title: Soil priorities for Antarctica

authors: Roudier, P.

subjects: Antarctica

abstract: While most of Antarctica is covered by ice sheets, a small part of the continent is permanently ice-free, sometimes for millions of years, where soils developed. Ice-free regions represent about 0.44% of the total area of Antarctica (~54, 000 km², although a precise estimate is still lacking), and are small ‘islands’ dotted along the coast, mountain ranges, and nunataks (Figure 1, Brooks et al., 2019). There, environmental conditions result in a diverse range of soils. The largest expanse of ice-free areas, the McMurdo Dry Valleys, is an arid, cold desert , with very low and fluctuating temperatures, almost no liquid water, often very high soil salinity, and typically slow rates of soil formation. Despite the small area they represent, Antarctic soils are scientifically remarkable: they harbour life, including arthropods, nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades, and a surprisingly high diversity of soil microbes, therefore representing the major part of the biomass of all Antarctica terrestrial systems (Convey et al., 2014). Ice-free areas also form essential breeding grounds for macrofauna, such as seals and seabirds. The trophic simplicity of those ecosystems make Antarctic soils a great model for studying broader ecosystem functioning. Some of the highest elevation ice-free areas and their dry permafrost conditions represent the closest Mars analogue on Earth.

text: Soil priorities for Antarctica While most of Antarctica is covered by ice sheets, a small part of the continent is permanently ice-free, sometimes for millions of years, where soils developed. Ice-free regions represent about 0.44% of the total area of Antarctica (~54, 000 km², although a precise estimate is still lacking), and are small ‘islands’ dotted along the coast, mountain ranges, and nunataks (Figure 1, Brooks et al., 2019). There, environmental conditions result in a diverse range of soils. The largest expanse of ice-free areas, the McMurdo Dry Valleys, is an arid, cold desert , with very low and fluctuating temperatures, almost no liquid water, often very high soil salinity, and typically slow rates of soil formation. Despite the small area they represent, Antarctic soils are scientifically remarkable: they harbour life, including arthropods, nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades, and a surprisingly high diversity of soil microbes, therefore representing the major part of the biomass of all Antarctica terrestrial systems (Convey et al., 2014). Ice-free areas also form essential breeding grounds for macrofauna, such as seals and seabirds. The trophic simplicity of those ecosystems make Antarctic soils a great model for studying broader ecosystem functioning. Some of the highest elevation ice-free areas and their dry permafrost conditions represent the closest Mars analogue on Earth.

year: 2022

title: Exploring the beliefs and practices of first year teachers of literacy in New Zealand primary schools

authors: Carss, Wendy Diane

subjects: literacy education

abstract: The teaching of literacy presents ongoing and complex challenges for first-year teachers at the primary level as they strive to address the diverse social and cultural backgrounds of their students, the requirements of educational policy and the demands of national assessment regimes. This journey is further complicated by the need to develop pedagogy that promotes discerning use of complex multimodal texts, both print and digital, in order to prepare students for the multiliterate demands of current and future societies. 
This doctoral thesis provides an in-depth exploration of the journeys of nine beginning teachers as they develop and establish their teaching of literacy practices during their first year of teaching in New Zealand primary classrooms. The participants had all completed the same three-year Bachelor of Teaching degree and secured positions in a diverse range of New Zealand schools.  They were fully responsible for the literacy learning of their students in relation to planning, teaching and assessment, while working towards full registration. 
The study sought to explore how the beliefs and practices of these beginning teachers of literacy changed over the year, and how these were influenced by their initial teacher education programme and the support they received from within the school community.  Using interpretive case-study methodology, qualitative data were collected throughout the year, using a combination of semi-structured interviews, digital surveys and observations of guided reading.  Video footage from the observations provided the foundation for subsequent participant theorising of their teaching.  Participants discussed their beliefs and evolving literacy practices in relation to a range of factors including their pre-service preparation, the mentoring support provided within their schools, the demands of national standards assessment, the socio-cultural backgrounds of their students and the integration of digital technologies.  Based on an analysis of the data, involving a co-construction of meaning between the words of the participants and researcher interpretation, I was able to gain an in-depth understanding of the beliefs and practices of each participant as these developed within his/her individual school context.  My interpretation of these data was informed by my own background as an initial teacher education and former classroom teacher.  
Findings suggest that an effective theory-practice balance within initial teacher education programmes, and alignment between literacy education papers and classroom practice, eases the transition into the classroom and enables the successful establishment of initial literacy programmes.  As the year progressed, participants’ teaching became more attuned to student needs and more explicit in nature.  Professional conversations with more experienced others were found to be essential to facilitate a reflective stance and further developments in teaching. 

Findings also revealed that while participants were aware of the broad nature of literacy, their reflections on teaching focused predominantly on the teaching of reading and writing.  There were strong indications that this was in part conditioned by the national assessment policy mandated at the time of the study.  
This study has implications for schools in relation to their selection of mentors for beginning teachers and their organisation of ongoing professional learning.  The study recommends that both pre-service educators and schools place greater emphasis on literacy across the curriculum, and provide more support for working with the increasingly diverse range of text forms and using of critical literacy approaches.

text: Exploring the beliefs and practices of first year teachers of literacy in New Zealand primary schools The teaching of literacy presents ongoing and complex challenges for first-year teachers at the primary level as they strive to address the diverse social and cultural backgrounds of their students, the requirements of educational policy and the demands of national assessment regimes. This journey is further complicated by the need to develop pedagogy that promotes discerning use of complex multimodal texts, both print and digital, in order to prepare students for the multiliterate demands of current and future societies. 
This doctoral thesis provides an in-depth exploration of the journeys of nine beginning teachers as they develop and establish their teaching of literacy practices during their first year of teaching in New Zealand primary classrooms. The participants had all completed the same three-year Bachelor of Teaching degree and secured positions in a diverse range of New Zealand schools.  They were fully responsible for the literacy learning of their students in relation to planning, teaching and assessment, while working towards full registration. 
The study sought to explore how the beliefs and practices of these beginning teachers of literacy changed over the year, and how these were influenced by their initial teacher education programme and the support they received from within the school community.  Using interpretive case-study methodology, qualitative data were collected throughout the year, using a combination of semi-structured interviews, digital surveys and observations of guided reading.  Video footage from the observations provided the foundation for subsequent participant theorising of their teaching.  Participants discussed their beliefs and evolving literacy practices in relation to a range of factors including their pre-service preparation, the mentoring support provided within their schools, the demands of national standards assessment, the socio-cultural backgrounds of their students and the integration of digital technologies.  Based on an analysis of the data, involving a co-construction of meaning between the words of the participants and researcher interpretation, I was able to gain an in-depth understanding of the beliefs and practices of each participant as these developed within his/her individual school context.  My interpretation of these data was informed by my own background as an initial teacher education and former classroom teacher.  
Findings suggest that an effective theory-practice balance within initial teacher education programmes, and alignment between literacy education papers and classroom practice, eases the transition into the classroom and enables the successful establishment of initial literacy programmes.  As the year progressed, participants’ teaching became more attuned to student needs and more explicit in nature.  Professional conversations with more experienced others were found to be essential to facilitate a reflective stance and further developments in teaching. 

Findings also revealed that while participants were aware of the broad nature of literacy, their reflections on teaching focused predominantly on the teaching of reading and writing.  There were strong indications that this was in part conditioned by the national assessment policy mandated at the time of the study.  
This study has implications for schools in relation to their selection of mentors for beginning teachers and their organisation of ongoing professional learning.  The study recommends that both pre-service educators and schools place greater emphasis on literacy across the curriculum, and provide more support for working with the increasingly diverse range of text forms and using of critical literacy approaches.

year: 2019

title: Tīhei Mauri Ora: Negotiating primary school teachers' personal and professional identities as Māori

authors: Gilgen, Renée

subjects: Professional Learning and Development for teachers

abstract: Colonial attitudes that positioned Māori language, knowledge and pedagogy as inferior and deficient continue to impact on 21st century primary school contexts in Aotearoa/New Zealand. They continue to impact particularly on the personal and professional identities and experiences of Māori teachers in contemporary English-medium schools. Just as, historically, Māori students were expected to leave their language and culture at the 19th century colonial school gates, so too are many contemporary Māori teachers in mainstream schools expected to set aside their language and culture and engage with the curriculum and pedagogy of the school where they work. Ironically, at the same time, these teachers are often expected to guide and assist their school to meet its requirements under Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi to ensure that its Māori students will succeed as Māori.

This thesis sought to understand how a small cohort of experienced Māori teachers, positioned within 21st century English-medium primary schools, perceived and negotiated the challenges to their personal and professional identities as Māori, and as Māori teachers. The thesis employed a qualitative participant narrative methodology, framed with kaupapa Māori theory. The teachers participated in individual interviews and in a series of hui kōrero (focused conversations) that assisted them to reflect critically on sociohistorical and educational factors that influenced the formation and maintenance of their identities as Māori.

The teachers’ narratives that emerged from individual and collaborative hui kōrero revealed that (1) being raised within urban environments and being themselves educated in monocultural schools during the 1960s and 1970s strongly impacted on how their Māori identities were shaped and, (2) their teaching experiences within English-medium primary schools and classrooms were culturally isolating and destructive, and largely unsupportive of the diverse realities that exists for some Māori teachers.

I offer two key strategic responses to these findings. Firstly, I offer a self-identity continuum that seeks to respect and affirm Māori identity by taking into account the different levels and contexts of experience some Māori teachers may have with Māori cultural concepts and practices. Secondly, I assert the need for a culturally located and relational space within English-medium school contexts for Māori teachers to engage with, and draw on the support of other Māori teachers in order to affirm their varying personal and professional identities as Māori. Meeting this need is understood as a Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty-honouring response, required of all schools.

text: Tīhei Mauri Ora: Negotiating primary school teachers' personal and professional identities as Māori Colonial attitudes that positioned Māori language, knowledge and pedagogy as inferior and deficient continue to impact on 21st century primary school contexts in Aotearoa/New Zealand. They continue to impact particularly on the personal and professional identities and experiences of Māori teachers in contemporary English-medium schools. Just as, historically, Māori students were expected to leave their language and culture at the 19th century colonial school gates, so too are many contemporary Māori teachers in mainstream schools expected to set aside their language and culture and engage with the curriculum and pedagogy of the school where they work. Ironically, at the same time, these teachers are often expected to guide and assist their school to meet its requirements under Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi to ensure that its Māori students will succeed as Māori.

This thesis sought to understand how a small cohort of experienced Māori teachers, positioned within 21st century English-medium primary schools, perceived and negotiated the challenges to their personal and professional identities as Māori, and as Māori teachers. The thesis employed a qualitative participant narrative methodology, framed with kaupapa Māori theory. The teachers participated in individual interviews and in a series of hui kōrero (focused conversations) that assisted them to reflect critically on sociohistorical and educational factors that influenced the formation and maintenance of their identities as Māori.

The teachers’ narratives that emerged from individual and collaborative hui kōrero revealed that (1) being raised within urban environments and being themselves educated in monocultural schools during the 1960s and 1970s strongly impacted on how their Māori identities were shaped and, (2) their teaching experiences within English-medium primary schools and classrooms were culturally isolating and destructive, and largely unsupportive of the diverse realities that exists for some Māori teachers.

I offer two key strategic responses to these findings. Firstly, I offer a self-identity continuum that seeks to respect and affirm Māori identity by taking into account the different levels and contexts of experience some Māori teachers may have with Māori cultural concepts and practices. Secondly, I assert the need for a culturally located and relational space within English-medium school contexts for Māori teachers to engage with, and draw on the support of other Māori teachers in order to affirm their varying personal and professional identities as Māori. Meeting this need is understood as a Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty-honouring response, required of all schools.

year: 2016