title: Exploring approaches to support pacific student success in secondary schools

authors: Laban, Annette

abstract: The New Zealand education system has historically fallen short in addressing the needs of Pacific students, specifically at secondary school as they advance towards National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) levels. Efforts to improve the education of Pacific students have often focused on institutions making changes based on their own assumptions of what students need, without adequately involving students' own views. This thesis argues that attention should be directed towards the perspectives of Pacific students and how they can be motivated and encouraged to succeed in education. The study highlights the crucial role of teachers and how appropriate practices are used to develop their understanding of Pacific cultures to help these students thrive. The research aimed to uncover effective strategies employed by two secondary schools to promote Pacific students’ success. It explored Pacific students' views on their teachers' roles in their education and their interpretations of success in relation to their goals. Data collection was conducted through Talanoa sessions that embraced Teu le vā as an acknowledgement of mutual respect for each other’s space. Talanoa was carried out with Pacific students using two fa’afaletui, and with two Pacific liaison teachers using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to organise the data and identify themes. 

Three key findings resulted from the study. Firstly, building on existing research demonstrated the integration of Pacific cultural values within the wider school curriculum. This approach supported and promoted effective relationships between teachers and Pacific students to achieve success as Pacific. Secondly, it highlighted that success for Pacific students was a collective endeavour that encompassed their cultural values, families, and broader Pacific communities. Thirdly, it pointed out that teachers deepened their understanding of Pacific cultural values through specific cultural frameworks. These frameworks included the Kāinga Tongan model, Tapasā, and the Pacific Values framework, that consequently improved knowledge and enhanced the engagement and academic success of Pacific students.

text: Exploring approaches to support pacific student success in secondary schools The New Zealand education system has historically fallen short in addressing the needs of Pacific students, specifically at secondary school as they advance towards National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) levels. Efforts to improve the education of Pacific students have often focused on institutions making changes based on their own assumptions of what students need, without adequately involving students' own views. This thesis argues that attention should be directed towards the perspectives of Pacific students and how they can be motivated and encouraged to succeed in education. The study highlights the crucial role of teachers and how appropriate practices are used to develop their understanding of Pacific cultures to help these students thrive. The research aimed to uncover effective strategies employed by two secondary schools to promote Pacific students’ success. It explored Pacific students' views on their teachers' roles in their education and their interpretations of success in relation to their goals. Data collection was conducted through Talanoa sessions that embraced Teu le vā as an acknowledgement of mutual respect for each other’s space. Talanoa was carried out with Pacific students using two fa’afaletui, and with two Pacific liaison teachers using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to organise the data and identify themes. 

Three key findings resulted from the study. Firstly, building on existing research demonstrated the integration of Pacific cultural values within the wider school curriculum. This approach supported and promoted effective relationships between teachers and Pacific students to achieve success as Pacific. Secondly, it highlighted that success for Pacific students was a collective endeavour that encompassed their cultural values, families, and broader Pacific communities. Thirdly, it pointed out that teachers deepened their understanding of Pacific cultural values through specific cultural frameworks. These frameworks included the Kāinga Tongan model, Tapasā, and the Pacific Values framework, that consequently improved knowledge and enhanced the engagement and academic success of Pacific students.

year: 2024-01-01

title: Evaluating earthquake hazard and risk using liquefied volcanic-ash layers in lakes

authors: Lowe, David J.

subjects: tephra seismites

abstract: Liquefied volcanic-ash or tephra layers, for which we have coined a new term, ‘tephra seismites’, are preserved in lake sediments in numerous 20,000-year-old lakes in the Hamilton Basin in northern North Island. Up to five tephra layers in cores taken from the lakes show signs of liquefaction - the phenomenon seen during the Christchurch earthquakes - that include disrupted tephra layers, voids, and dykes (injectites). These features show that one or more of four newly-discovered ‘hidden’ faults in Hamilton (see map) were responsible for previously unrecognised prehistoric earthquakes within the past 20,000 years (Kleyberg et al., 2015). Around 30 lakes are scattered amidst the faults, and hence cores are being taken from almost all of these to build up a picture of which fault(s) may have been active in that time. We anticipate that lakes closest to faults that have been active will show more tephra seismites than those farther from the faults.

text: Evaluating earthquake hazard and risk using liquefied volcanic-ash layers in lakes Liquefied volcanic-ash or tephra layers, for which we have coined a new term, ‘tephra seismites’, are preserved in lake sediments in numerous 20,000-year-old lakes in the Hamilton Basin in northern North Island. Up to five tephra layers in cores taken from the lakes show signs of liquefaction - the phenomenon seen during the Christchurch earthquakes - that include disrupted tephra layers, voids, and dykes (injectites). These features show that one or more of four newly-discovered ‘hidden’ faults in Hamilton (see map) were responsible for previously unrecognised prehistoric earthquakes within the past 20,000 years (Kleyberg et al., 2015). Around 30 lakes are scattered amidst the faults, and hence cores are being taken from almost all of these to build up a picture of which fault(s) may have been active in that time. We anticipate that lakes closest to faults that have been active will show more tephra seismites than those farther from the faults.

year: 2021

title: The Treaty, tikanga Māori, ecosystem-based management, mainstream law and power sharing for environmental integrity in Aotearoa New Zealand – possible ways forward

authors: Joseph, Robert

subjects: Maori, ecosystem-based management, coastal marine estate, sustainability, Treaty of Waitangi

abstract: Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become an appropriate international response for addressing alarming global environmental degradation trends. EBM is designed and executed as an adaptive, learning-based process that applies the following common international principles:
•	the connections and relationships within an ecosystem;
•	the cumulative impacts that affect marine welfare; 
•	focus on maintaining the natural structure and function of ecosystems and their productivity;
•	incorporate human use and values of ecosystems in managing the resource;
•	recognise that ecosystems are dynamic and constantly changing;
•	are based on a shared vision of all key participants; and
•	are based on scientific knowledge, adopted by continual learning and monitoring.

The New Zealand Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge agrees with these EBM principles but has adapted them into an Aotearoa New Zealand theoretical approach that fundamentally acknowledges mātauranga and tikanga Māori law hence the following Aotearoa New Zealand EBM principles:
•	a co-governance and co-design structure that recognises the Māori constitutional relationship and mana whenua at all levels (whānau, hapū, iwi), together with the guiding principles of mauri, whakapapa, kaitiakitanga, mātauranga-a-iwi and mātauranga-a-hapū;
•	is place and time-specific, recognising/understanding the ecosystem as a whole in all its ecological complexities and connectedness and addressing cumulative and multiple stressors;
•	acknowledges humans as ecosystem components with multiple values;
•	views long-term sustainability as a fundamental value, in particular maintaining values and uses for future generations;
•	includes collaborative and participatory management throughout the whole process, considering all values and involving all interested parties from agencies and iwi to industries, whānau, hapū and local communities;
•	has clear goals and objectives based on knowledge; and
•	includes adaptive management, appropriate monitoring and acknowledgement of uncertainty.

The report focuses on analysing EBM through the incorporation of mātauranga and tikanga Māori and power sharing through Treaty partnerships over the marine and coastal estate.

text: The Treaty, tikanga Māori, ecosystem-based management, mainstream law and power sharing for environmental integrity in Aotearoa New Zealand – possible ways forward Ecosystem-based management (EBM) has become an appropriate international response for addressing alarming global environmental degradation trends. EBM is designed and executed as an adaptive, learning-based process that applies the following common international principles:
•	the connections and relationships within an ecosystem;
•	the cumulative impacts that affect marine welfare; 
•	focus on maintaining the natural structure and function of ecosystems and their productivity;
•	incorporate human use and values of ecosystems in managing the resource;
•	recognise that ecosystems are dynamic and constantly changing;
•	are based on a shared vision of all key participants; and
•	are based on scientific knowledge, adopted by continual learning and monitoring.

The New Zealand Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge agrees with these EBM principles but has adapted them into an Aotearoa New Zealand theoretical approach that fundamentally acknowledges mātauranga and tikanga Māori law hence the following Aotearoa New Zealand EBM principles:
•	a co-governance and co-design structure that recognises the Māori constitutional relationship and mana whenua at all levels (whānau, hapū, iwi), together with the guiding principles of mauri, whakapapa, kaitiakitanga, mātauranga-a-iwi and mātauranga-a-hapū;
•	is place and time-specific, recognising/understanding the ecosystem as a whole in all its ecological complexities and connectedness and addressing cumulative and multiple stressors;
•	acknowledges humans as ecosystem components with multiple values;
•	views long-term sustainability as a fundamental value, in particular maintaining values and uses for future generations;
•	includes collaborative and participatory management throughout the whole process, considering all values and involving all interested parties from agencies and iwi to industries, whānau, hapū and local communities;
•	has clear goals and objectives based on knowledge; and
•	includes adaptive management, appropriate monitoring and acknowledgement of uncertainty.

The report focuses on analysing EBM through the incorporation of mātauranga and tikanga Māori and power sharing through Treaty partnerships over the marine and coastal estate.

year: 2019-07-30