title: Bite

authors: Mitchell, Tori

subjects: poetry

abstract: Bite is a collection of blunt confessional poetry draped in honesty, identity, and 21st century feminism, examined through lived experience with eating disorders, sexuality, trauma, disconnect from family and culture, love and loss, and what it means to be a girl growing up. The collection explores these raw concepts with vulnerability, through the eyes of ‘wolf girl’, in hopes that talking loudly about these topics will force the public to challenge the silence and stigma around them.  

This thesis was inspired by Maori Mythology, and all of the Polynesian poets who showed me how important it is for women of colour to share their stories and experiences. It was also influenced by feminist artists Jenny Holzer, Tracey Emin, and Barbara Kruger, whose art embodies the content of these poems in a literal way: freedom of expression, stripped bare and unflinching. The poetry in this collection is confronting, visceral, and filled with bite.

text: Bite Bite is a collection of blunt confessional poetry draped in honesty, identity, and 21st century feminism, examined through lived experience with eating disorders, sexuality, trauma, disconnect from family and culture, love and loss, and what it means to be a girl growing up. The collection explores these raw concepts with vulnerability, through the eyes of ‘wolf girl’, in hopes that talking loudly about these topics will force the public to challenge the silence and stigma around them.  

This thesis was inspired by Maori Mythology, and all of the Polynesian poets who showed me how important it is for women of colour to share their stories and experiences. It was also influenced by feminist artists Jenny Holzer, Tracey Emin, and Barbara Kruger, whose art embodies the content of these poems in a literal way: freedom of expression, stripped bare and unflinching. The poetry in this collection is confronting, visceral, and filled with bite.

year: 2020

title: "Everything has shaped you": Contributors to young Māori university students' ability to flourish

authors: Major, Darcie Ngahuia

subjects: Maori

abstract: There are many disparities when considering the health and wellbeing of Māori in Aotearoa today, and the education sector is no different, with Māori less likely to leave school with level 2 certificate or higher compared with non-Māori.  In response to the deficit orientated research on Māori and education, my thesis explores those factors contributing to young Māori tertiary students flourishing. My research includes five students from the University of Waikato who were between the ages of 17-24 years. A multi-method qualitative approach was utilised while engaging a Kaupapa Māori research framework. Participants were found to have a range of interconnected factors which contribute to their ability to flourish both inside and outside of the university.  Of particular importance to my participants was relational connectedness or whanaungatanga within and outside of the tertiary environment, landscapes which offered multiple forms of care, and notions of both collective and individual motivation. Some of the challenges experienced by my participants included a sense of socio-cultural isolation, the minimal inclusion of Māori worldviews and perspectives within the general curriculum, and the personal stress of responding to negative stereotypes of Maori as generally unproductive members of society. Flourishing for my participants is therefore multi-layered, and recognises the interconnected nature of health and wellbeing.

text: "Everything has shaped you": Contributors to young Māori university students' ability to flourish There are many disparities when considering the health and wellbeing of Māori in Aotearoa today, and the education sector is no different, with Māori less likely to leave school with level 2 certificate or higher compared with non-Māori.  In response to the deficit orientated research on Māori and education, my thesis explores those factors contributing to young Māori tertiary students flourishing. My research includes five students from the University of Waikato who were between the ages of 17-24 years. A multi-method qualitative approach was utilised while engaging a Kaupapa Māori research framework. Participants were found to have a range of interconnected factors which contribute to their ability to flourish both inside and outside of the university.  Of particular importance to my participants was relational connectedness or whanaungatanga within and outside of the tertiary environment, landscapes which offered multiple forms of care, and notions of both collective and individual motivation. Some of the challenges experienced by my participants included a sense of socio-cultural isolation, the minimal inclusion of Māori worldviews and perspectives within the general curriculum, and the personal stress of responding to negative stereotypes of Maori as generally unproductive members of society. Flourishing for my participants is therefore multi-layered, and recognises the interconnected nature of health and wellbeing.

year: 2017

title: How educators lead the shift in pedagogy and policy to encourage international student success: An evaluative inquiry of one New Zealand tertiary institute

authors: Vail, Heather

subjects: internationalisation

abstract: This thesis demonstrates why and how New Zealand-based tertiary educators can claim a leadership role in contributing to international student success. As international student populations rise rapidly within New Zealand’s tertiary sector (Education New Zealand, 2017), educators are called on to promote intercultural competencies within the now-global classroom (Huber & Reynolds, 2014). Adaptive pedagogical changes required in such an emerging learning environment fall to the educators, who have a primary role when teaching to all learner cohorts (Edmondson, 2004; Randi & Corno, 2005; Trippestad, 2015). At one institute of technology and polytechnic (ITP), as examined for this thesis, issues raised by educators were found to reflect national concerns arising alongside the increased emphasis on international education; specifically, that educators face a lack of resources provided to help manifest appropriate strategies supporting international students’ range of academic and pastoral care needs. 
In response to this gap, I used evaluation methodology (Davidson, 2005) to develop a framework of inquiry into how pedagogical practices at the ITP examined are shifting to accommodate student success. Four Western educational values were identified as a starting point to guide my inquiry: i) the educator leadership role, ii) experiential learning, iii) critical thinking, and iv) praxis. These values informed key evaluative questions that guided my analysis of mixed data collected from a staff survey, educator interviews, and institutional documents. 
Findings illuminated the tensions between educators’ pedagogical aspirations and their actual classroom situations. The findings also revealed that the process of shared, reflective practice allows educators to develop more effective strategies for facilitating international student learning. Recommendations that emerged advocate for educators to consider within their teaching practices: i) accommodation of both educational and wellbeing needs of students; ii) appreciation of the variation among learner norms; and iii) leading the shifting terms of educational delivery through continually questioning one’s relationship to the perceptions, struggles, politics, economics and success emergent from teaching international students. 
I conclude that ongoing dialogue informs educator action, in practice and through advising policy, to address the broader educational needs of international students and, ultimately, the global citizenry.

text: How educators lead the shift in pedagogy and policy to encourage international student success: An evaluative inquiry of one New Zealand tertiary institute This thesis demonstrates why and how New Zealand-based tertiary educators can claim a leadership role in contributing to international student success. As international student populations rise rapidly within New Zealand’s tertiary sector (Education New Zealand, 2017), educators are called on to promote intercultural competencies within the now-global classroom (Huber & Reynolds, 2014). Adaptive pedagogical changes required in such an emerging learning environment fall to the educators, who have a primary role when teaching to all learner cohorts (Edmondson, 2004; Randi & Corno, 2005; Trippestad, 2015). At one institute of technology and polytechnic (ITP), as examined for this thesis, issues raised by educators were found to reflect national concerns arising alongside the increased emphasis on international education; specifically, that educators face a lack of resources provided to help manifest appropriate strategies supporting international students’ range of academic and pastoral care needs. 
In response to this gap, I used evaluation methodology (Davidson, 2005) to develop a framework of inquiry into how pedagogical practices at the ITP examined are shifting to accommodate student success. Four Western educational values were identified as a starting point to guide my inquiry: i) the educator leadership role, ii) experiential learning, iii) critical thinking, and iv) praxis. These values informed key evaluative questions that guided my analysis of mixed data collected from a staff survey, educator interviews, and institutional documents. 
Findings illuminated the tensions between educators’ pedagogical aspirations and their actual classroom situations. The findings also revealed that the process of shared, reflective practice allows educators to develop more effective strategies for facilitating international student learning. Recommendations that emerged advocate for educators to consider within their teaching practices: i) accommodation of both educational and wellbeing needs of students; ii) appreciation of the variation among learner norms; and iii) leading the shifting terms of educational delivery through continually questioning one’s relationship to the perceptions, struggles, politics, economics and success emergent from teaching international students. 
I conclude that ongoing dialogue informs educator action, in practice and through advising policy, to address the broader educational needs of international students and, ultimately, the global citizenry.

year: 2017