title: Addressing disparities by listening to Māori whānau: Lessons for Kāhui Ako

authors: Horne, Sharon Karey

subjects: Addressing

abstract: This research involved interviewing five Māori whānau, with children attending four of six schools across a  Kāhui Ako, to identify the extent to which their children were enjoying and achieving education success as Māori.
A review of the literature highlighted precolonial ways of teaching and learning where whānau were highly involved in the education of their children and where teaching and learning was reciprocal and where the mana of children, whānau and hapū were important.
Applying culturally responsive methodologies and using group focussed, semi-structured interviews to collect whānau perspectives it was revealed that many Māori children were neither enjoying education nor achieving success as Māori. Māori whānau spoke sincerely about their own experiences and those of their children.  Critical and consistent messages from Māori whānau identified what must be addressed if Māori children are to reach their full potential and enjoy and achieve education success with their Māori cultural identity secure. 
This thesis identifies that it is crucial for school leaders and teachers to listen to what whānau are saying if educators are to take greater responsibility for the performance of Māori students’ learning and cultural identity by delivering their teaching performance against the cultural competencies stated in Tātaiako.  Addressing, reducing and removing the ongoing challenges and disparities Māori children and whānau face in education is essential. However, unless school leaders and teachers believe they have to change, then Māori will continue to get from schooling what they have always got. That is not good enough for Māori whānau and nor is it good enough for anyone’s whānau. This thesis discusses how together we can make this happen.

text: Addressing disparities by listening to Māori whānau: Lessons for Kāhui Ako This research involved interviewing five Māori whānau, with children attending four of six schools across a  Kāhui Ako, to identify the extent to which their children were enjoying and achieving education success as Māori.
A review of the literature highlighted precolonial ways of teaching and learning where whānau were highly involved in the education of their children and where teaching and learning was reciprocal and where the mana of children, whānau and hapū were important.
Applying culturally responsive methodologies and using group focussed, semi-structured interviews to collect whānau perspectives it was revealed that many Māori children were neither enjoying education nor achieving success as Māori. Māori whānau spoke sincerely about their own experiences and those of their children.  Critical and consistent messages from Māori whānau identified what must be addressed if Māori children are to reach their full potential and enjoy and achieve education success with their Māori cultural identity secure. 
This thesis identifies that it is crucial for school leaders and teachers to listen to what whānau are saying if educators are to take greater responsibility for the performance of Māori students’ learning and cultural identity by delivering their teaching performance against the cultural competencies stated in Tātaiako.  Addressing, reducing and removing the ongoing challenges and disparities Māori children and whānau face in education is essential. However, unless school leaders and teachers believe they have to change, then Māori will continue to get from schooling what they have always got. That is not good enough for Māori whānau and nor is it good enough for anyone’s whānau. This thesis discusses how together we can make this happen.

year: 2020

title: Puna

authors: Apiata, Hāwea

abstract: Bilingual poem for issue 11 of Mayhem Literary Journal.

text: Puna Bilingual poem for issue 11 of Mayhem Literary Journal.

year: 2024-09-26

title: Operation early-bird: Investigating altered light exposure in military barracks on sleep and performance-a placebo-controlled study.

authors: Edgar, David Thomas

subjects: blue-light wavelength

abstract: The manipulation of light exposure in the evening has been shown to modulate sleep, and may be beneficial in a military setting where sleep is reported to be problematic. This study investigated the efficacy of low-temperature lighting on objective sleep measures and physical performance in military trainees. Sixty-four officer-trainees (52 male/12 female, mean ± SD age: 25 ± 5 years) wore wrist-actigraphs for 6 weeks during military training to quantify sleep metrics. Trainee 2.4-km run time and upper-body muscular-endurance were assessed before and after the training course. Participants were randomly assigned to either: low-temperature lighting (LOW, n = 19), standard-temperature lighting with a placebo "sleep-enhancing" device (PLA, n = 17), or standard-temperature lighting (CON, n = 28) groups in their military barracks for the duration of the course. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were run to identify significant differences with post hoc analyses and effect size calculations performed where indicated. No significant interaction effect was observed for the sleep metrics; however, there was a significant effect of time for average sleep duration, and small benefits of LOW when compared with CON (d = 0.41-0.44). A significant interaction was observed for the 2.4-km run, with the improvement in LOW (Δ92.3 s) associated with a large improvement when compared with CON (Δ35.9 s; p = 0.003; d = 0.95 ± 0.60), but not PLA (Δ68.6 s). Similarly, curl-up improvement resulted in a moderate effect in favour of LOW (Δ14 repetitions) compared with CON (Δ6; p = 0.063; d = 0.68 ± 0.72). Chronic exposure to low-temperature lighting was associated with benefits to aerobic fitness across a 6-week training period, with minimal effects on sleep measures.

text: Operation early-bird: Investigating altered light exposure in military barracks on sleep and performance-a placebo-controlled study. The manipulation of light exposure in the evening has been shown to modulate sleep, and may be beneficial in a military setting where sleep is reported to be problematic. This study investigated the efficacy of low-temperature lighting on objective sleep measures and physical performance in military trainees. Sixty-four officer-trainees (52 male/12 female, mean ± SD age: 25 ± 5 years) wore wrist-actigraphs for 6 weeks during military training to quantify sleep metrics. Trainee 2.4-km run time and upper-body muscular-endurance were assessed before and after the training course. Participants were randomly assigned to either: low-temperature lighting (LOW, n = 19), standard-temperature lighting with a placebo "sleep-enhancing" device (PLA, n = 17), or standard-temperature lighting (CON, n = 28) groups in their military barracks for the duration of the course. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were run to identify significant differences with post hoc analyses and effect size calculations performed where indicated. No significant interaction effect was observed for the sleep metrics; however, there was a significant effect of time for average sleep duration, and small benefits of LOW when compared with CON (d = 0.41-0.44). A significant interaction was observed for the 2.4-km run, with the improvement in LOW (Δ92.3 s) associated with a large improvement when compared with CON (Δ35.9 s; p = 0.003; d = 0.95 ± 0.60), but not PLA (Δ68.6 s). Similarly, curl-up improvement resulted in a moderate effect in favour of LOW (Δ14 repetitions) compared with CON (Δ6; p = 0.063; d = 0.68 ± 0.72). Chronic exposure to low-temperature lighting was associated with benefits to aerobic fitness across a 6-week training period, with minimal effects on sleep measures.

year: 2023-02-15