title: Crossing new frontiers: extending tephrochronology as a global geoscientific research tool

authors: Abbott, Peter M.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Tephrochronology is a unique stratigraphic tool for linking, dating, and synchronising geological, palaeoenvironmental, or archaeological sequences and events (Lowe, 2011; Alloway et al., 2013). It relies on the identification and tracing of tephra or cryptotephra horizons spatially between various depositional sequences. These horizons can provide stratigraphic event layers (tephrostratigraphy) and, when dated, isochronous age markers — since most tephra are deposited on a scale of days to weeks — that can be transferred from site to site (tephrochronology) (Lane et al., 2017b). The correlation of horizons between different sequences is reliant on matching the physical characteristics, mineralogical assemblages, and geochemical compositions of minerals and/or glass shards in tephra deposits using a range of analytical methods and visual and statistical approaches (e.g. Lowe et al., 2017). Correlating tephra deposits back to their volcanic source allows tephrochronological studies to provide information on the eruption frequency and geochemical evolution of volcanic regions and individual volcanoes.

text: Crossing new frontiers: extending tephrochronology as a global geoscientific research tool Tephrochronology is a unique stratigraphic tool for linking, dating, and synchronising geological, palaeoenvironmental, or archaeological sequences and events (Lowe, 2011; Alloway et al., 2013). It relies on the identification and tracing of tephra or cryptotephra horizons spatially between various depositional sequences. These horizons can provide stratigraphic event layers (tephrostratigraphy) and, when dated, isochronous age markers — since most tephra are deposited on a scale of days to weeks — that can be transferred from site to site (tephrochronology) (Lane et al., 2017b). The correlation of horizons between different sequences is reliant on matching the physical characteristics, mineralogical assemblages, and geochemical compositions of minerals and/or glass shards in tephra deposits using a range of analytical methods and visual and statistical approaches (e.g. Lowe et al., 2017). Correlating tephra deposits back to their volcanic source allows tephrochronological studies to provide information on the eruption frequency and geochemical evolution of volcanic regions and individual volcanoes.

year: 2020

title: 'Being' an educational leader in Choiseul Province in the Solomon Islands:  A case study of the context of leadership for principals and deputy principals.

authors: Sisiolo, John Lenga

subjects: Choiseul Province

abstract: The recent decentralisation of authority to the community high schools highlights the changing nature and role of school leadership in the Solomon Islands.  This study explores the context of school leadership for principals and deputy principals in the community high schools from the leader's perspectives. More specifically, what is it like 'being' an educational leader in the community high schools in the Choiseul province. This study attempts to describe the context of leadership using the leader's accounts of being in this role before and during their current school leadership position. 
This study was conducted as qualitative research and used a case study research approach. The school leaders of six community high schools of Choiseul province were participants in this study. Eleven school leaders, five principals and six deputy principals, took part in semi-structured interviews about the nature of their leadership context. The research question that acted as a guide to these interviews was:
What is it like 'being' a school leader in a Community High School in the Choiseul province?
Through semi-structured interviews with each participant, and the documents that were related to the school leader's position and role, the findings of this research raise a number of issues for those in leadership. This includes the impact of the remoteness and isolation that is seen as a major impediment to leadership preparation and ongoing professional development. The findings also showed that school leaders typically experienced an appointments procedure which was influenced by the local community. Since the community high schools were still being physically developed, the school's physical development was seen as a priority when it comes to the appointment. The research findings provide the basis for establishing policies and practices that might support and enable current and future school leaders in Choiseul in the future.

text: 'Being' an educational leader in Choiseul Province in the Solomon Islands:  A case study of the context of leadership for principals and deputy principals. The recent decentralisation of authority to the community high schools highlights the changing nature and role of school leadership in the Solomon Islands.  This study explores the context of school leadership for principals and deputy principals in the community high schools from the leader's perspectives. More specifically, what is it like 'being' an educational leader in the community high schools in the Choiseul province. This study attempts to describe the context of leadership using the leader's accounts of being in this role before and during their current school leadership position. 
This study was conducted as qualitative research and used a case study research approach. The school leaders of six community high schools of Choiseul province were participants in this study. Eleven school leaders, five principals and six deputy principals, took part in semi-structured interviews about the nature of their leadership context. The research question that acted as a guide to these interviews was:
What is it like 'being' a school leader in a Community High School in the Choiseul province?
Through semi-structured interviews with each participant, and the documents that were related to the school leader's position and role, the findings of this research raise a number of issues for those in leadership. This includes the impact of the remoteness and isolation that is seen as a major impediment to leadership preparation and ongoing professional development. The findings also showed that school leaders typically experienced an appointments procedure which was influenced by the local community. Since the community high schools were still being physically developed, the school's physical development was seen as a priority when it comes to the appointment. The research findings provide the basis for establishing policies and practices that might support and enable current and future school leaders in Choiseul in the future.

year: 2010

title: Treaty People Recognising and Marking Pākehā Culture in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Black, Rosanne Marjory

subjects: Pakeha culture

abstract: The suggestion that all people are cultural and live in cultural worlds acts to challenge members of culturally dominant groups as they tend to see their way of life as normal rather than cultural. Dominant group members usually talk about themselves in relation to their national identity (New Zealander, Australian, or American) rather than name being part of a cultural group within their nation state. This study, located in Aotearoa New Zealand, explores with a particular group of New Zealanders, how Pākehā who are members of the dominant group, may come to recognise themselves as being cultural, to name themselves culturally, and to mark aspects of their culture. The contribution that recognising culture makes to a decolonisation agenda is also explored. This study of Pākehā culture is approached from both a realist and a social constructionist perspective. Culture, an abstract concept, is largely theorised as a constructed notion in a historically structured location. How culture is recognised, and the ways it is produced and enacted, through relationships and interactions in the broader structures of New Zealand society were explored using realist thematic methods of analysis. Treaty people are a network of mostly Pākehā activist educators who have engaged in promoting knowledge of and support for Māori claims for justice under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi was the document signed by Settlers and Māori leaders in 1840 to establish settlement arrangements). Treaty people are practised in talking about cultural issues largely through their engagement with Māori - Pākehā relationships. The research focused on the situations and processes that stimulated a group of thirty four ‘Treaty people’ to start thinking about themselves as cultural; about what it meant to have a cultural identity; and what they recognised as markers of their culture. I have been a member of this Treaty People network for many years and carry the dual positioning of being the researcher, and a participant, both as a member of the group and as a Pākehā. Data was collected over an eighteen month period from two focus groups in 2003 and 2005. These sessions were video and audio-recorded and later transcribed. I meet with available participants in their own locations early in 2005 and audio-recorded the conversations. The transcriptions and notes form the data for this study. My findings from this study include: • Culture was often first recognised through encounters with different cultural groups and usually when a person is in a situation where they are in a minority. Although, dominant group members do not always see their own daily practices and values as cultural they often name as cultural the practices and values of people different from them. • Recognising and naming ourselves as cultural and marking our culture were difficult tasks that go against the grain of dominance. • Pākehā culture was recognised in a number of ways. Treaty people recognised that there were other forms of knowing about the world and that dominant group members valued being ‘right’ and in control of knowledge. Coming to recognise themselves as cultural unsettled a sense of certainty about their position in the world, and opened up possibilities for new ways to engage in intercultural relationships where participation rather than being in control was valued. • Accepting the name Pākehā implied having a position of responsibility to tangata whenua and to the land. In turn those who have accepted being Pākehā receive a sense of belonging to Aotearoa and a place to stand in justice alongside Māori and other people who are culturally different from them. • While this thesis does not make explicit links between ‘being cultural’ and a decolonisation agenda the Treaty People participants named strategies to support decolonisation and challenge Pākehā dominance which include: recognising practices and values that are perpetuated through colonisation, in particular egalitarianism, assimilation and superiority; recognising Māori as tangata whenua (first people of the land) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi relationships; taking up the challenge to seek justice through striving to deal with past wrongs and to engage in equitable relationships with Māori. This thesis contributes to the psychology and social science literature as it serves to address the question “We don’t have a culture … do we?” I posit that all psychologists do have a culture and provide some rich descriptions, for those who are Pākehā, of how their culture may be recognised, how it might be described and talked about. This is a core cultural competency requirement for psychologists. My thesis also contribute to a growing body of literature from members of dominant groups, who are developing a discourse to explore and make visible their cultural or raced (whiteness) positions of power and privilege.

text: Treaty People Recognising and Marking Pākehā Culture in Aotearoa New Zealand The suggestion that all people are cultural and live in cultural worlds acts to challenge members of culturally dominant groups as they tend to see their way of life as normal rather than cultural. Dominant group members usually talk about themselves in relation to their national identity (New Zealander, Australian, or American) rather than name being part of a cultural group within their nation state. This study, located in Aotearoa New Zealand, explores with a particular group of New Zealanders, how Pākehā who are members of the dominant group, may come to recognise themselves as being cultural, to name themselves culturally, and to mark aspects of their culture. The contribution that recognising culture makes to a decolonisation agenda is also explored. This study of Pākehā culture is approached from both a realist and a social constructionist perspective. Culture, an abstract concept, is largely theorised as a constructed notion in a historically structured location. How culture is recognised, and the ways it is produced and enacted, through relationships and interactions in the broader structures of New Zealand society were explored using realist thematic methods of analysis. Treaty people are a network of mostly Pākehā activist educators who have engaged in promoting knowledge of and support for Māori claims for justice under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi was the document signed by Settlers and Māori leaders in 1840 to establish settlement arrangements). Treaty people are practised in talking about cultural issues largely through their engagement with Māori - Pākehā relationships. The research focused on the situations and processes that stimulated a group of thirty four ‘Treaty people’ to start thinking about themselves as cultural; about what it meant to have a cultural identity; and what they recognised as markers of their culture. I have been a member of this Treaty People network for many years and carry the dual positioning of being the researcher, and a participant, both as a member of the group and as a Pākehā. Data was collected over an eighteen month period from two focus groups in 2003 and 2005. These sessions were video and audio-recorded and later transcribed. I meet with available participants in their own locations early in 2005 and audio-recorded the conversations. The transcriptions and notes form the data for this study. My findings from this study include: • Culture was often first recognised through encounters with different cultural groups and usually when a person is in a situation where they are in a minority. Although, dominant group members do not always see their own daily practices and values as cultural they often name as cultural the practices and values of people different from them. • Recognising and naming ourselves as cultural and marking our culture were difficult tasks that go against the grain of dominance. • Pākehā culture was recognised in a number of ways. Treaty people recognised that there were other forms of knowing about the world and that dominant group members valued being ‘right’ and in control of knowledge. Coming to recognise themselves as cultural unsettled a sense of certainty about their position in the world, and opened up possibilities for new ways to engage in intercultural relationships where participation rather than being in control was valued. • Accepting the name Pākehā implied having a position of responsibility to tangata whenua and to the land. In turn those who have accepted being Pākehā receive a sense of belonging to Aotearoa and a place to stand in justice alongside Māori and other people who are culturally different from them. • While this thesis does not make explicit links between ‘being cultural’ and a decolonisation agenda the Treaty People participants named strategies to support decolonisation and challenge Pākehā dominance which include: recognising practices and values that are perpetuated through colonisation, in particular egalitarianism, assimilation and superiority; recognising Māori as tangata whenua (first people of the land) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi relationships; taking up the challenge to seek justice through striving to deal with past wrongs and to engage in equitable relationships with Māori. This thesis contributes to the psychology and social science literature as it serves to address the question “We don’t have a culture … do we?” I posit that all psychologists do have a culture and provide some rich descriptions, for those who are Pākehā, of how their culture may be recognised, how it might be described and talked about. This is a core cultural competency requirement for psychologists. My thesis also contribute to a growing body of literature from members of dominant groups, who are developing a discourse to explore and make visible their cultural or raced (whiteness) positions of power and privilege.

year: 2010