title: Best intentions: Using convergent practices divergently

authors: Whyte, Barbara

subjects: Summative assessment

abstract: Summative assessment and explicit teaching are on the increase in New Zealand primary and intermediate learning spaces; either, or both, frequently used by teachers to assist with requirements for National Standards. Combined use means learning destinations are set by teachers within convergent practice, allowing little room for student exploration, curiosity and questions. In contrast, the vision, values and key competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) promote teacher action towards more divergent practices that enable multiple opportunities for student input and negotiation. In this article we draw on collaborative observation and teacher reflection, to provide an example of an integrated curriculum approach effectively incorporating summative assessment and explicit teaching within a divergent learning programme, that enhances rather than constrains student learning autonomy.

text: Best intentions: Using convergent practices divergently Summative assessment and explicit teaching are on the increase in New Zealand primary and intermediate learning spaces; either, or both, frequently used by teachers to assist with requirements for National Standards. Combined use means learning destinations are set by teachers within convergent practice, allowing little room for student exploration, curiosity and questions. In contrast, the vision, values and key competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) promote teacher action towards more divergent practices that enable multiple opportunities for student input and negotiation. In this article we draw on collaborative observation and teacher reflection, to provide an example of an integrated curriculum approach effectively incorporating summative assessment and explicit teaching within a divergent learning programme, that enhances rather than constrains student learning autonomy.

year: 2017

title: “To dream of a wildness distant from ourselves”: Capitalism, colonialism, and the Robinsonade

authors: Pepperell, Nicole

subjects: Charles Mills

abstract: Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe holds an iconic position, not solely as a work of literature, but also for its influence in economic and social theory. This article reflects on this influence by mobilising Charles Mills’ concept of epistemologies of ignorance and Lorenzo Veracini’s work on psychological defence mechanisms in settler colonial societies. This theoretical framework motivates a close textual analysis of Robinson Crusoe that focuses particularly on four textual strategies: paired contrasts between Xury and Friday that frame enslavement as a sacrificial act; strategic use of “cosmopolitan” ideals; a theory of subjection as the foundation for legitimate power; and moral relativisms that rationalise Crusoe’s theft of Indigenous land. This analysis then provides the foundation for an original interpretation of Marx’s Capital as a critically inverted Robinsonade: one designed to demonstrate how global relations of colonial expropriation generate a crucible in which a particular imaginary of autonomous individuality is forged.

text: “To dream of a wildness distant from ourselves”: Capitalism, colonialism, and the Robinsonade Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe holds an iconic position, not solely as a work of literature, but also for its influence in economic and social theory. This article reflects on this influence by mobilising Charles Mills’ concept of epistemologies of ignorance and Lorenzo Veracini’s work on psychological defence mechanisms in settler colonial societies. This theoretical framework motivates a close textual analysis of Robinson Crusoe that focuses particularly on four textual strategies: paired contrasts between Xury and Friday that frame enslavement as a sacrificial act; strategic use of “cosmopolitan” ideals; a theory of subjection as the foundation for legitimate power; and moral relativisms that rationalise Crusoe’s theft of Indigenous land. This analysis then provides the foundation for an original interpretation of Marx’s Capital as a critically inverted Robinsonade: one designed to demonstrate how global relations of colonial expropriation generate a crucible in which a particular imaginary of autonomous individuality is forged.

year: 2023-09-06

title: Indigenous service programs plus indigenous evaluator equals Whitestream evaluation - What's wrong with this picture? (Reflections from my PhD)

authors: Masters-Awatere, Bridgette

abstract: For the past 100 or so years, formal evaluation has taken its lead from frameworks that originate from a culturally blind standpoint. Worldwide the major influence on evaluation practice comes from the United States of America. The absence of non-dominant (or indigenous) culturally constructed frameworks has been replicated around the world.
Before the formation of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association (ANZEA), as a NZ specific evaluation group, practitioners generally belonged to the Australasian Evaluation Society (AES) and joined in the sharing, adoption and adaptation of USAs Program Evaluation Standards. However, the context of evaluation in New Zealand has been somewhat different from the rest of the world, becoming more culturally centred than other countries. The role and place of the Treaty of Waitangi has been acknowledged as an attributing factor by ANZEA.
Four indigenous, externally evaluated “By Maori for Maori”, health & wellbeing programmes were used as case studies within my research. I draw upon examples from the cases studies to highlight the vulnerable and contentious position indigenous service providers and indigenous evaluators were in. Adapting Sandra Grande’s (2003) analysis, I critiqued the context of the case study evaluations that commissioners considered as Kaupapa Maori. In this presentation I argue that while stakeholders perceived the work to be an indigenous evaluation, the case studies demonstrate that whitestream evaluation was prevalent.

text: Indigenous service programs plus indigenous evaluator equals Whitestream evaluation - What's wrong with this picture? (Reflections from my PhD) For the past 100 or so years, formal evaluation has taken its lead from frameworks that originate from a culturally blind standpoint. Worldwide the major influence on evaluation practice comes from the United States of America. The absence of non-dominant (or indigenous) culturally constructed frameworks has been replicated around the world.
Before the formation of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association (ANZEA), as a NZ specific evaluation group, practitioners generally belonged to the Australasian Evaluation Society (AES) and joined in the sharing, adoption and adaptation of USAs Program Evaluation Standards. However, the context of evaluation in New Zealand has been somewhat different from the rest of the world, becoming more culturally centred than other countries. The role and place of the Treaty of Waitangi has been acknowledged as an attributing factor by ANZEA.
Four indigenous, externally evaluated “By Maori for Maori”, health & wellbeing programmes were used as case studies within my research. I draw upon examples from the cases studies to highlight the vulnerable and contentious position indigenous service providers and indigenous evaluators were in. Adapting Sandra Grande’s (2003) analysis, I critiqued the context of the case study evaluations that commissioners considered as Kaupapa Maori. In this presentation I argue that while stakeholders perceived the work to be an indigenous evaluation, the case studies demonstrate that whitestream evaluation was prevalent.

year: 2015