title: Student disengagement: Why they say they don’t come

authors: Weijers, Dan M.

abstract: Nearing the end of the academic year for most students, attendance at lectures is dropping to 25% and below. Why are students at the University of Waikato skipping lectures? I combine student attendance rates with data from several student evaluations (that include specific questions about engagement and attendance) to investigate what might be causing student disengagement and non-attendance. The data are drawn from evaluations of a few first and second year philosophy classes over the last two years. The results imply a pedagogical crisis in which “learning” has been relegated so far down students’ list of priorities that it doesn’t feature at all in their educational decision-making! I recommend stop-gap measures and the need for a more thorough investigation.

text: Student disengagement: Why they say they don’t come Nearing the end of the academic year for most students, attendance at lectures is dropping to 25% and below. Why are students at the University of Waikato skipping lectures? I combine student attendance rates with data from several student evaluations (that include specific questions about engagement and attendance) to investigate what might be causing student disengagement and non-attendance. The data are drawn from evaluations of a few first and second year philosophy classes over the last two years. The results imply a pedagogical crisis in which “learning” has been relegated so far down students’ list of priorities that it doesn’t feature at all in their educational decision-making! I recommend stop-gap measures and the need for a more thorough investigation.

year: 2018

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: Culturally-Oriented Environmental Identity Transitions: Migrant Indian Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand Early Childhood Education

authors: Rathore, Devika

abstract: An increasingly multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education (ECE) landscape that includes a growing number of migrant teachers forms the context for my doctoral study. In this country, respect for the natural world and kaitiakitanga are integral to the ECE bicultural curriculum framework Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2017) which is grounded in Indigenous Māori worldviews that acknowledge strong spiritual connections to land and place. The natural environment is considered an integral part of the national identity and early childhood has been recognised as an important stage when Environmental and Sustainability Education should begin.   

Within the context of this superdiverse nation, a significant number of migrant teachers transfer their cultural and environmental knowledge, practice, and identity as they transition into the Aotearoa New Zealand context. This thesis explored migrant Indian teachers’ understandings of their culturally-oriented and negotiated environmental identities. I was keen to examine if the environment might hold different meanings and places in their home (Indian) and host (Aotearoa New Zealand) cultural systems.   

Through this study, insights were gained into migrant Indian teachers’ perceptions of the influence of cultural identity on their environmental identities in Aotearoa New Zealand ECE. A sociocultural theoretical perspective informed this study, drawing primarily on Sauvé’s (2009) model of personal and social development of the self in relation to other humans and the environment. Primary data for this interpretivist study were gathered through in-depth interviews with nine Indian ECE teacher participants. Interviews with their ECE setting managers/head teachers were conducted to support and supplement the teachers’ practices and experiences. The audio-recorded interview data were transcribed and examined using thematic analysis. Observations of teacher participants’ workplaces were used to provide a contextual profile for each of the nine Indian teachers. I also obtained a small number of assessment documents in the form of Learning Stories which the teachers had prepared, to analyse them for cultural and environmental themes and experiences.   

Indian teacher participants’ perceptions of their own culturally-oriented environmental identities highlighted the significance of teachers’ own early childhood environmental experiences and home cultural context influences on their environmental identities. Teacher participants’ perceptions shed light on their cultural and environmental identity transitions and acculturation process. These teachers brought their cultural and environmental identities from their home cultural context and used their cultural lens to interpret the connections between the host cultural context and environmental worldviews.   

The Indian teacher participants perceived close connections between their cultural and environmental identities. At the same time, they recognised cross-cultural connections between their culturally-oriented environmental identities and tikanga Māori (Māori ways of doing including practices, customs and rituals) and te ao Māori (the Māori world). These perceived connections were most evident through the significance of Indian philosophies of spirituality, relationships, belonging, and cultural recognition and exchange in their specific ECE contexts. These connections facilitated teachers’ cultural and environmental identity transitions and had a positive impact on their cultural and environmental teaching practices when supported within the ECE setting and by management/leadership.   

Cultural and environmental transitions for this steadily growing group of migrant teachers require further investigation to facilitate their cultural and environmental participation and acculturation into the Aotearoa New Zealand ECE context. In these ways, the existing cultural, environmental, and sustainability connections within ECE could be strengthened to foster children’s culturally-oriented environmental identities.

text: Culturally-Oriented Environmental Identity Transitions: Migrant Indian Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand Early Childhood Education An increasingly multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education (ECE) landscape that includes a growing number of migrant teachers forms the context for my doctoral study. In this country, respect for the natural world and kaitiakitanga are integral to the ECE bicultural curriculum framework Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2017) which is grounded in Indigenous Māori worldviews that acknowledge strong spiritual connections to land and place. The natural environment is considered an integral part of the national identity and early childhood has been recognised as an important stage when Environmental and Sustainability Education should begin.   

Within the context of this superdiverse nation, a significant number of migrant teachers transfer their cultural and environmental knowledge, practice, and identity as they transition into the Aotearoa New Zealand context. This thesis explored migrant Indian teachers’ understandings of their culturally-oriented and negotiated environmental identities. I was keen to examine if the environment might hold different meanings and places in their home (Indian) and host (Aotearoa New Zealand) cultural systems.   

Through this study, insights were gained into migrant Indian teachers’ perceptions of the influence of cultural identity on their environmental identities in Aotearoa New Zealand ECE. A sociocultural theoretical perspective informed this study, drawing primarily on Sauvé’s (2009) model of personal and social development of the self in relation to other humans and the environment. Primary data for this interpretivist study were gathered through in-depth interviews with nine Indian ECE teacher participants. Interviews with their ECE setting managers/head teachers were conducted to support and supplement the teachers’ practices and experiences. The audio-recorded interview data were transcribed and examined using thematic analysis. Observations of teacher participants’ workplaces were used to provide a contextual profile for each of the nine Indian teachers. I also obtained a small number of assessment documents in the form of Learning Stories which the teachers had prepared, to analyse them for cultural and environmental themes and experiences.   

Indian teacher participants’ perceptions of their own culturally-oriented environmental identities highlighted the significance of teachers’ own early childhood environmental experiences and home cultural context influences on their environmental identities. Teacher participants’ perceptions shed light on their cultural and environmental identity transitions and acculturation process. These teachers brought their cultural and environmental identities from their home cultural context and used their cultural lens to interpret the connections between the host cultural context and environmental worldviews.   

The Indian teacher participants perceived close connections between their cultural and environmental identities. At the same time, they recognised cross-cultural connections between their culturally-oriented environmental identities and tikanga Māori (Māori ways of doing including practices, customs and rituals) and te ao Māori (the Māori world). These perceived connections were most evident through the significance of Indian philosophies of spirituality, relationships, belonging, and cultural recognition and exchange in their specific ECE contexts. These connections facilitated teachers’ cultural and environmental identity transitions and had a positive impact on their cultural and environmental teaching practices when supported within the ECE setting and by management/leadership.   

Cultural and environmental transitions for this steadily growing group of migrant teachers require further investigation to facilitate their cultural and environmental participation and acculturation into the Aotearoa New Zealand ECE context. In these ways, the existing cultural, environmental, and sustainability connections within ECE could be strengthened to foster children’s culturally-oriented environmental identities.

year: 2024