title: Teachers’ perceptions of professional learning through social media in environmental education

authors: Mostafa, Fariba

subjects: Teacher professional learning

abstract: Increasingly rapid consumption of natural resources and the production of wastes and their impacts on ecosystems have become unsustainable practices due to the increase in population, technological development and economic growth. The role of environmental education (EE) has been highlighted for promoting more sustainable ways of living by improving knowledge, behaviour and action to address environmental challenges and help society to shift toward sustainability. 

Environmental education is positioned in New Zealand education as an interdisciplinary teaching and learning approach. The non-mandatory status of EE emphasises an holistic approach to meeting the aims of EE. However, teachers face some challenges integrating the complex and evolving content of EE into school curricula due to lack of support and professional learning opportunities. Collaboration for teachers could help them to share their experiences with challenges regarding teaching and learning in EE. Building connections between teachers could help them to increase their knowledge and enhance their teaching practice, which in turn could affect students’ learning.
Social media is used for collaborative learning in diverse disciplines for various purposes. It has the potential to be used for teacher professional learning (TPL) as communication and resources can be combined to create collaborative learning opportunities. However, there is little evidence to date of its use in TPL in EE. Considering the advantages and the possibility of social media for use in TPL in EE, the purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of professional learning through social media in EE in New Zealand.
A mixed method study was designed and conducted in three phases using a phenomenographic approach. Findings from questionnaires and interviews in the first and second phases suggested that teachers see TPL through social media as potentially collaborative, convenient, and ubiquitous. They also believed building connections through social media can help EE teachers interact with peers and experts, as well as access support and resources to enhance their teaching practice. Despite these benefits, some teachers perceived this kind of TPL to be challenging. Time for engagement, the accuracy of shared information, privacy of participation, unfocused information and the conflict between online learning and EE as a practical subject were mentioned as the barriers of learning through social media. Specifically, the lack of educational support and lack of TPL were identified as challenges for secondary teachers who engaged with Achievement Standards related to education for sustainability (EfS). 

These findings were used to design and establish a learning community for secondary school teachers through Google+ in the third phase. The Google+ Community facilitated synchronous and asynchronous interactions between teachers and EE experts in different locations. Teachers, however, were not fully engaged in community activities. Findings from interviews and document analysis in the third phase suggested that some limitations associated with the community coupled with teachers’ priorities shaped participants’ involvement in the community. Participants claimed that they needed motivation and time to become actively engaged in the community. 
This research contributes to an understanding of teachers’ perceptions and experiences of professional learning through social media in EE. Insights gained from this study relate to both possibilities and challenges of learning through social media. It also highlights the vital role EE stakeholders play in TPL in EE and their influence on teachers’ motivation. A number of strategies that are suggested at the end of this thesis can be of use in designing TPL in general, TPL in EE, and TPL through social media in particular.

text: Teachers’ perceptions of professional learning through social media in environmental education Increasingly rapid consumption of natural resources and the production of wastes and their impacts on ecosystems have become unsustainable practices due to the increase in population, technological development and economic growth. The role of environmental education (EE) has been highlighted for promoting more sustainable ways of living by improving knowledge, behaviour and action to address environmental challenges and help society to shift toward sustainability. 

Environmental education is positioned in New Zealand education as an interdisciplinary teaching and learning approach. The non-mandatory status of EE emphasises an holistic approach to meeting the aims of EE. However, teachers face some challenges integrating the complex and evolving content of EE into school curricula due to lack of support and professional learning opportunities. Collaboration for teachers could help them to share their experiences with challenges regarding teaching and learning in EE. Building connections between teachers could help them to increase their knowledge and enhance their teaching practice, which in turn could affect students’ learning.
Social media is used for collaborative learning in diverse disciplines for various purposes. It has the potential to be used for teacher professional learning (TPL) as communication and resources can be combined to create collaborative learning opportunities. However, there is little evidence to date of its use in TPL in EE. Considering the advantages and the possibility of social media for use in TPL in EE, the purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of professional learning through social media in EE in New Zealand.
A mixed method study was designed and conducted in three phases using a phenomenographic approach. Findings from questionnaires and interviews in the first and second phases suggested that teachers see TPL through social media as potentially collaborative, convenient, and ubiquitous. They also believed building connections through social media can help EE teachers interact with peers and experts, as well as access support and resources to enhance their teaching practice. Despite these benefits, some teachers perceived this kind of TPL to be challenging. Time for engagement, the accuracy of shared information, privacy of participation, unfocused information and the conflict between online learning and EE as a practical subject were mentioned as the barriers of learning through social media. Specifically, the lack of educational support and lack of TPL were identified as challenges for secondary teachers who engaged with Achievement Standards related to education for sustainability (EfS). 

These findings were used to design and establish a learning community for secondary school teachers through Google+ in the third phase. The Google+ Community facilitated synchronous and asynchronous interactions between teachers and EE experts in different locations. Teachers, however, were not fully engaged in community activities. Findings from interviews and document analysis in the third phase suggested that some limitations associated with the community coupled with teachers’ priorities shaped participants’ involvement in the community. Participants claimed that they needed motivation and time to become actively engaged in the community. 
This research contributes to an understanding of teachers’ perceptions and experiences of professional learning through social media in EE. Insights gained from this study relate to both possibilities and challenges of learning through social media. It also highlights the vital role EE stakeholders play in TPL in EE and their influence on teachers’ motivation. A number of strategies that are suggested at the end of this thesis can be of use in designing TPL in general, TPL in EE, and TPL through social media in particular.

year: 2020

title: The effects of precipitation chemistry and catchment area lithology on the quality of river water in selected catchments in eastern Australia

authors: Douglas, Ian

abstract: The results of partial chemical analyses of precipitation and river water samples from north-east Queensland and south-eastern New South Wales are presented. Comparisons of water quality in the two areas are made using ionic ratios. While the sodium and chloride contents of precipitation in the two areas are similar, higher concentrations of calcium, magnesium and potassium occur in precipitation samples collected in New South Wales. Precipitation supplies between 25% and 70% of the total solute loads of the rivers studied. In the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales more chloride is supplied to the catchment areas than is removed by the rivers. River water quality reflects catchment lithology more than the climatic contrasts between the two study areas. Nevertheless, precipitation chemistry exerts an influence on the ionic ratios of these Australian rivers with low total dissolved solids concentrations.

text: The effects of precipitation chemistry and catchment area lithology on the quality of river water in selected catchments in eastern Australia The results of partial chemical analyses of precipitation and river water samples from north-east Queensland and south-eastern New South Wales are presented. Comparisons of water quality in the two areas are made using ionic ratios. While the sodium and chloride contents of precipitation in the two areas are similar, higher concentrations of calcium, magnesium and potassium occur in precipitation samples collected in New South Wales. Precipitation supplies between 25% and 70% of the total solute loads of the rivers studied. In the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales more chloride is supplied to the catchment areas than is removed by the rivers. River water quality reflects catchment lithology more than the climatic contrasts between the two study areas. Nevertheless, precipitation chemistry exerts an influence on the ionic ratios of these Australian rivers with low total dissolved solids concentrations.

year: 1968

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