title: Statistical representations of the housing problem in briefings to incoming ministers, 2008–2020: The politics of housing numbers

authors: Barrett, Patrick

abstract: An interpretive policy studies perspective on what is understood to be the ‘facts’ about the housing problem in New Zealand has potential to uncover the way statistical representations of problems are embedded in larger normative narratives, and the consequential implications for housing policy and governance. This paper analyses such representations as they are evident in policy briefings to incoming Ministers of Housing between 2008 and 2020 by Housing New Zealand (HNZ) and its successor Kāinga Ora, and the way these reflect and reinforce a neoliberal political rationality and an agenda to residualise and marketise state housing support. The briefings represent authoritative accounts by a key bureaucratic advisory agency of the significant issues and priorities in the housing portfolio. The period prior to 2017 saw the emergence of new articulations of housing problems relating to affordability, declining rates of home ownership, an increasing rental population, and increasing homelessness. In the briefings to ministers, these problems were routinely framed as issues of supply and demand and market adjustment, and this has continued following the change of government in 2017. The focus of the paper is on identifying statistical representations within the discursive context that give weight to particular policy choices.

text: Statistical representations of the housing problem in briefings to incoming ministers, 2008–2020: The politics of housing numbers An interpretive policy studies perspective on what is understood to be the ‘facts’ about the housing problem in New Zealand has potential to uncover the way statistical representations of problems are embedded in larger normative narratives, and the consequential implications for housing policy and governance. This paper analyses such representations as they are evident in policy briefings to incoming Ministers of Housing between 2008 and 2020 by Housing New Zealand (HNZ) and its successor Kāinga Ora, and the way these reflect and reinforce a neoliberal political rationality and an agenda to residualise and marketise state housing support. The briefings represent authoritative accounts by a key bureaucratic advisory agency of the significant issues and priorities in the housing portfolio. The period prior to 2017 saw the emergence of new articulations of housing problems relating to affordability, declining rates of home ownership, an increasing rental population, and increasing homelessness. In the briefings to ministers, these problems were routinely framed as issues of supply and demand and market adjustment, and this has continued following the change of government in 2017. The focus of the paper is on identifying statistical representations within the discursive context that give weight to particular policy choices.

year: 2021

title: A Needs Assessment of Conservation Educators within the Department of Conservation

authors: Bianchi, Valerie

subjects: conservation education

abstract: The Department of Conservation (DOC) is the government body that is responsible for conserving Aotearoa/New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. Although education has not been a primary part of what DOC does, the organisation participates in education in a variety of ways. In order to coordinate and strategize their involvement in education, a new policy has been put in place. This policy, outlined in the National Education Strategy 2010-2030 aims to set the intentions and objectives for education at DOC. A companion to this, the National Education Strategy Implementation Plan, provides some guidance on how goals may be achieved. This emphasises DOC educators’ work in partnership with teachers, which may represent a change in how DOC staff have worked in the past. Since the recent coordination of education at DOC may be different to the way some staff work, a needs assessment of DOC educators’ professional support requirements was called for. Understanding what professional development, support and resources DOC educators need could allow for effective professional support to be put in place. Having adequate professional support could have an ongoing influence on DOC educators’ ability to achieve DOC’s outcomes. Non-formal environmental educators, such as those working at DOC, are key players in environmental education/education for sustainability (EE/EfS). This group of educators have historically been engaged by formal educators to deliver EE/EfS into their classrooms, and in addition, some scholars have claimed that much of what occurs to educate people about the environment is in the non-formal setting. Non-formal educators need considerable professional support; including professional development, organisational support and resources to do their jobs and see outcomes are achieved.

This thesis was conducted as an interpretive, mixed methods study directed at understanding what professional development, support and resources DOC educators working in education need to do their jobs. Methods for data collection included document analysis, interviews and a survey. Document analysis of key DOC education documents as well as interviews with national education staff allowed for context to be understood regarding the current factors influencing education and educators at DOC. In order to get a sense of DOC educators’ beliefs and opinions about education and the work they are doing, a survey was conducted with DOC staff who self-identified as educators. The data generated from the survey was further elucidated by interviews with DOC educators. The findings of the study revealed that while there is a clearly articulated approach to education at DOC as well as a general level of acceptance among DOC educators, organisational support is needed to help staff understand DOC’s role in education and how to practically implement that into work. DOC educators indicated that they need greater support in order to authentically incorporate Māori views into conservation education, work with teachers and understand EE/EfS best practice. In addition, while DOC’s education policy was put in place to get higher quality outcomes, it will require a substantial amount of time to implement. Time was found to be a resource that DOC educators needed more of. In order to move forward in education, DOC educators need adequate and on-going professional development to increase skills and knowledge. In addition, organisational support and networks are needed as well as a reasonable allotment of time in order to uphold what is being asked of them.

text: A Needs Assessment of Conservation Educators within the Department of Conservation The Department of Conservation (DOC) is the government body that is responsible for conserving Aotearoa/New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage. Although education has not been a primary part of what DOC does, the organisation participates in education in a variety of ways. In order to coordinate and strategize their involvement in education, a new policy has been put in place. This policy, outlined in the National Education Strategy 2010-2030 aims to set the intentions and objectives for education at DOC. A companion to this, the National Education Strategy Implementation Plan, provides some guidance on how goals may be achieved. This emphasises DOC educators’ work in partnership with teachers, which may represent a change in how DOC staff have worked in the past. Since the recent coordination of education at DOC may be different to the way some staff work, a needs assessment of DOC educators’ professional support requirements was called for. Understanding what professional development, support and resources DOC educators need could allow for effective professional support to be put in place. Having adequate professional support could have an ongoing influence on DOC educators’ ability to achieve DOC’s outcomes. Non-formal environmental educators, such as those working at DOC, are key players in environmental education/education for sustainability (EE/EfS). This group of educators have historically been engaged by formal educators to deliver EE/EfS into their classrooms, and in addition, some scholars have claimed that much of what occurs to educate people about the environment is in the non-formal setting. Non-formal educators need considerable professional support; including professional development, organisational support and resources to do their jobs and see outcomes are achieved.

This thesis was conducted as an interpretive, mixed methods study directed at understanding what professional development, support and resources DOC educators working in education need to do their jobs. Methods for data collection included document analysis, interviews and a survey. Document analysis of key DOC education documents as well as interviews with national education staff allowed for context to be understood regarding the current factors influencing education and educators at DOC. In order to get a sense of DOC educators’ beliefs and opinions about education and the work they are doing, a survey was conducted with DOC staff who self-identified as educators. The data generated from the survey was further elucidated by interviews with DOC educators. The findings of the study revealed that while there is a clearly articulated approach to education at DOC as well as a general level of acceptance among DOC educators, organisational support is needed to help staff understand DOC’s role in education and how to practically implement that into work. DOC educators indicated that they need greater support in order to authentically incorporate Māori views into conservation education, work with teachers and understand EE/EfS best practice. In addition, while DOC’s education policy was put in place to get higher quality outcomes, it will require a substantial amount of time to implement. Time was found to be a resource that DOC educators needed more of. In order to move forward in education, DOC educators need adequate and on-going professional development to increase skills and knowledge. In addition, organisational support and networks are needed as well as a reasonable allotment of time in order to uphold what is being asked of them.

year: 2016

title: Whanau Whakapakari: a Māori-centred approach to child rearing and Parent-training programmes

authors: Herbert, Averil May Lloyd

subjects: Whanau Whakapakari

abstract: The goal of this Whanau Whakapakari (Strengthening Families) research was to define critical aspects of Māori experiences and views on child-rearing practices, and to describe whanau (extended family) values and expectations for tamariki (children) and mokopuna (grandchildren).  Furthermore, these Māori views were included in culturally adapted parent-training programmes.  The overall aim was to devise an approach to emphasise client strengths and provide best outcomes for research participants.  Qualitative aspects included discussing the research processes in the Māori community by acknowledging the roles of whanau, hapu (sub-tribal), and iwi (tribal) structures.  I also identified the importance of pan-tribal and urban Māori groups in the current research.  As the project developed, an ongoing consultation and feedback protocol was established to ensure that Māori views on the research and the written outcomes were recognised.  In-depth interviews with kaumatua (elders), and focus groups with Māori service providers and Māori parents were analysed qualitatively to establish Māori values in child rearing and parenting, and the knowledge and skills that contribute to effective parenting and family functioning.  Values identified from these participants confirmed the central role of whanaungatanga (family connections), whakapapa (genealogy), and awhinatanga (support) for Māori. Two culturally adapted parent-training programmes, the Matuatanga (Parenting) Relationships Model and the Matuatanga Values Model programmes, were developed and compared with a Standard Parent Training programme.  The Matuatanga Relationships Model programme emphasised the importance of child, parent and whanau relationships and interactions.  The Matuatanga Values Model programme emphasised Māori values derived from the qualitative data - whanaungatanga, whakapapa and awhinatanga.  A range of pre- and post-training measures were undertaken to identify acceptable and appropriate measures for quantifying parent-training outcomes.  These included questions on support networks, parent expectations of children, parental self-efficacy, parental self-rating, critical-incident scenarios, and programme evaluation.  While 78 participants attended at least one of the research sessions 22 participants provided pre- and post-training measures for the Whanau Whakapakari programmes.  Results showed that there was a medium effect size improvement across all Standard Parent Training and Matuatanga Model programmes and a statistically significant improvement in the Standard Parent Training and Matuatanga Relationship Model programmes.  There were no statistically significant differences between the outcomes of the different programmes but qualitative differences from evaluation and feedback data were considered in identifying specific skills acquisition, general understanding and enjoyment components in the programmes.  Results from the different measures indicated that parent expectations and critical-incident scenario measures provided the most information on post-training changes.  Analysis of the outcome data with the attendance patterns confirmed the value of parent-training programmes per se and indicated that at least in the short term, parent effectiveness scores continued to improve for participants who continued to attend for more than one programme.  Programme follow-ups considered natural whanau supports in the Māori community and issues of social and cultural validity.  Integration of standard parent-training concepts and cultural concepts suggest a multi-dimensional approach which recognises parenting skills acquisition and cultural validation of whanau concepts relevant to parenting for Māori.

text: Whanau Whakapakari: a Māori-centred approach to child rearing and Parent-training programmes The goal of this Whanau Whakapakari (Strengthening Families) research was to define critical aspects of Māori experiences and views on child-rearing practices, and to describe whanau (extended family) values and expectations for tamariki (children) and mokopuna (grandchildren).  Furthermore, these Māori views were included in culturally adapted parent-training programmes.  The overall aim was to devise an approach to emphasise client strengths and provide best outcomes for research participants.  Qualitative aspects included discussing the research processes in the Māori community by acknowledging the roles of whanau, hapu (sub-tribal), and iwi (tribal) structures.  I also identified the importance of pan-tribal and urban Māori groups in the current research.  As the project developed, an ongoing consultation and feedback protocol was established to ensure that Māori views on the research and the written outcomes were recognised.  In-depth interviews with kaumatua (elders), and focus groups with Māori service providers and Māori parents were analysed qualitatively to establish Māori values in child rearing and parenting, and the knowledge and skills that contribute to effective parenting and family functioning.  Values identified from these participants confirmed the central role of whanaungatanga (family connections), whakapapa (genealogy), and awhinatanga (support) for Māori. Two culturally adapted parent-training programmes, the Matuatanga (Parenting) Relationships Model and the Matuatanga Values Model programmes, were developed and compared with a Standard Parent Training programme.  The Matuatanga Relationships Model programme emphasised the importance of child, parent and whanau relationships and interactions.  The Matuatanga Values Model programme emphasised Māori values derived from the qualitative data - whanaungatanga, whakapapa and awhinatanga.  A range of pre- and post-training measures were undertaken to identify acceptable and appropriate measures for quantifying parent-training outcomes.  These included questions on support networks, parent expectations of children, parental self-efficacy, parental self-rating, critical-incident scenarios, and programme evaluation.  While 78 participants attended at least one of the research sessions 22 participants provided pre- and post-training measures for the Whanau Whakapakari programmes.  Results showed that there was a medium effect size improvement across all Standard Parent Training and Matuatanga Model programmes and a statistically significant improvement in the Standard Parent Training and Matuatanga Relationship Model programmes.  There were no statistically significant differences between the outcomes of the different programmes but qualitative differences from evaluation and feedback data were considered in identifying specific skills acquisition, general understanding and enjoyment components in the programmes.  Results from the different measures indicated that parent expectations and critical-incident scenario measures provided the most information on post-training changes.  Analysis of the outcome data with the attendance patterns confirmed the value of parent-training programmes per se and indicated that at least in the short term, parent effectiveness scores continued to improve for participants who continued to attend for more than one programme.  Programme follow-ups considered natural whanau supports in the Māori community and issues of social and cultural validity.  Integration of standard parent-training concepts and cultural concepts suggest a multi-dimensional approach which recognises parenting skills acquisition and cultural validation of whanau concepts relevant to parenting for Māori.

year: 2001