title: Local curriculum development in sustainability education in New Zealand secondary schools

authors: Lockley, John Ward

subjects: education

abstract: Sustainability, though not well understood, is an increasingly important concept in society, and as such has become incorporated in school curricula. In New Zealand, sustainability was added to the national curriculum in 2007 as a non subject-bound thematic link through the values and key competencies associated with student learning. Teachers use the national curriculum, a statement of policy describing educational objectives, to plan their classroom practice with their particular learners in mind, a process referred to as local curriculum development.
Though sustainability education is new to New Zealand teachers, there is a strong history of environmental education where implementation has been successful in many primary schools, in which the curriculum is integrated. In the secondary school setting, the implementation of non subject-bound learning, like environmental education, has proven to be less successful, partly due to the siloed nature of subject specialisation. Sustainability as the interaction between environmental, social and economic perspectives has proven to be particularly difficult to address in such siloed secondary schools.
This study investigates the sense making practices of some English, science, social science and technology secondary teachers as they interpret sustainability in the national curriculum and create local sustainability curricula in their school settings. The research occurred three years after the introduction of the revised national curriculum and at a time when few professional learning opportunities existed to support teacher professional development. The research is founded on sociocultural learning theory drawing on concepts of mediated action, and situated and distributed cognition. Research data was generated over a year-long collaborative action research programme and analysed using Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a tool. 
The findings indicate that these teachers were challenged by the siloed nature of curriculum delivery in addressing the holistic nature of sustainability in their local curriculum development. Teachers’ personal sociocultural backgrounds were influential in their sustainability curriculum development practices. These experiences influenced their perspective of sustainability, often limiting their perception of sustainability. These perspectival views of sustainability had direct influence on teacher’s curriculum development, constraining planned learning in sustainability to their perspective. Where teachers worked independently in their school to develop local curriculum their perspectives went unchallenged, resulting in local curricula that addressed only parts of the nature of sustainability. 
Teachers’ perspectives of sustainability also influenced their ongoing professional learning choices in a conservative manner. Without intervention, this self-reinforcement of existing perceptions may lead to strengthening curriculum silos and further constrain sustainability education. Where teachers worked collegially across curriculum silos, and had opportunities to negotiate meaning around sustainability and sustainability education in the wider culture of the school, their perceptions of sustainability become more comprehensive, leading to local sustainability curricula which reflected more fully the holistic nature of sustainability. 
Meaning making around sustainability and sustainability education, in the culture of the school, includes considering how sustainability is expressed in the national curriculum, what is meant by assessment of learning in sustainability, the role of students in curriculum development and the influence of external stakeholders in local curriculum development.

text: Local curriculum development in sustainability education in New Zealand secondary schools Sustainability, though not well understood, is an increasingly important concept in society, and as such has become incorporated in school curricula. In New Zealand, sustainability was added to the national curriculum in 2007 as a non subject-bound thematic link through the values and key competencies associated with student learning. Teachers use the national curriculum, a statement of policy describing educational objectives, to plan their classroom practice with their particular learners in mind, a process referred to as local curriculum development.
Though sustainability education is new to New Zealand teachers, there is a strong history of environmental education where implementation has been successful in many primary schools, in which the curriculum is integrated. In the secondary school setting, the implementation of non subject-bound learning, like environmental education, has proven to be less successful, partly due to the siloed nature of subject specialisation. Sustainability as the interaction between environmental, social and economic perspectives has proven to be particularly difficult to address in such siloed secondary schools.
This study investigates the sense making practices of some English, science, social science and technology secondary teachers as they interpret sustainability in the national curriculum and create local sustainability curricula in their school settings. The research occurred three years after the introduction of the revised national curriculum and at a time when few professional learning opportunities existed to support teacher professional development. The research is founded on sociocultural learning theory drawing on concepts of mediated action, and situated and distributed cognition. Research data was generated over a year-long collaborative action research programme and analysed using Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a tool. 
The findings indicate that these teachers were challenged by the siloed nature of curriculum delivery in addressing the holistic nature of sustainability in their local curriculum development. Teachers’ personal sociocultural backgrounds were influential in their sustainability curriculum development practices. These experiences influenced their perspective of sustainability, often limiting their perception of sustainability. These perspectival views of sustainability had direct influence on teacher’s curriculum development, constraining planned learning in sustainability to their perspective. Where teachers worked independently in their school to develop local curriculum their perspectives went unchallenged, resulting in local curricula that addressed only parts of the nature of sustainability. 
Teachers’ perspectives of sustainability also influenced their ongoing professional learning choices in a conservative manner. Without intervention, this self-reinforcement of existing perceptions may lead to strengthening curriculum silos and further constrain sustainability education. Where teachers worked collegially across curriculum silos, and had opportunities to negotiate meaning around sustainability and sustainability education in the wider culture of the school, their perceptions of sustainability become more comprehensive, leading to local sustainability curricula which reflected more fully the holistic nature of sustainability. 
Meaning making around sustainability and sustainability education, in the culture of the school, includes considering how sustainability is expressed in the national curriculum, what is meant by assessment of learning in sustainability, the role of students in curriculum development and the influence of external stakeholders in local curriculum development.

year: 2018

title: Use of interactive video for teaching and learning

authors: Gedera, Dilani S.P.

abstract: This paper focuses on the findings of Phases I and II of an institution-wide project on the effective use of interactive video for teaching and learning in a university in New Zealand. Responding to the emerging growth of video in teaching and learning practice and scholarship, and also to the university’s strategic focus on providing blended, flexible learning opportunities, this project explores the ways in which lecturers currently use videos in teaching, their challenges, and their attitudes towards making video as well as students’ perceptions of learning through video. This paper discusses what we conceptualise as effective learning moments and conditions and how these can be created and maximised through the effective production and manipulation of relevant, purposeful interactive videos. The overall project combines both research and impact and develops opportunities for lecturers to enhance their competencies in creating interactive videos.

text: Use of interactive video for teaching and learning This paper focuses on the findings of Phases I and II of an institution-wide project on the effective use of interactive video for teaching and learning in a university in New Zealand. Responding to the emerging growth of video in teaching and learning practice and scholarship, and also to the university’s strategic focus on providing blended, flexible learning opportunities, this project explores the ways in which lecturers currently use videos in teaching, their challenges, and their attitudes towards making video as well as students’ perceptions of learning through video. This paper discusses what we conceptualise as effective learning moments and conditions and how these can be created and maximised through the effective production and manipulation of relevant, purposeful interactive videos. The overall project combines both research and impact and develops opportunities for lecturers to enhance their competencies in creating interactive videos.

year: 2018

title: Te Kāuta

authors: Roa, Raukura

subjects: Kōrero paki

abstract: He rite tonu tā mātou hokihoki ki te take o Pirongia maunga, ki te tutungi i te ahi kā i Pūrekireki Marae. Ia wā ka hoki mātou ki tēnei o ngā marae, ka hīkaka taku ngākau, i te mea, ko taku mahi i reira, he tiaki ahi. Ao noa, pō noa, ko au te kaiwhakatutungi i te ahi o te kāuta, kei kewa. Ko te ahi o te kāuta o Pūrekireki marae, he ahi nui, he ahi kaitā. E ono tāngata pea ka uru ki te rua o te ahi nei. Nō reira, ko taku mahi i te rā, he kohi rākau i waho, he tapahi wahie, he whakamaroke anō hoki i te wahie, inā mākū i te ua. I ngā pō, kia hoki rā anō te iwi ki te moe, ko tāku, he noho ki roto i te kāuta me te tutungi ahi, kia wera tonu ai te wai mō āpōpō. Kei pōhēhē mai, he mahi mokemoke tēnei! Ehara! Ia pō, ka noho mai aku kuia ki taku taha ki te pahupahu. He nui ngā akoranga me ngā mātauranga i tuku iho mai ki a au i roto i tērā kāuta, i te taha o tērā ahi. Me uaua ka kitea tēnei momo ahi kaitā i ngā marae i ēnei rā. Kāore e whakaaengia ana e ngā ture Pākehā ngā ahi kaitā, pēnei nei te rahi, i roto i ngā kāuta o ngā marae; ‘Health and Safety Standards’ tā rātou i whakatau ai. Nō reira, i karangangia e taku pāpā tētehi hui ki te marae kia wānangahia te whakahōutanga o tō mātou kāuta. Nō taku rongotanga ake i te kaupapa o tēnei hui, ka tangi taku ngākau ki tō mātou kāuta. Nō reira, i whakarite ahau kia haere i tana taha.

text: Te Kāuta He rite tonu tā mātou hokihoki ki te take o Pirongia maunga, ki te tutungi i te ahi kā i Pūrekireki Marae. Ia wā ka hoki mātou ki tēnei o ngā marae, ka hīkaka taku ngākau, i te mea, ko taku mahi i reira, he tiaki ahi. Ao noa, pō noa, ko au te kaiwhakatutungi i te ahi o te kāuta, kei kewa. Ko te ahi o te kāuta o Pūrekireki marae, he ahi nui, he ahi kaitā. E ono tāngata pea ka uru ki te rua o te ahi nei. Nō reira, ko taku mahi i te rā, he kohi rākau i waho, he tapahi wahie, he whakamaroke anō hoki i te wahie, inā mākū i te ua. I ngā pō, kia hoki rā anō te iwi ki te moe, ko tāku, he noho ki roto i te kāuta me te tutungi ahi, kia wera tonu ai te wai mō āpōpō. Kei pōhēhē mai, he mahi mokemoke tēnei! Ehara! Ia pō, ka noho mai aku kuia ki taku taha ki te pahupahu. He nui ngā akoranga me ngā mātauranga i tuku iho mai ki a au i roto i tērā kāuta, i te taha o tērā ahi. Me uaua ka kitea tēnei momo ahi kaitā i ngā marae i ēnei rā. Kāore e whakaaengia ana e ngā ture Pākehā ngā ahi kaitā, pēnei nei te rahi, i roto i ngā kāuta o ngā marae; ‘Health and Safety Standards’ tā rātou i whakatau ai. Nō reira, i karangangia e taku pāpā tētehi hui ki te marae kia wānangahia te whakahōutanga o tō mātou kāuta. Nō taku rongotanga ake i te kaupapa o tēnei hui, ka tangi taku ngākau ki tō mātou kāuta. Nō reira, i whakarite ahau kia haere i tana taha.

year: 2016