title: Tikanga Tainui: Tikanga Whare Wananga

authors: Roa, Tom

subjects: Tainui protocols

abstract: This paper is a preliminary report on an ongoing research project begun in 1999. The project involves consultation with Waikato-Tainui, the tangata whenua of the Waikato region, about the construction of guidelines for University of Waikato staff (both Māori and non-Māori) who are involved in gatherings that call for adherence to Tainui protocols. Here, the emphasis is on guidelines for the conduct of pōwhiri (formal welcomes) on the University Marae.

text: Tikanga Tainui: Tikanga Whare Wananga This paper is a preliminary report on an ongoing research project begun in 1999. The project involves consultation with Waikato-Tainui, the tangata whenua of the Waikato region, about the construction of guidelines for University of Waikato staff (both Māori and non-Māori) who are involved in gatherings that call for adherence to Tainui protocols. Here, the emphasis is on guidelines for the conduct of pōwhiri (formal welcomes) on the University Marae.

year: 2005-09-01

title: Tū te turuturu nō Hine-te-iwaiwa: Mana wahine geographies of birth in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Simmonds, Naomi Beth

subjects: Mana wahine

abstract: This thesis examines the embodied, spiritual and spatial experiences of maternity for Māori women. It reveals how colonial and patriarchal discourses are embedded and embodied in the spaces of childbirth in Aotearoa New Zealand. I use a mana wahine (Māori women’s) framework to critique discourses that continue to marginalise and isolate Māori women and their whānau (family group) during their maternity experiences. Importantly, this research highlights the possibilities of reclaiming and reconfiguring mana wahine in both theory and practice. In doing so, I conceptualise new geographies that account for, and celebrate, uniquely Māori understandings and expressions of maternity. 
Mana wahine provides a much needed theoretical framework that enables Māori women to (re)define and (re)present our lived realities on our own terms. A qualitative mixed method approach of interviews, solicited diary writing and a marae based wānanga is employed to examine the lived experiences of birth for ten first time mothers, five midwives and a wānanga of 17 women and their whānau. In total 32 women participated in various phases of the research.
Empirical material is arranged around four key themes. The first considers the ways in which colonialism is lived and embodied in maternity experiences for many whānau. New formations of colonialism are evident in the silence that can surround the maternal body for women in this research. The second theme highlights how whakapapa (genealogy), wairua (spirituality), and whenua (land/placenta), can provide a powerful reconceptualisation of the maternal body that offers new possibilities for thinking about maternal embodiment, the spaces of birth (both material and discursive) and maternity policy and practice. Third, it is argued that many women and whānau occupy a number of in-between maternity spaces as a result of our colonised realities. As such, considerations of space from a mana wahine perspective can serve to destabilise the dualisms that dominate the spatial politics of birth in Aotearoa. Finally, this thesis posits that by reclaiming the collective and spiritual spaces of birth and afterbirth it is possible to transform and empower women and whānau in their maternity experiences. 
This thesis responds to a scarcity of academic scholarship on mana wahine maternities. It advances mana wahine and feminist geographical knowledges by providing a critical spatial perspective on Māori women’s maternal geographies. It is argued that reclaiming mana wahine maternities has the potential to transform women’s birthing experiences by (re)asserting the tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) of women, of their babies, and of their whānau, and thus the rangatiratanga of Māori communities, hapū (sub-tribe/sub-tribes) and iwi (tribe/tribes).

text: Tū te turuturu nō Hine-te-iwaiwa: Mana wahine geographies of birth in Aotearoa New Zealand This thesis examines the embodied, spiritual and spatial experiences of maternity for Māori women. It reveals how colonial and patriarchal discourses are embedded and embodied in the spaces of childbirth in Aotearoa New Zealand. I use a mana wahine (Māori women’s) framework to critique discourses that continue to marginalise and isolate Māori women and their whānau (family group) during their maternity experiences. Importantly, this research highlights the possibilities of reclaiming and reconfiguring mana wahine in both theory and practice. In doing so, I conceptualise new geographies that account for, and celebrate, uniquely Māori understandings and expressions of maternity. 
Mana wahine provides a much needed theoretical framework that enables Māori women to (re)define and (re)present our lived realities on our own terms. A qualitative mixed method approach of interviews, solicited diary writing and a marae based wānanga is employed to examine the lived experiences of birth for ten first time mothers, five midwives and a wānanga of 17 women and their whānau. In total 32 women participated in various phases of the research.
Empirical material is arranged around four key themes. The first considers the ways in which colonialism is lived and embodied in maternity experiences for many whānau. New formations of colonialism are evident in the silence that can surround the maternal body for women in this research. The second theme highlights how whakapapa (genealogy), wairua (spirituality), and whenua (land/placenta), can provide a powerful reconceptualisation of the maternal body that offers new possibilities for thinking about maternal embodiment, the spaces of birth (both material and discursive) and maternity policy and practice. Third, it is argued that many women and whānau occupy a number of in-between maternity spaces as a result of our colonised realities. As such, considerations of space from a mana wahine perspective can serve to destabilise the dualisms that dominate the spatial politics of birth in Aotearoa. Finally, this thesis posits that by reclaiming the collective and spiritual spaces of birth and afterbirth it is possible to transform and empower women and whānau in their maternity experiences. 
This thesis responds to a scarcity of academic scholarship on mana wahine maternities. It advances mana wahine and feminist geographical knowledges by providing a critical spatial perspective on Māori women’s maternal geographies. It is argued that reclaiming mana wahine maternities has the potential to transform women’s birthing experiences by (re)asserting the tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) of women, of their babies, and of their whānau, and thus the rangatiratanga of Māori communities, hapū (sub-tribe/sub-tribes) and iwi (tribe/tribes).

year: 2014

title: An investigation into early childhood art education in two Shanghai kindergartens

authors: Huang, Wanying

subjects: early childhood art education

abstract: Historically, art practice in Chinese preschools was dominated by giving children a skill-based sense of achievement which was roundly criticized by Western art educators for stifling children`s personal expression and creativity. Chinese policy makers promoted a renewed early childhood art curriculum which draws heavily on conceptual and practical model of art education from abroad while still valuing aspects of past traditions. The objectives outlined in the revised early childhood art curriculum speak not only to an older Chinese emphasis on children`s early acquisition of art skills and the quality of work of art, but also to an overriding new emphasis on creative self-expression, co-constructing art learning, and art appreciation. 
Changes in the principles of early childhood art education have taken place since 2001, so what has changed in implementation? Using a qualitative, case study methodology, this study set out to address the following research questions: What are common rituals of practice that are typical of art education praxis in two contemporary Shanghai kindergartens? What do teachers reveal as their rationale for their approach to teaching art? How do children`s actions, artworks and speech represent their art learning? In what ways do teachers and children`s responses reflect the way that art education has been represented in current kindergarten policy guidelines and historical reforms?
Examining what teacher and children did and said about art revealed commonly shared experiences. It appeared that a predetermined, teacher-directed style of teaching still dominated many preschool art sessions. Influenced by cultural factors, there was a widely shared commitment to the significance of teacher authority in ‘regulating’ children`s art experience, and the idea of skill progression drives the emergence of creative expression. The teaching of practical skills via modeling dominated even though policy shifts indicated to the value of emotional enjoyment. Teachers tried to adjust their tight control over children`s art-making, as evident in their endeavor to develop alternative rituals of practice to enhance children`s engagement with work of art. Nevertheless, changes in ideas, particularly the corresponding practice presented a challenge to teachers who had never seen these multiple perspectives demonstrated in a pragmatic manner. Teachers perhaps were not equipped with sufficient knowledge to effectively combine these opposing messages into effective practice. Constraints such as tight schedules, large class sizes, parents` expectations for observable outcomes of children`s learning, and more importantly, the lack of effective professional development further contributed to the perpetuation of a teacher-directed art practice. 
Indicated by this study, there were themes warranting further investigation: the tension between Chinese tradition and contrasting Western views of creativity and expressiveness; the constraints in practice that reinforce teacher-directed pedagogy; and effective interventions that support teachers to make significant changes in their own art pedagogical practice in kindergarten art.

text: An investigation into early childhood art education in two Shanghai kindergartens Historically, art practice in Chinese preschools was dominated by giving children a skill-based sense of achievement which was roundly criticized by Western art educators for stifling children`s personal expression and creativity. Chinese policy makers promoted a renewed early childhood art curriculum which draws heavily on conceptual and practical model of art education from abroad while still valuing aspects of past traditions. The objectives outlined in the revised early childhood art curriculum speak not only to an older Chinese emphasis on children`s early acquisition of art skills and the quality of work of art, but also to an overriding new emphasis on creative self-expression, co-constructing art learning, and art appreciation. 
Changes in the principles of early childhood art education have taken place since 2001, so what has changed in implementation? Using a qualitative, case study methodology, this study set out to address the following research questions: What are common rituals of practice that are typical of art education praxis in two contemporary Shanghai kindergartens? What do teachers reveal as their rationale for their approach to teaching art? How do children`s actions, artworks and speech represent their art learning? In what ways do teachers and children`s responses reflect the way that art education has been represented in current kindergarten policy guidelines and historical reforms?
Examining what teacher and children did and said about art revealed commonly shared experiences. It appeared that a predetermined, teacher-directed style of teaching still dominated many preschool art sessions. Influenced by cultural factors, there was a widely shared commitment to the significance of teacher authority in ‘regulating’ children`s art experience, and the idea of skill progression drives the emergence of creative expression. The teaching of practical skills via modeling dominated even though policy shifts indicated to the value of emotional enjoyment. Teachers tried to adjust their tight control over children`s art-making, as evident in their endeavor to develop alternative rituals of practice to enhance children`s engagement with work of art. Nevertheless, changes in ideas, particularly the corresponding practice presented a challenge to teachers who had never seen these multiple perspectives demonstrated in a pragmatic manner. Teachers perhaps were not equipped with sufficient knowledge to effectively combine these opposing messages into effective practice. Constraints such as tight schedules, large class sizes, parents` expectations for observable outcomes of children`s learning, and more importantly, the lack of effective professional development further contributed to the perpetuation of a teacher-directed art practice. 
Indicated by this study, there were themes warranting further investigation: the tension between Chinese tradition and contrasting Western views of creativity and expressiveness; the constraints in practice that reinforce teacher-directed pedagogy; and effective interventions that support teachers to make significant changes in their own art pedagogical practice in kindergarten art.

year: 2013