title: 'Tis better to be seen.

authors: Saunders, Rachel

subjects: education

abstract: The article presents the author's experience related to leisure activities. He says as, "The sound of my Adidas sprigs scratching and clawing at the concrete as I sprint down Wendywood Lane towards the school draws attention and interested looks, not to mention amusement, from the early morning gardeners and people shuffling out to collect the paper. With lungs nearly bursting and my breath heaving painfully in my chest, the picket fences and hydrangeas blur beside me as I eventually round the corner to the back of the school fields. I scan the horizon for my school colors. I can just make out the yellow and blue strip of my hockey team as they gather together by the dug outs. Parents are starting to gather on the sideline and joust for the position closest to the coach. I search along the line for a glimpse of my father. Not there yet. I know that he'll be there soon."

text: 'Tis better to be seen. The article presents the author's experience related to leisure activities. He says as, "The sound of my Adidas sprigs scratching and clawing at the concrete as I sprint down Wendywood Lane towards the school draws attention and interested looks, not to mention amusement, from the early morning gardeners and people shuffling out to collect the paper. With lungs nearly bursting and my breath heaving painfully in my chest, the picket fences and hydrangeas blur beside me as I eventually round the corner to the back of the school fields. I scan the horizon for my school colors. I can just make out the yellow and blue strip of my hockey team as they gather together by the dug outs. Parents are starting to gather on the sideline and joust for the position closest to the coach. I search along the line for a glimpse of my father. Not there yet. I know that he'll be there soon."

year: 2004

title: Developing a social justice agenda for counsellor education in New Zealand: a social constructionist perspective

authors: Monk, Gerald D.

abstract: Counselling and Counsellor education in the West have traditionally been dominated by a liberal-humanist premise which emphasises the universality of human experience and the independence of individuals. The effect of this orientation on counselling practice has been a focus on the capacity of individuals to make independent changes in their lives through the exercise of rational choice. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, feminists and some Maori have challenged this perspective. Indeed a growing literature in the helping professions acknowledges that Eurocentric and patriarchal interpretations have been imposed through psychological practices, most particularly on women and those of non-European origin. Such critiques must have significant implications for counsellor education.

In 1991 as a counsellor educator with a concern for social justice, it seemed to me that critical theory discourse and some forms of feminism had developed the necessary conceptual underpinnings which would enable counselling practice to address these injustices. From a critical theory perspective, hegemonic practices of power maintained hierarchical social structures which systematically marginalise people. I sought to identify how these theories might be useful in reformulating counsellor education in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

In the belief that a social justice agenda was also important to the 12 counsellor educators in New Zealand universities, I wanted to further my understanding of the implications of such a commitment by interviewing my colleagues. The main focus of these interviews was to explore counsellor educators’ awareness of Eurocentrism and androcentrism in both the discourses of counselling and their subsequent impact on their professional practice. Data was generated by individual interviews and group discussions, and circulated among participants for comment. A hermeneutic-dialectic method of data collection was used. Many of the responses had a cautionary, vigilant, or even suspicious quality, suggesting some participants’ discomfort with my questioning. A deconstructive analysis of their responses revealed that the framing of my own thesis questions were characteristic of a rigid oppressor-oppressed binary. The underlying presumption of a single preferred path to social justice had, in effect, prejudged the defensibility of any other position. Manifesting a Eurocentric stance which I had set out to challenge, I had taken up a fundamentalist position. This was the antithesis of collaborative and respectful dialogue. The problematic of this thesis thus became how to engage with a transformative social justice agenda in counsellor education that was neither plagued by the presumptions of universality nor constrained by the rigidities of fundamentalist essentialism.

I was forced to recognise that any social justice agenda is discursively produced although an account of this production often remains unarticulated. However, recognising the limitations of grand theory did not mean that I could avoid taking a position on how social justice could be addressed in counsellor education. Rather than adopting a fixed non-negotiable position, discursive analysis of a theoretical stance offers the space to claim a temporary, located essentialism from which the generation of new possibilities might be achieved. My task here was to situate my own knowledge, recognise its partiality and develop a social justice agenda from a social constructionist perspective.

I began to view persons as being positioned by diverse discourses that are at times oppressive and at other times not. This led to the recognition that persons can be called into multiple subjectivities which affect the extent to which power and agency are available to them within particular interactions in particular settings. The conceptual tools of discourse, deconstruction, multiple subjectivity, agency, and capillary power (as distinct from commodity power) offer an alternative means by which androcentric and Eurocentric practices in counsellor education may be identified without taking up rigid or righteous positions. 

The thesis is an account of the theoretical moves which might accommodate and engage the contradictions, ambiguities, and paradoxes associated with a search for social justice in counsellor education in the 1990s. It considers a social justice agenda at the sites of gender and ethnicity in counsellor education and remarks on the possibility of attaining discursive empathy in culturally different environments.

text: Developing a social justice agenda for counsellor education in New Zealand: a social constructionist perspective Counselling and Counsellor education in the West have traditionally been dominated by a liberal-humanist premise which emphasises the universality of human experience and the independence of individuals. The effect of this orientation on counselling practice has been a focus on the capacity of individuals to make independent changes in their lives through the exercise of rational choice. In Aotearoa/New Zealand, feminists and some Maori have challenged this perspective. Indeed a growing literature in the helping professions acknowledges that Eurocentric and patriarchal interpretations have been imposed through psychological practices, most particularly on women and those of non-European origin. Such critiques must have significant implications for counsellor education.

In 1991 as a counsellor educator with a concern for social justice, it seemed to me that critical theory discourse and some forms of feminism had developed the necessary conceptual underpinnings which would enable counselling practice to address these injustices. From a critical theory perspective, hegemonic practices of power maintained hierarchical social structures which systematically marginalise people. I sought to identify how these theories might be useful in reformulating counsellor education in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

In the belief that a social justice agenda was also important to the 12 counsellor educators in New Zealand universities, I wanted to further my understanding of the implications of such a commitment by interviewing my colleagues. The main focus of these interviews was to explore counsellor educators’ awareness of Eurocentrism and androcentrism in both the discourses of counselling and their subsequent impact on their professional practice. Data was generated by individual interviews and group discussions, and circulated among participants for comment. A hermeneutic-dialectic method of data collection was used. Many of the responses had a cautionary, vigilant, or even suspicious quality, suggesting some participants’ discomfort with my questioning. A deconstructive analysis of their responses revealed that the framing of my own thesis questions were characteristic of a rigid oppressor-oppressed binary. The underlying presumption of a single preferred path to social justice had, in effect, prejudged the defensibility of any other position. Manifesting a Eurocentric stance which I had set out to challenge, I had taken up a fundamentalist position. This was the antithesis of collaborative and respectful dialogue. The problematic of this thesis thus became how to engage with a transformative social justice agenda in counsellor education that was neither plagued by the presumptions of universality nor constrained by the rigidities of fundamentalist essentialism.

I was forced to recognise that any social justice agenda is discursively produced although an account of this production often remains unarticulated. However, recognising the limitations of grand theory did not mean that I could avoid taking a position on how social justice could be addressed in counsellor education. Rather than adopting a fixed non-negotiable position, discursive analysis of a theoretical stance offers the space to claim a temporary, located essentialism from which the generation of new possibilities might be achieved. My task here was to situate my own knowledge, recognise its partiality and develop a social justice agenda from a social constructionist perspective.

I began to view persons as being positioned by diverse discourses that are at times oppressive and at other times not. This led to the recognition that persons can be called into multiple subjectivities which affect the extent to which power and agency are available to them within particular interactions in particular settings. The conceptual tools of discourse, deconstruction, multiple subjectivity, agency, and capillary power (as distinct from commodity power) offer an alternative means by which androcentric and Eurocentric practices in counsellor education may be identified without taking up rigid or righteous positions. 

The thesis is an account of the theoretical moves which might accommodate and engage the contradictions, ambiguities, and paradoxes associated with a search for social justice in counsellor education in the 1990s. It considers a social justice agenda at the sites of gender and ethnicity in counsellor education and remarks on the possibility of attaining discursive empathy in culturally different environments.

year: 1998

title: Raising Māori Student Achievement - Journeys of Success

authors: Kaumoana, Cadence

abstract: Educational success for Māori students is influenced by confidence in one’s identity, positive role models and support; and positive attitudes to learning and success.
This project asked Māori tertiary graduates about their educational experiences. Half of the participants in this study had successfully completed secondary school and the other half did not complete secondary school education. This selection of participants was selected to highlight that although some students don’t complete secondary school it is still possible to successfully pursue and complete tertiary level qualifications. The feedback given from the participants highlighted the positive factors that influenced their successful completion. From these factors recommendations have been developed to support Māori student success. The objective of this study is to encourage the development of increased self-confidence for Māori rangatahi and to promote the continuation of lifelong learning.
When Māori students are supported both at school and in the home they are more likely to achieve educational success, particularly at secondary school level. Similarly, at tertiary level study; students who graduate with a completed degree qualification are likely to have had positive support and successful role models, they are likely to be secure within their own identity and wh!nau network. Māori students that successfully complete tertiary study are more likely to have positive attitudes to learning and to achieving; knowing how to access support and feeling confident in their efforts.
The key to this study is the link between successful completion of secondary school and the follow-on to successful tertiary study. When Māori students are supported appropriately in the development of their identity their confidence soon follows. This support would ideally come from wh!nau in the home and the school. When Māori students are confident in their learning journeys through high levels of confidence in identity they are more likely to persevere under pressure and despite setbacks.
Influencing factors to developing self-confidence for Māori students include awareness of Te Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori, responsibility at home, responsibility at school and the positive influence of role models. The study then concludes by providing recommendations for learners, educators and wh!nau to support the educational achievement of their tamariki.

text: Raising Māori Student Achievement - Journeys of Success Educational success for Māori students is influenced by confidence in one’s identity, positive role models and support; and positive attitudes to learning and success.
This project asked Māori tertiary graduates about their educational experiences. Half of the participants in this study had successfully completed secondary school and the other half did not complete secondary school education. This selection of participants was selected to highlight that although some students don’t complete secondary school it is still possible to successfully pursue and complete tertiary level qualifications. The feedback given from the participants highlighted the positive factors that influenced their successful completion. From these factors recommendations have been developed to support Māori student success. The objective of this study is to encourage the development of increased self-confidence for Māori rangatahi and to promote the continuation of lifelong learning.
When Māori students are supported both at school and in the home they are more likely to achieve educational success, particularly at secondary school level. Similarly, at tertiary level study; students who graduate with a completed degree qualification are likely to have had positive support and successful role models, they are likely to be secure within their own identity and wh!nau network. Māori students that successfully complete tertiary study are more likely to have positive attitudes to learning and to achieving; knowing how to access support and feeling confident in their efforts.
The key to this study is the link between successful completion of secondary school and the follow-on to successful tertiary study. When Māori students are supported appropriately in the development of their identity their confidence soon follows. This support would ideally come from wh!nau in the home and the school. When Māori students are confident in their learning journeys through high levels of confidence in identity they are more likely to persevere under pressure and despite setbacks.
Influencing factors to developing self-confidence for Māori students include awareness of Te Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori, responsibility at home, responsibility at school and the positive influence of role models. The study then concludes by providing recommendations for learners, educators and wh!nau to support the educational achievement of their tamariki.

year: 2013