title: Isolation of anaerobic, extremely thermophilic, sulphur metabolising archaebacteria from New Zealand hot springs

authors: Patel, B.K.C.

subjects: hot springs

abstract: Enrichments of New Zealand geo-thermal samples, initiated in anaerobic sulphur-containing media and incubated at temperatures above 85°C, yielded rod and coccal shaped organisms which possessed archaebacterial characteristics. Pure cultures were isolated and characterised. Five of the seven isolates, which were rod-shaped organisms and did not have an obligate requirement for sulphur respiration, were similar to Ther-moproteus sp. but had more neutral pH optima for growth. Three of these five Thermoproteus sp. were obligate heterotrophs, which has not previously been reported. The two coccal isolates had an obligate requirement for sulphur as an electron acceptor and were similar to Desulfurococcus sp. but again with more neutral pH optima for growth.

text: Isolation of anaerobic, extremely thermophilic, sulphur metabolising archaebacteria from New Zealand hot springs Enrichments of New Zealand geo-thermal samples, initiated in anaerobic sulphur-containing media and incubated at temperatures above 85°C, yielded rod and coccal shaped organisms which possessed archaebacterial characteristics. Pure cultures were isolated and characterised. Five of the seven isolates, which were rod-shaped organisms and did not have an obligate requirement for sulphur respiration, were similar to Ther-moproteus sp. but had more neutral pH optima for growth. Three of these five Thermoproteus sp. were obligate heterotrophs, which has not previously been reported. The two coccal isolates had an obligate requirement for sulphur as an electron acceptor and were similar to Desulfurococcus sp. but again with more neutral pH optima for growth.

year: 1986

title: An analysis of the role of civil society in building peace in ethno-religious conflict: A case study of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand

authors: Boonpunth, Kayanee Chor

subjects: civil society

abstract: The ‘Southern Fire’ is an ethno-religious conflict in the southernmost region of Thailand that has claimed thousands of innocent lives since an upsurge in violence in 2004. Although it does not catch the world’s attention as much as other conflict cases in the same region, daily violent incidents are ongoing for more than a decade. The violence in the south has multiple causes including historical concerns, economic marginalisation, political and social issues, religious and cultural differences, educational opportunity inequities, and judicial discrimination. 
According to a framework for conflict resolution, for Thailand’s case, the state’s policy alone could not resolve the conflict as it focused mainly on implementing a ‘peacekeeping’ strategy by increasing the number of security forces and pursuing a ‘peacemaking’ strategy via peace talks. However, to create lasting peace in this region, civil society actors need to be involved in a ‘peacebuilding’ strategy in order to keep the balance of socio-economic structures and prevent violence from happening again. More than a hundred civil society groups are involved in attempting to build peace in the southernmost provinces. Since the resurgence of violence, some civil society groups have accumulated their experiences and played significant roles in the area. These groups have become a strong network which could reduce the tensions in this region. 
The research aims to promote the civil society sector as a tool of a non-violent approach; to study the role of the civil society sector in building peace in the southernmost provinces; and to strengthen civil society groups attempting to find a solution to the insurgent problem. This research used the qualitative method employing in-depth interviews and documentary research. The data was collected through person-to-person interviews with representatives of twenty-nine civil society groups. This research examines the role of the civil society sector in building peace in southern region; the efficacy of civil society groups; the problems of civil society groups active in the south; and puts forward recommendations on how to improve the work of the civil society groups.
One of the main findings was that bridge-builder, academic and relief worker are the most significant roles civil society groups play. The efficacy of the civil society sector in peacebuilding in the deep south shows that it has the potential to grow. It has a number of strong internal factors and many external opportunities that can increase capabilities and help the groups to perform better. There are, however, four important problems including human resources, time management, influence from funding sources, and political and safety issues, which can have a serious impact on the civil society sector. The three key recommendations that can help to enhance the performance of civil society groups are building trust in the communities, understanding the needs of the locals, and working with a clear strategy.
This research concludes that the civil society sector plays various roles in attempting to create peace in this region. Together with other actors, the civil society sector can be an important part of the effort to reduce the violence and can play a major role in building sustainable peace in southern Thailand when the violence eventually stops.

text: An analysis of the role of civil society in building peace in ethno-religious conflict: A case study of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand The ‘Southern Fire’ is an ethno-religious conflict in the southernmost region of Thailand that has claimed thousands of innocent lives since an upsurge in violence in 2004. Although it does not catch the world’s attention as much as other conflict cases in the same region, daily violent incidents are ongoing for more than a decade. The violence in the south has multiple causes including historical concerns, economic marginalisation, political and social issues, religious and cultural differences, educational opportunity inequities, and judicial discrimination. 
According to a framework for conflict resolution, for Thailand’s case, the state’s policy alone could not resolve the conflict as it focused mainly on implementing a ‘peacekeeping’ strategy by increasing the number of security forces and pursuing a ‘peacemaking’ strategy via peace talks. However, to create lasting peace in this region, civil society actors need to be involved in a ‘peacebuilding’ strategy in order to keep the balance of socio-economic structures and prevent violence from happening again. More than a hundred civil society groups are involved in attempting to build peace in the southernmost provinces. Since the resurgence of violence, some civil society groups have accumulated their experiences and played significant roles in the area. These groups have become a strong network which could reduce the tensions in this region. 
The research aims to promote the civil society sector as a tool of a non-violent approach; to study the role of the civil society sector in building peace in the southernmost provinces; and to strengthen civil society groups attempting to find a solution to the insurgent problem. This research used the qualitative method employing in-depth interviews and documentary research. The data was collected through person-to-person interviews with representatives of twenty-nine civil society groups. This research examines the role of the civil society sector in building peace in southern region; the efficacy of civil society groups; the problems of civil society groups active in the south; and puts forward recommendations on how to improve the work of the civil society groups.
One of the main findings was that bridge-builder, academic and relief worker are the most significant roles civil society groups play. The efficacy of the civil society sector in peacebuilding in the deep south shows that it has the potential to grow. It has a number of strong internal factors and many external opportunities that can increase capabilities and help the groups to perform better. There are, however, four important problems including human resources, time management, influence from funding sources, and political and safety issues, which can have a serious impact on the civil society sector. The three key recommendations that can help to enhance the performance of civil society groups are building trust in the communities, understanding the needs of the locals, and working with a clear strategy.
This research concludes that the civil society sector plays various roles in attempting to create peace in this region. Together with other actors, the civil society sector can be an important part of the effort to reduce the violence and can play a major role in building sustainable peace in southern Thailand when the violence eventually stops.

year: 2015

title: How learning stories shape understandings of children’s learning identities in one community of practice: A narrative inquiry

authors: Sands, Lorraine May

subjects: Narrative inquiry

abstract: Mā te mahi, ka mōhio; mā te mōhio, ka mārama; mā te mārama, ka mātau; mā te mātau, ka ora.
From hard work comes knowledge; from that knowledge comes understanding; from that understanding comes strength; from that strength comes wellbeing and life.
This thesis is a listening, dialogic investigation into ways the community of learners at Greerton Early Learning Centre considers learning stories have affected their children’s learning identities—that is, how they view themselves as learners. Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, focuses on responsive, reciprocal relationships wrapped around the uniqueness and mana of each child. Learning stories—a research-based sociocultural narrative assessment approach—have been used in Aotearoa New Zealand early learning settings for over two decades to capture children’s learning while honouring the intent of Te Whāriki to nurture children’s languages, cultures, and identities. In the current climate of privatisation and neoliberalism, however, the value of learning stories is increasingly contested. This study refutes such discourses and instead navigates the value of multiple ways of knowing, meaningfully embedded in the lived experiences of children in relational communities.

This study was embedded in a narrative inquiry paradigm that sees reality as a socially mediated construction contained within stories that are told and retold across times, social contexts, and places. The study aimed to understand and document how storying children’s lived experience makes a meaningful difference to ways children view themselves as learners. Six children, their families, and their teachers were invited to reengage with selected learning stories from the children’s learning portfolios and then to rethink and retell how these learning stories contributed to their views of children’s learning identities.

The study found that learning stories have powerful effects on the ways children see themselves and on the ways those around them see the children as learners. It was clear from the data that children’s learning identities are embedded in the complex social and cultural contexts that surround them. The teachers’ long-term whanaungatanga relationships with mokopuna and whānau enabled kaiako to write learning stories that connected meaningfully with children’s wider historical, social, and cultural contexts. Insights into children’s learning from the learning stories were actively taken up by the parents and shaped the ways they saw and interacted with their children as learners. Likewise, teachers listened to stories shared from home (whether in a written learning story form or simply in the course of conversations), and these contributed to the teachers’ understandings of the children as agentic learners within sociocultural contexts. The physical folders of learning stories offered children powerful ways to maintain connections and a sense of pride in their learning achievements, linked to the people and places that surrounded those achievements.

Learning stories also enabled children to review their learning growth over time, including times when they had set goals, been supported in pursuing those goals by those around them, and had their achievements and dispositions honoured through documentation as a learning story. The process of robust engagement with crafting and reviewing their own and their colleagues’ learning stories played an important role in teachers’ ongoing professional learning. Finally, it was clear that across the whole community of practice—spanning mokopuna, whānau, and kaiako—learning stories played an important role in developing and reinforcing a shared language of learning as well as a shared understanding of the importance of children’s dispositions and working theories as the most highly valued forms of learning.

Although centred in one community, this research stands on the shoulders of many and may have resonance and implications for those in broader contexts. At a time when the usefulness and appropriateness of learning stories are increasingly contested, this study provides an important demonstration of the power of thoughtfully written learning stories and the alignment of this assessment approach with the vision and values of Te Whāriki. Further, with limited past research looking at the intersection of learning stories and children’s learning identities, this study’s rich account of this interaction in one community of practice provides a valuable contribution to the literature.

text: How learning stories shape understandings of children’s learning identities in one community of practice: A narrative inquiry Mā te mahi, ka mōhio; mā te mōhio, ka mārama; mā te mārama, ka mātau; mā te mātau, ka ora.
From hard work comes knowledge; from that knowledge comes understanding; from that understanding comes strength; from that strength comes wellbeing and life.
This thesis is a listening, dialogic investigation into ways the community of learners at Greerton Early Learning Centre considers learning stories have affected their children’s learning identities—that is, how they view themselves as learners. Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, focuses on responsive, reciprocal relationships wrapped around the uniqueness and mana of each child. Learning stories—a research-based sociocultural narrative assessment approach—have been used in Aotearoa New Zealand early learning settings for over two decades to capture children’s learning while honouring the intent of Te Whāriki to nurture children’s languages, cultures, and identities. In the current climate of privatisation and neoliberalism, however, the value of learning stories is increasingly contested. This study refutes such discourses and instead navigates the value of multiple ways of knowing, meaningfully embedded in the lived experiences of children in relational communities.

This study was embedded in a narrative inquiry paradigm that sees reality as a socially mediated construction contained within stories that are told and retold across times, social contexts, and places. The study aimed to understand and document how storying children’s lived experience makes a meaningful difference to ways children view themselves as learners. Six children, their families, and their teachers were invited to reengage with selected learning stories from the children’s learning portfolios and then to rethink and retell how these learning stories contributed to their views of children’s learning identities.

The study found that learning stories have powerful effects on the ways children see themselves and on the ways those around them see the children as learners. It was clear from the data that children’s learning identities are embedded in the complex social and cultural contexts that surround them. The teachers’ long-term whanaungatanga relationships with mokopuna and whānau enabled kaiako to write learning stories that connected meaningfully with children’s wider historical, social, and cultural contexts. Insights into children’s learning from the learning stories were actively taken up by the parents and shaped the ways they saw and interacted with their children as learners. Likewise, teachers listened to stories shared from home (whether in a written learning story form or simply in the course of conversations), and these contributed to the teachers’ understandings of the children as agentic learners within sociocultural contexts. The physical folders of learning stories offered children powerful ways to maintain connections and a sense of pride in their learning achievements, linked to the people and places that surrounded those achievements.

Learning stories also enabled children to review their learning growth over time, including times when they had set goals, been supported in pursuing those goals by those around them, and had their achievements and dispositions honoured through documentation as a learning story. The process of robust engagement with crafting and reviewing their own and their colleagues’ learning stories played an important role in teachers’ ongoing professional learning. Finally, it was clear that across the whole community of practice—spanning mokopuna, whānau, and kaiako—learning stories played an important role in developing and reinforcing a shared language of learning as well as a shared understanding of the importance of children’s dispositions and working theories as the most highly valued forms of learning.

Although centred in one community, this research stands on the shoulders of many and may have resonance and implications for those in broader contexts. At a time when the usefulness and appropriateness of learning stories are increasingly contested, this study provides an important demonstration of the power of thoughtfully written learning stories and the alignment of this assessment approach with the vision and values of Te Whāriki. Further, with limited past research looking at the intersection of learning stories and children’s learning identities, this study’s rich account of this interaction in one community of practice provides a valuable contribution to the literature.

year: 2022