title: Teacher Otherness in Early Childhood Education: Rethinking uncertainty and difference through a Kristevan lens

authors: Arndt, Sonja Kathrina

subjects: early childhood education

abstract: …shall we be, intimately and subjectively, able to live with the others, to live as others, without ostracism but also without leveling? (Kristeva, 1991, p. 2, emphasis in the original)

This thesis is a critical philosophical response to Kristeva’s opening question.  I draw on Kristeva’s theories to challenge, question, and make accessible new contributions to conceptualisations of cultural Otherness in research and practice with, by and for early childhood teachers.  The thesis aims to elevate such critical attention to the complexities of early childhood teacher Otherness, by repositioning the importance of the uncertainties and potentialities that arise in living ‘with’ and ‘as’ the Other.  Kristeva’s work is seminal to my thinking and writing personally, professionally and philosophically.  Most significantly, her philosophical and psychoanalytical notions of the foreigner, of the foreigner within, and her theory on the subject in process are fundamental to my examinations throughout this thesis.  Highlighting the often unspeakable senses and experiences of being Other, unfamiliar, unpredictable, strange, Kristeva’s foreigner lens offers new opportunities for (re)articulating and (re)inserting some of the raw, nuanced intricacies of Otherness into teachers’ identity work.  Each chapter performs a particular role in fulfilling these aims, and theoretically underpins the argument for elevating diverse ways of seeing teachers’ differences differently.
Despite Aotearoa New Zealand’s globalised, culturally diverse society, teachers’ cultural Otherness is so far largely under-researched, both nationally and internationally.  I respond to the hermeneutical gap arising as a result of this lack of research, and to simultaneous calls for increasingly critical philosophical thought in the field of early childhood education.  Early childhood teachers’ crucial positioning in the wider society and their influence on young lives make reconceptualisations of their own cultural selves vital and urgent.  The thesis culminates in concluding calls for revolt through an evolving model of useful entry points for further research and practice.  The model draws on Kristeva’s (2014) concept of revolt, as “an opposition to already established norms, values and powers” (p. 4).  It offers openings for constant critical renegotiations of limiting, marginalising or normalising practices and orientations.  Kristeva’s assertion that there can be no evolution without revolt lays the foundation for critical philosophical engagements, as ‘mini revolts’, to rethink uncertainty and difference in relation to teachers’ Otherness.  In conclusion I argue that Kristevan revolt is crucial, in small inner ways, and in wider societal and political ways, locally in Aotearoa New Zealand, and also globally.

text: Teacher Otherness in Early Childhood Education: Rethinking uncertainty and difference through a Kristevan lens …shall we be, intimately and subjectively, able to live with the others, to live as others, without ostracism but also without leveling? (Kristeva, 1991, p. 2, emphasis in the original)

This thesis is a critical philosophical response to Kristeva’s opening question.  I draw on Kristeva’s theories to challenge, question, and make accessible new contributions to conceptualisations of cultural Otherness in research and practice with, by and for early childhood teachers.  The thesis aims to elevate such critical attention to the complexities of early childhood teacher Otherness, by repositioning the importance of the uncertainties and potentialities that arise in living ‘with’ and ‘as’ the Other.  Kristeva’s work is seminal to my thinking and writing personally, professionally and philosophically.  Most significantly, her philosophical and psychoanalytical notions of the foreigner, of the foreigner within, and her theory on the subject in process are fundamental to my examinations throughout this thesis.  Highlighting the often unspeakable senses and experiences of being Other, unfamiliar, unpredictable, strange, Kristeva’s foreigner lens offers new opportunities for (re)articulating and (re)inserting some of the raw, nuanced intricacies of Otherness into teachers’ identity work.  Each chapter performs a particular role in fulfilling these aims, and theoretically underpins the argument for elevating diverse ways of seeing teachers’ differences differently.
Despite Aotearoa New Zealand’s globalised, culturally diverse society, teachers’ cultural Otherness is so far largely under-researched, both nationally and internationally.  I respond to the hermeneutical gap arising as a result of this lack of research, and to simultaneous calls for increasingly critical philosophical thought in the field of early childhood education.  Early childhood teachers’ crucial positioning in the wider society and their influence on young lives make reconceptualisations of their own cultural selves vital and urgent.  The thesis culminates in concluding calls for revolt through an evolving model of useful entry points for further research and practice.  The model draws on Kristeva’s (2014) concept of revolt, as “an opposition to already established norms, values and powers” (p. 4).  It offers openings for constant critical renegotiations of limiting, marginalising or normalising practices and orientations.  Kristeva’s assertion that there can be no evolution without revolt lays the foundation for critical philosophical engagements, as ‘mini revolts’, to rethink uncertainty and difference in relation to teachers’ Otherness.  In conclusion I argue that Kristevan revolt is crucial, in small inner ways, and in wider societal and political ways, locally in Aotearoa New Zealand, and also globally.

year: 2017

title: Crying over Spilt Milk: A Critical Assessment of the Ecological Modernisation of New Zealand’s Dairy Industry

authors: Jay, Grace Mairi M.

subjects: ecological modernization

abstract: Ecological modernization theory holds that capitalist economic structures can be transformed to avoid long-term environmental damage, through the introduction of modern environmental technologies and reforming modern institutions. Empirical evidence, drawing on ecological modernization practices in some European and North American contexts, lends support to this view. However, it is not clear yet whether the practices of ecological modernization can be applied with equal success to agricultural industries (such New Zealand's dairy sector), based on farmers as multiple producers. The New Zealand dairy industry faces political and commercial pressure to improve its environmental performance while maintaining commercial competitiveness in a global marketplace. In response to such pressures, the industry's main umbrella organization (Fonterra) has taken steps to improve the environmental management practices of the farmers who supply milk. The New Zealand dairy industry offers an example from which to assess the relevance of economical modernization theory.

text: Crying over Spilt Milk: A Critical Assessment of the Ecological Modernisation of New Zealand’s Dairy Industry Ecological modernization theory holds that capitalist economic structures can be transformed to avoid long-term environmental damage, through the introduction of modern environmental technologies and reforming modern institutions. Empirical evidence, drawing on ecological modernization practices in some European and North American contexts, lends support to this view. However, it is not clear yet whether the practices of ecological modernization can be applied with equal success to agricultural industries (such New Zealand's dairy sector), based on farmers as multiple producers. The New Zealand dairy industry faces political and commercial pressure to improve its environmental performance while maintaining commercial competitiveness in a global marketplace. In response to such pressures, the industry's main umbrella organization (Fonterra) has taken steps to improve the environmental management practices of the farmers who supply milk. The New Zealand dairy industry offers an example from which to assess the relevance of economical modernization theory.

year: 2006

title: Poi Apakura

authors: Maxwell, Te Kahautu

abstract: Poi Apakura portrays the battles both pre European contact through to the land wars and the confiscation of 400,000 acres of Te Whakatōhea land s in 1865 with the killing of the missionary Rev Catl Volkner known as Te Wākana. Performed by Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti at the Te Matatini World Championship Kapa Haa Competition 2013.

text: Poi Apakura Poi Apakura portrays the battles both pre European contact through to the land wars and the confiscation of 400,000 acres of Te Whakatōhea land s in 1865 with the killing of the missionary Rev Catl Volkner known as Te Wākana. Performed by Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti at the Te Matatini World Championship Kapa Haa Competition 2013.

year: 2013