title: Judging What They Do:  Formal, Informal, and Self Appraisal of  New Zealand (Rural) Primary School Principals

authors: Earl Rinehart, (Suzanne) Kerry

subjects: Principal appraisal,

abstract: As in other western market economies, New Zealand government education policy reflects neoliberal economic thinking, neo-conservative ideals and practices of an audit culture. New Zealand’s self-managing schools’ policy, introduced in 1989, changed significantly the complexity of school principals’ work. Leadership frameworks and professional standards have ‘captured’ this complexity and support appraisal of principals. 
Neoliberal/neoconservative thinking has also influenced educational leadership research by focusing on individual leader characteristics and specific cases of ‘successful’ school principalship. Instead in this study formative assessment research provides the lens to (re)consider appraisal experience of six school principals in small rural primary schools. Using a contemporary-pragmatist approach, interviews, abductive processes of analysis and literary forms of representation were chosen as appropriate research design elements. The research concern was: to what extent does principal appraisal recognise the nature and complexity of expectations of principal work in specific school settings and consider the human being undertaking this work?  
Insights from this study come under the umbrella phrase it is people that matter. Thus, appraisal in this study reflects the nature of principals’ work—in the significance of interaction, management and professional judgement—more than aspects of administration or assessment. Recommendations include: future appraisal policy values principal-appraiser interaction; principal preparation and professional development programmes advocate for the importance of self-care and management in principalship; and research further explores the nature and influence of school communities on principals’ decision-making and the judgement of principals’ work.

text: Judging What They Do:  Formal, Informal, and Self Appraisal of  New Zealand (Rural) Primary School Principals As in other western market economies, New Zealand government education policy reflects neoliberal economic thinking, neo-conservative ideals and practices of an audit culture. New Zealand’s self-managing schools’ policy, introduced in 1989, changed significantly the complexity of school principals’ work. Leadership frameworks and professional standards have ‘captured’ this complexity and support appraisal of principals. 
Neoliberal/neoconservative thinking has also influenced educational leadership research by focusing on individual leader characteristics and specific cases of ‘successful’ school principalship. Instead in this study formative assessment research provides the lens to (re)consider appraisal experience of six school principals in small rural primary schools. Using a contemporary-pragmatist approach, interviews, abductive processes of analysis and literary forms of representation were chosen as appropriate research design elements. The research concern was: to what extent does principal appraisal recognise the nature and complexity of expectations of principal work in specific school settings and consider the human being undertaking this work?  
Insights from this study come under the umbrella phrase it is people that matter. Thus, appraisal in this study reflects the nature of principals’ work—in the significance of interaction, management and professional judgement—more than aspects of administration or assessment. Recommendations include: future appraisal policy values principal-appraiser interaction; principal preparation and professional development programmes advocate for the importance of self-care and management in principalship; and research further explores the nature and influence of school communities on principals’ decision-making and the judgement of principals’ work.

year: 2017

title: Who says you can't judge a book by it's cover?

authors: Vanderschantz, Nicholas

subjects: book design

abstract: They say that first impressions are everything, so what impression do our books give us by the cover they have? Can we make a generalisation or gain a basic understanding of the content of a book from this first impression? There is much debate over the future of the book, with much of our understanding of how an electronic book should look and feel coming from generalisations about what a ‘book’ is and assumptions about the needs of those that read them. Little evidence exists regarding the physical properties or the use of a book to support these generalisations and to guide the development of future books. The printed book comes in an almost infinite number of proportions, sizes and variations, depending on the content which it must hold, or maybe depending on the whim of the designer. With hundreds of thousands of new printed books being published each year it is hard to generalise about what the ‘average’ book might be with the current paucity of research to support this. The data used in this research is sourced from a wider data collection sampled to give a broad impression of what our books “look like” and how we use them. Based on this audit of 880 books we are able to examine the age-old adage that one cannot judge a book by its cover. The design elements of type, image and colour all play a role in conveying an initial impression to the potential reader about what the volume may hold. Thus we ask, what does a book’s cover tell us about its use, its audience, and how it fits within an academic library classification system?

text: Who says you can't judge a book by it's cover? They say that first impressions are everything, so what impression do our books give us by the cover they have? Can we make a generalisation or gain a basic understanding of the content of a book from this first impression? There is much debate over the future of the book, with much of our understanding of how an electronic book should look and feel coming from generalisations about what a ‘book’ is and assumptions about the needs of those that read them. Little evidence exists regarding the physical properties or the use of a book to support these generalisations and to guide the development of future books. The printed book comes in an almost infinite number of proportions, sizes and variations, depending on the content which it must hold, or maybe depending on the whim of the designer. With hundreds of thousands of new printed books being published each year it is hard to generalise about what the ‘average’ book might be with the current paucity of research to support this. The data used in this research is sourced from a wider data collection sampled to give a broad impression of what our books “look like” and how we use them. Based on this audit of 880 books we are able to examine the age-old adage that one cannot judge a book by its cover. The design elements of type, image and colour all play a role in conveying an initial impression to the potential reader about what the volume may hold. Thus we ask, what does a book’s cover tell us about its use, its audience, and how it fits within an academic library classification system?

year: 2013

title: Ue Waerea

authors: Tuaupiki, Jackie Whetumarama

subjects: Waerea

abstract: Mai i Mōkau ki Tāmaki, Mangatoatoa, Pare-Waikato, Pare-Hauraki, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere, ko te whakapono, nā Tāwhaki i piki te poutama ki te tāhuhu matapu, ka riro mai i a ia ngā kete o te wānanga. E kīngia ai, ko te pūtake tērā o te mātauranga Māori. Hei tā Wiri (2001), nā te mātauranga Māori, ko te mātauranga Māori ā-waha. Nāna, ko te waiata. Nā te waiata, ko te karakia. Kei raro i te karakia, ko te takere kaupapa tēnei, ko te waerea. Ko te whāinga o tēnei tuhituhinga, he rangahau i ngā pūtake o te waerea me te āta titiro ki ngā kaupapa kei a ia me tōna kawe i roto i aua kaupapa i ngā wā o mua, ā, nō nāianei hoki. Ko te waerea te pane o ngā karakia Māori ki roto o Tainui, otirā, ki roto i ngētehi o ngā whakaritenga, ā, ka tirohia ngēnei whakaritenga e rere ai te waerea, pēnei i te tomo whare, i te tomo urupā, i te takahi whare, i te whakamānu waka me te maha o ngā mahi a te ao Māori ki roto o Tainui.

text: Ue Waerea Mai i Mōkau ki Tāmaki, Mangatoatoa, Pare-Waikato, Pare-Hauraki, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere, ko te whakapono, nā Tāwhaki i piki te poutama ki te tāhuhu matapu, ka riro mai i a ia ngā kete o te wānanga. E kīngia ai, ko te pūtake tērā o te mātauranga Māori. Hei tā Wiri (2001), nā te mātauranga Māori, ko te mātauranga Māori ā-waha. Nāna, ko te waiata. Nā te waiata, ko te karakia. Kei raro i te karakia, ko te takere kaupapa tēnei, ko te waerea. Ko te whāinga o tēnei tuhituhinga, he rangahau i ngā pūtake o te waerea me te āta titiro ki ngā kaupapa kei a ia me tōna kawe i roto i aua kaupapa i ngā wā o mua, ā, nō nāianei hoki. Ko te waerea te pane o ngā karakia Māori ki roto o Tainui, otirā, ki roto i ngētehi o ngā whakaritenga, ā, ka tirohia ngēnei whakaritenga e rere ai te waerea, pēnei i te tomo whare, i te tomo urupā, i te takahi whare, i te whakamānu waka me te maha o ngā mahi a te ao Māori ki roto o Tainui.

year: 2011-04