title: A Needs Assessment of Conservation Educators within the Department of Conservation

authors: Bianchi, Valerie

subjects: conservation education

abstract: The Department of Conservation (DOC) is the government body that is responsible for conserving Aotearoa/New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. Although education has not been a primary part of what DOC does, the organisation participates in education in a variety of ways. In order to coordinate and strategize their involvement in education, a new policy has been put in place. This policy, outlined in the National Education Strategy 2010-2030 aims to set the intentions and objectives for education at DOC. A companion to this, the National Education Strategy Implementation Plan, provides some guidance on how goals may be achieved. This emphasises DOC educators’ work in partnership with teachers, which may represent a change in how DOC staff have worked in the past. Since the recent coordination of education at DOC may be different to the way some staff work, a needs assessment of DOC educators’ professional support requirements was called for. Understanding what professional development, support and resources DOC educators need could allow for effective professional support to be put in place. Having adequate professional support could have an ongoing influence on DOC educators’ ability to achieve DOC’s outcomes. Non-formal environmental educators, such as those working at DOC, are key players in environmental education/education for sustainability (EE/EfS). This group of educators have historically been engaged by formal educators to deliver EE/EfS into their classrooms, and in addition, some scholars have claimed that much of what occurs to educate people about the environment is in the non-formal setting. Non-formal educators need considerable professional support; including professional development, organisational support and resources to do their jobs and see outcomes are achieved.

This thesis was conducted as an interpretive, mixed methods study directed at understanding what professional development, support and resources DOC educators working in education need to do their jobs. Methods for data collection included document analysis, interviews and a survey. Document analysis of key DOC education documents as well as interviews with national education staff allowed for context to be understood regarding the current factors influencing education and educators at DOC. In order to get a sense of DOC educators’ beliefs and opinions about education and the work they are doing, a survey was conducted with DOC staff who self-identified as educators. The data generated from the survey was further elucidated by interviews with DOC educators. The findings of the study revealed that while there is a clearly articulated approach to education at DOC as well as a general level of acceptance among DOC educators, organisational support is needed to help staff understand DOC’s role in education and how to practically implement that into work. DOC educators indicated that they need greater support in order to authentically incorporate Māori views into conservation education, work with teachers and understand EE/EfS best practice. In addition, while DOC’s education policy was put in place to get higher quality outcomes, it will require a substantial amount of time to implement. Time was found to be a resource that DOC educators needed more of. In order to move forward in education, DOC educators need adequate and on-going professional development to increase skills and knowledge. In addition, organisational support and networks are needed as well as a reasonable allotment of time in order to uphold what is being asked of them.

text: A Needs Assessment of Conservation Educators within the Department of Conservation The Department of Conservation (DOC) is the government body that is responsible for conserving Aotearoa/New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. Although education has not been a primary part of what DOC does, the organisation participates in education in a variety of ways. In order to coordinate and strategize their involvement in education, a new policy has been put in place. This policy, outlined in the National Education Strategy 2010-2030 aims to set the intentions and objectives for education at DOC. A companion to this, the National Education Strategy Implementation Plan, provides some guidance on how goals may be achieved. This emphasises DOC educators’ work in partnership with teachers, which may represent a change in how DOC staff have worked in the past. Since the recent coordination of education at DOC may be different to the way some staff work, a needs assessment of DOC educators’ professional support requirements was called for. Understanding what professional development, support and resources DOC educators need could allow for effective professional support to be put in place. Having adequate professional support could have an ongoing influence on DOC educators’ ability to achieve DOC’s outcomes. Non-formal environmental educators, such as those working at DOC, are key players in environmental education/education for sustainability (EE/EfS). This group of educators have historically been engaged by formal educators to deliver EE/EfS into their classrooms, and in addition, some scholars have claimed that much of what occurs to educate people about the environment is in the non-formal setting. Non-formal educators need considerable professional support; including professional development, organisational support and resources to do their jobs and see outcomes are achieved.

This thesis was conducted as an interpretive, mixed methods study directed at understanding what professional development, support and resources DOC educators working in education need to do their jobs. Methods for data collection included document analysis, interviews and a survey. Document analysis of key DOC education documents as well as interviews with national education staff allowed for context to be understood regarding the current factors influencing education and educators at DOC. In order to get a sense of DOC educators’ beliefs and opinions about education and the work they are doing, a survey was conducted with DOC staff who self-identified as educators. The data generated from the survey was further elucidated by interviews with DOC educators. The findings of the study revealed that while there is a clearly articulated approach to education at DOC as well as a general level of acceptance among DOC educators, organisational support is needed to help staff understand DOC’s role in education and how to practically implement that into work. DOC educators indicated that they need greater support in order to authentically incorporate Māori views into conservation education, work with teachers and understand EE/EfS best practice. In addition, while DOC’s education policy was put in place to get higher quality outcomes, it will require a substantial amount of time to implement. Time was found to be a resource that DOC educators needed more of. In order to move forward in education, DOC educators need adequate and on-going professional development to increase skills and knowledge. In addition, organisational support and networks are needed as well as a reasonable allotment of time in order to uphold what is being asked of them.

year: 2016

title: Whatever next? Export market choices of New Zealand firms

authors: Fabling, Richard

subjects: trade

abstract: We examine product and market entry choices of New Zealand exporters, using enterprise-level data on firm performance and merchandise trade. For firms already exporting, we ask: What determines their choices about what and where to export? General and specific prior trade experience play an important role in determining firms' future export activities, as do the export activities of other firms in the local area (a learning effect). These results are robust to the inclusion of other export determinants, including the macroeconomic performance of destination countries, exchange rate movements, and the past performance of the exporting firm.

text: Whatever next? Export market choices of New Zealand firms We examine product and market entry choices of New Zealand exporters, using enterprise-level data on firm performance and merchandise trade. For firms already exporting, we ask: What determines their choices about what and where to export? General and specific prior trade experience play an important role in determining firms' future export activities, as do the export activities of other firms in the local area (a learning effect). These results are robust to the inclusion of other export determinants, including the macroeconomic performance of destination countries, exchange rate movements, and the past performance of the exporting firm.

year: 2011

title: New Zealand history is Maori history: Tikanga as the ethical foundation of historical scholarship In Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Mahuika, Nepia

subjects: Arts & Humanities

abstract: IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO FIND that New Zealand history is Māori history. In 1987 when Tipene O’Regan stated that the ‘the past belongs to all New Zealanders, but first it is ours’, he was drawing attention to New Zealand history’s foundation in Māori history.1 Thinking about New Zealand history as Māori history does not mean denying the histories of European, Asian and Pasifika immigrants, but draws attention to the notion that ‘settler’ aspirations to claim ‘Aotearoa’ as home occur within a much broader narrative of indigenous occupation and struggle.2 Indeed, how can New Zealand history be the story of ‘here’ when it has ‘othered’ indigenous narratives that speak to the heart of what it is to belong in the land of the long white cloud? Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – and that presents a problem for tangata whenua self-determination. Likewise, for Pākehā, it is an issue because until New Zealand history recognizes and enables the centrality of Māori history it will always fail to articulate the collective ‘us’ that is so often assumed in the discourse of ‘full and final settlement’.3 In its current form it will never be able to ethically or adequately account for the shaping of a New Zealand identity that finds ‘composure’ in the story of how Pākehā became ‘native’ New Zealanders.4 For Māori, these issues are keenly felt, because while New Zealand history has always been about us, it has predominantly been articulated on the colonizers’ terms. In the ‘discursive constructions’ that are New Zealand histories, the indigenous have regularly been culturally appropriated, dislocated and misrepresented.5 Even when Māori have turned their back on the writing of New Zealand history it has been, and will still be, a history of being or becoming ‘native’. Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – so why does it feel like the story of Pākehā settlers?

text: New Zealand history is Maori history: Tikanga as the ethical foundation of historical scholarship In Aotearoa New Zealand IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO FIND that New Zealand history is Māori history. In 1987 when Tipene O’Regan stated that the ‘the past belongs to all New Zealanders, but first it is ours’, he was drawing attention to New Zealand history’s foundation in Māori history.1 Thinking about New Zealand history as Māori history does not mean denying the histories of European, Asian and Pasifika immigrants, but draws attention to the notion that ‘settler’ aspirations to claim ‘Aotearoa’ as home occur within a much broader narrative of indigenous occupation and struggle.2 Indeed, how can New Zealand history be the story of ‘here’ when it has ‘othered’ indigenous narratives that speak to the heart of what it is to belong in the land of the long white cloud? Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – and that presents a problem for tangata whenua self-determination. Likewise, for Pākehā, it is an issue because until New Zealand history recognizes and enables the centrality of Māori history it will always fail to articulate the collective ‘us’ that is so often assumed in the discourse of ‘full and final settlement’.3 In its current form it will never be able to ethically or adequately account for the shaping of a New Zealand identity that finds ‘composure’ in the story of how Pākehā became ‘native’ New Zealanders.4 For Māori, these issues are keenly felt, because while New Zealand history has always been about us, it has predominantly been articulated on the colonizers’ terms. In the ‘discursive constructions’ that are New Zealand histories, the indigenous have regularly been culturally appropriated, dislocated and misrepresented.5 Even when Māori have turned their back on the writing of New Zealand history it has been, and will still be, a history of being or becoming ‘native’. Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – so why does it feel like the story of Pākehā settlers?

year: 2015