title: United we stand: An exploration of team re-culturing in early childhood settings.

authors: Sheehy, Annette Marie

subjects: leadership

abstract: Early childhood has a professional standing in education circles, however the team teaching that is necessary in this field, often doesn’t reflect the professionalism required. This research project was motivated by the researcher’s growing awareness and concern of disharmony within early childhood teams. Disharmony frequently dominates the researcher’s professional time in the bid to unravel the sources and work with teams to resolve issues and dilemmas.
This research project investigates leader’s and teacher’s perceptions about the underlying sources of team disharmony in early childhood, drawing on their lived experience, and strategies implemented to re-culture the team, restore harmony, collegiality and collaboration. 
Qualitative methods of an online survey and face to face semi structured interviews were used to gather data on both leaders’ and teachers’ perceptions of the underlying sources of disharmony.
The research found that poor communication, personality, leadership and a lack of clear values that underpinned relationships and practice were participants’ perceptions of contributing factors to team disharmony. In addition, structural issues and pressures of time for meaningful dialogue also contributed. A darker side of leadership was revealed where power and control tactics were used to bully teachers; leaving them disempowered and fearful of reprisal should they disagree or push for change. 
Team harmony, founded on clear values, is critical in an ECE environment where teachers’ team teach in the one open plan environment. Collaboration and collegiality are necessary dispositions for the team to hold, to enable them to collectively plan, reflect and inquire into their every day practice. Quality outcomes for children’s learning can only be met when teams are clear on their goals and they are working synergetically.

text: United we stand: An exploration of team re-culturing in early childhood settings. Early childhood has a professional standing in education circles, however the team teaching that is necessary in this field, often doesn’t reflect the professionalism required. This research project was motivated by the researcher’s growing awareness and concern of disharmony within early childhood teams. Disharmony frequently dominates the researcher’s professional time in the bid to unravel the sources and work with teams to resolve issues and dilemmas.
This research project investigates leader’s and teacher’s perceptions about the underlying sources of team disharmony in early childhood, drawing on their lived experience, and strategies implemented to re-culture the team, restore harmony, collegiality and collaboration. 
Qualitative methods of an online survey and face to face semi structured interviews were used to gather data on both leaders’ and teachers’ perceptions of the underlying sources of disharmony.
The research found that poor communication, personality, leadership and a lack of clear values that underpinned relationships and practice were participants’ perceptions of contributing factors to team disharmony. In addition, structural issues and pressures of time for meaningful dialogue also contributed. A darker side of leadership was revealed where power and control tactics were used to bully teachers; leaving them disempowered and fearful of reprisal should they disagree or push for change. 
Team harmony, founded on clear values, is critical in an ECE environment where teachers’ team teach in the one open plan environment. Collaboration and collegiality are necessary dispositions for the team to hold, to enable them to collectively plan, reflect and inquire into their every day practice. Quality outcomes for children’s learning can only be met when teams are clear on their goals and they are working synergetically.

year: 2015

title: Development of Cu-bearing powder metallurgy Ti alloys for biomedical applications

authors: Bolzoni, Leandro

abstract: Cu-bearing Ti alloys could be used as structural biomedical materials where the releasing of Cu ions is beneficial to lower infection incidences associated with surgical implants. The manufacturing of these alloys via powder metallurgy techniques can lower the production costs. In this study three ternary Cu-bearing Ti-xAl-yCu alloys were produced using conventional powder metallurgy. The mechanical properties increase with the amount of alloying elements. Samples of each composition were also forged to clarify the effect of subjecting them to hot deformation. Forging the samples improved the strength of the alloys due to the reduction of porosity and the refinement of the microstructural features. It is found that Ti–2Al–1Cu is the most ductile, Ti–6Al–4Cu is the strongest and Ti–10Al–5Cu has a purely elastic behaviour. Some of these powder metallurgy Ti-xAl-yCu alloys have better overall mechanical behaviour than their cast counterparts and therefore are valuable alternative to produce medical and dental implants with improved properties and reduced cost.

text: Development of Cu-bearing powder metallurgy Ti alloys for biomedical applications Cu-bearing Ti alloys could be used as structural biomedical materials where the releasing of Cu ions is beneficial to lower infection incidences associated with surgical implants. The manufacturing of these alloys via powder metallurgy techniques can lower the production costs. In this study three ternary Cu-bearing Ti-xAl-yCu alloys were produced using conventional powder metallurgy. The mechanical properties increase with the amount of alloying elements. Samples of each composition were also forged to clarify the effect of subjecting them to hot deformation. Forging the samples improved the strength of the alloys due to the reduction of porosity and the refinement of the microstructural features. It is found that Ti–2Al–1Cu is the most ductile, Ti–6Al–4Cu is the strongest and Ti–10Al–5Cu has a purely elastic behaviour. Some of these powder metallurgy Ti-xAl-yCu alloys have better overall mechanical behaviour than their cast counterparts and therefore are valuable alternative to produce medical and dental implants with improved properties and reduced cost.

year: 2019

title: The Treaty of Waitangi and Asian Immigrants in Aotearoa: A Reflective Journey

authors: Omura, Saburo

subjects: Te Tiriti o Waitangi

abstract: The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between the British Crown and Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand being represented at the signing by chiefs from various tribes. The Treaty promised to ensure legitimate control on European settlers, while guaranteeing Māori their sovereignty, undisturbed possession of natural and cultural resources, and citizenship. However, these commitments were reneged upon and were largely discarded over the next century, including devastating confiscations of land and other natural resources, undignified treatment of Māori culture and language, and the loss of indigenous sovereignty following large-scale European migration to Aotearoa/New Zealand in the late 19th century. 
The New Zealand government maintained a ‘white’ New Zealand immigration policy until the late 1980s. An orientation towards white British in New Zealand was so deeply entrenched that the idea of monocultural assimilation remained the norm and went unchallenged until the 1960s. A reflection of this is in the fact that even today the Treaty of Waitangi is not formally recognised in the country’s immigration policies. 
Since the 1990s, there has been a major upsurge in the number of Asian migrants arriving in Aotearoa/New Zealand, so that today people of Chinese, Indian, and similar origin constitute about 11% of the national total population. 
However, settlement support programmes and academic research relating to them have focused on superficial coping and adaptation issues. Integration of these migrants has been frequently discussed but without specific cultural references. Māori culture and the Treaty have never been an integral part of the research scope in the study of acculturation of such migrants in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Government. Politicians, and academics have consequently isolated migrants from indigenous issues, because indigenous people were regarded as irrelevant in this field. 
Nevertheless, some ethnic community groups and individuals have taken initiatives to learn about the Treaty in recent times. I interviewed 17 key informants and conducted six focus groups, with seven people on average participating in each session. Employing a free-association approach in these interviews enabled me to explore significant psychological changes after my informants had learned about the Treaty. 
As a result, many of the participants went through a process of redefining their identity in a new country, rather than just adjusting to or coping with a different environment. Essentially, learning about the Treaty facilitated psychological integration after migrating to New Zealand. 
The future implications of such findings, especially the significant effect of repositioning Māori culture and history in cross-cultural research in New Zealand, is also discussed in this thesis.

text: The Treaty of Waitangi and Asian Immigrants in Aotearoa: A Reflective Journey The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between the British Crown and Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand being represented at the signing by chiefs from various tribes. The Treaty promised to ensure legitimate control on European settlers, while guaranteeing Māori their sovereignty, undisturbed possession of natural and cultural resources, and citizenship. However, these commitments were reneged upon and were largely discarded over the next century, including devastating confiscations of land and other natural resources, undignified treatment of Māori culture and language, and the loss of indigenous sovereignty following large-scale European migration to Aotearoa/New Zealand in the late 19th century. 
The New Zealand government maintained a ‘white’ New Zealand immigration policy until the late 1980s. An orientation towards white British in New Zealand was so deeply entrenched that the idea of monocultural assimilation remained the norm and went unchallenged until the 1960s. A reflection of this is in the fact that even today the Treaty of Waitangi is not formally recognised in the country’s immigration policies. 
Since the 1990s, there has been a major upsurge in the number of Asian migrants arriving in Aotearoa/New Zealand, so that today people of Chinese, Indian, and similar origin constitute about 11% of the national total population. 
However, settlement support programmes and academic research relating to them have focused on superficial coping and adaptation issues. Integration of these migrants has been frequently discussed but without specific cultural references. Māori culture and the Treaty have never been an integral part of the research scope in the study of acculturation of such migrants in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Government. Politicians, and academics have consequently isolated migrants from indigenous issues, because indigenous people were regarded as irrelevant in this field. 
Nevertheless, some ethnic community groups and individuals have taken initiatives to learn about the Treaty in recent times. I interviewed 17 key informants and conducted six focus groups, with seven people on average participating in each session. Employing a free-association approach in these interviews enabled me to explore significant psychological changes after my informants had learned about the Treaty. 
As a result, many of the participants went through a process of redefining their identity in a new country, rather than just adjusting to or coping with a different environment. Essentially, learning about the Treaty facilitated psychological integration after migrating to New Zealand. 
The future implications of such findings, especially the significant effect of repositioning Māori culture and history in cross-cultural research in New Zealand, is also discussed in this thesis.

year: 2014