title: Te Arawa– Kaitaki of Te Arawa Lakes

authors: Curtis, Sir Toby

abstract: The Te Arawa Lakes Trust has embarked on a project to develop a Te Arawa Cultural Values Framework, in regard to the 14 lakes located in our tribal region. There are a host of positives that we believe can accrue as an outcome of this exercise. Already the calibre of people acknowledged for their cultural expertise have added a lot by their attendance. Their presence and contribution injected a level of enthusiasm and confidence in the compilation of the final draft. It is hoped that distribution among the wider community will elicit constructive feedback.

text: Te Arawa– Kaitaki of Te Arawa Lakes The Te Arawa Lakes Trust has embarked on a project to develop a Te Arawa Cultural Values Framework, in regard to the 14 lakes located in our tribal region. There are a host of positives that we believe can accrue as an outcome of this exercise. Already the calibre of people acknowledged for their cultural expertise have added a lot by their attendance. Their presence and contribution injected a level of enthusiasm and confidence in the compilation of the final draft. It is hoped that distribution among the wider community will elicit constructive feedback.

year: 2015

title: Investigating the understanding and implementation of Ka Hikitia, in a New Zealand primary school

authors: Evans, Mary

subjects: Ka Hikitia

abstract: In New Zealand, the education system has underserved Māori learners for many years, with various factors contributing to this underperformance.  Many of these factors stem from racism and bias, conscious or unconscious, inherent in our system (Ministry of Education, 2019b).  Ka Hikitia Accelerating Success 2013 - 2017 (Ministry of Education, 2013a) set about to make transformative change in schools.  This research presents an investigation into the understanding and implementation of Ka Hikitia, in a New Zealand primary school.  
The research was guided by culturally responsive methodologies, bringing together both kaupapa Māori and critical theories (Berryman, 2013b).  Participants’ understandings and how these understandings transferred into their practice was determined through a case study.  The rich information generated within the case was analysed using grounded theory.  The main source of information came from interviewing the management team and teaching staff members.  As an insider/outsider researcher and also a participant, some of my information came from my own observations and knowledge of the school. Some attendance and achievement data held by the school also informed the case.  
The Office of the Auditor-General (2016b) contended that Ka Hikitia was a well-worded policy but, due to a lack of understanding of the policy in many schools, it was poorly implemented nationwide.  In this school, despite the good leadership and hard-working teachers, staff had difficulty fully understanding and therefore implementing the Ka Hikitia strategy as it was intended.  Strong relationships between teachers and students were evident throughout the study, however, stronger relationships were needed between the school and the wider Māori community.  The research shows that, despite the good intentions of the teachers, to fully implement the intent of Ka Hikitia, educators need to be committed to te ao Māori.  
The Ministry of Education plans to relaunch a further iteration of Ka Hikitia this year, supported by another initiative, Te Hurihanganui.  For this iteration to be successful, more effective implementation systems are required that will enable Māori students to enjoy and achieve educational success as Māori.

text: Investigating the understanding and implementation of Ka Hikitia, in a New Zealand primary school In New Zealand, the education system has underserved Māori learners for many years, with various factors contributing to this underperformance.  Many of these factors stem from racism and bias, conscious or unconscious, inherent in our system (Ministry of Education, 2019b).  Ka Hikitia Accelerating Success 2013 - 2017 (Ministry of Education, 2013a) set about to make transformative change in schools.  This research presents an investigation into the understanding and implementation of Ka Hikitia, in a New Zealand primary school.  
The research was guided by culturally responsive methodologies, bringing together both kaupapa Māori and critical theories (Berryman, 2013b).  Participants’ understandings and how these understandings transferred into their practice was determined through a case study.  The rich information generated within the case was analysed using grounded theory.  The main source of information came from interviewing the management team and teaching staff members.  As an insider/outsider researcher and also a participant, some of my information came from my own observations and knowledge of the school. Some attendance and achievement data held by the school also informed the case.  
The Office of the Auditor-General (2016b) contended that Ka Hikitia was a well-worded policy but, due to a lack of understanding of the policy in many schools, it was poorly implemented nationwide.  In this school, despite the good leadership and hard-working teachers, staff had difficulty fully understanding and therefore implementing the Ka Hikitia strategy as it was intended.  Strong relationships between teachers and students were evident throughout the study, however, stronger relationships were needed between the school and the wider Māori community.  The research shows that, despite the good intentions of the teachers, to fully implement the intent of Ka Hikitia, educators need to be committed to te ao Māori.  
The Ministry of Education plans to relaunch a further iteration of Ka Hikitia this year, supported by another initiative, Te Hurihanganui.  For this iteration to be successful, more effective implementation systems are required that will enable Māori students to enjoy and achieve educational success as Māori.

year: 2020

title: The effects of mask-wearing and teleneuropsychological assessment on people's memory performance on neuropsychological tests

authors: Rich, Tiffany

abstract: In the wake of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the standardised conditions of neuropsychological assessments were greatly impacted to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Neuropsychological assessment conditions were altered to be conducted remotely on Zoom (teleneuropsychological) or continued in-person with the use of face masks. The changes to standardised assessment conditions led to an increase in people’s worries around assessment, made it harder to hear the assessor which led people to increase their listening effort and created more ambiguous non-verbal social cues (Bottalico et al., 2020; Aguilar & Leguizamon, 2021). These additional assessment aspects may be leading to increased pressure on people’s cognitive load by taking up more of their cognitive resources and attention, then leaving less cognitive resources to focus on the assessment. Moreover, memory tests require high rates of attention and focus to accurately encode, manipulate and retrieve information that is presented. However, the added pressure on cognitive load leaves less available cognitive resources to focus on the memory tests, which in turn may influence people’s performance on these tests. When cognitive load is overloaded, people have issues with attention, encoding and later retrieving or remembering that same information (Lezak et al., 2004). To determine whether the changes to assessment conditions (test environment and mask-wearing) impact people’s memory performance, we conducted a 2x2 mixed methods design (between-subjects factor: test environment (zoom/in-person), within-subjects factor: mask-wearing (mask/no mask). Our sample consisted of 64 participants, aged 18-59, with 43 females, 20 males and 1 participant who preferred to self-describe. Participants were included based on a screening criteria and were required to complete a range of neuropsychological tests for two sessions, either via Zoom or in-person, 1-2 weeks apart. All participants completed one session with the assessor wearing a mask and one session without. Participants scores were compared on the Verbal Learning, Digit Span and Verbal Fluency subtests between the test environments (Zoom/In-person) and mask-wearing (Mask/no mask) variables, to assess their impacts on people’s memory functioning. Results showed no significant differences between participants’ performance on these tests between the in-person and teleneuropsychological assessments or mask-wearing compared to no mask. A statistically significant but not clinically significant interaction effect was found on Verbal Learning trial 5, where participants performed the worst in the Zoom condition when the assessor was wearing a mask. This result was not clinically significant and overall, our results suggest teleneuropsychological assessment and mask wearing during assessment do not impact people’s memory performance and, therefore, are valid and reliable methods of assessment in a population aged 18-59 years with no cognitive impairments. However, we did find that the alternate forms used for the Verbal Learning subtest were not equivalent. Participants’ performed statistically significantly worse and recalled fewer words on the Crawford Verbal Learning test compared to the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). This result was not clinically significant but is a clinically meaningful finding for neuropsychologists in New Zealand to consider when administering alternate forms of the RAVLT test.

text: The effects of mask-wearing and teleneuropsychological assessment on people's memory performance on neuropsychological tests In the wake of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the standardised conditions of neuropsychological assessments were greatly impacted to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Neuropsychological assessment conditions were altered to be conducted remotely on Zoom (teleneuropsychological) or continued in-person with the use of face masks. The changes to standardised assessment conditions led to an increase in people’s worries around assessment, made it harder to hear the assessor which led people to increase their listening effort and created more ambiguous non-verbal social cues (Bottalico et al., 2020; Aguilar & Leguizamon, 2021). These additional assessment aspects may be leading to increased pressure on people’s cognitive load by taking up more of their cognitive resources and attention, then leaving less cognitive resources to focus on the assessment. Moreover, memory tests require high rates of attention and focus to accurately encode, manipulate and retrieve information that is presented. However, the added pressure on cognitive load leaves less available cognitive resources to focus on the memory tests, which in turn may influence people’s performance on these tests. When cognitive load is overloaded, people have issues with attention, encoding and later retrieving or remembering that same information (Lezak et al., 2004). To determine whether the changes to assessment conditions (test environment and mask-wearing) impact people’s memory performance, we conducted a 2x2 mixed methods design (between-subjects factor: test environment (zoom/in-person), within-subjects factor: mask-wearing (mask/no mask). Our sample consisted of 64 participants, aged 18-59, with 43 females, 20 males and 1 participant who preferred to self-describe. Participants were included based on a screening criteria and were required to complete a range of neuropsychological tests for two sessions, either via Zoom or in-person, 1-2 weeks apart. All participants completed one session with the assessor wearing a mask and one session without. Participants scores were compared on the Verbal Learning, Digit Span and Verbal Fluency subtests between the test environments (Zoom/In-person) and mask-wearing (Mask/no mask) variables, to assess their impacts on people’s memory functioning. Results showed no significant differences between participants’ performance on these tests between the in-person and teleneuropsychological assessments or mask-wearing compared to no mask. A statistically significant but not clinically significant interaction effect was found on Verbal Learning trial 5, where participants performed the worst in the Zoom condition when the assessor was wearing a mask. This result was not clinically significant and overall, our results suggest teleneuropsychological assessment and mask wearing during assessment do not impact people’s memory performance and, therefore, are valid and reliable methods of assessment in a population aged 18-59 years with no cognitive impairments. However, we did find that the alternate forms used for the Verbal Learning subtest were not equivalent. Participants’ performed statistically significantly worse and recalled fewer words on the Crawford Verbal Learning test compared to the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). This result was not clinically significant but is a clinically meaningful finding for neuropsychologists in New Zealand to consider when administering alternate forms of the RAVLT test.

year: 2023