title: The impacts of climate change on the people of Vatukarasa and Sovi Bay, Viti Levu, Fiji.

authors: Nur, Ali

abstract: Abstract Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing communities around the globe in the 21st Century. Small island developing states, including all Pacific Island Countries, are often represented as being among the countries that are most exposed to its effects. This thesis seeks to better understand the impacts of climate change on two coastal communities, Vatukarasa and Sovi Bay, on the south coast of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. These two communities are composed of iTaukei (indigenous Fijians) and Indo-Fijians, respectively. They share a number of current and likely future problems caused by climate change although there are some differences in their levels or types of exposure reflecting different cultural backgrounds, livelihood strategies and social networks. The effects of climate change are holding back the development aspirations of the communities, a process that is likely to worsen in the years ahead. Developing sustainable and effective adaptation strategies will need to consider both the commonalities between the two communities and the differences. Some contemporary resource management practices also contribute to the environmental degradation caused by climate change and changing these is already recognised by community members as important first steps towards adapting to climate change effects. The thesis explores the potential for traditional knowledge to be embraced in adaptation that is community-based. It also recognises that some adaptation options are likely to be expensive and beyond the financial capacities of the communities without some forms of external assistance, from local and national government sources as well as the international community.

text: The impacts of climate change on the people of Vatukarasa and Sovi Bay, Viti Levu, Fiji. Abstract Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing communities around the globe in the 21st Century. Small island developing states, including all Pacific Island Countries, are often represented as being among the countries that are most exposed to its effects. This thesis seeks to better understand the impacts of climate change on two coastal communities, Vatukarasa and Sovi Bay, on the south coast of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. These two communities are composed of iTaukei (indigenous Fijians) and Indo-Fijians, respectively. They share a number of current and likely future problems caused by climate change although there are some differences in their levels or types of exposure reflecting different cultural backgrounds, livelihood strategies and social networks. The effects of climate change are holding back the development aspirations of the communities, a process that is likely to worsen in the years ahead. Developing sustainable and effective adaptation strategies will need to consider both the commonalities between the two communities and the differences. Some contemporary resource management practices also contribute to the environmental degradation caused by climate change and changing these is already recognised by community members as important first steps towards adapting to climate change effects. The thesis explores the potential for traditional knowledge to be embraced in adaptation that is community-based. It also recognises that some adaptation options are likely to be expensive and beyond the financial capacities of the communities without some forms of external assistance, from local and national government sources as well as the international community.

year: 2021

title: Case study: Applying coaching and mentoring methods to leading a secondary school science department

authors: Anso, Kathleen Mary

subjects: coaching

abstract: Heads of subject departments in New Zealand secondary schools generally have recognised expertise in teaching their subject and this expertise together with a mixture of leadership and organisational skills are recognised in their selection for the position of Head of Department (HOD). They seldom have formal training in leading staff. Single day training in job skills for new HODs is regularly offered at local education centres but few HODs undertake extended tertiary training in leadership skills.

This case study records the experiences of one secondary Head of Department as she does a literature review of coaching and mentoring principles and applies a selection of these principles to her work with her staff. The initial focus of the study was to use coaching and mentoring methods to lead the department in the implementation of differentiation; varying teaching to cater for the diversity of learners. The scope of the study broadened to encompass all coaching and mentoring interactions with department staff.

Both coaches and mentors work with individuals to improve performance in an area. The vision of mentoring moves considerably beyond emotional support and provision of sample lessons to developing staff in best teaching practice and developing the teacher's ability to problem solve for themselves. Coaching is described as the art of identifying the coachee's strengths and using this information to choose an effective approach in a given situation.

The case study is based on the journal records kept of selected routine interactions with department staff. The journal recorded examples which showed common patterns of interaction, and interactions influenced by the coaching/mentoring literature. A second data source was questionnaire responses from staff who left over the course of the year. 

Major themes that emerged in the data analysis were an increased awareness of the importance of learning needs when working with individual staff,  and working strategically. 

The Myers-Briggs description of personality preferences was used as a neutral framework for describing personality. Recognising the learning needs that arise from those descriptions gave a framework and guidelines for purposeful coaching / mentoring interactions with staff. The concept of learning preferences brought clarity to individual staff responses to different situations; instead of being idiosyncratic and unpredictable, they can be explained as due to the individual combinations of learning preferences in each staff member.

There were a variety of competing demands from outside the department and from individual staff priorities. Over the course of this study the HOD did extensive reflection on her selection of differentiation to cater for student diversity, on using a coaching/mentoring approach for this implementation, and on how to work with experienced staff who may have limited openness to change. The reflection increased her clarity about both the direction and the approaches, and this helped her maintain these in the face of completing demands. 

There are few studies of New Zealand school middle-managers using coaching and/or mentoring. This case study contributes an example to show other middle-managers what can be done in one year in one specific context; using coaching/mentoring to implement differentiation in a department.

text: Case study: Applying coaching and mentoring methods to leading a secondary school science department Heads of subject departments in New Zealand secondary schools generally have recognised expertise in teaching their subject and this expertise together with a mixture of leadership and organisational skills are recognised in their selection for the position of Head of Department (HOD). They seldom have formal training in leading staff. Single day training in job skills for new HODs is regularly offered at local education centres but few HODs undertake extended tertiary training in leadership skills.

This case study records the experiences of one secondary Head of Department as she does a literature review of coaching and mentoring principles and applies a selection of these principles to her work with her staff. The initial focus of the study was to use coaching and mentoring methods to lead the department in the implementation of differentiation; varying teaching to cater for the diversity of learners. The scope of the study broadened to encompass all coaching and mentoring interactions with department staff.

Both coaches and mentors work with individuals to improve performance in an area. The vision of mentoring moves considerably beyond emotional support and provision of sample lessons to developing staff in best teaching practice and developing the teacher's ability to problem solve for themselves. Coaching is described as the art of identifying the coachee's strengths and using this information to choose an effective approach in a given situation.

The case study is based on the journal records kept of selected routine interactions with department staff. The journal recorded examples which showed common patterns of interaction, and interactions influenced by the coaching/mentoring literature. A second data source was questionnaire responses from staff who left over the course of the year. 

Major themes that emerged in the data analysis were an increased awareness of the importance of learning needs when working with individual staff,  and working strategically. 

The Myers-Briggs description of personality preferences was used as a neutral framework for describing personality. Recognising the learning needs that arise from those descriptions gave a framework and guidelines for purposeful coaching / mentoring interactions with staff. The concept of learning preferences brought clarity to individual staff responses to different situations; instead of being idiosyncratic and unpredictable, they can be explained as due to the individual combinations of learning preferences in each staff member.

There were a variety of competing demands from outside the department and from individual staff priorities. Over the course of this study the HOD did extensive reflection on her selection of differentiation to cater for student diversity, on using a coaching/mentoring approach for this implementation, and on how to work with experienced staff who may have limited openness to change. The reflection increased her clarity about both the direction and the approaches, and this helped her maintain these in the face of completing demands. 

There are few studies of New Zealand school middle-managers using coaching and/or mentoring. This case study contributes an example to show other middle-managers what can be done in one year in one specific context; using coaching/mentoring to implement differentiation in a department.

year: 2010

title: A critical interruption in the governance of a New Zealand state high school

authors: L'Huillier, Barbara Marie

subjects: governance

abstract: The governance of contemporary Western education aspires to serve the intertwining values of human emancipation and social inclusiveness in both the organisational form of educational institutions and their pedagogical direction. In New Zealand (NZ), what is understood as ‘good’ governance of education has varied over time according to economic conditions and political interests. The fourth Labour government (1984-1990), which undertook a widespread, rapid commitment to neo-liberal principles, reorganised the provision and governance of education along quasi public-private sector lines, explicitly using a business approach to guide practice, yet retaining hegemonic characteristics. This commitment to neo-liberal principles has been continued by all subsequent NZ governments. The intended transformation of the education system from a centrally-governed bureaucracy to a community-governed process has not been easy. Underpinning the new governance regime is an implied notion that school communities share a common understanding of what is meant by education, processes of representation, and of ‘good’ governance. However, due to the different aspirations members of school communities’ can hold for their respective schools this commonality of meaning can be a false dichotomy resulting in schools being governed in a state of tension. This tension serves to highlight contradictions and disconnections between the espoused aims of devolved governance and a State-mandated process that works to exclude certain factions of a school community. Increasing numbers of NZ school Boards of Trustees are experiencing these tensions and contradictions resulting in an interruption in school governance. The interruption I am interested in takes the form of the commodification of education that has been taking place in NZ since the mid 1980s. I argue this to be an interruption with profound effects on both the flourishing of individuals and the cohesion of communities and usefully serves to draw attention to the disconnection between the broad ideals of education, as articulated by the early promoters of a State-funded education system, and the neo-liberal re-visioning of State education. Fairfield College is a NZ State high school where the tensions and contradictions surrounding the meaning of education, processes of representation, and of good governance have generated a crisis resulting in a critical interruption in school governance. The school’s Board of Trustees received considerable media coverage between 2008 and 2009 regarding a critical interruption to their governance. This interruption presented a unique research opportunity to explore how the words used to frame the problems facing the Board of Trustees, the words used to explain and justify State intervention in the governance of the school, and the words used to propose solutions to perceived problems were invested with meaning. With my interest in connotative meaning, I illustrate how these words were used to encourage and endorse actions that comply with prevailing public policy. In this case study I examined how the school’s direction has been reconfigured according to the principles of corporate governance using a companion lexicon of business. Directives have been devised by various NZ governments to align education with the neo-liberal principles that have prevailed in the governance of this country since 1984. The multiple meanings attributed to ‘governance’ and ‘corporate governance’ in the relevant literatures, and the various implications for applied governance processes and dynamics, influenced my decision to adopt the dual orientation of social constructionism and critical theory to underpin this research. Social constructionists focus on how individuals and groups produce, disseminate, and validate their perceptions of reality. Critical theorists aim to create awareness of constraints to emancipatory potential and inclusiveness. They seek to expose the contradictions between espoused aims of justice and the flourishing of individuals and that which is practised, with the intention to contribute to changes that would enhance justice and the flourishing of individuals. One such contribution is to give voice to those who feel their voices are not being heard. Both theoretical schools regard the use of language as pivotal in the construction of social processes in which meaning is continually negotiated and re-negotiated by the stakeholders. In this research I engaged in audio-recorded semi-structured interviews with members from four stakeholder groups involved in the governance of Fairfield College: the Whānau Support Group (a predominantly Māori special interest group), parents and caregivers, teachers, and those previously or currently charged with governance responsibilities for the school. These narratives were then analysed using thematic analysis to provide important insights into how ‘governance’ of the school was interpreted, challenged, and/or endorsed. My research at Fairfield College indicates that the different constructions of ‘governance’ are associated with identifiable overlapping issues arranged in a hierarchy. The foundational tier represents the outcome of various NZ governments’ preference for market-generated principles of organisation at a macro State level, namely the commodification of public services – in this instance education. The middle tier addresses concerns raised by some stakeholders regarding their notion of inclusiveness and the vulnerability of the democratic process as experienced at community level. The top tier encompasses the twin issues of communication and consultation processes at a management level that appear to demonstrate a conflict between the State’s espoused principles of good governance and their application at Fairfield College. As a result of examining the critical interruption to the governance of Fairfield College I conclude that when viewed through the lens of a social constructionist orientation informed by critical theory, ‘governance’ in the education sector can be interpreted as a process supporting neo-liberal preferences for market-orientated approaches to education. Such preferences overshadow any other ideals held by members of the school’s community and, according to a critical understanding of neo-liberalism, weaken the principles of emancipation and inclusiveness. The insights generated from this research provide a basis for further research into the governance of other organisations with emancipatory and inclusive aspirations.

text: A critical interruption in the governance of a New Zealand state high school The governance of contemporary Western education aspires to serve the intertwining values of human emancipation and social inclusiveness in both the organisational form of educational institutions and their pedagogical direction. In New Zealand (NZ), what is understood as ‘good’ governance of education has varied over time according to economic conditions and political interests. The fourth Labour government (1984-1990), which undertook a widespread, rapid commitment to neo-liberal principles, reorganised the provision and governance of education along quasi public-private sector lines, explicitly using a business approach to guide practice, yet retaining hegemonic characteristics. This commitment to neo-liberal principles has been continued by all subsequent NZ governments. The intended transformation of the education system from a centrally-governed bureaucracy to a community-governed process has not been easy. Underpinning the new governance regime is an implied notion that school communities share a common understanding of what is meant by education, processes of representation, and of ‘good’ governance. However, due to the different aspirations members of school communities’ can hold for their respective schools this commonality of meaning can be a false dichotomy resulting in schools being governed in a state of tension. This tension serves to highlight contradictions and disconnections between the espoused aims of devolved governance and a State-mandated process that works to exclude certain factions of a school community. Increasing numbers of NZ school Boards of Trustees are experiencing these tensions and contradictions resulting in an interruption in school governance. The interruption I am interested in takes the form of the commodification of education that has been taking place in NZ since the mid 1980s. I argue this to be an interruption with profound effects on both the flourishing of individuals and the cohesion of communities and usefully serves to draw attention to the disconnection between the broad ideals of education, as articulated by the early promoters of a State-funded education system, and the neo-liberal re-visioning of State education. Fairfield College is a NZ State high school where the tensions and contradictions surrounding the meaning of education, processes of representation, and of good governance have generated a crisis resulting in a critical interruption in school governance. The school’s Board of Trustees received considerable media coverage between 2008 and 2009 regarding a critical interruption to their governance. This interruption presented a unique research opportunity to explore how the words used to frame the problems facing the Board of Trustees, the words used to explain and justify State intervention in the governance of the school, and the words used to propose solutions to perceived problems were invested with meaning. With my interest in connotative meaning, I illustrate how these words were used to encourage and endorse actions that comply with prevailing public policy. In this case study I examined how the school’s direction has been reconfigured according to the principles of corporate governance using a companion lexicon of business. Directives have been devised by various NZ governments to align education with the neo-liberal principles that have prevailed in the governance of this country since 1984. The multiple meanings attributed to ‘governance’ and ‘corporate governance’ in the relevant literatures, and the various implications for applied governance processes and dynamics, influenced my decision to adopt the dual orientation of social constructionism and critical theory to underpin this research. Social constructionists focus on how individuals and groups produce, disseminate, and validate their perceptions of reality. Critical theorists aim to create awareness of constraints to emancipatory potential and inclusiveness. They seek to expose the contradictions between espoused aims of justice and the flourishing of individuals and that which is practised, with the intention to contribute to changes that would enhance justice and the flourishing of individuals. One such contribution is to give voice to those who feel their voices are not being heard. Both theoretical schools regard the use of language as pivotal in the construction of social processes in which meaning is continually negotiated and re-negotiated by the stakeholders. In this research I engaged in audio-recorded semi-structured interviews with members from four stakeholder groups involved in the governance of Fairfield College: the Whānau Support Group (a predominantly Māori special interest group), parents and caregivers, teachers, and those previously or currently charged with governance responsibilities for the school. These narratives were then analysed using thematic analysis to provide important insights into how ‘governance’ of the school was interpreted, challenged, and/or endorsed. My research at Fairfield College indicates that the different constructions of ‘governance’ are associated with identifiable overlapping issues arranged in a hierarchy. The foundational tier represents the outcome of various NZ governments’ preference for market-generated principles of organisation at a macro State level, namely the commodification of public services – in this instance education. The middle tier addresses concerns raised by some stakeholders regarding their notion of inclusiveness and the vulnerability of the democratic process as experienced at community level. The top tier encompasses the twin issues of communication and consultation processes at a management level that appear to demonstrate a conflict between the State’s espoused principles of good governance and their application at Fairfield College. As a result of examining the critical interruption to the governance of Fairfield College I conclude that when viewed through the lens of a social constructionist orientation informed by critical theory, ‘governance’ in the education sector can be interpreted as a process supporting neo-liberal preferences for market-orientated approaches to education. Such preferences overshadow any other ideals held by members of the school’s community and, according to a critical understanding of neo-liberalism, weaken the principles of emancipation and inclusiveness. The insights generated from this research provide a basis for further research into the governance of other organisations with emancipatory and inclusive aspirations.

year: 2011