title: Local solutions for local problems: Addressing teacher supply in rural communities

authors: Yates, Russell

subjects: preservice teacher education

abstract: Teacher shortage in rural localities is a long-standing issue in New Zealand. This paper reports on an attempt to reduce the impact of shortages by redesigning the way pre- service teacher education was delivered. Called the Mixed Media Programme (MMP), this is a primary (elementary) teacher education program that was established in 1997 in New Zealand by the University of Waikato. It was initially introduced to rural areas of the North Island of New Zealand. It continues now as a viable and accessible flexible option for teacher education and is a significant means of ensuring better teacher supply in numerous rural areas. The program uses a combination of face-to-face teaching; school based learning activities and electronic communication. There is an annual intake of about 60 student teachers, most of who study at home in their local area. Now in its tenth year, the program has produced more than 400 graduates, many of whom are still teaching in schools throughout New Zealand. This paper reports on a small-scale study, which sought to examine the way that student teachers, teachers and school principals from two communities perceive the program and its effects on these communities. School principals, teachers, graduates and current student teachers were asked about the way that the program has enabled people from local communities to firstly study to become teachers in these communities and then to teach in them. Their views show that student teachers have found this approach to teacher education very beneficial to local communities for a number of reasons, including stable staffing for schools, commitment to teacher education programs, confidence about the quality of the graduates they employed. The student teachers reported that they were able to become teachers without having to leave their local communities, were exposed to university education as mature student teachers and that their study has had a range of effects on them and their families. It can be concluded from the evidence that the Mixed Media Programme has had important positive effects upon the two small communities of the study, at individual, school and wider community level.

text: Local solutions for local problems: Addressing teacher supply in rural communities Teacher shortage in rural localities is a long-standing issue in New Zealand. This paper reports on an attempt to reduce the impact of shortages by redesigning the way pre- service teacher education was delivered. Called the Mixed Media Programme (MMP), this is a primary (elementary) teacher education program that was established in 1997 in New Zealand by the University of Waikato. It was initially introduced to rural areas of the North Island of New Zealand. It continues now as a viable and accessible flexible option for teacher education and is a significant means of ensuring better teacher supply in numerous rural areas. The program uses a combination of face-to-face teaching; school based learning activities and electronic communication. There is an annual intake of about 60 student teachers, most of who study at home in their local area. Now in its tenth year, the program has produced more than 400 graduates, many of whom are still teaching in schools throughout New Zealand. This paper reports on a small-scale study, which sought to examine the way that student teachers, teachers and school principals from two communities perceive the program and its effects on these communities. School principals, teachers, graduates and current student teachers were asked about the way that the program has enabled people from local communities to firstly study to become teachers in these communities and then to teach in them. Their views show that student teachers have found this approach to teacher education very beneficial to local communities for a number of reasons, including stable staffing for schools, commitment to teacher education programs, confidence about the quality of the graduates they employed. The student teachers reported that they were able to become teachers without having to leave their local communities, were exposed to university education as mature student teachers and that their study has had a range of effects on them and their families. It can be concluded from the evidence that the Mixed Media Programme has had important positive effects upon the two small communities of the study, at individual, school and wider community level.

year: 2007

title: An investigation of self-learning and self-protection for Adaptive Digital Twins

authors: Anderson-Scott, Chris

subjects: Digital twins

abstract: Adaptive Digital Twins are applicable to a number of fields, including the cybersecurity of industial control systems. This thesis prototypes a Self-Learning adaptive digital twin and posits an architecture for the creation of digital twins based on the learnings gained from the prototype. The prototype shows the efficacy of control theoretical approaches for adaptive digital twins for both modelling and protecting a system, and the architecture posits a generalised method for developing adaptive digital twins.

text: An investigation of self-learning and self-protection for Adaptive Digital Twins Adaptive Digital Twins are applicable to a number of fields, including the cybersecurity of industial control systems. This thesis prototypes a Self-Learning adaptive digital twin and posits an architecture for the creation of digital twins based on the learnings gained from the prototype. The prototype shows the efficacy of control theoretical approaches for adaptive digital twins for both modelling and protecting a system, and the architecture posits a generalised method for developing adaptive digital twins.

year: 2021

title: E hoki ki to maunga: The quintessential elements of home

authors: Emery, Debra Joy Tepora

subjects: hau kainga

abstract: He kopu puta tahi, he taura whiri tātou;
whiringa a nuku, whiringa a rangi, te whatia e
Issue of one womb, we are a rope woven of many strands; woven on earth, woven in heaven, it will not break (Rev Māori Marsden, 1992)
Ngati Te Takinga is a hapū (sub-tribe) belonging to the Iwi (tribe) Ngati Pikiao. An affiliated member of the Te Arawa confederation of tribes, Ngati Pikiao occupies the Okere and Rotoiti Lakes district of Rotorua in the central North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.
This thesis seeks to acknowledge and address the concerns that Ngati Te Takinga has regarding impending cultural discontinuity. The concerns arise due to the hapū's limited human capability and capacity being the result of three things. Firstly, the ongoing demise of tribal elders (and leaders) and the subsequent loss to the hapū of cultural knowledge, skills, leadership and expertise. Secondly, the low numbers of adept,
culturally proficient successors 'coming through' (to replace the elders) and finally, the detribalised and diasporic (dispersed) nature of our people. The hapū and the marae Te Takinga (a last outwardly discernible bastion of Ngati Te Takinga cultural identity and distinction) are jeopardised as a result of these phenomenon.
This thesis is part of a hapū strategy that attempts to address these problems. Positing the
reconnection of our dispersed Ngati Te Takinga 'away-dwellers' as a beginning
solution, the central questions raised by this thesis are  how [does] Ngati Te Takinga
'home-dweller' discourse impact on the 'coming home' experiences and 'reconnection'
of Ngati Te Takinga away-dwellers?  and  what are the [are there] implications for Ngati
Te Takinga cultural continuity? 
The maintenance of Ngati Te Takinga cultural continuity forms the aho mātua or main thread of this work. Using narrative enquiry as a broad methodological framework,stories were gathered from four different groups of Ngati Te Takinga peoples. The groups were home-dwellers (mana whenua or ahi kaa), te ahi tere (away-dwellers who
have returned home to live); te ahi tere (away-dwellers who intend returning in the future) and te ahi tere (away-dwellers who have no intention of returning home to live). The stories (narratives) investigated notions of home, belongingness and Māori identity in relation to the trichotomy of the connection, disconnection and the reconnection of Ngati Te Takinga peoples; the stories were analysed and co-constructed with participants for meaning.
The stories showed that while the hapū aspires to gather up the strengths of a dispersed people to reinvigorate our culture and the marae, existing and competing discourses around authenticity, authority and Ngati Te Takinga identity create a tension between the home (mana whenua/ahi kaa) and away-dwelling Ngati Te Takinga people; including those away-dwellers who have returned. As a basic requirement, this tension must be
diminished in order to build the relationships necessary to improve hapū allegiance
(whānaungatanga), to build hapū strength and to maintain hapū culture and identity. As a priority, decolonising strategies that facilitate an understanding of diversity, promote
participation, maintain tikanga and include our away-dwellers, our 'returnees' and/or our
disconnected people in our hapū-marae interactions, must be considered, developed,
promoted and practiced.

text: E hoki ki to maunga: The quintessential elements of home He kopu puta tahi, he taura whiri tātou;
whiringa a nuku, whiringa a rangi, te whatia e
Issue of one womb, we are a rope woven of many strands; woven on earth, woven in heaven, it will not break (Rev Māori Marsden, 1992)
Ngati Te Takinga is a hapū (sub-tribe) belonging to the Iwi (tribe) Ngati Pikiao. An affiliated member of the Te Arawa confederation of tribes, Ngati Pikiao occupies the Okere and Rotoiti Lakes district of Rotorua in the central North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.
This thesis seeks to acknowledge and address the concerns that Ngati Te Takinga has regarding impending cultural discontinuity. The concerns arise due to the hapū's limited human capability and capacity being the result of three things. Firstly, the ongoing demise of tribal elders (and leaders) and the subsequent loss to the hapū of cultural knowledge, skills, leadership and expertise. Secondly, the low numbers of adept,
culturally proficient successors 'coming through' (to replace the elders) and finally, the detribalised and diasporic (dispersed) nature of our people. The hapū and the marae Te Takinga (a last outwardly discernible bastion of Ngati Te Takinga cultural identity and distinction) are jeopardised as a result of these phenomenon.
This thesis is part of a hapū strategy that attempts to address these problems. Positing the
reconnection of our dispersed Ngati Te Takinga 'away-dwellers' as a beginning
solution, the central questions raised by this thesis are  how [does] Ngati Te Takinga
'home-dweller' discourse impact on the 'coming home' experiences and 'reconnection'
of Ngati Te Takinga away-dwellers?  and  what are the [are there] implications for Ngati
Te Takinga cultural continuity? 
The maintenance of Ngati Te Takinga cultural continuity forms the aho mātua or main thread of this work. Using narrative enquiry as a broad methodological framework,stories were gathered from four different groups of Ngati Te Takinga peoples. The groups were home-dwellers (mana whenua or ahi kaa), te ahi tere (away-dwellers who
have returned home to live); te ahi tere (away-dwellers who intend returning in the future) and te ahi tere (away-dwellers who have no intention of returning home to live). The stories (narratives) investigated notions of home, belongingness and Māori identity in relation to the trichotomy of the connection, disconnection and the reconnection of Ngati Te Takinga peoples; the stories were analysed and co-constructed with participants for meaning.
The stories showed that while the hapū aspires to gather up the strengths of a dispersed people to reinvigorate our culture and the marae, existing and competing discourses around authenticity, authority and Ngati Te Takinga identity create a tension between the home (mana whenua/ahi kaa) and away-dwelling Ngati Te Takinga people; including those away-dwellers who have returned. As a basic requirement, this tension must be
diminished in order to build the relationships necessary to improve hapū allegiance
(whānaungatanga), to build hapū strength and to maintain hapū culture and identity. As a priority, decolonising strategies that facilitate an understanding of diversity, promote
participation, maintain tikanga and include our away-dwellers, our 'returnees' and/or our
disconnected people in our hapū-marae interactions, must be considered, developed,
promoted and practiced.

year: 2008