title: Student voice and agency for Indigenous Maori students in higher education transitions

authors: Amundsen, Diana Leigh

subjects: Social Sciences

abstract: This article reveals the complexities of Indigenous students navigating the neoliberal model of education through an examination of Māori transitions into higher education contexts in Aotearoa New Zealand. In a recently completed doctoral study, the lived transition experiences of Indigenous Māori higher education students were critically investigated from a student voice perspective. Data were collected and analysed through repeated semi-structured interviews, focus groups and visual stories in a semi-longitudinal study with 20 Māori students enrolled in a wānanga, a polytechnic and a university. Using a Bourdieuan theoretical framework for analysis, findings revealed that participants experienced their transition as a journey. Students perpetually evolved their identities and agency in relation to the tertiary education environments and social structures they encountered which supported or constrained transition experiences. Within wānanga, participants felt their Māori cultural identity was highly valued; within polytechnics, there was a sense that Māori culture is included but more could be done; within universities, a need for more inclusive practices to support Māori learner requirements was identified. This empirical research outlines learning for Māori students in higher education, and is a timely addition to knowledge revealing the complexities of teaching in the neoliberal model of higher education with Indigenous people.

text: Student voice and agency for Indigenous Maori students in higher education transitions This article reveals the complexities of Indigenous students navigating the neoliberal model of education through an examination of Māori transitions into higher education contexts in Aotearoa New Zealand. In a recently completed doctoral study, the lived transition experiences of Indigenous Māori higher education students were critically investigated from a student voice perspective. Data were collected and analysed through repeated semi-structured interviews, focus groups and visual stories in a semi-longitudinal study with 20 Māori students enrolled in a wānanga, a polytechnic and a university. Using a Bourdieuan theoretical framework for analysis, findings revealed that participants experienced their transition as a journey. Students perpetually evolved their identities and agency in relation to the tertiary education environments and social structures they encountered which supported or constrained transition experiences. Within wānanga, participants felt their Māori cultural identity was highly valued; within polytechnics, there was a sense that Māori culture is included but more could be done; within universities, a need for more inclusive practices to support Māori learner requirements was identified. This empirical research outlines learning for Māori students in higher education, and is a timely addition to knowledge revealing the complexities of teaching in the neoliberal model of higher education with Indigenous people.

year: 2019

title: Observations by and conversations with health workers and hospital personnel involved in transferring Maori patients and whānau to Waikato Hospital in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Masters-Awatere, Bridgette

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: The predominant focus of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public health system on biomedical models of health has left little room for meaningful engagement with holistic indigenous approaches. Culturally appropriate provision and support are recognized for their relevance and importance during hospital transferals. Hospital staff involved in transfers to one of New Zealand’s trauma centers share their observations of whānau Māori engagement during an admission away from their home base. Sixteen key informants share their experiences, which are presented as strategies and challenges to whānau engagement. Three main themes highlight challenges within the health system that make it difficult for hospital staff to engage whānau in the desired ways and as often as both parties would like. Key informants described services and practices that are not designed with patients and their whānau in mind; instead they are designed by clinicians around the needs of administrative systems. As employees within the public health system, key informants felt powerless to challenge dominant settings. Nevertheless, employees managed to circumnavigate processes. Our findings highlight the need for continued decolonization and anti-racism work within public health settings.

text: Observations by and conversations with health workers and hospital personnel involved in transferring Maori patients and whānau to Waikato Hospital in Aotearoa New Zealand The predominant focus of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public health system on biomedical models of health has left little room for meaningful engagement with holistic indigenous approaches. Culturally appropriate provision and support are recognized for their relevance and importance during hospital transferals. Hospital staff involved in transfers to one of New Zealand’s trauma centers share their observations of whānau Māori engagement during an admission away from their home base. Sixteen key informants share their experiences, which are presented as strategies and challenges to whānau engagement. Three main themes highlight challenges within the health system that make it difficult for hospital staff to engage whānau in the desired ways and as often as both parties would like. Key informants described services and practices that are not designed with patients and their whānau in mind; instead they are designed by clinicians around the needs of administrative systems. As employees within the public health system, key informants felt powerless to challenge dominant settings. Nevertheless, employees managed to circumnavigate processes. Our findings highlight the need for continued decolonization and anti-racism work within public health settings.

year: 2020

title: Mind wandering during everyday driving

authors: Burdett, Bridget Rose Doran

subjects: Mind wandering

abstract: Mind wandering is a common experience but its prevalence and consequences during routine activities such as driving are unclear. This thesis comprises five studies investigating how often drivers’ minds wander, and the relationship between mind wandering and crash risk.
The first study was a questionnaire completed by 502 drivers, to explore their experiences of mind wandering including its variation in different driving contexts. All drivers reported mind wandering at least some of the time. Tendency to report mind wandering during driving was positively correlated with trait tendency towards cognitive failure, and negatively correlated with tendency towards mindful attention and awareness. Drivers reported most mind wandering driving their own car on familiar roads.
The second study built on the finding that drivers are most likely to report mind wandering on a familiar trip in their own car through an on-road study of drivers’ thoughts. Eleven drivers traveling in their own cars between home and work were periodically asked what they were thinking about, across 110 trips in total, to establish how often drivers report mind wandering on real streets. Drivers reported mind wandering around two thirds of the time, demonstrating that it is a frequent experience on familiar urban roads. Drivers’ thoughts shifted frequently, triggered by what they saw in the environment and by internal concerns unrelated to driving.
The first two studies found relatively high likelihood of mind wandering on familiar roads, so the third study investigated links between mind wandering and crash risk by exploring variation in crash patterns on roads close to home and further away. Analysis of crash distance from home, accounting for travel exposure, confirmed a ‘Close to Home Effect’ for road crashes. New Zealand drivers face increased crash risk on familiar roads within 10km of home, suggesting that higher rates of mind wandering close to home may influence crash risk. 
The Close to Home Effect was explored in more depth in the fourth study, which was based on analysis of police Traffic Crash Reports. Crash frequencies at different distances from home were compared in relation with posted speed limit, crash location (intersection or midblock), and errors (intentional violations or unintentional lapses of attention). Compared with crashes on roads further away, crashes close to home were more commonly reported on urban than on rural roads; more often at midblocks (stretches between intersections) than at intersections; and were more likely to involve a lapse of attention than an intentional violation such as excessive speeding.
The fifth and final study combined an on-road study of drivers’ thoughts on a prescribed urban road route with analysis of crash data from the same route. The purpose of the fifth study was to determine how patterns of mind wandering and crashes vary with respect to road environment factors. Results showed that mind wandering is not random, but varies systematically in relation to task demand and crash risk on familiar urban roads. 
Overall, results from the five studies showed that mind wandering is ubiquitous during everyday driving. Drivers focus on aspects of the driving task frequently, but typically briefly, in response to momentary actions of other road users, or to situations that are usually demanding, such as roundabouts. Although there is an inverse association between patterns of mind wandering and the places where most crashes happen, there is no evidence that mind wandering causes crashes. 
Findings from this research support theories of mind wandering that acknowledge its variation in different contexts. However, while theories imply that mind wandering is an infrequent departure from a norm of task focus, this research found that driving task focus is typically a temporary, intermittent departure from mind wandering. Results are generally consistent with the tandem model of driver behaviour, which suggests that drivers do not pay continual attention to driving but rely on an unconscious monitoring process that governs their behaviour most of the time.
The main implication of this research for road safety practitioners is that roads ought to be designed to account for drivers’ unconscious, routine behaviours because their minds are often wandering. Drivers’ attention can be captured and directed appropriately where focus on driving is warranted. Overall however, mind wandering is not intrinsically dangerous but is a normal characteristic of safe everyday driving.

text: Mind wandering during everyday driving Mind wandering is a common experience but its prevalence and consequences during routine activities such as driving are unclear. This thesis comprises five studies investigating how often drivers’ minds wander, and the relationship between mind wandering and crash risk.
The first study was a questionnaire completed by 502 drivers, to explore their experiences of mind wandering including its variation in different driving contexts. All drivers reported mind wandering at least some of the time. Tendency to report mind wandering during driving was positively correlated with trait tendency towards cognitive failure, and negatively correlated with tendency towards mindful attention and awareness. Drivers reported most mind wandering driving their own car on familiar roads.
The second study built on the finding that drivers are most likely to report mind wandering on a familiar trip in their own car through an on-road study of drivers’ thoughts. Eleven drivers traveling in their own cars between home and work were periodically asked what they were thinking about, across 110 trips in total, to establish how often drivers report mind wandering on real streets. Drivers reported mind wandering around two thirds of the time, demonstrating that it is a frequent experience on familiar urban roads. Drivers’ thoughts shifted frequently, triggered by what they saw in the environment and by internal concerns unrelated to driving.
The first two studies found relatively high likelihood of mind wandering on familiar roads, so the third study investigated links between mind wandering and crash risk by exploring variation in crash patterns on roads close to home and further away. Analysis of crash distance from home, accounting for travel exposure, confirmed a ‘Close to Home Effect’ for road crashes. New Zealand drivers face increased crash risk on familiar roads within 10km of home, suggesting that higher rates of mind wandering close to home may influence crash risk. 
The Close to Home Effect was explored in more depth in the fourth study, which was based on analysis of police Traffic Crash Reports. Crash frequencies at different distances from home were compared in relation with posted speed limit, crash location (intersection or midblock), and errors (intentional violations or unintentional lapses of attention). Compared with crashes on roads further away, crashes close to home were more commonly reported on urban than on rural roads; more often at midblocks (stretches between intersections) than at intersections; and were more likely to involve a lapse of attention than an intentional violation such as excessive speeding.
The fifth and final study combined an on-road study of drivers’ thoughts on a prescribed urban road route with analysis of crash data from the same route. The purpose of the fifth study was to determine how patterns of mind wandering and crashes vary with respect to road environment factors. Results showed that mind wandering is not random, but varies systematically in relation to task demand and crash risk on familiar urban roads. 
Overall, results from the five studies showed that mind wandering is ubiquitous during everyday driving. Drivers focus on aspects of the driving task frequently, but typically briefly, in response to momentary actions of other road users, or to situations that are usually demanding, such as roundabouts. Although there is an inverse association between patterns of mind wandering and the places where most crashes happen, there is no evidence that mind wandering causes crashes. 
Findings from this research support theories of mind wandering that acknowledge its variation in different contexts. However, while theories imply that mind wandering is an infrequent departure from a norm of task focus, this research found that driving task focus is typically a temporary, intermittent departure from mind wandering. Results are generally consistent with the tandem model of driver behaviour, which suggests that drivers do not pay continual attention to driving but rely on an unconscious monitoring process that governs their behaviour most of the time.
The main implication of this research for road safety practitioners is that roads ought to be designed to account for drivers’ unconscious, routine behaviours because their minds are often wandering. Drivers’ attention can be captured and directed appropriately where focus on driving is warranted. Overall however, mind wandering is not intrinsically dangerous but is a normal characteristic of safe everyday driving.

year: 2018