and addressing ongoing petitions to make the New Zealand Wars compulsory in all schools. Two curricula - one for mainstream schools and the other for Māori immersion Kura - were developed, with each drawing on a recent Ministry of Education publication Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) to provide key insights to Māori history concepts and themes. The Māori curricula has since taken on the name of that document, and uses those themes in its new framework, while the mainstream curriculum also adopts some of these same concepts. But how relevant are these proposed themes and concepts to Māori history, and what have Māori and iwi historians and experts actually written or said about the significance of these concepts to Māori historical practice, content, and theory?
This thesis critiques the five key themes and concepts presented in Te Takanga o te Wā and evaluates their relevance as leading Māori history concepts. These are Whakapapa, Tūrangawaewae; Mana-Motuhake; Kaitiakitanga, and Whānaungatanga. This study surveys the existing work produced by Māori historians and other experts over the past century, particularly the extent to which they have used these themes or discussed their significance to Māori and iwi historical practice and thinking. This dissertation argues that aside from whakapapa, the majority of the themes presented in Te Takanga o te Wā are not reflected in the historiography of the field, and that there are in fact a range of other crucial concepts missing. These include discussions about Wā, the importance of te reo Māori, tikanga, Mātauranga-a-iwi and other important approaches like “historical trauma”, “survivance”, Kaupapa Māori and decolonisation.

text: Key concepts in Māori and iwi histories: A critique of Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) In 2019, the New Zealand government announced a “reset” of the national history curriculum, with the intention of including more Māori content and addressing ongoing petitions to make the New Zealand Wars compulsory in all schools. Two curricula - one for mainstream schools and the other for Māori immersion Kura - were developed, with each drawing on a recent Ministry of Education publication Te Takanga o te Wā (2015) to provide key insights to Māori history concepts and themes. The Māori curricula has since taken on the name of that document, and uses those themes in its new framework, while the mainstream curriculum also adopts some of these same concepts. But how relevant are these proposed themes and concepts to Māori history, and what have Māori and iwi historians and experts actually written or said about the significance of these concepts to Māori historical practice, content, and theory?
This thesis critiques the five key themes and concepts presented in Te Takanga o te Wā and evaluates their relevance as leading Māori history concepts. These are Whakapapa, Tūrangawaewae; Mana-Motuhake; Kaitiakitanga, and Whānaungatanga. This study surveys the existing work produced by Māori historians and other experts over the past century, particularly the extent to which they have used these themes or discussed their significance to Māori and iwi historical practice and thinking. This dissertation argues that aside from whakapapa, the majority of the themes presented in Te Takanga o te Wā are not reflected in the historiography of the field, and that there are in fact a range of other crucial concepts missing. These include discussions about Wā, the importance of te reo Māori, tikanga, Mātauranga-a-iwi and other important approaches like “historical trauma”, “survivance”, Kaupapa Māori and decolonisation.

year: 2022