title: Talk yuh talk: making sense of how graduate secondary teachers in Trinidad learned to teach without pre-service teacher education

authors: De Four-Babb, Joyanne

abstract: In Trinidad and Tobago graduate secondary teachers begin teaching with subject degrees, but without pre-service teacher training. How, then, do these people come to see themselves as teachers? How do they learn how to teach? I draw on life history, constructivism and discourse analysis for my analysis of teachers’ stories of beginning to teach. These stories were collected in individual interviews with 29 experienced graduate secondary teachers in Trinidad between March and August 2000. I use discourse analysis to explore the historical and policy context and highlight the dominant ideas about teachers and teaching that have been made available to teachers in Trinidad. I argue that in spite of the historical period in which they began to teach, the 29 interviewees’ interpretations and understandings of being a graduate secondary teacher and doing what they thought secondary teachers should do, were informed by dominant discourses such as the teacher as a transmitter of knowledge, a disciplinarian, a role model and a socially responsible person. These discourses were also evident in the wider official and common-sense ideas on secondary education, teachers, and teaching, as well as the recruitment practices of secondary teachers. I theorise about the ways in which these discourses created possibilities and sometimes put limits upon the interviewees’ construction of their practical professional knowledge - that is the knowledge they gained from day-to-day experiences of teaching. I recommend that pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes for secondary teachers in Trinidad must help teachers to explore why they may see themselves in certain ways and not in others. Schools should also play a more prominent role in the preparation and on-going professional development of graduate secondary teachers by seeking to become a place of learning for all teachers.

text: Talk yuh talk: making sense of how graduate secondary teachers in Trinidad learned to teach without pre-service teacher education In Trinidad and Tobago graduate secondary teachers begin teaching with subject degrees, but without pre-service teacher training. How, then, do these people come to see themselves as teachers? How do they learn how to teach? I draw on life history, constructivism and discourse analysis for my analysis of teachers’ stories of beginning to teach. These stories were collected in individual interviews with 29 experienced graduate secondary teachers in Trinidad between March and August 2000. I use discourse analysis to explore the historical and policy context and highlight the dominant ideas about teachers and teaching that have been made available to teachers in Trinidad. I argue that in spite of the historical period in which they began to teach, the 29 interviewees’ interpretations and understandings of being a graduate secondary teacher and doing what they thought secondary teachers should do, were informed by dominant discourses such as the teacher as a transmitter of knowledge, a disciplinarian, a role model and a socially responsible person. These discourses were also evident in the wider official and common-sense ideas on secondary education, teachers, and teaching, as well as the recruitment practices of secondary teachers. I theorise about the ways in which these discourses created possibilities and sometimes put limits upon the interviewees’ construction of their practical professional knowledge - that is the knowledge they gained from day-to-day experiences of teaching. I recommend that pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes for secondary teachers in Trinidad must help teachers to explore why they may see themselves in certain ways and not in others. Schools should also play a more prominent role in the preparation and on-going professional development of graduate secondary teachers by seeking to become a place of learning for all teachers.

year: 2003

title: An issue of terminology: What is digital learning anyway? [Editorial]

authors: Forbes, Dianne Leslie

abstract: Although  invited  to  guest  edit  a  section/issue  on  digital  technologies,  I  selected  the  term  ‘digital learning’  to  drive  this  special  issue  as  I  hope  these  two  words  capture  the  application  of  digital technologies  to  pedagogical  processes  and  learner  experiences.  One  of  many  possibilities,  the  choice of  terminology  is  in  reaction  to  my  perception  that  terms  like ‘elearning’ and ‘technology  enhanced learning’are  dying  a  natural  death.  For  some,  elearning  is  associated  with  compliance,  while  any mention  of  ‘technology’  without  ‘digital’  as  a  qualifier  can  be  confusing  in  a  context  where technology is intervention by design (Ministry of Education, 2007)

text: An issue of terminology: What is digital learning anyway? [Editorial] Although  invited  to  guest  edit  a  section/issue  on  digital  technologies,  I  selected  the  term  ‘digital learning’  to  drive  this  special  issue  as  I  hope  these  two  words  capture  the  application  of  digital technologies  to  pedagogical  processes  and  learner  experiences.  One  of  many  possibilities,  the  choice of  terminology  is  in  reaction  to  my  perception  that  terms  like ‘elearning’ and ‘technology  enhanced learning’are  dying  a  natural  death.  For  some,  elearning  is  associated  with  compliance,  while  any mention  of  ‘technology’  without  ‘digital’  as  a  qualifier  can  be  confusing  in  a  context  where technology is intervention by design (Ministry of Education, 2007)

year: 2018

title: Strategic framing: indigenous culture, identity, and politics

authors: Schoenberger-Orgad, Michèle Anne

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: This article analyses the role played by culture and the strategic communication of culture in the formation and establishment of the Māori Party. As an indigenous grassroots party, which achieved electoral success in the 2005, general election in New Zealand, the Māori Party offers an unusual case of cultural primacy as a political party for indigenous people. The Māori Party campaigned to be the first successful party to give a distinctive voice to Māori in a parliament dominated by Pakeha (New Zealand Europeans).

In examining the Māori Party's formation and campaign as a case study, the article focuses on socio-political conditions, issues of national identity, media changes, and the cultural relations between Māori and Pakeha. It pays particular attention to those that influenced public opinion during the 14 months of election campaigning. It argues that the strategic framing of the Māori Party as a movement giving a distinctive voice for Māori established the foundations for the campaign's success. In conclusion, the significance of the achievements of the Māori Party in the 2008 general election are discussed as evidence of the now distinct and recognized representation of Māori within the New Zealand democratic process.

text: Strategic framing: indigenous culture, identity, and politics This article analyses the role played by culture and the strategic communication of culture in the formation and establishment of the Māori Party. As an indigenous grassroots party, which achieved electoral success in the 2005, general election in New Zealand, the Māori Party offers an unusual case of cultural primacy as a political party for indigenous people. The Māori Party campaigned to be the first successful party to give a distinctive voice to Māori in a parliament dominated by Pakeha (New Zealand Europeans).

In examining the Māori Party's formation and campaign as a case study, the article focuses on socio-political conditions, issues of national identity, media changes, and the cultural relations between Māori and Pakeha. It pays particular attention to those that influenced public opinion during the 14 months of election campaigning. It argues that the strategic framing of the Māori Party as a movement giving a distinctive voice for Māori established the foundations for the campaign's success. In conclusion, the significance of the achievements of the Māori Party in the 2008 general election are discussed as evidence of the now distinct and recognized representation of Māori within the New Zealand democratic process.

year: 2011