title: Stories of happiness, emotional goals and identity in 21ˢᵗ century teachers

authors: Hooker, Tom

subjects: Happiness

abstract: Happiness may be the key to keeping teachers in the profession. Rarely, however, does teaching tend to be associated with moments of happiness in educational research or in the popular imagination.
In fact, quite the opposite view is presented in the significant body of literature that describes the emotional travails, stress and burnout of teachers. Consequently, there are recruitment and retention crises in schools throughout the Western World. Teacher identity is also in crisis, undermined since the late-1980s by economistic reforms which view teachers as producers and achievement as currency in an educational marketplace. Running counter to the more holistic, altruistic educational philosophies held by many in the profession, the reforms have attached a vulnerability to the identities of many teachers. Teaching culture has been described as one of unhappiness.
This study aims to shine a light on the happy moments which exist in teaching life. In doing so, it wonders if others were to do the same, whether an embattled but noble profession could find new life and allow the people within it greater agency in their identities. With little in the way of preceding research, the thesis is exploratory. Sitting in the interpretive paradigm, it utilises a narrative methodology to capture stories of happiness from teaching life. Interviews were employed to elicit the stories from eight participants, with the aim of providing thick, socially-situated description of happy episodes in the classroom. Supporting, scene-setting data comes from two focus groups while participants also completed a diary to document their daily emotion.
The study shows that teachers mainly experience eudemonic happiness, a type of positive emotion associated with self-actualisation after meeting long-held, personally important goals. It finds that a necessary precursor to these experiences is for participants to emphasise these long-held, altruistic goals in the narrative construction of their personal-professional identities, their teacherly selves. Furthermore, positive aspects of the teacherly self emerge from happy experiences in teaching because of self-actualisation occurring in the experience of eudemonia. Additionally, many of the teacher participants found particular happiness in the positive narrative arc of an underdog. Positive professional identity is important in teaching because it is associated with quality teaching practice.
Therefore, there are implications for teachers who want to improve their happiness and also their practice. There are also implications for educational leaders and teacher educators to make space for happiness and the positive identity formation of teachers. This is because students are likely to benefit from teachers’ happy episodes if such episodes improve practice, although, further research into the connection between teacher happiness and student outcomes is suggested. That teachers may be particularly enlivened by an underdog story is good for students who require the greatest support. It is recommended that researchers address the connection between eudemonia and positive identity formation. In particular, it is important to determine if similar phenomena can be located across a range of settings and cultures.

text: Stories of happiness, emotional goals and identity in 21ˢᵗ century teachers Happiness may be the key to keeping teachers in the profession. Rarely, however, does teaching tend to be associated with moments of happiness in educational research or in the popular imagination.
In fact, quite the opposite view is presented in the significant body of literature that describes the emotional travails, stress and burnout of teachers. Consequently, there are recruitment and retention crises in schools throughout the Western World. Teacher identity is also in crisis, undermined since the late-1980s by economistic reforms which view teachers as producers and achievement as currency in an educational marketplace. Running counter to the more holistic, altruistic educational philosophies held by many in the profession, the reforms have attached a vulnerability to the identities of many teachers. Teaching culture has been described as one of unhappiness.
This study aims to shine a light on the happy moments which exist in teaching life. In doing so, it wonders if others were to do the same, whether an embattled but noble profession could find new life and allow the people within it greater agency in their identities. With little in the way of preceding research, the thesis is exploratory. Sitting in the interpretive paradigm, it utilises a narrative methodology to capture stories of happiness from teaching life. Interviews were employed to elicit the stories from eight participants, with the aim of providing thick, socially-situated description of happy episodes in the classroom. Supporting, scene-setting data comes from two focus groups while participants also completed a diary to document their daily emotion.
The study shows that teachers mainly experience eudemonic happiness, a type of positive emotion associated with self-actualisation after meeting long-held, personally important goals. It finds that a necessary precursor to these experiences is for participants to emphasise these long-held, altruistic goals in the narrative construction of their personal-professional identities, their teacherly selves. Furthermore, positive aspects of the teacherly self emerge from happy experiences in teaching because of self-actualisation occurring in the experience of eudemonia. Additionally, many of the teacher participants found particular happiness in the positive narrative arc of an underdog. Positive professional identity is important in teaching because it is associated with quality teaching practice.
Therefore, there are implications for teachers who want to improve their happiness and also their practice. There are also implications for educational leaders and teacher educators to make space for happiness and the positive identity formation of teachers. This is because students are likely to benefit from teachers’ happy episodes if such episodes improve practice, although, further research into the connection between teacher happiness and student outcomes is suggested. That teachers may be particularly enlivened by an underdog story is good for students who require the greatest support. It is recommended that researchers address the connection between eudemonia and positive identity formation. In particular, it is important to determine if similar phenomena can be located across a range of settings and cultures.

year: 2020

title: Digital technologies and online learning in primary education (New Zealand)

authors: Forbes, Dianne Leslie

abstract: Two key sources of research on digital technologies and online learning come in the form of largescale surveys of schools. First, Research New Zealand’s survey (Johnson, Maguire, and Wood 2017) of more than 300 primary schools reports that schools use a mix of desktop devices, laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets. Findings indicate that most New Zealand schools have a strategic plan for the use of digital technologies in learning, incorporating consideration of safety, teacher professional development, and infrastructure. Increasingly, schools seek input from students on the use of digital technologies for learning. Most schools make use of Cloud platform resources for teaching and learning, with Google Classroom being the most popular. A majority of students access online learning resources, including online educational games.
Parallel to the work of Research New Zealand, Bolstad (2017), working for the New Zealand Council of Educational Research, surveyed parents and school leaders nationally, about the role and impact of digital technologies for learning. Teachers report that the use of digital technologies is often limited to practising skills, searching, and presenting documents and slideshows. Parents indicated that they valued opportunities for learning through digital technologies at school, alongside a balance of other learning activities and opportunities.
While the large surveys paint a broad picture of the use of digital technologies in New Zealand primary schools, there is a proliferation of small-scale research studies. A popular focus for these in recent years is mobile learning, particularly the use of iPads in primary school classrooms, learning with apps and mixed realities (virtual/augmented reality) (e.g., Calder and Murphy 2017; Cowie and Williams 2013).

text: Digital technologies and online learning in primary education (New Zealand) Two key sources of research on digital technologies and online learning come in the form of largescale surveys of schools. First, Research New Zealand’s survey (Johnson, Maguire, and Wood 2017) of more than 300 primary schools reports that schools use a mix of desktop devices, laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets. Findings indicate that most New Zealand schools have a strategic plan for the use of digital technologies in learning, incorporating consideration of safety, teacher professional development, and infrastructure. Increasingly, schools seek input from students on the use of digital technologies for learning. Most schools make use of Cloud platform resources for teaching and learning, with Google Classroom being the most popular. A majority of students access online learning resources, including online educational games.
Parallel to the work of Research New Zealand, Bolstad (2017), working for the New Zealand Council of Educational Research, surveyed parents and school leaders nationally, about the role and impact of digital technologies for learning. Teachers report that the use of digital technologies is often limited to practising skills, searching, and presenting documents and slideshows. Parents indicated that they valued opportunities for learning through digital technologies at school, alongside a balance of other learning activities and opportunities.
While the large surveys paint a broad picture of the use of digital technologies in New Zealand primary schools, there is a proliferation of small-scale research studies. A popular focus for these in recent years is mobile learning, particularly the use of iPads in primary school classrooms, learning with apps and mixed realities (virtual/augmented reality) (e.g., Calder and Murphy 2017; Cowie and Williams 2013).

year: 2019

title: Building capacity for sustainable Iwi development

authors: Bishop, Russell

subjects: Māori community development

abstract: Since 1998, four iwi groups have participated in a Māori Sustainable Development project with researchers from the University of Waikato. This project has sought to develop a better understanding of iwi aspirations for economic, social and cultural development. Based on this research, the project seeks to identify, in conjunction with iwi, capacity building models and options in order to provide sustainable economic, social and cultural development. One finding of the research, based on the responses from iwi who have participated in this project, identifies iwi values and identity as the basis for a capacity building model for Māori sustainable development. It is this that is the focus of this paper.

text: Building capacity for sustainable Iwi development Since 1998, four iwi groups have participated in a Māori Sustainable Development project with researchers from the University of Waikato. This project has sought to develop a better understanding of iwi aspirations for economic, social and cultural development. Based on this research, the project seeks to identify, in conjunction with iwi, capacity building models and options in order to provide sustainable economic, social and cultural development. One finding of the research, based on the responses from iwi who have participated in this project, identifies iwi values and identity as the basis for a capacity building model for Māori sustainable development. It is this that is the focus of this paper.

year: 2002-09