title: Education for sustainability in transition of children from early childood education to primary school

authors: Biss, Tracey Elizabeth

subjects: education for sustainability early childhood transition

abstract: This study examined the understandings gained by young children from education for sustainability experiences in their early childhood education and their actions and behaviours related to sustainability in their later years. Furthermore, the study investigated what environmental knowledge and behaviours were transferred across spaces and time, and what affordances make this possible and what constrains the process. The Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whaariki (1996) and the New Zealand Curriculum (2007) were considered in terms of education for sustainability and their place in the transference of knowledge across spaces. 
 
This was a qualitative, in-depth case study which examined the teaching and learning experiences for a group of students, (aged 5 -7 years) from one early childhood centre and their subsequent use of knowledge and behaviours at two primary schools in the Canterbury region of New Zealand.  The data was collected from interviews and focus groups with student participants, teachers (both early childhood and primary) and written surveys by parents/whanau. In the student focus groups the student participants were shown a range of photographs of environmental activities or areas of interest from the early childhood centre they attended prior to enrolling at primary school, as   a catalyst for recall and prompt for discussion.
 
A number of significant findings emerged from this study. For example; this study demonstrated that the student participants were identifying with tangible objects and resources around education for sustainability; therefore potentially these had a strong influence on their knowledge and practices. A number of affordances influenced this outcome, for example; pedagogical approaches and the interconnected relationships between the child, the family, the early childhood centre and the school. Finally the study has identified that an encompassing, holistic approach and the influence of home, the early childhood centre and primary school influences children’s developing environmental competencies and ultimately the development of their identity. This study identified that with an alignment of affordances young children were demonstrating thinking and actions from the dimension of education for the environment and were beginning to develop action competence.

text: Education for sustainability in transition of children from early childood education to primary school This study examined the understandings gained by young children from education for sustainability experiences in their early childhood education and their actions and behaviours related to sustainability in their later years. Furthermore, the study investigated what environmental knowledge and behaviours were transferred across spaces and time, and what affordances make this possible and what constrains the process. The Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whaariki (1996) and the New Zealand Curriculum (2007) were considered in terms of education for sustainability and their place in the transference of knowledge across spaces. 
 
This was a qualitative, in-depth case study which examined the teaching and learning experiences for a group of students, (aged 5 -7 years) from one early childhood centre and their subsequent use of knowledge and behaviours at two primary schools in the Canterbury region of New Zealand.  The data was collected from interviews and focus groups with student participants, teachers (both early childhood and primary) and written surveys by parents/whanau. In the student focus groups the student participants were shown a range of photographs of environmental activities or areas of interest from the early childhood centre they attended prior to enrolling at primary school, as   a catalyst for recall and prompt for discussion.
 
A number of significant findings emerged from this study. For example; this study demonstrated that the student participants were identifying with tangible objects and resources around education for sustainability; therefore potentially these had a strong influence on their knowledge and practices. A number of affordances influenced this outcome, for example; pedagogical approaches and the interconnected relationships between the child, the family, the early childhood centre and the school. Finally the study has identified that an encompassing, holistic approach and the influence of home, the early childhood centre and primary school influences children’s developing environmental competencies and ultimately the development of their identity. This study identified that with an alignment of affordances young children were demonstrating thinking and actions from the dimension of education for the environment and were beginning to develop action competence.

year: 2012

title: The classification of substance and behavioural addictions: A preliminary investigation

authors: McLaughlan, Andre David

subjects: pathological gambling

abstract: The term addiction has been used to refer to impaired control over substance use for several centuries however recently there has been a shift toward using this term in the context of non-substance use disorders, such as pathological gambling. A preliminary investigation was conducted in an attempt to clarify the most appropriate classification of 'behavioural addictions'. Participants with alcohol dependence (AD, n = 24), pathological gambling (PG, n = 20) and compulsive buying disorder (CBD, n = 14) completed an Addictive Disorder Questionnaire (ADQ); the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90R); Barratt Impulsivity Scale II; and substance specific adaptations of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Although the AD group reported more severe addiction symptoms and had higher levels of depression and anxiety, there were broad similarities across the three disorders in relation to cravings, dyscontrol, impulsivity and obsessions. Despite the small sample size and the different recruitment strategies used across the groups, the findings from this preliminary study provide support for broadening addiction diagnostic definitions to include non-substance related disorders which in turn may contribute to the development of more efficacious treatments.

text: The classification of substance and behavioural addictions: A preliminary investigation The term addiction has been used to refer to impaired control over substance use for several centuries however recently there has been a shift toward using this term in the context of non-substance use disorders, such as pathological gambling. A preliminary investigation was conducted in an attempt to clarify the most appropriate classification of 'behavioural addictions'. Participants with alcohol dependence (AD, n = 24), pathological gambling (PG, n = 20) and compulsive buying disorder (CBD, n = 14) completed an Addictive Disorder Questionnaire (ADQ); the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90R); Barratt Impulsivity Scale II; and substance specific adaptations of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Although the AD group reported more severe addiction symptoms and had higher levels of depression and anxiety, there were broad similarities across the three disorders in relation to cravings, dyscontrol, impulsivity and obsessions. Despite the small sample size and the different recruitment strategies used across the groups, the findings from this preliminary study provide support for broadening addiction diagnostic definitions to include non-substance related disorders which in turn may contribute to the development of more efficacious treatments.

year: 2012

title: Possibilities of transformation: discourses of difference in organisational communication

authors: Jones, Deborah Helen

abstract: In this thesis I set out to create an interdisciplinary location from which to address the relationship between gender and communication in an organisational context. I draw on feminist and post-structuralist theory to ask the question: How is ‘difference’ constructed in organisational communication? I use the term ‘difference’ here to indicate that I am interested in how ‘gender’ works in relationship with other kinds of difference, especially in relation to ethnic difference.

My thesis is intended as a contribution to feminist communication theory, and specifically, to the emerging field of feminist organisational communication. Because of the approach I take to ‘communication’, this project addresses broad issues of identity, agency and discourse in organisations. In this sense, I also see the thesis as a contribution to organisational studies, and particularly to the study of organisational discourse, which opens up new relationships between ‘organisation’ and ‘communication’. Interdisciplinarity itself is a key issue in my thesis, as I set out to create connections between disciplinary fields in the service of contesting them, rather than seeking to create new boundaries. A second key focus is the development of theoretical sophistication in the field of gender and communication. I draw on feminist/post-structuralist theory, especially feminist readings of Michel Foucault’s work to generate this development. My third key focus is the issue of agency, which I see as central to theorising organisational transformation, and also as central to re-thinking communication theory.

My writing strategies demonstrate my commitments to reflexivity in developing feminist/post-structuralist research epistemologies, and I experiment with ways of paying attention to issues of authority throughout the thesis. This thesis is divided into two main parts. In Chapters 2 to 6, I set up a theoretical framework for feminist/post-structuralist accounts of gender and ethnicity, and weave this theory through the literatures of ‘gender and communication’, ‘cross-cultural communication’, and ‘organisational communication’. I set out to produce an ‘autocritique’, an opportunity to draw on developments in post-structuralist theory to think differently about feminist ‘organisational communication’, putting it within a broader framework of ‘difference’.

In the second part of the thesis, Chapters 7 to 12, I put issues generated by this theoretical framework in a specific organisational context, asking: How are gender and ethnic differences constructed in the discourses of Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) and Biculturalism in New Zealand government organisations? Chapters 7 and 8 introduce my field studies methodology and research subjects, and provide background narratives which frame the historical and cultural context in which they were carried out. In Chapters 9 to 12 I carry out a discourse analysis of interviews with EEO and Biculturalism practitioners, and also analyse published and unpublished documents associated with ‘difference’ in employment policies. These accounts of field studies are intended as a series of experiments with theorising ‘organisational communication’ in different ways. I complete the thesis with a ‘Review’ (Chapter 13) in which I reflect on key theoretical threads, and on further questions that emerged during the project.

text: Possibilities of transformation: discourses of difference in organisational communication In this thesis I set out to create an interdisciplinary location from which to address the relationship between gender and communication in an organisational context. I draw on feminist and post-structuralist theory to ask the question: How is ‘difference’ constructed in organisational communication? I use the term ‘difference’ here to indicate that I am interested in how ‘gender’ works in relationship with other kinds of difference, especially in relation to ethnic difference.

My thesis is intended as a contribution to feminist communication theory, and specifically, to the emerging field of feminist organisational communication. Because of the approach I take to ‘communication’, this project addresses broad issues of identity, agency and discourse in organisations. In this sense, I also see the thesis as a contribution to organisational studies, and particularly to the study of organisational discourse, which opens up new relationships between ‘organisation’ and ‘communication’. Interdisciplinarity itself is a key issue in my thesis, as I set out to create connections between disciplinary fields in the service of contesting them, rather than seeking to create new boundaries. A second key focus is the development of theoretical sophistication in the field of gender and communication. I draw on feminist/post-structuralist theory, especially feminist readings of Michel Foucault’s work to generate this development. My third key focus is the issue of agency, which I see as central to theorising organisational transformation, and also as central to re-thinking communication theory.

My writing strategies demonstrate my commitments to reflexivity in developing feminist/post-structuralist research epistemologies, and I experiment with ways of paying attention to issues of authority throughout the thesis. This thesis is divided into two main parts. In Chapters 2 to 6, I set up a theoretical framework for feminist/post-structuralist accounts of gender and ethnicity, and weave this theory through the literatures of ‘gender and communication’, ‘cross-cultural communication’, and ‘organisational communication’. I set out to produce an ‘autocritique’, an opportunity to draw on developments in post-structuralist theory to think differently about feminist ‘organisational communication’, putting it within a broader framework of ‘difference’.

In the second part of the thesis, Chapters 7 to 12, I put issues generated by this theoretical framework in a specific organisational context, asking: How are gender and ethnic differences constructed in the discourses of Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) and Biculturalism in New Zealand government organisations? Chapters 7 and 8 introduce my field studies methodology and research subjects, and provide background narratives which frame the historical and cultural context in which they were carried out. In Chapters 9 to 12 I carry out a discourse analysis of interviews with EEO and Biculturalism practitioners, and also analyse published and unpublished documents associated with ‘difference’ in employment policies. These accounts of field studies are intended as a series of experiments with theorising ‘organisational communication’ in different ways. I complete the thesis with a ‘Review’ (Chapter 13) in which I reflect on key theoretical threads, and on further questions that emerged during the project.

year: 1998