title: The Tourism Impacts in a Chinese Taoist Village, Mt. Qiyun

authors: Wang, Qian

subjects: tourism impacts

abstract: This research was undertaken between September and October in 2010, and examined the tourism impacts in a Chinese Taoist village, Mt. Qiyun, which is located at the Southern part of Anhui province. The village features beautiful mountainous scenery, deep Taoist culture, historic residential houses, a heritage of inscriptions on stones and cliffs left by famous poets and scholars, and the special Danxia landscape. Qiyun is a unique village that is not only a residential area but also a tourist area. The initial intention for tourism development in the village was to reduce poverty in the village because of the limitation of farming agricultural crops on the mountain. The research both surveyed visitors and residents of the village and the people who worked in the Management Committee of Mt. Qiyun and the Daoism Committee. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods was used. The research surveyed 207 visitors and examined their original residency, the activities in which the visitors participated, visitors’ expectations and assessments about the visit, and visitors’ motives and satisfaction. Questionnaires were distributed at rest areas, restaurants, and hotels. Additionally, sixty-six usable questionnaires were collected from villagers that tried to find out the villagers’ perceived impacts of tourism in the village. There were approximately 150 residents in the village and some villagers usually live or work or study in the town or other cities, so a sample of nearly half of the population should provide a representative view. In addition, informal interviews were undertaken to survey villagers’ perceptions about tourism impacts in the village, and the vice-chairman of the Taoist Committee of Qiyun, people who worked in the Management Committee and an ex-governor were also interviewed to seek different perspectives on tourism impacts in the village. The visitors that were surveyed were mainly from the inner part of Anhui and the neighbouring provinces, which reflected the marketing goal that stated by the Qiyun marketing manager, namely: “target at East of China first and then promote nationwide”. Due to the residents still wanting more visitors and the capacity of Qiyun being able to receive more visitors, the promotion of Qiyun to a nationwide audience is suggested, but the scale of development should not be large because of the vulnerability of the mountainous area. More than half of the visitors that had been surveyed indicated they took photographs and purchased a meal in the village and less than half visitors stated they stayed in a hotel in the village, or purchased incense sticks and crafts. The finding indicates one idea for developing tourism products by integrating Hengjiang River and Yunyan Lake as a one tourism project as was recommended by the provincial government. When comparing visitors’ expectations and assessments, it was found that the village was as scenic as the visitors expected, but some visitors indicated a lack of Taoist atmosphere and there were complaints about poor infrastructure. Additionally, the Vice-chairman of the Taoist Committee also indicated that Daoism culture was neglected as a result of concentrating on tourism development. The findings relating to visitors’ motives indicate that the mixture of history and history of the village was the most appealing facet and a religious motive was scored as the least appealing reason for the visit. The scores on the visitors’ satisfaction scale indicates curiosity was not fulfilled and they did not learn much about Chinese heritage even though it was rated as the most appealing motive for visit. Thus, concentrating on developing and communicating Taoist culture is suggested. Most residents surveyed recognised the value of the village, their identity and the changes after developing tourism in the village. They stated they were the owner and the protector of the village and they believed that tourism brought more employment opportunities, improved the quality of life and the village infrastructure. Villagers indicated they wanted more investment on tourism development in the village and expressed their dissatisfaction with the current management authorities in 2010. Villagers generally perceived tourism as a positive development but very few villagers recognised the potential negative impacts of tourism. After living with poverty for a long time, tourism development has benefitted villagers, so that negative effects were neglected. However, in order to develop the village sustainably, economic growth should not be the only focus and other goals could include social well-being, religious cultural preservation and heritage protection.

text: The Tourism Impacts in a Chinese Taoist Village, Mt. Qiyun This research was undertaken between September and October in 2010, and examined the tourism impacts in a Chinese Taoist village, Mt. Qiyun, which is located at the Southern part of Anhui province. The village features beautiful mountainous scenery, deep Taoist culture, historic residential houses, a heritage of inscriptions on stones and cliffs left by famous poets and scholars, and the special Danxia landscape. Qiyun is a unique village that is not only a residential area but also a tourist area. The initial intention for tourism development in the village was to reduce poverty in the village because of the limitation of farming agricultural crops on the mountain. The research both surveyed visitors and residents of the village and the people who worked in the Management Committee of Mt. Qiyun and the Daoism Committee. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods was used. The research surveyed 207 visitors and examined their original residency, the activities in which the visitors participated, visitors’ expectations and assessments about the visit, and visitors’ motives and satisfaction. Questionnaires were distributed at rest areas, restaurants, and hotels. Additionally, sixty-six usable questionnaires were collected from villagers that tried to find out the villagers’ perceived impacts of tourism in the village. There were approximately 150 residents in the village and some villagers usually live or work or study in the town or other cities, so a sample of nearly half of the population should provide a representative view. In addition, informal interviews were undertaken to survey villagers’ perceptions about tourism impacts in the village, and the vice-chairman of the Taoist Committee of Qiyun, people who worked in the Management Committee and an ex-governor were also interviewed to seek different perspectives on tourism impacts in the village. The visitors that were surveyed were mainly from the inner part of Anhui and the neighbouring provinces, which reflected the marketing goal that stated by the Qiyun marketing manager, namely: “target at East of China first and then promote nationwide”. Due to the residents still wanting more visitors and the capacity of Qiyun being able to receive more visitors, the promotion of Qiyun to a nationwide audience is suggested, but the scale of development should not be large because of the vulnerability of the mountainous area. More than half of the visitors that had been surveyed indicated they took photographs and purchased a meal in the village and less than half visitors stated they stayed in a hotel in the village, or purchased incense sticks and crafts. The finding indicates one idea for developing tourism products by integrating Hengjiang River and Yunyan Lake as a one tourism project as was recommended by the provincial government. When comparing visitors’ expectations and assessments, it was found that the village was as scenic as the visitors expected, but some visitors indicated a lack of Taoist atmosphere and there were complaints about poor infrastructure. Additionally, the Vice-chairman of the Taoist Committee also indicated that Daoism culture was neglected as a result of concentrating on tourism development. The findings relating to visitors’ motives indicate that the mixture of history and history of the village was the most appealing facet and a religious motive was scored as the least appealing reason for the visit. The scores on the visitors’ satisfaction scale indicates curiosity was not fulfilled and they did not learn much about Chinese heritage even though it was rated as the most appealing motive for visit. Thus, concentrating on developing and communicating Taoist culture is suggested. Most residents surveyed recognised the value of the village, their identity and the changes after developing tourism in the village. They stated they were the owner and the protector of the village and they believed that tourism brought more employment opportunities, improved the quality of life and the village infrastructure. Villagers indicated they wanted more investment on tourism development in the village and expressed their dissatisfaction with the current management authorities in 2010. Villagers generally perceived tourism as a positive development but very few villagers recognised the potential negative impacts of tourism. After living with poverty for a long time, tourism development has benefitted villagers, so that negative effects were neglected. However, in order to develop the village sustainably, economic growth should not be the only focus and other goals could include social well-being, religious cultural preservation and heritage protection.

year: 2011

title: Professional learning in a Vietnamese university language teaching context: An inquiry-driven approach

authors: Phan, Thy Canh Minh

subjects: professional learning

abstract: This study investigated the engagement in an inquiry process of six EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers from two Vietnamese universities, and how the inquiry process shaped the teachers’ professional learning, paying attention to cycles of reflection and co-construction of knowledge. Student-centred approaches relevant to English language learners were used as a content focus of teacher learning, and teacher inquiry was used as a tool to drive reflection and co-construction of new learning. In particular, the study investigated the process of enactment and reflection as the teachers applied student-centred approaches (SCA) while working to develop their pedagogical knowledge, improve their teaching practices, and engage in professional learning practice. 
 
The study lay within an interpretive paradigm and was predominantly qualitative, using a small amount of quantitative data from the questionnaire administered at the beginning of the study. Data were collected via a four-phase process comprising five data collection instruments. In Phase 1, an online questionnaire was sent out to a wider group of teachers from the two universities and was analysed descriptively to gather initial information about the teachers’ reported beliefs and practices to inform me as a researcher how to proceed the next stage of the study. Qualitative data were collected in Phases 2, 3 and 4 of the study. After the six teachers engaged in the inquiries, their classroom practices were observed to explore how they interpreted and enacted SCA. Most observed teaching sessions were followed by a debrief in which the teachers were asked questions to reflect on certain moments of their practice and to elicit the elaborative reasoning underpinning their classroom practices. The teachers then took part in group discussions, which gave them opportunities to present individual reflections on their practice and knowledge and at the same time established an understanding of how the teachers learned, developed their professional knowledge, and improved their professional practice. Finally, semi-structured interviews were carried out individually with the six teachers to gain insights into their learning experience after engaging in the inquiry process and interactive professional discussions with other teachers. The interviews also explored the teachers’ reported changes in cognition and practice, along with their concerns. The qualitative data were then analysed via an inductive thematic coding process and the use of vignettes. It was not my intention to triangulate data from these sources. Rather, the use of multiple data collection instruments added to the comprehensiveness, rigour, and saturation of the study and the teachers’ learning process. In this learning process, I sought to capture what the teachers communicated across the data collection instruments, each of which was designed to serve a particular purpose, rather than comparing them or integrating them.

In brief, this study suggested that an inquiry-driven, practice-based, and interactive approach facilitated teacher learning both individually and collectively, and stimulated professional growth. Engaging in the process of inquiry fostered the teachers’ reflection on and self-evaluation of their practice and developed self-awareness of their classroom decisions. Interactive opportunities and collegial dialogues in the group (a learning community) helped the teachers to learn from each other, problem solve together, recognise different ways of doing things, negotiate different views, reconsider their beliefs and practices, shift perspectives and recognise the value of multiple positions. In both individual and collective learning endeavours, the process of learning placed an emphasis on the active and agentic engagement of the teachers and their reflective practice, embedding cognition, enactment and other aspects such as personal, contextual and socio-cultural factors. All of these were in line with constructivist and situative perspectives of learning.

text: Professional learning in a Vietnamese university language teaching context: An inquiry-driven approach This study investigated the engagement in an inquiry process of six EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers from two Vietnamese universities, and how the inquiry process shaped the teachers’ professional learning, paying attention to cycles of reflection and co-construction of knowledge. Student-centred approaches relevant to English language learners were used as a content focus of teacher learning, and teacher inquiry was used as a tool to drive reflection and co-construction of new learning. In particular, the study investigated the process of enactment and reflection as the teachers applied student-centred approaches (SCA) while working to develop their pedagogical knowledge, improve their teaching practices, and engage in professional learning practice. 
 
The study lay within an interpretive paradigm and was predominantly qualitative, using a small amount of quantitative data from the questionnaire administered at the beginning of the study. Data were collected via a four-phase process comprising five data collection instruments. In Phase 1, an online questionnaire was sent out to a wider group of teachers from the two universities and was analysed descriptively to gather initial information about the teachers’ reported beliefs and practices to inform me as a researcher how to proceed the next stage of the study. Qualitative data were collected in Phases 2, 3 and 4 of the study. After the six teachers engaged in the inquiries, their classroom practices were observed to explore how they interpreted and enacted SCA. Most observed teaching sessions were followed by a debrief in which the teachers were asked questions to reflect on certain moments of their practice and to elicit the elaborative reasoning underpinning their classroom practices. The teachers then took part in group discussions, which gave them opportunities to present individual reflections on their practice and knowledge and at the same time established an understanding of how the teachers learned, developed their professional knowledge, and improved their professional practice. Finally, semi-structured interviews were carried out individually with the six teachers to gain insights into their learning experience after engaging in the inquiry process and interactive professional discussions with other teachers. The interviews also explored the teachers’ reported changes in cognition and practice, along with their concerns. The qualitative data were then analysed via an inductive thematic coding process and the use of vignettes. It was not my intention to triangulate data from these sources. Rather, the use of multiple data collection instruments added to the comprehensiveness, rigour, and saturation of the study and the teachers’ learning process. In this learning process, I sought to capture what the teachers communicated across the data collection instruments, each of which was designed to serve a particular purpose, rather than comparing them or integrating them.

In brief, this study suggested that an inquiry-driven, practice-based, and interactive approach facilitated teacher learning both individually and collectively, and stimulated professional growth. Engaging in the process of inquiry fostered the teachers’ reflection on and self-evaluation of their practice and developed self-awareness of their classroom decisions. Interactive opportunities and collegial dialogues in the group (a learning community) helped the teachers to learn from each other, problem solve together, recognise different ways of doing things, negotiate different views, reconsider their beliefs and practices, shift perspectives and recognise the value of multiple positions. In both individual and collective learning endeavours, the process of learning placed an emphasis on the active and agentic engagement of the teachers and their reflective practice, embedding cognition, enactment and other aspects such as personal, contextual and socio-cultural factors. All of these were in line with constructivist and situative perspectives of learning.

year: 2020

title: Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti Kapa Haka

authors: Maxwell, Te Kahautu

abstract: Te Matatini is the World Champion Competition. Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti; Pool performance on Day 1 of the Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Competition. Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti placed second in the pool and qualified for the Top 9 Finals on Sunday 24th February 2013. Overall in the Pool qualifiers ŌpōTiki Mai Tawhiti placed 5th out of 41.

text: Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti Kapa Haka Te Matatini is the World Champion Competition. Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti; Pool performance on Day 1 of the Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Competition. Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti placed second in the pool and qualified for the Top 9 Finals on Sunday 24th February 2013. Overall in the Pool qualifiers ŌpōTiki Mai Tawhiti placed 5th out of 41.

year: 2013-02-21