title: Resource allocation and empowerment practices: Evidence from disability support services

authors: Alam, Manzurul

subjects: disabilities

abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of empowerment practices within the disability support service (DSS) sector in New Zealand. The DSS framework is designed as part of the public sector reform process to promote empowerment for people with disabilities so that they can lead independent lives in their communities. 

Design/methodology/approach – Taking a qualitative and interpretive approach to fieldwork, this research seeks the actual lived experiences of the disabled as recipients of services offer by the state. 

Findings – The empirical evidence suggests that a concept such as empowerment can be problematic, because it can be perceived as a manipulative strategy where empowerment principles may be only notionally applied when services are offered by following managerialist principles. 

Originality/value – This paper adds to the understanding on relationships between service design, resources, and empowerment practices. Implementation of empowerment principles, however, depends on resources to create a support structure at the community level and an atmosphere where there is choice and flexibility for people with disabilities to access essential services.

text: Resource allocation and empowerment practices: Evidence from disability support services Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of empowerment practices within the disability support service (DSS) sector in New Zealand. The DSS framework is designed as part of the public sector reform process to promote empowerment for people with disabilities so that they can lead independent lives in their communities. 

Design/methodology/approach – Taking a qualitative and interpretive approach to fieldwork, this research seeks the actual lived experiences of the disabled as recipients of services offer by the state. 

Findings – The empirical evidence suggests that a concept such as empowerment can be problematic, because it can be perceived as a manipulative strategy where empowerment principles may be only notionally applied when services are offered by following managerialist principles. 

Originality/value – This paper adds to the understanding on relationships between service design, resources, and empowerment practices. Implementation of empowerment principles, however, depends on resources to create a support structure at the community level and an atmosphere where there is choice and flexibility for people with disabilities to access essential services.

year: 2009

title: Asian migrant women’s identity negotiation as language learners: Significant events towards imagined identities

authors: Lee, Jinah

subjects: Identity negotiation

abstract: Social identity issues come to the fore when people migrate from one place to another. Study of identity issues has been a central theme in understanding migrants. However, ambiguous and complex identity negotiation processes have been underexplored. Recently, demographic changes in Aotearoa NZ, due to the increase in the population of Asian migrants, concern many, because there is little known about the population in relation to the migrants' experiences in identity changes. This thesis will therefore attempt to unfold the complexity of identity negotiation processes in the study of Asian migrants in Aotearoa NZ, in particular, mothers. This research can provide a further understanding of the population and can contribute to the academic field of identity theories. 
Asian migrant women as language learners struggle to settle in Aotearoa NZ. They hope to belong to the society through identity negotiation. The process of negotiation is individually different and dynamic. However, socially informed identity theories guided by Wenger’s (1999) Communities of Practice framework provide a starting point to explore the dynamics of these processes. This research not only seeks to examine the complexity of these negotiations but also to develop a structure which can explain such complexity. 
The research design was underpinned by theoretical concepts of social constructionism and narrative inquiry. To capture the dynamic identity negotiation processes, I collected narratives of significant events. Six Asian migrant women living in Hamilton, Aotearoa NZ, participated in the research. They engaged in prompted recounts and eight in-depth individual interviews, which consisted of one initial, six post-recount and one reflective interview, during a twelve month period. The iterative interview process also included the researcher’s responses to the participants’ shared stories, and reflective journal writings after each interview session. 
The findings show that identities of the participants are not static and are related to the complex relation of imagined identities and past experiences, in the context of local and global environments. The dynamism of the participants’ identities is also linked to the changing nature of their recounts in relation to the perceived level of significance. These ongoing shifts are shown in interview contexts. During the interviews, the participants often add statements to increase their self-value while they narrate stories indicating a weak sense of belonging. The statements are performed as strategies (Marginson, 2014), and the strategies are diversity and hybridity. Also, the dyadic relationships that developed between the participants and the researcher during the interviews, which were outcomes of the methodological frame, proved to have played a role in increasing the participants’ self-value and the possibilities of positive identities.
The discussion of the findings presents close connections between a sense of belonging and sense of self-value in relation to identities. The participants’ identity negotiation processes took place in relational contexts. The contexts reflect important aspects of dyadic relationships in the negotiation processes. The results provide implications for social identity theories, narrative research, and pedagogies of EAL teaching and learning.

text: Asian migrant women’s identity negotiation as language learners: Significant events towards imagined identities Social identity issues come to the fore when people migrate from one place to another. Study of identity issues has been a central theme in understanding migrants. However, ambiguous and complex identity negotiation processes have been underexplored. Recently, demographic changes in Aotearoa NZ, due to the increase in the population of Asian migrants, concern many, because there is little known about the population in relation to the migrants' experiences in identity changes. This thesis will therefore attempt to unfold the complexity of identity negotiation processes in the study of Asian migrants in Aotearoa NZ, in particular, mothers. This research can provide a further understanding of the population and can contribute to the academic field of identity theories. 
Asian migrant women as language learners struggle to settle in Aotearoa NZ. They hope to belong to the society through identity negotiation. The process of negotiation is individually different and dynamic. However, socially informed identity theories guided by Wenger’s (1999) Communities of Practice framework provide a starting point to explore the dynamics of these processes. This research not only seeks to examine the complexity of these negotiations but also to develop a structure which can explain such complexity. 
The research design was underpinned by theoretical concepts of social constructionism and narrative inquiry. To capture the dynamic identity negotiation processes, I collected narratives of significant events. Six Asian migrant women living in Hamilton, Aotearoa NZ, participated in the research. They engaged in prompted recounts and eight in-depth individual interviews, which consisted of one initial, six post-recount and one reflective interview, during a twelve month period. The iterative interview process also included the researcher’s responses to the participants’ shared stories, and reflective journal writings after each interview session. 
The findings show that identities of the participants are not static and are related to the complex relation of imagined identities and past experiences, in the context of local and global environments. The dynamism of the participants’ identities is also linked to the changing nature of their recounts in relation to the perceived level of significance. These ongoing shifts are shown in interview contexts. During the interviews, the participants often add statements to increase their self-value while they narrate stories indicating a weak sense of belonging. The statements are performed as strategies (Marginson, 2014), and the strategies are diversity and hybridity. Also, the dyadic relationships that developed between the participants and the researcher during the interviews, which were outcomes of the methodological frame, proved to have played a role in increasing the participants’ self-value and the possibilities of positive identities.
The discussion of the findings presents close connections between a sense of belonging and sense of self-value in relation to identities. The participants’ identity negotiation processes took place in relational contexts. The contexts reflect important aspects of dyadic relationships in the negotiation processes. The results provide implications for social identity theories, narrative research, and pedagogies of EAL teaching and learning.

year: 2016

title: A pedagogical framework for embedding computational thinking in authentic technology practice

authors: Fox-Turnbull, Wendy

subjects: authentic technology practice

abstract: Computational thinking is an aspect of digital technologies in the New Zealand Curriculum that teaches children to approach problems systematically, using logical and analytical reasoning.  This paper presents a study undertaken in a small-town primary school in New Zealand with a high population of Māori students. The study drew on four aspects from Kotsopoulos et al.’s framework of pedagogical experiences: unplugged, tinkering, making, remixing to investigate pedagogical strategies that facilitate the successful embedding of computational thinking within authentic technological practice. The research aimed to identify learning pedagogies that support young learners in their understanding of computational thinking through designing and developing digital technologies. The qualitative methodologies were informed by the three pedagogical principles from Bishop and Berryman to guide the research design and frame learning support for students. Key themes that emerged from the data included the values of local context, self-autonomy, classroom organisation, use of physical and digital manipulatives. Finally, the paper presents a model for the pedagogical delivery of computational thinking when embedded in technological practice in primary schools, drawing from and adding to Kotsopoulos and colleague’s pedagogical framework. The most significant modification situates the existing model within authentic technology practice, providing context for learning. The model shows an adjustment from ‘Making’ to ‘Designing and Making’, thus strengthening the position of digital technologies within the Technology learning area.  The model also signals that authentic technological within a primary classroom practice is heavily impacted by ‘the pragmatics of delivery’ through a range of pedagogical and organisational strategies developed to ensure the needs of all students are met and to support them through their learning journey in computational thinking. The last significant modification of Kotsopoulos and colleagues’ model is the removal of ‘remixing’ because the primary aged students in this study did not reach the level of sophistication required for remixing. The aim of the framework is to assist teachers and teacher educators to design and develop successful teaching and learning strategies for implementing computational thinking into authentic technology practice in primary schools.

text: A pedagogical framework for embedding computational thinking in authentic technology practice Computational thinking is an aspect of digital technologies in the New Zealand Curriculum that teaches children to approach problems systematically, using logical and analytical reasoning.  This paper presents a study undertaken in a small-town primary school in New Zealand with a high population of Māori students. The study drew on four aspects from Kotsopoulos et al.’s framework of pedagogical experiences: unplugged, tinkering, making, remixing to investigate pedagogical strategies that facilitate the successful embedding of computational thinking within authentic technological practice. The research aimed to identify learning pedagogies that support young learners in their understanding of computational thinking through designing and developing digital technologies. The qualitative methodologies were informed by the three pedagogical principles from Bishop and Berryman to guide the research design and frame learning support for students. Key themes that emerged from the data included the values of local context, self-autonomy, classroom organisation, use of physical and digital manipulatives. Finally, the paper presents a model for the pedagogical delivery of computational thinking when embedded in technological practice in primary schools, drawing from and adding to Kotsopoulos and colleague’s pedagogical framework. The most significant modification situates the existing model within authentic technology practice, providing context for learning. The model shows an adjustment from ‘Making’ to ‘Designing and Making’, thus strengthening the position of digital technologies within the Technology learning area.  The model also signals that authentic technological within a primary classroom practice is heavily impacted by ‘the pragmatics of delivery’ through a range of pedagogical and organisational strategies developed to ensure the needs of all students are met and to support them through their learning journey in computational thinking. The last significant modification of Kotsopoulos and colleagues’ model is the removal of ‘remixing’ because the primary aged students in this study did not reach the level of sophistication required for remixing. The aim of the framework is to assist teachers and teacher educators to design and develop successful teaching and learning strategies for implementing computational thinking into authentic technology practice in primary schools.

year: 2025