title: Genealogical Family History in Aotearoa-New Zealand: From Community of Practice to Transdisciplinary Academic Discourse?

authors: Brown, Margaret Mary Selman

subjects: genealogical family history

abstract: Genealogical Family Historians conduct research in order to reconstruct genealogical families, through the application of a rigorous methodology: weighing the evidence for placing each individual in a family group, linking family groups of the past and making contact with kin of the present. Genealogical Family Historians trace the movements and migrations of identified individuals and family groups; and study the local, national and international social settings of lives lived in families and households in different times and places, over many generations. A large worldwide Community of Practice with many constituent groups, including the New Zealand Society of Genealogists Incorporated, has formed itself around this research activity. 

In this transdisciplinary study focused on social learning, I have explored and analysed the domain, the practice and the community of Genealogical Family Historians researching in and from Aotearoa-New Zealand during the past 50 years. Genealogical Family Historians meet formally and informally, in small groups or at large conferences to pursue their self-directed learning. 

The collaborative practice includes publishing and teaching; and the locating, preserving and indexing of records. Many conduct research and communicate with others in the new world of cyberspace. My overarching research question has been: where is the future place for this scholarly discourse? My approach to this study is transdisciplinary: my point-of-view is above and across departments and disciplines. The ethos and vision of transdisciplinarity is attained only through existing disciplines, and transdisciplinary research has the potential to contribute to those disciplines, as I demonstrate in this thesis. 




The transdisciplinary scholarly discourse of Genealogical Family History owes much to the disciplines of history, geography and sociology; and draws on biology, law, religious studies, linguistics, demography, computer science and information technology. I have also drawn on understandings from my own prior and concurrent disciplinary knowledge and experience for this study. Other Genealogical Family Historians bring different disciplinary understandings to the discourse that is Genealogical Family History. 

My positionality is that of an insider, an involved member of the Community of Practice for many years. In this study, I have allowed my key informants to speak with their own voices; and I have sought illustration and evidence from documentation and observation in the wider Genealogical Family History Community, past and present. I have used enhanced reflection on my own practice in my analysis and in case studies. This study demonstrates how the Community of Practice has played an important role in developing a transdisciplinary mode of inquiry and suggests that there are some generic features of the field and practice of Genealogical Family History that form the substance of a transdisciplinary discourse ready to take its place in academia.

text: Genealogical Family History in Aotearoa-New Zealand: From Community of Practice to Transdisciplinary Academic Discourse? Genealogical Family Historians conduct research in order to reconstruct genealogical families, through the application of a rigorous methodology: weighing the evidence for placing each individual in a family group, linking family groups of the past and making contact with kin of the present. Genealogical Family Historians trace the movements and migrations of identified individuals and family groups; and study the local, national and international social settings of lives lived in families and households in different times and places, over many generations. A large worldwide Community of Practice with many constituent groups, including the New Zealand Society of Genealogists Incorporated, has formed itself around this research activity. 

In this transdisciplinary study focused on social learning, I have explored and analysed the domain, the practice and the community of Genealogical Family Historians researching in and from Aotearoa-New Zealand during the past 50 years. Genealogical Family Historians meet formally and informally, in small groups or at large conferences to pursue their self-directed learning. 

The collaborative practice includes publishing and teaching; and the locating, preserving and indexing of records. Many conduct research and communicate with others in the new world of cyberspace. My overarching research question has been: where is the future place for this scholarly discourse? My approach to this study is transdisciplinary: my point-of-view is above and across departments and disciplines. The ethos and vision of transdisciplinarity is attained only through existing disciplines, and transdisciplinary research has the potential to contribute to those disciplines, as I demonstrate in this thesis. 




The transdisciplinary scholarly discourse of Genealogical Family History owes much to the disciplines of history, geography and sociology; and draws on biology, law, religious studies, linguistics, demography, computer science and information technology. I have also drawn on understandings from my own prior and concurrent disciplinary knowledge and experience for this study. Other Genealogical Family Historians bring different disciplinary understandings to the discourse that is Genealogical Family History. 

My positionality is that of an insider, an involved member of the Community of Practice for many years. In this study, I have allowed my key informants to speak with their own voices; and I have sought illustration and evidence from documentation and observation in the wider Genealogical Family History Community, past and present. I have used enhanced reflection on my own practice in my analysis and in case studies. This study demonstrates how the Community of Practice has played an important role in developing a transdisciplinary mode of inquiry and suggests that there are some generic features of the field and practice of Genealogical Family History that form the substance of a transdisciplinary discourse ready to take its place in academia.

year: 2008

title: Influence of employee well-being on workplace injuries: A study of safety climate as a potential mediator

authors: Sim, Mabelene

subjects: Employee Well-Being

abstract: Being at work constitutes a considerable part of our lives and research on employee well-being and safety-related outcomes at the workplace can help to improve people’s work lives. This study examined the work-related employee well-being and individual workplace injuries relationship and how safety climate potentially mediates the association. The current research sets out to (1) examine the connection of employee well-being with workplace injuries, and the influence of safety climate on this relationship, and (2) assesses the level of employee well-being, safety climate and its association with injuries in a global city country in South East Asia, Singapore.
This study adopted a cross-sectional design utilising self-reported data from 147 participants aged 21 to 69 with work experience ranging from 6 months to 37 years across various industries within the manufacturing sector. Results of the current study illustrate that when employee well-being increases, safety climate also increases. In addition, when employee well-being and safety climate improves, individual workplace injury reduces. Among employee well-being and safety climate dimensions, having meaning and positive emotions at work and management’s attitude, behaviour and actions profoundly influence injuries in the workplace. Long working hours negatively affect safety climate and workplace injuries. Age and experience have a small to medium effect on injuries at the workplace, with employees aged between 45-49 years old and those with work experience between 16-25 years reporting more injuries. Management staff reported better employee well-being and lower injuries, while shift workers indicated weaker safety climate. Respondents also indicated that approximately 50% of workplace injuries were unreported, but when employees display appropriate behaviour in reporting workplace injuries, they experience higher employee well-being and safety climate. Mediation analysis indicated that safety climate did act as a mediator between employee well-being and workplace injuries. The mediation model including four control variables age, tenure, hierarchy and work hours, accounted for approximately 20% of the variance in individual injuries at the workplace.
Practically, utilising established employee well-being and safety climate construct, together with commonly available demographic variables, organisations can combat workplace injuries. Theoretically, this these findings from Singapore contribute to the literature of employee well-being from a positive psychology perspective and extend the safety climate literature in an Asian context. Moreover, this study suggests cross-cultural applicability for the relevant measures, having utilised a Hungarian employee well-being measure and a Norwegian safety climate instrument for an Asian sample. Overall, to tackle safety-related outcomes, employers must first take care of employee’s well-being at work and management-related factors towards safety perception.

text: Influence of employee well-being on workplace injuries: A study of safety climate as a potential mediator Being at work constitutes a considerable part of our lives and research on employee well-being and safety-related outcomes at the workplace can help to improve people’s work lives. This study examined the work-related employee well-being and individual workplace injuries relationship and how safety climate potentially mediates the association. The current research sets out to (1) examine the connection of employee well-being with workplace injuries, and the influence of safety climate on this relationship, and (2) assesses the level of employee well-being, safety climate and its association with injuries in a global city country in South East Asia, Singapore.
This study adopted a cross-sectional design utilising self-reported data from 147 participants aged 21 to 69 with work experience ranging from 6 months to 37 years across various industries within the manufacturing sector. Results of the current study illustrate that when employee well-being increases, safety climate also increases. In addition, when employee well-being and safety climate improves, individual workplace injury reduces. Among employee well-being and safety climate dimensions, having meaning and positive emotions at work and management’s attitude, behaviour and actions profoundly influence injuries in the workplace. Long working hours negatively affect safety climate and workplace injuries. Age and experience have a small to medium effect on injuries at the workplace, with employees aged between 45-49 years old and those with work experience between 16-25 years reporting more injuries. Management staff reported better employee well-being and lower injuries, while shift workers indicated weaker safety climate. Respondents also indicated that approximately 50% of workplace injuries were unreported, but when employees display appropriate behaviour in reporting workplace injuries, they experience higher employee well-being and safety climate. Mediation analysis indicated that safety climate did act as a mediator between employee well-being and workplace injuries. The mediation model including four control variables age, tenure, hierarchy and work hours, accounted for approximately 20% of the variance in individual injuries at the workplace.
Practically, utilising established employee well-being and safety climate construct, together with commonly available demographic variables, organisations can combat workplace injuries. Theoretically, this these findings from Singapore contribute to the literature of employee well-being from a positive psychology perspective and extend the safety climate literature in an Asian context. Moreover, this study suggests cross-cultural applicability for the relevant measures, having utilised a Hungarian employee well-being measure and a Norwegian safety climate instrument for an Asian sample. Overall, to tackle safety-related outcomes, employers must first take care of employee’s well-being at work and management-related factors towards safety perception.

year: 2019

title: Desirable attributes for medical graduates: The health aspirations and needs of Maaori living in Te Rohe Pootae

authors: Maikuku, Victoria Louisa Wikitoria

abstract: Health disparities for Maaori, the tangata whenua of Aotearoa New Zealand, are prevalent when compared to the health of European New Zealanders, and even more so in remote and rural communities where access to health-care services is limited. Moreover, Maaori are underrepresented in the medical workforce in which there is a serious and escalating shortage of doctors and nurses.

In the context of the University of Waikato’s proposal to establish a Graduate Entry Medical School, Te Huataki Waiora School of Health has identified the need for a collaborative approach to ‘growing’ a fit-for-purpose health workforce with the skills and commitment to care for and work with Maaori (and Pacific peoples) living in remote and rural communities. This study thus explores the health perspectives, needs, and aspirations of Maaori living in and around the King Country rural service towns of Te Kuiti and OOtorohanga. Conducted by a Ngaati Maniapoto tribal member, the location for the study is known by Maaori as Te Rohe Pootae - the lands of Rereahu/Maniapoto, to which the Waikato people sort refuge after the invasion and confiscation of their lands in the 1860s. The perspectives, needs, and aspirations of Pacific peoples living in these communities have been explored in a ‘sister’ Masters study conducted by Janina Galewski.

The present exploratory study incorporates a co-design research process underpinned by an Indigenous health framework with Kaupapa Maaori values. Kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 community members, 11 males and 19 females aged 18 years and over. The data analysis included a combination of values, verses and holistic, and provisional coding methods (focused, thematic, descriptive) (Saldana, 2021).

The findings reveal that these community members view themselves as either rural or remote based on distance, access to services, and geographic isolation, but not population numbers. In terms of services, they want a mobile health workforce including clinics, carers, doctors, nurses; mental health workers who are equipped with the resources and time needed to reach and serve their patients; and better access to dialysis and related services. The research also identifies three healthcare strategies. When ill or injured, one-third of the group go directly to their GP; one-third try other things before seeking medical assistance, including going home to their parents and/or to their marae for comfort and advice, ‘going bush’ to (re)connect with nature, and forms of pure (cleansing rituals); and although the remaining third are registered with medical centres they do everything they can to avoid seeing a doctor at all. Instead, they rely on rongoaa and other ‘complementary and alternative’ treatments such as physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, and other healers. 

Adopting and adapting a table created by Woolley et al. (2013), the findings also revealed three sets of desirable attributes for medical graduates (and other healthcare professionals): Skill-based attributes include quality care and communication skills, knowledge-based attributes include medical knowledge and culturally appropriate knowledge, while attitude-based attributes include personality and community engagement. This framework can be used to inform a medical education curriculum, with a specific emphasis on the health needs and aspirations of Maaori living in rural and remote communities.

text: Desirable attributes for medical graduates: The health aspirations and needs of Maaori living in Te Rohe Pootae Health disparities for Maaori, the tangata whenua of Aotearoa New Zealand, are prevalent when compared to the health of European New Zealanders, and even more so in remote and rural communities where access to health-care services is limited. Moreover, Maaori are underrepresented in the medical workforce in which there is a serious and escalating shortage of doctors and nurses.

In the context of the University of Waikato’s proposal to establish a Graduate Entry Medical School, Te Huataki Waiora School of Health has identified the need for a collaborative approach to ‘growing’ a fit-for-purpose health workforce with the skills and commitment to care for and work with Maaori (and Pacific peoples) living in remote and rural communities. This study thus explores the health perspectives, needs, and aspirations of Maaori living in and around the King Country rural service towns of Te Kuiti and OOtorohanga. Conducted by a Ngaati Maniapoto tribal member, the location for the study is known by Maaori as Te Rohe Pootae - the lands of Rereahu/Maniapoto, to which the Waikato people sort refuge after the invasion and confiscation of their lands in the 1860s. The perspectives, needs, and aspirations of Pacific peoples living in these communities have been explored in a ‘sister’ Masters study conducted by Janina Galewski.

The present exploratory study incorporates a co-design research process underpinned by an Indigenous health framework with Kaupapa Maaori values. Kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 community members, 11 males and 19 females aged 18 years and over. The data analysis included a combination of values, verses and holistic, and provisional coding methods (focused, thematic, descriptive) (Saldana, 2021).

The findings reveal that these community members view themselves as either rural or remote based on distance, access to services, and geographic isolation, but not population numbers. In terms of services, they want a mobile health workforce including clinics, carers, doctors, nurses; mental health workers who are equipped with the resources and time needed to reach and serve their patients; and better access to dialysis and related services. The research also identifies three healthcare strategies. When ill or injured, one-third of the group go directly to their GP; one-third try other things before seeking medical assistance, including going home to their parents and/or to their marae for comfort and advice, ‘going bush’ to (re)connect with nature, and forms of pure (cleansing rituals); and although the remaining third are registered with medical centres they do everything they can to avoid seeing a doctor at all. Instead, they rely on rongoaa and other ‘complementary and alternative’ treatments such as physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, and other healers. 

Adopting and adapting a table created by Woolley et al. (2013), the findings also revealed three sets of desirable attributes for medical graduates (and other healthcare professionals): Skill-based attributes include quality care and communication skills, knowledge-based attributes include medical knowledge and culturally appropriate knowledge, while attitude-based attributes include personality and community engagement. This framework can be used to inform a medical education curriculum, with a specific emphasis on the health needs and aspirations of Maaori living in rural and remote communities.

year: 2022