title: Early childhood portfolios as a tool for enhancing learning during the transition to school

authors: Peters, Sally

subjects: early childhood education

abstract: From 2005-2008 Mangere Bridge Kindergarten in New Zealand carried out a Centre of Innovation research project exploring the transition between early childhood education and school. A flexible action research approach was used, with the three teacher researchers, supported by two university research associates, developing and researching a range of strategies for supporting children’s learning as the children and their families ‘crossed the border’ from early childhood education to school. Many of these initiatives involved working closely with teachers in the local school setting. This paper focuses on one aspect of the findings, the ways in which the early childhood portfolios could be used to enhance children’s learning during the transition to school. Portfolios were identified as a belonging and empowerment tool; a means for school teachers to access to children’s funds of knowledge; playing a role in constructing a positive self-image about learning; and as valuable literacy artefacts.

text: Early childhood portfolios as a tool for enhancing learning during the transition to school From 2005-2008 Mangere Bridge Kindergarten in New Zealand carried out a Centre of Innovation research project exploring the transition between early childhood education and school. A flexible action research approach was used, with the three teacher researchers, supported by two university research associates, developing and researching a range of strategies for supporting children’s learning as the children and their families ‘crossed the border’ from early childhood education to school. Many of these initiatives involved working closely with teachers in the local school setting. This paper focuses on one aspect of the findings, the ways in which the early childhood portfolios could be used to enhance children’s learning during the transition to school. Portfolios were identified as a belonging and empowerment tool; a means for school teachers to access to children’s funds of knowledge; playing a role in constructing a positive self-image about learning; and as valuable literacy artefacts.

year: 2009

title: Re-anchoring the late Pleistocene tephrochronology of New Zealand based on concordant radiocarbon ages and combined ²³⁸U/ ²³ºTh disequilibrium and (U-Th)/He zircon ages

authors: Danišík, Martin

subjects: (U-Th)/He dating

abstract: The caldera-forming Rotoiti eruption from Okataina volcano was one of the largest rhyolite events of the last 100ka in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. Its associated widespread tephra layer (Rotoehu tephra) is a significant time marker in terrestrial-marine paleoclimate correlation studies in the SW Pacific. However, the accurate and precise age of this eruption, and of the subsequent, smaller volume Earthquake Flat (EQF) eruption, has been the subject of controversy despite numerous studies. We have applied combined ²³⁸U/ ²³ºTh disequilibrium and (U-Th)/He dating of zircon from Rotoiti and EQF deposits, and obtained overlapping ages of 45.1(7)±3.3ka and 45.1(6)±2.9ka, respectively. These results are supported by new and published high-precision radiocarbon data bracketing the age of the Rotoiti eruption between 44.8±0.3 and 47.5±2.1ka cal BP. These age data are also in good agreement with a range of previously published estimates based on paleoclimate (palynology), luminescence dating of enclosing sediment, and sedimentation rates in terrestrial and marine settings. However, these results are at variance with a commonly quoted age of ~60ka, largely constrained by a single ⁴ºAr/ ³⁹Ar age of an overlying glassy lava flow at a distal tephra site. This study demonstrates the potential for combined ²³⁸U/ ²³ºTh disequilibrium and (U-Th)/He dating of zircon in tephra and other volcanic deposits to provide age control in the 40-100ka time interval, a period difficult to constrain using more traditional radiocarbon, K/Ar and ⁴ºAr/ ³⁹Ar methods.

text: Re-anchoring the late Pleistocene tephrochronology of New Zealand based on concordant radiocarbon ages and combined ²³⁸U/ ²³ºTh disequilibrium and (U-Th)/He zircon ages The caldera-forming Rotoiti eruption from Okataina volcano was one of the largest rhyolite events of the last 100ka in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. Its associated widespread tephra layer (Rotoehu tephra) is a significant time marker in terrestrial-marine paleoclimate correlation studies in the SW Pacific. However, the accurate and precise age of this eruption, and of the subsequent, smaller volume Earthquake Flat (EQF) eruption, has been the subject of controversy despite numerous studies. We have applied combined ²³⁸U/ ²³ºTh disequilibrium and (U-Th)/He dating of zircon from Rotoiti and EQF deposits, and obtained overlapping ages of 45.1(7)±3.3ka and 45.1(6)±2.9ka, respectively. These results are supported by new and published high-precision radiocarbon data bracketing the age of the Rotoiti eruption between 44.8±0.3 and 47.5±2.1ka cal BP. These age data are also in good agreement with a range of previously published estimates based on paleoclimate (palynology), luminescence dating of enclosing sediment, and sedimentation rates in terrestrial and marine settings. However, these results are at variance with a commonly quoted age of ~60ka, largely constrained by a single ⁴ºAr/ ³⁹Ar age of an overlying glassy lava flow at a distal tephra site. This study demonstrates the potential for combined ²³⁸U/ ²³ºTh disequilibrium and (U-Th)/He dating of zircon in tephra and other volcanic deposits to provide age control in the 40-100ka time interval, a period difficult to constrain using more traditional radiocarbon, K/Ar and ⁴ºAr/ ³⁹Ar methods.

year: 2012

title: Te Mātāpuna o Te Waihou: When the river speaks: Te Waihou river rights and power-sharing in the currents of cultural inequality.

authors: Kelly, Clifton Edward

subjects: Water Rights

abstract: National fresh water management in Aotearoa New Zealand is a subject of political contention for hapū that claim customary rights over natural water resources.  Waterways continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate under the Resource Management Act (RMA) and regional policies that prioritise economic development and industrial intensification over sustainable resource management.  This thesis embodies a collection of unique perspectives and knowledges from Te Waihou river marae.  The primary focus of this thesis is to examine hapū values in relation to an ancestral river and significant freshwater source.  Hapū geographies are enduring remnants of oral tradition and tikanga practices (cultural traditions and values).  These geographies are examined in the context of contemporary water management to contrast strands and values of indigenous knowledge that has guided the health, growth and longevity of hapū for millennia.  Such traditional knowledge is an integral part of discerning the future cultural protection and sustainability of a tribal water resource.   
Hapū narratives are juxtaposed with resource management and reconciliation discourse to consider firstly, bicultural world-views of the natural environment, and secondly, the influence of Western resource management frameworks and mechanisms on tikanga practices.  This study is framed by a Kaupapa Māori theoretical framework that creates a site of resistance to dominant colonial theory.  Such a space is used to decolonise and decentralise the Eurocentric ideologies in national water frameworks and acknowledge an indigenous approach to environmental protection and sustainable management.  
With a particular focus on mana whenua customary rights, and Crown and iwi Treaty settlements, commentary on a collaborative management regime for Te Waihou examines power-sharing and the location of power within processes of the co-management mechanism.  The review of key resource management literature considers bicultural definitions of water rights and ownership, and the implications of a rights-to-culture model within the contexts of tikanga Māori.  River health and sustainability is synonymous with tribal health and the health of communities.  This research examines the implications of this statement within the natural resource frameworks of national, regional and district municipalities.

text: Te Mātāpuna o Te Waihou: When the river speaks: Te Waihou river rights and power-sharing in the currents of cultural inequality. National fresh water management in Aotearoa New Zealand is a subject of political contention for hapū that claim customary rights over natural water resources.  Waterways continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate under the Resource Management Act (RMA) and regional policies that prioritise economic development and industrial intensification over sustainable resource management.  This thesis embodies a collection of unique perspectives and knowledges from Te Waihou river marae.  The primary focus of this thesis is to examine hapū values in relation to an ancestral river and significant freshwater source.  Hapū geographies are enduring remnants of oral tradition and tikanga practices (cultural traditions and values).  These geographies are examined in the context of contemporary water management to contrast strands and values of indigenous knowledge that has guided the health, growth and longevity of hapū for millennia.  Such traditional knowledge is an integral part of discerning the future cultural protection and sustainability of a tribal water resource.   
Hapū narratives are juxtaposed with resource management and reconciliation discourse to consider firstly, bicultural world-views of the natural environment, and secondly, the influence of Western resource management frameworks and mechanisms on tikanga practices.  This study is framed by a Kaupapa Māori theoretical framework that creates a site of resistance to dominant colonial theory.  Such a space is used to decolonise and decentralise the Eurocentric ideologies in national water frameworks and acknowledge an indigenous approach to environmental protection and sustainable management.  
With a particular focus on mana whenua customary rights, and Crown and iwi Treaty settlements, commentary on a collaborative management regime for Te Waihou examines power-sharing and the location of power within processes of the co-management mechanism.  The review of key resource management literature considers bicultural definitions of water rights and ownership, and the implications of a rights-to-culture model within the contexts of tikanga Māori.  River health and sustainability is synonymous with tribal health and the health of communities.  This research examines the implications of this statement within the natural resource frameworks of national, regional and district municipalities.

year: 2020