title: Relational pedagogy and the arts.

authors: Fraser, Deborah

abstract: This article explores the notion of “relational pedagogy” in the Arts (drama, dance, music, and visual art) starting with the teacher–child relationship, peer relationships, and building communities of enquiry.

text: Relational pedagogy and the arts. This article explores the notion of “relational pedagogy” in the Arts (drama, dance, music, and visual art) starting with the teacher–child relationship, peer relationships, and building communities of enquiry.

year: 2007

title: The effects of sex and sex-role typing behaviour on children’s problem-solving behaviour and outerdirectedness

authors: Ho, Robert

abstract: The effects of sex and sex-role typing behaviour on children’s problem solving ability and glancing behaviour (outerdirectedness) were investigated. Two hundred and fifty five subjects were tested in a series of six experiments. 
Experiment I was a pilot study involving adult student subjects whose glancing behaviour and problem solving skills were tested in three experimental tasks - the Rod and Frame Test, the object assembly tasks and the card game. In Experiments II and III, children were categorized into various sex roles by means of the Children’s Androgyny Scale (C.A.S.), and the effects of sex and sex role typing behaviour on their problem solving ability and glancing behaviour were studied using the RFT and object assembly tasks. In Experiments IV and V, the effects of sex and sex role typing behaviour were investigated under the more ‘social’ condition of the concept identification task. In Experiment VI, the learning strategies utilized by different types of subjects were investigated by means of the discrimination task. 
The findings from Experiment I revealed that adult student subjects, regardless of sex, engaged in very little glancing behaviour and its restricted range resulted in the non-significant difference in glancing behaviour between male and female subjects. As a result of this failure to demonstrate this important difference between the sexes, it was decided to abandon the use of adult subjects and to utilize children as subjects for the remainder of the research. 
The findings from Experiment II failed to demonstrate any effects of sex role typing behaviour on subject’s performance on the RFT. The introduction of external cues in the experimental procedure in Experiment III yielded results that partially supported the hypotheses that children’s problem solving ability and glancing behaviour can be differentially affected by their sex role typing behaviour. In Experiments IV and V, the subjects were tested with task problems that included ‘social’ cues, and the results supported the hypothesis that children’s problem solving ability can be differentially affected by their sex role typing behaviour by demonstrating both the adaptability of the androgynous subjects and the behavioural restriction of the sex typed subjects in their performance on the experimental tasks. No effect of sex role typing behaviour on subject’s glancing behaviour was demonstrated. The results also indicated that subjects of different sex and sex role orientation have different problem solving strategies. From the results, it appears that the female feminine subject’s task approach orientation was characterized by a cue learning (reliance on external cues) strategy while the male masculine subject’s task approach orientation was characterized by the problem learning (task oriented) strategy. The androgynous subject’s task approach orientation appeared to be more flexible, varying between cue learning and problem learning depending on the nature of the situation. Experiment VI was designed to investigate these different learning strategies utilized by different types of subjects, and the findings corroborate the findings from Experiments IV and V that female feminine subjects do indeed use a cue learning strategy in their problem solving. The performance of the androgynous subjects of both sexes indicated that they were able to use either strategy effectively.
Overall, the results of the research supported the hypothesis that sex and sex role typing behaviour by children do result in differential problem solving skills, with androgynous subjects being better problem solvers than sex typed subjects at tasks designed specifically to elicit masculine or feminine responses. The findings were attributed to the differential socialization process for males and females. Implications of the findings were discussed.

text: The effects of sex and sex-role typing behaviour on children’s problem-solving behaviour and outerdirectedness The effects of sex and sex-role typing behaviour on children’s problem solving ability and glancing behaviour (outerdirectedness) were investigated. Two hundred and fifty five subjects were tested in a series of six experiments. 
Experiment I was a pilot study involving adult student subjects whose glancing behaviour and problem solving skills were tested in three experimental tasks - the Rod and Frame Test, the object assembly tasks and the card game. In Experiments II and III, children were categorized into various sex roles by means of the Children’s Androgyny Scale (C.A.S.), and the effects of sex and sex role typing behaviour on their problem solving ability and glancing behaviour were studied using the RFT and object assembly tasks. In Experiments IV and V, the effects of sex and sex role typing behaviour were investigated under the more ‘social’ condition of the concept identification task. In Experiment VI, the learning strategies utilized by different types of subjects were investigated by means of the discrimination task. 
The findings from Experiment I revealed that adult student subjects, regardless of sex, engaged in very little glancing behaviour and its restricted range resulted in the non-significant difference in glancing behaviour between male and female subjects. As a result of this failure to demonstrate this important difference between the sexes, it was decided to abandon the use of adult subjects and to utilize children as subjects for the remainder of the research. 
The findings from Experiment II failed to demonstrate any effects of sex role typing behaviour on subject’s performance on the RFT. The introduction of external cues in the experimental procedure in Experiment III yielded results that partially supported the hypotheses that children’s problem solving ability and glancing behaviour can be differentially affected by their sex role typing behaviour. In Experiments IV and V, the subjects were tested with task problems that included ‘social’ cues, and the results supported the hypothesis that children’s problem solving ability can be differentially affected by their sex role typing behaviour by demonstrating both the adaptability of the androgynous subjects and the behavioural restriction of the sex typed subjects in their performance on the experimental tasks. No effect of sex role typing behaviour on subject’s glancing behaviour was demonstrated. The results also indicated that subjects of different sex and sex role orientation have different problem solving strategies. From the results, it appears that the female feminine subject’s task approach orientation was characterized by a cue learning (reliance on external cues) strategy while the male masculine subject’s task approach orientation was characterized by the problem learning (task oriented) strategy. The androgynous subject’s task approach orientation appeared to be more flexible, varying between cue learning and problem learning depending on the nature of the situation. Experiment VI was designed to investigate these different learning strategies utilized by different types of subjects, and the findings corroborate the findings from Experiments IV and V that female feminine subjects do indeed use a cue learning strategy in their problem solving. The performance of the androgynous subjects of both sexes indicated that they were able to use either strategy effectively.
Overall, the results of the research supported the hypothesis that sex and sex role typing behaviour by children do result in differential problem solving skills, with androgynous subjects being better problem solvers than sex typed subjects at tasks designed specifically to elicit masculine or feminine responses. The findings were attributed to the differential socialization process for males and females. Implications of the findings were discussed.

year: 1978

title: Looking Past the Mess: Māori Homelessness and Mental Health Care

authors: Johnson, Diana

subjects: Homelessness

abstract: Homelessness is a pressing social and health concern that affects Māori disproportionately. This research explores the provision of mental health services to Māori who are homeless. The thesis has two primary aims. First, to document the experiences of Māori homeless people who live with mental health concerns and their relationships with mental health professionals. Second, to document the experiences of mental health professionals and how they interact with, provide care for, and build relationships with Māori Homeless. The skills of, and the difficulties faced by these professionals in provisions of quality of care are also considered. Three male and three female homeless participants were recruited from the Waikato and Auckland regions. All participants had received care from Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and/or District Health Board services (DHB). Participating mental health professionals included one female and five males. Mental health professionals included counsellors, therapists, psychologists, social workers, crisis team coordinator, and a cultural advisor. All participants took part in individual semi-structured interviews conducted in an open and conversational manner.  Key themes for homeless participants included their general life histories of mental illness, mental health service use, relationship with professionals, cultural issues, and concerns that Māori homeless wanted to discuss. Key themes for mental health professionals included their approaches when working with homeless people, relationship building, barriers to working with this group and possible solutions, linking with other professionals or organisations, and issues mental health professionals wanted to discuss. Findings highlight the importance of strong therapeutic relationships between homeless clients and mental health professionals, the need for more joined up (multi-level agency) approach to service delivery, and the importance of Māori ideology in restoring wellbeing and dignity. Findings suggest that the effectiveness of mental health service delivery relies in part on information provided by stakeholders. Information provided by homeless people and mental health professionals informs both service delivery and the ways in which practitioners can best support the needs of homeless people.

text: Looking Past the Mess: Māori Homelessness and Mental Health Care Homelessness is a pressing social and health concern that affects Māori disproportionately. This research explores the provision of mental health services to Māori who are homeless. The thesis has two primary aims. First, to document the experiences of Māori homeless people who live with mental health concerns and their relationships with mental health professionals. Second, to document the experiences of mental health professionals and how they interact with, provide care for, and build relationships with Māori Homeless. The skills of, and the difficulties faced by these professionals in provisions of quality of care are also considered. Three male and three female homeless participants were recruited from the Waikato and Auckland regions. All participants had received care from Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and/or District Health Board services (DHB). Participating mental health professionals included one female and five males. Mental health professionals included counsellors, therapists, psychologists, social workers, crisis team coordinator, and a cultural advisor. All participants took part in individual semi-structured interviews conducted in an open and conversational manner.  Key themes for homeless participants included their general life histories of mental illness, mental health service use, relationship with professionals, cultural issues, and concerns that Māori homeless wanted to discuss. Key themes for mental health professionals included their approaches when working with homeless people, relationship building, barriers to working with this group and possible solutions, linking with other professionals or organisations, and issues mental health professionals wanted to discuss. Findings highlight the importance of strong therapeutic relationships between homeless clients and mental health professionals, the need for more joined up (multi-level agency) approach to service delivery, and the importance of Māori ideology in restoring wellbeing and dignity. Findings suggest that the effectiveness of mental health service delivery relies in part on information provided by stakeholders. Information provided by homeless people and mental health professionals informs both service delivery and the ways in which practitioners can best support the needs of homeless people.

year: 2009