title: Nurturing the designerly thinking and design capabilities of five-year-olds: technology in the new entrant classroom

authors: Milne, Louise

subjects: technology

abstract: Technology is one of eight learning areas of the New Zealand national curriculum. It aims to develop a broad technological literacy through students participating in programmes in which the practice of technological development is experienced, as is knowledge informing practice, and students gain an understanding of technology as a domain in its own right. In New Zealand children begin school at 5 years of age and this paper describes a classroom research project during which these students design and then construct a photo frame. The inducement for this development arose from students needing to safely transport home and then display a class photograph. This provided the opportunity for developing technological knowledge and skills within a real and relevant context—two key drivers when working with young students (Ministry of Education 2007) [MoE]. The results of this project suggest that teaching technology to five-year-old students is achievable and a valuable addition to other learning opportunities provided in the new entrant classroom. Strategies are suggested that will enable students to successfully achieve their goals whilst gaining a simple understanding of the technological process. By making good use of these it is possible to create a worthwhile and imaginatively challenging activity that reflects the essence of the technology education curriculum.

text: Nurturing the designerly thinking and design capabilities of five-year-olds: technology in the new entrant classroom Technology is one of eight learning areas of the New Zealand national curriculum. It aims to develop a broad technological literacy through students participating in programmes in which the practice of technological development is experienced, as is knowledge informing practice, and students gain an understanding of technology as a domain in its own right. In New Zealand children begin school at 5 years of age and this paper describes a classroom research project during which these students design and then construct a photo frame. The inducement for this development arose from students needing to safely transport home and then display a class photograph. This provided the opportunity for developing technological knowledge and skills within a real and relevant context—two key drivers when working with young students (Ministry of Education 2007) [MoE]. The results of this project suggest that teaching technology to five-year-old students is achievable and a valuable addition to other learning opportunities provided in the new entrant classroom. Strategies are suggested that will enable students to successfully achieve their goals whilst gaining a simple understanding of the technological process. By making good use of these it is possible to create a worthwhile and imaginatively challenging activity that reflects the essence of the technology education curriculum.

year: 2013

title: The role of existing knowledge in reading comprehension and conceptual change in science education

authors: Bell, Beverley

abstract: Recent research in science education has illustrated that students, prior to formal science teaching, have constructed for themselves interpretations of and explanations for many natural phenomena, and that these beliefs may persist despite up to five years of science tuition. The research has also demonstrated that these beliefs, which are part of a student’s existing knowledge, are an important factor in determining what learning, if any, will occur. This has led to the development of a view of learning in science as conceptual change, rather than concept acquisition, and as an active, constructive process rather than a passive, absorptive one. This view (and in particular the generative learning model) has been adopted in this study. 
A parallel development in reading research has also emphasised the role of existing knowledge in reading comprehension and a view of reading comprehension as the active construction of meaning.
The current research spanned both these two related fields of reading comprehension and conceptual change in science education and focused on the role of existing knowledge in both processes. In particular, it investigated the role of existing knowledge (for example, the everyday meaning of ‘animal’) of some 13-year-old students in comprehending a text about the scientific concept of animal, and in what ways this influenced conceptual change.
Three different methodologies were used - one in each of the three phases of the research programme. These were the qualitative interview techniques (the ‘spot-the-mistake’ and ‘reading-to-learn’ interviews) and quantitative survey measures.
The findings gave further support to a constructivist view of reading comprehension and conceptual change, and a strong interactionist view of reading comprehension was suggested, as existing knowledge not only contributed to the constructed meanings, but influenced what constructions were made.
The main finding was that existing knowledge was used not only to construct a meaning but to evaluate it in terms of whether to accept or reject the construction. Learning in science, therefore, involves not only the construction of the intended meaning, but accepting it as well. Learning difficulties may occur at either the construction or acceptance stage. The results suggested that in science education, students’ difficulties in accepting a scientific construction may be as great as, if not greater than, those in constructing the scientific conception itself.
The implications of the findings for teaching and learning, the curriculum, reading in science classrooms and textbook authors are discussed in the final chapter.

text: The role of existing knowledge in reading comprehension and conceptual change in science education Recent research in science education has illustrated that students, prior to formal science teaching, have constructed for themselves interpretations of and explanations for many natural phenomena, and that these beliefs may persist despite up to five years of science tuition. The research has also demonstrated that these beliefs, which are part of a student’s existing knowledge, are an important factor in determining what learning, if any, will occur. This has led to the development of a view of learning in science as conceptual change, rather than concept acquisition, and as an active, constructive process rather than a passive, absorptive one. This view (and in particular the generative learning model) has been adopted in this study. 
A parallel development in reading research has also emphasised the role of existing knowledge in reading comprehension and a view of reading comprehension as the active construction of meaning.
The current research spanned both these two related fields of reading comprehension and conceptual change in science education and focused on the role of existing knowledge in both processes. In particular, it investigated the role of existing knowledge (for example, the everyday meaning of ‘animal’) of some 13-year-old students in comprehending a text about the scientific concept of animal, and in what ways this influenced conceptual change.
Three different methodologies were used - one in each of the three phases of the research programme. These were the qualitative interview techniques (the ‘spot-the-mistake’ and ‘reading-to-learn’ interviews) and quantitative survey measures.
The findings gave further support to a constructivist view of reading comprehension and conceptual change, and a strong interactionist view of reading comprehension was suggested, as existing knowledge not only contributed to the constructed meanings, but influenced what constructions were made.
The main finding was that existing knowledge was used not only to construct a meaning but to evaluate it in terms of whether to accept or reject the construction. Learning in science, therefore, involves not only the construction of the intended meaning, but accepting it as well. Learning difficulties may occur at either the construction or acceptance stage. The results suggested that in science education, students’ difficulties in accepting a scientific construction may be as great as, if not greater than, those in constructing the scientific conception itself.
The implications of the findings for teaching and learning, the curriculum, reading in science classrooms and textbook authors are discussed in the final chapter.

year: 1984

title: Stop playing up! A critical ethnography of health, physical education and (sub)urban schooling

authors: Fitzpatrick, Katie

subjects: Health

abstract: This thesis explores the place of health and physical education in the lives of Otara youth in New Zealand. Situated in the southern suburbs of New Zealand’s largest city, Otara, South Auckland is known for its cultural diversity, as well as for poverty and crime. It is home to large numbers of indigenous Maori and migrant Pasifika (Pacific Island) youth. Based on a year-long critical ethnography of a multiethnic high school, this thesis explores how these young people engage with and respond to the school subjects of health and physical education. It also discusses broader issues in their lives, including the social geographies within which they reside, and how they understand their bodies, sexuality, health, gender and physicalities. The subjects of health and physical education are compulsory in most schools internationally – in New Zealand they are directly linked in curriculum policy documents and in school practice – but share a somewhat uneasy relationship and differing historical positions. Considered low status in schools, these subjects are also conflated with narrow body and health norms, possibly problematic for young women, and/or are wedded to the social and cultural world of sport. Curriculum policy documents established in the last ten years offer the possibility of critical and social approaches to these subjects, but examples of critical practice remain rare. Health and physical education are thus compulsory, contentious, contradictory and complex subjects within contemporary schooling. Critical ethnographies of schooling are relatively scarce compared with conventional ethnographic accounts, but critical ethnographies of health and physical education (PE) are almost unheard of. The use of such a methodology in this study enabled an indepth account of Otara youth in the subjects of health and PE at school. It also provided a platform for storied accounts of how one teacher, Dan, enacted a critical and culturally connected pedagogy of health and PE with the young people in his classes. This thesis explores the complex potential for health and PE as key sites of learning for Pasifika and Maori youth. It examines health and PE as subjects that are both politically fraught and spaces of hope.

text: Stop playing up! A critical ethnography of health, physical education and (sub)urban schooling This thesis explores the place of health and physical education in the lives of Otara youth in New Zealand. Situated in the southern suburbs of New Zealand’s largest city, Otara, South Auckland is known for its cultural diversity, as well as for poverty and crime. It is home to large numbers of indigenous Maori and migrant Pasifika (Pacific Island) youth. Based on a year-long critical ethnography of a multiethnic high school, this thesis explores how these young people engage with and respond to the school subjects of health and physical education. It also discusses broader issues in their lives, including the social geographies within which they reside, and how they understand their bodies, sexuality, health, gender and physicalities. The subjects of health and physical education are compulsory in most schools internationally – in New Zealand they are directly linked in curriculum policy documents and in school practice – but share a somewhat uneasy relationship and differing historical positions. Considered low status in schools, these subjects are also conflated with narrow body and health norms, possibly problematic for young women, and/or are wedded to the social and cultural world of sport. Curriculum policy documents established in the last ten years offer the possibility of critical and social approaches to these subjects, but examples of critical practice remain rare. Health and physical education are thus compulsory, contentious, contradictory and complex subjects within contemporary schooling. Critical ethnographies of schooling are relatively scarce compared with conventional ethnographic accounts, but critical ethnographies of health and physical education (PE) are almost unheard of. The use of such a methodology in this study enabled an indepth account of Otara youth in the subjects of health and PE at school. It also provided a platform for storied accounts of how one teacher, Dan, enacted a critical and culturally connected pedagogy of health and PE with the young people in his classes. This thesis explores the complex potential for health and PE as key sites of learning for Pasifika and Maori youth. It examines health and PE as subjects that are both politically fraught and spaces of hope.

year: 2010