title: Synergistic literacies: Fostering critical and technological literacies in teaching legal research methods at the University of Waikato

authors: Havemann, Paul

abstract: Nowadays, new law courses are not approved unless both the "needs analysis" is convincing and the "consumer demand" is certain. Needs and demands today are driven by new pressures for technological literacy accelerated by globalisation and the current revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs). The popular logic is that new global "knowledge economies" need "knowledge workers" or "wired workers" to labour in the new e-markets for goods and services and to use the burgeoning number and high quality of electronic information databases now essential to legal research. Students are acutely aware of these developments as well as of the highly competitive nature of the contemporary labour market for law graduates. Consequently, students are demanding more "how to" research skills training.
This article puts in context the reasons why, at the University of Waikato, we regard creating synergy between critical and technological literacy as essential for teaching and learning law-in-context research methods, and then describes the curriculum we designed for a legal research methods course in order to trial this approach.
From the start we have been clear that the new course was not just to be a "how to" course, and that we would be concentrating on critical literacy as much as technological literacy. For us, critical literacy is fundamental because it relates to the way in which one analyses the world, a process described as "becoming aware of the underlying structure of conceptions".1 This awareness includes the politics in the architectures that constitute the Internet and the assembly of information accessible on it.
We designed our curriculum for critical literacy around five types of analysis. Our shorthand for this is to call these "the five 'Cs'". Our five interrelated categories for analysis focus on:
 Change - in society, economy and culture
 Concepts - legal and sociological concepts and analytical frameworks
 Critique (and standpoint or perspective) 
 Comparisons (and Contrasts) 
 Contexts.
We argue that, at a minimum, these are the conceptual tools necessary to critique and engage the operation of the law in the context of society, noting especially inequalities and injustices. Throughout the course students are encouraged to harness technological literacy to each dimension of their analysis.
This article consists of two main parts. The first part ("Context and Assumptions") explores in some depth the reasons for the need to teach critical literacy alongside technological literacy. The second part ("The Legal Research Methods Course") describes our efforts to promote the synergy between critical and technological literacies in the context of a fourth year optional course, Legal Research Methods 2000, at the University of Waikato School of Law.

text: Synergistic literacies: Fostering critical and technological literacies in teaching legal research methods at the University of Waikato Nowadays, new law courses are not approved unless both the "needs analysis" is convincing and the "consumer demand" is certain. Needs and demands today are driven by new pressures for technological literacy accelerated by globalisation and the current revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs). The popular logic is that new global "knowledge economies" need "knowledge workers" or "wired workers" to labour in the new e-markets for goods and services and to use the burgeoning number and high quality of electronic information databases now essential to legal research. Students are acutely aware of these developments as well as of the highly competitive nature of the contemporary labour market for law graduates. Consequently, students are demanding more "how to" research skills training.
This article puts in context the reasons why, at the University of Waikato, we regard creating synergy between critical and technological literacy as essential for teaching and learning law-in-context research methods, and then describes the curriculum we designed for a legal research methods course in order to trial this approach.
From the start we have been clear that the new course was not just to be a "how to" course, and that we would be concentrating on critical literacy as much as technological literacy. For us, critical literacy is fundamental because it relates to the way in which one analyses the world, a process described as "becoming aware of the underlying structure of conceptions".1 This awareness includes the politics in the architectures that constitute the Internet and the assembly of information accessible on it.
We designed our curriculum for critical literacy around five types of analysis. Our shorthand for this is to call these "the five 'Cs'". Our five interrelated categories for analysis focus on:
 Change - in society, economy and culture
 Concepts - legal and sociological concepts and analytical frameworks
 Critique (and standpoint or perspective) 
 Comparisons (and Contrasts) 
 Contexts.
We argue that, at a minimum, these are the conceptual tools necessary to critique and engage the operation of the law in the context of society, noting especially inequalities and injustices. Throughout the course students are encouraged to harness technological literacy to each dimension of their analysis.
This article consists of two main parts. The first part ("Context and Assumptions") explores in some depth the reasons for the need to teach critical literacy alongside technological literacy. The second part ("The Legal Research Methods Course") describes our efforts to promote the synergy between critical and technological literacies in the context of a fourth year optional course, Legal Research Methods 2000, at the University of Waikato School of Law.

year: 2002-01-01

title: There must be a better way - The case against the New Zealand Literacy Strategy and some examples of how we can help students who fall by the wayside

authors: Dymock, Susan

abstract: Literate cultural capital is a phrase used to describe the literacy knowledge and skills children have on school entry (Prochnow, Tunmer & Arrow, 2015; Tunmer & Nicholson, 2011). Literacy knowledge and skills include oral language, vocabulary, an awareness of how books operate, letter name knowledge, letter sound knowledge, phonological awareness, and invented spelling (Prochnow, Tunmer & Arrow, 2015). Children who commence school with a good level of literate cultural capital are advantaged and are more likely to develop age-appropriate reading skills as they progress through school compared to children who commence school with little literate cultural capital.

text: There must be a better way - The case against the New Zealand Literacy Strategy and some examples of how we can help students who fall by the wayside Literate cultural capital is a phrase used to describe the literacy knowledge and skills children have on school entry (Prochnow, Tunmer & Arrow, 2015; Tunmer & Nicholson, 2011). Literacy knowledge and skills include oral language, vocabulary, an awareness of how books operate, letter name knowledge, letter sound knowledge, phonological awareness, and invented spelling (Prochnow, Tunmer & Arrow, 2015). Children who commence school with a good level of literate cultural capital are advantaged and are more likely to develop age-appropriate reading skills as they progress through school compared to children who commence school with little literate cultural capital.

year: 2017

title: Systemic racism in clinical psychology: Symposia

authors: Wairoa-Harrison, Sophia

subjects: Racial oppression

abstract: This study constitutes a part of the Working to End Racial Oppression (WERO) project on Systemic Racism in Health Education, Training, and Practice. The focus is on the three dimensions of racism in psychology in Aotearoa New Zealand: its costs, systems and the potential responses that exist. Content: To set the scene, the session will begin with a 30-minute presentation that outlines evidence from three WERO studies on different levels of racism affecting indigenous Māori and minoritised groups. First study presents findings from a desktop analysis of papers across university psychology departments. The findings will be compared with previous studies (Levy, 2007; Levy & Waitoki, 2015) to identify the changes in inclusion of Māori and culturally focused paper at different timepoints. The second study involves semi-structured interviews with Māori students enrolled in clinical psychology training programmes (n = 19) to understand the extent of cultural responsiveness, support, disparities, and representation within programmes. The third study draws on preliminary survey findings with directors of training programmes to depict the progress towards including taha Māori and cultural competency in the psychology curriculum since the studies by Abbott and Durie (1987) and Nathan (1999). The rest of the session will be conducted as a wānanga or a forum that includes a panel discussion amongst WERO research team while allowing for a reciprocal exchange of knowledge with the attendees. Opportunities will be provided for attendees to ask questions, provide feedback to the research analyses and findings, and share their experiences of witnessing or encountering racism in psychology. The session will be opened with a karakia (prayer) and attendees to be offered manaakitanga (hospitality) and tikanga (custom) to ensure cultural safety. Goals: In this session, the research team will bring the evidence derived from robust analyses on existence and ramifications of racism in psychology to the fore. These findings will be integrated with the Waitangi Tribunal claim (Levy, 2018) to shed light on the manifestations of racism across systems and agents responsible for the regulation, training and employment of psychologists. Findings will be used to inform ways for all in psychology to embark on Te Tiriti-focused, culturally-competent and equitable approaches in the quest of indigenising the psychology discipline and advancing it to be relevant to the multicultural nature of Aotearoa populations.

text: Systemic racism in clinical psychology: Symposia This study constitutes a part of the Working to End Racial Oppression (WERO) project on Systemic Racism in Health Education, Training, and Practice. The focus is on the three dimensions of racism in psychology in Aotearoa New Zealand: its costs, systems and the potential responses that exist. Content: To set the scene, the session will begin with a 30-minute presentation that outlines evidence from three WERO studies on different levels of racism affecting indigenous Māori and minoritised groups. First study presents findings from a desktop analysis of papers across university psychology departments. The findings will be compared with previous studies (Levy, 2007; Levy & Waitoki, 2015) to identify the changes in inclusion of Māori and culturally focused paper at different timepoints. The second study involves semi-structured interviews with Māori students enrolled in clinical psychology training programmes (n = 19) to understand the extent of cultural responsiveness, support, disparities, and representation within programmes. The third study draws on preliminary survey findings with directors of training programmes to depict the progress towards including taha Māori and cultural competency in the psychology curriculum since the studies by Abbott and Durie (1987) and Nathan (1999). The rest of the session will be conducted as a wānanga or a forum that includes a panel discussion amongst WERO research team while allowing for a reciprocal exchange of knowledge with the attendees. Opportunities will be provided for attendees to ask questions, provide feedback to the research analyses and findings, and share their experiences of witnessing or encountering racism in psychology. The session will be opened with a karakia (prayer) and attendees to be offered manaakitanga (hospitality) and tikanga (custom) to ensure cultural safety. Goals: In this session, the research team will bring the evidence derived from robust analyses on existence and ramifications of racism in psychology to the fore. These findings will be integrated with the Waitangi Tribunal claim (Levy, 2018) to shed light on the manifestations of racism across systems and agents responsible for the regulation, training and employment of psychologists. Findings will be used to inform ways for all in psychology to embark on Te Tiriti-focused, culturally-competent and equitable approaches in the quest of indigenising the psychology discipline and advancing it to be relevant to the multicultural nature of Aotearoa populations.

year: 2023-03-25