title: An Exploration of Models for Collaborative Leadership of Virtual Learning Network e-Learning Clusters in New Zealand

authors: Buchanan, Philip Conway

subjects: Collaborative

abstract: Faced with the massive challenge of personalising learning for a digital generation, educators need to change.  Collaboration and collaborative leadership, having been widely researched and implemented, are now considered to be strategic components of systemic transformation.  Many jurisdictions have trialled or instituted collaborative or cluster-based projects to address the collaborative learning and leadership challenges associated with transformation through e-learning.  New Zealand’s emergent Virtual Learning Network and e-learning clusters have developed new system leadership from grass-roots rural schools with the Ministry of Education’s strategic support.  Can these innovative collaborative projects continue to improve and sustainably contribute to educational transformation in NZ?
This small-scale qualitative investigation focussed on semi-structured interviews to gather data from five experienced rural cluster Lead Principals who have successfully lead some of the stronger rural Virtual Learning Network e-learning clusters across rural New Zealand. The key research question which guided the interview questions and analysis was:
What are the most appropriate and effective models for managing and leading collaborative relationships and shared long-term projects for clusters of secondary schools? 
The aim was to discover the conceptions and use of collaborative processes, structures and leadership which theoretical and empirical research suggest are critical components of system-wide reform.  
Research findings reveal a high degree of congruence between theory and the practice of these five Lead Principals.  Their understanding and practice of shared, distributive and collaborative leadership, with a clear commitment to building leadership capacity, was based more upon their personal style supported by some knowledge of the international literature, rather than formal policies. However, while these maturing clusters have outlasted many others, they continue to face challenges of viability, effectiveness, and sustainability, in spite of the Ministry of Education’s support for critical background infrastructure.  The data shows that while there are strong collaborative support strategies in and for these clusters, two key areas could be addressed more effectively.
This study suggests that collaborative transparency and accountability needs strengthening in a drive for consistent quality and effectiveness.  Also, while new structural cluster models may be emerging in the search for sustainability, the well-established cost of managing collaborations has not yet been accepted by the MoE, leaving 100% of the burden of management costs on the mostly small rural schools.   It is therefore recommended that the MoE find a way around the current school-based funding model to at least partially fund regional management of these transformative collaborations, perhaps within the government’s current drive to build performance management and accountability.  New Zealand’s systemic transformation and its current leadership within the e-learning revolution may depend on it.

text: An Exploration of Models for Collaborative Leadership of Virtual Learning Network e-Learning Clusters in New Zealand Faced with the massive challenge of personalising learning for a digital generation, educators need to change.  Collaboration and collaborative leadership, having been widely researched and implemented, are now considered to be strategic components of systemic transformation.  Many jurisdictions have trialled or instituted collaborative or cluster-based projects to address the collaborative learning and leadership challenges associated with transformation through e-learning.  New Zealand’s emergent Virtual Learning Network and e-learning clusters have developed new system leadership from grass-roots rural schools with the Ministry of Education’s strategic support.  Can these innovative collaborative projects continue to improve and sustainably contribute to educational transformation in NZ?
This small-scale qualitative investigation focussed on semi-structured interviews to gather data from five experienced rural cluster Lead Principals who have successfully lead some of the stronger rural Virtual Learning Network e-learning clusters across rural New Zealand. The key research question which guided the interview questions and analysis was:
What are the most appropriate and effective models for managing and leading collaborative relationships and shared long-term projects for clusters of secondary schools? 
The aim was to discover the conceptions and use of collaborative processes, structures and leadership which theoretical and empirical research suggest are critical components of system-wide reform.  
Research findings reveal a high degree of congruence between theory and the practice of these five Lead Principals.  Their understanding and practice of shared, distributive and collaborative leadership, with a clear commitment to building leadership capacity, was based more upon their personal style supported by some knowledge of the international literature, rather than formal policies. However, while these maturing clusters have outlasted many others, they continue to face challenges of viability, effectiveness, and sustainability, in spite of the Ministry of Education’s support for critical background infrastructure.  The data shows that while there are strong collaborative support strategies in and for these clusters, two key areas could be addressed more effectively.
This study suggests that collaborative transparency and accountability needs strengthening in a drive for consistent quality and effectiveness.  Also, while new structural cluster models may be emerging in the search for sustainability, the well-established cost of managing collaborations has not yet been accepted by the MoE, leaving 100% of the burden of management costs on the mostly small rural schools.   It is therefore recommended that the MoE find a way around the current school-based funding model to at least partially fund regional management of these transformative collaborations, perhaps within the government’s current drive to build performance management and accountability.  New Zealand’s systemic transformation and its current leadership within the e-learning revolution may depend on it.

year: 2013

title: Research using electronic health records: not all de-identified datasets are created equal

authors: Yogarajan, Vithya

subjects: computer science

abstract: We read the article Research using electronic health records: balancing confidentiality and public good by Wallis et al. with great interest. The authors note general practices need to trust de-identification processes when releasing patient records.¹ Patients have also expressed concerns about de-identification practices.² De-identification encompasses a wide range of practices, and there are no universally accepted standards.²,³ We propose here a three-step scheme for judging de-identified health records: (1) the de-identification standards used (2) the performance of the de-identification system and (3) additional security measures taken to prevent re-identification. Such a scheme may be useful to ethics committees, researchers planning a project and health providers deciding whether to participate.

text: Research using electronic health records: not all de-identified datasets are created equal We read the article Research using electronic health records: balancing confidentiality and public good by Wallis et al. with great interest. The authors note general practices need to trust de-identification processes when releasing patient records.¹ Patients have also expressed concerns about de-identification practices.² De-identification encompasses a wide range of practices, and there are no universally accepted standards.²,³ We propose here a three-step scheme for judging de-identified health records: (1) the de-identification standards used (2) the performance of the de-identification system and (3) additional security measures taken to prevent re-identification. Such a scheme may be useful to ethics committees, researchers planning a project and health providers deciding whether to participate.

year: 2019

title: Honouring our ancestors: Reclaiming the power of Māori maternities

authors: Simmonds, Naomi Beth

abstract: Māori¹ maternal knowledges are intimately tied to ancestors, to ancestral knowledges, and to whenua (land).² Iwi (tribes), hapū (smaller tribal groupings), and whānau (families)³ have their own maternal knowledges, which are woven into their cosmologies, histories, songs, carvings, place names, chants, and incantations. These knowledges, though spatially and temporally specific, speak to the sanctity of the maternal body, the power and prestige of women’s reproductive capabilities, and the empowering collective approach to raising children. Māori knowledges pertaining to pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting were imparted generation to generation as they were lived, embodied and emplaced by our ancestors, sustaining the sacred and empowering approach to maternities within our communities.
This chapter considers the challenges and possibilities of reclaiming Māori maternal knowledges and their associated practices and ceremonies for Māori women and whānau in contemporary Aotearoa-New Zealand. Three key themes frame this chapter. First, I consider the ways in which colonialism has served to silence Māori maternal knowledges to such an extent that whānau are left trying to find meaning in the voices, knowledges, and advices of others. Indigenous women are largely birthing within Western ideologies and institutions that do not adequately provide for Indigenous ways of being and birthing. The chapter then considers the ways in which women and whānau are reclaiming ancient knowledges and practices in new and contemporary ways. I seek to illustrate the ways in which traditional practices and ritual customs have the potential to transform and empower individual and collective experiences of birth and afterbirth. The chapter ends with arguing that Indigenous maternities, Māori maternities, are an important site of decolonization. Reclaiming the messages and embodied practices left to us by our ancestors can provide an empowering collective approach to pregnancy, birth, and afterbirth, and can facilitate a “decolonized pathway” (Simpson 28) into and through the world for our children and for generations to come.

text: Honouring our ancestors: Reclaiming the power of Māori maternities Māori¹ maternal knowledges are intimately tied to ancestors, to ancestral knowledges, and to whenua (land).² Iwi (tribes), hapū (smaller tribal groupings), and whānau (families)³ have their own maternal knowledges, which are woven into their cosmologies, histories, songs, carvings, place names, chants, and incantations. These knowledges, though spatially and temporally specific, speak to the sanctity of the maternal body, the power and prestige of women’s reproductive capabilities, and the empowering collective approach to raising children. Māori knowledges pertaining to pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting were imparted generation to generation as they were lived, embodied and emplaced by our ancestors, sustaining the sacred and empowering approach to maternities within our communities.
This chapter considers the challenges and possibilities of reclaiming Māori maternal knowledges and their associated practices and ceremonies for Māori women and whānau in contemporary Aotearoa-New Zealand. Three key themes frame this chapter. First, I consider the ways in which colonialism has served to silence Māori maternal knowledges to such an extent that whānau are left trying to find meaning in the voices, knowledges, and advices of others. Indigenous women are largely birthing within Western ideologies and institutions that do not adequately provide for Indigenous ways of being and birthing. The chapter then considers the ways in which women and whānau are reclaiming ancient knowledges and practices in new and contemporary ways. I seek to illustrate the ways in which traditional practices and ritual customs have the potential to transform and empower individual and collective experiences of birth and afterbirth. The chapter ends with arguing that Indigenous maternities, Māori maternities, are an important site of decolonization. Reclaiming the messages and embodied practices left to us by our ancestors can provide an empowering collective approach to pregnancy, birth, and afterbirth, and can facilitate a “decolonized pathway” (Simpson 28) into and through the world for our children and for generations to come.

year: 2017