title: How can the secondary school learning model be adapted to provide for more meaningful curriculum integration?

authors: Gill, Caroline

subjects: Arts

abstract: Interest in curriculum integration (CI) has resurged in recent years as schools seek to bring together knowledge from separate curriculum areas to create a more holistic and integrated learning experience for students and as a means to address the demands of ‘twenty-first century’ learning.  As the educational sciences deliver new research on the role of the arts in cognitive development, educators are also refreshing their perspective on what is termed ‘arts integration’ – that is, “the effort to build a set of relationships between learning in the arts and learning in other subjects of the curriculum” (Deasy 2003, p. 2).

There is significant research from the primary school sector surrounding the implementation of CI and suggested approaches and models for doing so; however, there is a need for this type of research within the secondary school sector.  There also appears to be very little research in New Zealand (NZ) regarding arts integration and the particular approach to CI.  Much of the research hails from the United States of America and is pitched at a primary or intermediate level.   This study aims to help bridge the research gap into whether it is possible to implement a model of arts integration (and subsequently CI) in the NZ secondary school sector, and make suggestions as to how the secondary school learning model could be adapted to provide for more meaningful CI.  This study primarily looks at the potential to introduce an Arts Integration model, namely ‘arts integration as collaborative engagement’, firstly at an Arts level, advocating that it should be wider than the arts.  

The participants in this study include six International Baccalaureate (IB) students (all aged seventeen) taking dance, music, or visual arts and three teachers (one music, one visual arts one dance).  The students worked collaboratively in pairs, with the teachers adopting the role as facilitators in the project.  Although the IB model is used for the context of this study, this model is relevant and could be adapted to suit any curriculum.

A thematic analysis helped  identify the overarching themes evident from the data collection process, suggesting the key aspects  contributing to the collaborative experience are compromise, a different approach to learning, real world application, and personal gain and empowerment. 

The findings from this study indicate that collaborative learning became a powerful strategy for enhancing student’s social and motivational skills, specifically that of compromise.  For a Curriculum Integration model to succeed in secondary schools there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way that secondary schools structure their timetables and their learning environments.  It is time to adjust the systems to create learning environments for the twenty-first century learner and ensure our young people can become “confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 7).

text: How can the secondary school learning model be adapted to provide for more meaningful curriculum integration? Interest in curriculum integration (CI) has resurged in recent years as schools seek to bring together knowledge from separate curriculum areas to create a more holistic and integrated learning experience for students and as a means to address the demands of ‘twenty-first century’ learning.  As the educational sciences deliver new research on the role of the arts in cognitive development, educators are also refreshing their perspective on what is termed ‘arts integration’ – that is, “the effort to build a set of relationships between learning in the arts and learning in other subjects of the curriculum” (Deasy 2003, p. 2).

There is significant research from the primary school sector surrounding the implementation of CI and suggested approaches and models for doing so; however, there is a need for this type of research within the secondary school sector.  There also appears to be very little research in New Zealand (NZ) regarding arts integration and the particular approach to CI.  Much of the research hails from the United States of America and is pitched at a primary or intermediate level.   This study aims to help bridge the research gap into whether it is possible to implement a model of arts integration (and subsequently CI) in the NZ secondary school sector, and make suggestions as to how the secondary school learning model could be adapted to provide for more meaningful CI.  This study primarily looks at the potential to introduce an Arts Integration model, namely ‘arts integration as collaborative engagement’, firstly at an Arts level, advocating that it should be wider than the arts.  

The participants in this study include six International Baccalaureate (IB) students (all aged seventeen) taking dance, music, or visual arts and three teachers (one music, one visual arts one dance).  The students worked collaboratively in pairs, with the teachers adopting the role as facilitators in the project.  Although the IB model is used for the context of this study, this model is relevant and could be adapted to suit any curriculum.

A thematic analysis helped  identify the overarching themes evident from the data collection process, suggesting the key aspects  contributing to the collaborative experience are compromise, a different approach to learning, real world application, and personal gain and empowerment. 

The findings from this study indicate that collaborative learning became a powerful strategy for enhancing student’s social and motivational skills, specifically that of compromise.  For a Curriculum Integration model to succeed in secondary schools there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way that secondary schools structure their timetables and their learning environments.  It is time to adjust the systems to create learning environments for the twenty-first century learner and ensure our young people can become “confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 7).

year: 2013

title: The reliability and validity of the Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20): An International Review

authors: Rettenberger, Martin

subjects: risk assessment

abstract: This article reports on the current state of research about the most commonly used Structured Professional Judgement (SPJ) guidelines for sexual offender risk assessment, the Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20). After describing the general characteristics as well as frequently discussed strengths and weaknesses of this risk assessment approach, we give an international overview of the empirical results of the reliability and validity of the SVR-20. We conclude by describing briefly a convergent strategy for sexual offender risk assessment incorporating the SVR-20 and offer some future directions for international research on the SPJ approach.

text: The reliability and validity of the Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20): An International Review This article reports on the current state of research about the most commonly used Structured Professional Judgement (SPJ) guidelines for sexual offender risk assessment, the Sexual Violence Risk-20 (SVR-20). After describing the general characteristics as well as frequently discussed strengths and weaknesses of this risk assessment approach, we give an international overview of the empirical results of the reliability and validity of the SVR-20. We conclude by describing briefly a convergent strategy for sexual offender risk assessment incorporating the SVR-20 and offer some future directions for international research on the SPJ approach.

year: 2009

title: Insecure, unpredictable, hoping to survive: Four cases of Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Uerata, Lynley Moana

subjects: Māori

abstract: A conceptualisation of precarity is introduced and adopted. A critique of contemporary conceptualisations of precarity is presented, drawing especially on Stuart Hall’s interpretation of articulation and Marx’s concept of relative surplus population. Much of the literature on precarity focusses on the neoliberal mode of contemporary capitalism originating in the late 1970s. However, there is limited literature which explores precarity as a way of life. A precarious way of life is characterised by interacting forms of precarity which embed insecurity, instability, and unpredictability in the everyday lives of real people. An account of the Māori experience of precarity since the pre-colonial era to the present-day is presented. Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand who were colonised by the British Empire in the 1800s. 
The main research questions addressed in my thesis are: What forms of precarity are present in the everyday context? How do forms of precarity relate to each other? How do forms of precarity relate to being Māori? What kinds of support do those living with precarity gain from social structures, institutions, and social actors? What is the role of culture in the way Māori experience and mediate precarity? An analysis of semi-structured in-depth engagements with Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016, based on four case studies, shows the character and significance of forms, sources, and effects of precarity in everyday life. As historical processes continue to overdetermine experiences of social structures and institutions in the present, in a contemporary capitalist context precarity arises from a wide range of interacting sources, forms, and effects of precarity. Among the different kinds of actors and organisations which comprise the support systems constructed to mediate precarity in the everyday context, cultural practices and resources can play a significant role for people who are culturally connected. When people are integrated into their local and cultural communities, they can cope better with a precarious way of life.

text: Insecure, unpredictable, hoping to survive: Four cases of Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand A conceptualisation of precarity is introduced and adopted. A critique of contemporary conceptualisations of precarity is presented, drawing especially on Stuart Hall’s interpretation of articulation and Marx’s concept of relative surplus population. Much of the literature on precarity focusses on the neoliberal mode of contemporary capitalism originating in the late 1970s. However, there is limited literature which explores precarity as a way of life. A precarious way of life is characterised by interacting forms of precarity which embed insecurity, instability, and unpredictability in the everyday lives of real people. An account of the Māori experience of precarity since the pre-colonial era to the present-day is presented. Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand who were colonised by the British Empire in the 1800s. 
The main research questions addressed in my thesis are: What forms of precarity are present in the everyday context? How do forms of precarity relate to each other? How do forms of precarity relate to being Māori? What kinds of support do those living with precarity gain from social structures, institutions, and social actors? What is the role of culture in the way Māori experience and mediate precarity? An analysis of semi-structured in-depth engagements with Māori people living precariously in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016, based on four case studies, shows the character and significance of forms, sources, and effects of precarity in everyday life. As historical processes continue to overdetermine experiences of social structures and institutions in the present, in a contemporary capitalist context precarity arises from a wide range of interacting sources, forms, and effects of precarity. Among the different kinds of actors and organisations which comprise the support systems constructed to mediate precarity in the everyday context, cultural practices and resources can play a significant role for people who are culturally connected. When people are integrated into their local and cultural communities, they can cope better with a precarious way of life.

year: 2021