title: Exploring the potential of Te Whāriki in supporting a decolonising educational reform in classroom

authors: Corlett, Melissa Jane

abstract: This thesis begins with a deep belief in the potential of Te Whāriki, a bicultural curriculum document born of the dual heritages of Aotearoa/New Zealand, to support the educational reform needed. There is a need to decolonise our classrooms and create contexts for learning where Māori students feel they can belong and also thrive. The pathway to achieving this reality is complex. It requires a deep foundational understanding of our shared histories in order to move from deficit positions about Māori learners to ones of agency and hope. While strong relationships are important it was by connecting with Māori metaphors that we were able to move beyond the rhetoric and begin to build shared understandings and greater respect for knowledge from te ao Māori. The process of whakawhiti kōrero or dialogic and iterative sense making furthered our combined theorising. The whakataukī and metaphors embedded in Te Whāriki were foundational to these contexts as they strengthened our collective abilities as teachers to make the learning more meaningful and fun.
This research process provided me with valuable insights into the way my own power and beliefs can inhibit potential collective learning. Despite this it was the content of Te Whāriki that helped to enable the learning of myself and my participants, creating safe and supportive contexts for our collective learning to begin to grow. 
While this research strengthened my own beliefs in the potential of Te Whāriki it also assisted my participants to become more open to this potential as well. In this endeavour, time was required to engage with the more expert other, whether this was from other people or through the use of artefacts. The relational and culturally responsive pedagogy that we had learned to implement in our classrooms was also able to be connected with, as our shared unlearning and learning flowed.

text: Exploring the potential of Te Whāriki in supporting a decolonising educational reform in classroom This thesis begins with a deep belief in the potential of Te Whāriki, a bicultural curriculum document born of the dual heritages of Aotearoa/New Zealand, to support the educational reform needed. There is a need to decolonise our classrooms and create contexts for learning where Māori students feel they can belong and also thrive. The pathway to achieving this reality is complex. It requires a deep foundational understanding of our shared histories in order to move from deficit positions about Māori learners to ones of agency and hope. While strong relationships are important it was by connecting with Māori metaphors that we were able to move beyond the rhetoric and begin to build shared understandings and greater respect for knowledge from te ao Māori. The process of whakawhiti kōrero or dialogic and iterative sense making furthered our combined theorising. The whakataukī and metaphors embedded in Te Whāriki were foundational to these contexts as they strengthened our collective abilities as teachers to make the learning more meaningful and fun.
This research process provided me with valuable insights into the way my own power and beliefs can inhibit potential collective learning. Despite this it was the content of Te Whāriki that helped to enable the learning of myself and my participants, creating safe and supportive contexts for our collective learning to begin to grow. 
While this research strengthened my own beliefs in the potential of Te Whāriki it also assisted my participants to become more open to this potential as well. In this endeavour, time was required to engage with the more expert other, whether this was from other people or through the use of artefacts. The relational and culturally responsive pedagogy that we had learned to implement in our classrooms was also able to be connected with, as our shared unlearning and learning flowed.

year: 2022

title: Ka pūhia te puna o te kauae runga, kia pūheke ai ngā wai ki te kauae raro: Investigating the inclusion of Māori in engineering - A Māori engineers’ journey

authors: Poli, Teresa

subjects: Engineering

abstract: This thesis explored views held by Māori and non- Māori regarding te ao Māori across the engineering system of education, academia, and industry, in understanding what challenges and experiences Māori engineers may face. 
While there are incremental and progressive changes beginning to be seen in the engineering industry when working with iwi Māori, the history of engineering itself is intertwined with colonial contributions that have oppressed Māori. These historical influences continue to impact Māori today as they navigate educational pathways and enter the engineering profession. Colonisation, with its consequences such as stealing te reo, and various forms of cultural oppression, has led to Māori feeling disconnected from the engineering profession. It has also resulted in invisible cultural labour being placed on Māori, as we transition into a profession attempting to rectify the historic wrongs of the past. It was realised a gap existed in engineering education, failing to adequately equip graduates with the essential skills needed for success as engineers in Aotearoa. This gap was particularly evident in the cultural skills necessary for effective collaboration with clients, as well as for working harmoniously with Māori colleagues.
The research framework employed in this rangahau was He waka hourua, symbolising the journey towards a vision where Māori not only hold mana but also a sense of belonging in the field of engineering. This framework recognises the importance of both Māori and Pākehā voices, with a preference for Māori engineers taking a leading role in steering the direction towards the envisioned destination. The data collection process involved the use of Surveys and Whakawhiti kōrero methodologies, gathering both quantitative and qualitative information that played a crucial role in shaping the research findings.
Woven throughout this rangahau are the personal experiences shared by the author, and her journey as a wahine Māori engineer through the engineering system, anchored by her Māoritanga. Throughout, this rangahau analogies of waka are utilised as an acknowledgement of the great engineering feats developed by Māori, and paying homage to the idea that Māori have always been engineers, drawing from characteristics and traits passed down from atua and tīpuna.
The author highlights the scarcity of literature dedicated to supporting the kaupapa of enhancing the mana of Māori in engineering. Rather than providing definitive answers to address the challenges that diminish Māori mana in engineering, this thesis serves as a foundational point, anchored at the wharf, for future rangatira to continue the voyage. Enhancing the mana of Māori in engineering presents an enduring wero, but there is optimism for the future of Māori in engineering, as we carve out institutionalism, we begin to make space on our waka.

text: Ka pūhia te puna o te kauae runga, kia pūheke ai ngā wai ki te kauae raro: Investigating the inclusion of Māori in engineering - A Māori engineers’ journey This thesis explored views held by Māori and non- Māori regarding te ao Māori across the engineering system of education, academia, and industry, in understanding what challenges and experiences Māori engineers may face. 
While there are incremental and progressive changes beginning to be seen in the engineering industry when working with iwi Māori, the history of engineering itself is intertwined with colonial contributions that have oppressed Māori. These historical influences continue to impact Māori today as they navigate educational pathways and enter the engineering profession. Colonisation, with its consequences such as stealing te reo, and various forms of cultural oppression, has led to Māori feeling disconnected from the engineering profession. It has also resulted in invisible cultural labour being placed on Māori, as we transition into a profession attempting to rectify the historic wrongs of the past. It was realised a gap existed in engineering education, failing to adequately equip graduates with the essential skills needed for success as engineers in Aotearoa. This gap was particularly evident in the cultural skills necessary for effective collaboration with clients, as well as for working harmoniously with Māori colleagues.
The research framework employed in this rangahau was He waka hourua, symbolising the journey towards a vision where Māori not only hold mana but also a sense of belonging in the field of engineering. This framework recognises the importance of both Māori and Pākehā voices, with a preference for Māori engineers taking a leading role in steering the direction towards the envisioned destination. The data collection process involved the use of Surveys and Whakawhiti kōrero methodologies, gathering both quantitative and qualitative information that played a crucial role in shaping the research findings.
Woven throughout this rangahau are the personal experiences shared by the author, and her journey as a wahine Māori engineer through the engineering system, anchored by her Māoritanga. Throughout, this rangahau analogies of waka are utilised as an acknowledgement of the great engineering feats developed by Māori, and paying homage to the idea that Māori have always been engineers, drawing from characteristics and traits passed down from atua and tīpuna.
The author highlights the scarcity of literature dedicated to supporting the kaupapa of enhancing the mana of Māori in engineering. Rather than providing definitive answers to address the challenges that diminish Māori mana in engineering, this thesis serves as a foundational point, anchored at the wharf, for future rangatira to continue the voyage. Enhancing the mana of Māori in engineering presents an enduring wero, but there is optimism for the future of Māori in engineering, as we carve out institutionalism, we begin to make space on our waka.

year: 2024

title: Adaptive random forests for evolving data stream classification

authors: Gomes, Heitor Murilo

subjects: Data stream mining

abstract: Random forests is currently one of the most used machine learning algorithms in the non-streaming (batch) setting. This preference is attributable to its high learning performance and low demands with respect to input preparation and hyper-parameter tuning. However, in the challenging context of evolving data streams, there is no random forests algorithm that can be considered state-of-the-art in comparison to bagging and boosting based algorithms. In this work, we present the adaptive random forest (ARF) algorithm for classification of evolving data streams. In contrast to previous attempts of replicating random forests for data stream learning, ARF includes an effective resampling method and adaptive operators that can cope with different types of concept drifts without complex optimizations for different data sets. We present experiments with a parallel implementation of ARF which has no degradation in terms of classification performance in comparison to a serial implementation, since trees and adaptive operators are independent from one another. Finally, we compare ARF with state-of-the-art algorithms in a traditional test-then-train evaluation and a novel delayed labelling evaluation, and show that ARF is accurate and uses a feasible amount of resources.

text: Adaptive random forests for evolving data stream classification Random forests is currently one of the most used machine learning algorithms in the non-streaming (batch) setting. This preference is attributable to its high learning performance and low demands with respect to input preparation and hyper-parameter tuning. However, in the challenging context of evolving data streams, there is no random forests algorithm that can be considered state-of-the-art in comparison to bagging and boosting based algorithms. In this work, we present the adaptive random forest (ARF) algorithm for classification of evolving data streams. In contrast to previous attempts of replicating random forests for data stream learning, ARF includes an effective resampling method and adaptive operators that can cope with different types of concept drifts without complex optimizations for different data sets. We present experiments with a parallel implementation of ARF which has no degradation in terms of classification performance in comparison to a serial implementation, since trees and adaptive operators are independent from one another. Finally, we compare ARF with state-of-the-art algorithms in a traditional test-then-train evaluation and a novel delayed labelling evaluation, and show that ARF is accurate and uses a feasible amount of resources.

year: 2017