title: Key competencies: Views from the gym floor.

authors: Gillespie, Lorna B.

subjects: physical education

abstract: The release of The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) will inevitably yield challenges and possibilities for teachers of Physical Education in both primary and secondary schools. In this paper I describe the vision and key competencies embedded in this new curriculum and discuss their relationship to Physical Education. Drawing on the voices of secondary school students, I interrogate the opportunities that students envisage for developing key competencies in Physical Education. I propose that students can, and do, afford significant insight into how teachers may enact key competencies in curriculum learning and that it is critical thinking that will enable both students and teachers to understand and relate to the movement culture in meaningful and relevant ways.

text: Key competencies: Views from the gym floor. The release of The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) will inevitably yield challenges and possibilities for teachers of Physical Education in both primary and secondary schools. In this paper I describe the vision and key competencies embedded in this new curriculum and discuss their relationship to Physical Education. Drawing on the voices of secondary school students, I interrogate the opportunities that students envisage for developing key competencies in Physical Education. I propose that students can, and do, afford significant insight into how teachers may enact key competencies in curriculum learning and that it is critical thinking that will enable both students and teachers to understand and relate to the movement culture in meaningful and relevant ways.

year: 2008

title: The effects of dung beetles on ecosystem functioning: From global trends to New Zealand pastures

authors: Hasan, Fevziye

subjects: Dung beetles

abstract: Dung beetles are amazing. Their diverse nesting behaviours affect a suite of important biotic and abiotic ecosystem processes, or functions. However, the dynamics of these functions across different ecosystems and over time remain largely unknown. This PhD thesis investigates the relationships between dung beetles and ecosystem functions, from global-scale trends to the introduced dung beetle communities in pastures of Aotearoa New Zealand. In the first chapter, I provide an overview of the research topic. I go on to describe ecosystem functioning, and in particular the biotic drivers that shape these processes which ultimately lead to ecosystem multifunctionality and the delivery of ecosystem services that benefit humans. I then emphasise the natural history of dung beetles as a springboard to posit whether we can use dung beetles to enhance ecosystem functioning in human modified landscapes, such as agricultural livestock pastures.
The ecosystem functions and services delivered by dung beetles are wide-ranging, including dung removal, nutrient cycling, plant growth enhancement, bioturbation, secondary seed dispersal and trophic regulation. In a meta-analysis of the relationships between dung beetles and ecosystem functions and services (chapter two), I reveal significant positive relationships between dung beetle presence on all measured ecosystem functions, with mixed nesting behaviours showing greater enhancement of ecosystem functioning. Additionally, the findings highlight the significant gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms by which dung beetles contribute to ecosystem functioning, particularly in relation to primary productivity and trophic regulation. Next, in a comparative analysis of dung beetle community characteristics (chapter three) I examine the potential of community structure, community-weighted functional traits, and metabolic rates in predicting dung removal. My findings show that the use of a nesting behaviour index serves as a reliable functional trait for predicting dung removal.
In a mesocosm experiment (chapter four), I attempt to disentangle the mechanisms through which dung beetle temporal diversity drives direct and indirect changes in ecosystem multifunctionality. By comparing methods including individual ecosystem functions, ecosystem multifunctionality metrics, and structural equation modelling, I demonstrate that a causal inference approach best describes ecosystem multifunctionality. In the concluding chapter (chapter five), I synthesise the overarching significance of the findings obtained in the preceding chapters and examine the potential of dung beetles as a nature-based solution in agricultural landscapes. I propose that the introduction of dung beetles can be viewed as a means of ecological intensification, offering potential advantages for multitrophic diversification. Overall, the findings of this thesis have positive implications for nature-based management, offering promising prospects for fostering self-sustaining agroecosystems that can benefit future generations.

text: The effects of dung beetles on ecosystem functioning: From global trends to New Zealand pastures Dung beetles are amazing. Their diverse nesting behaviours affect a suite of important biotic and abiotic ecosystem processes, or functions. However, the dynamics of these functions across different ecosystems and over time remain largely unknown. This PhD thesis investigates the relationships between dung beetles and ecosystem functions, from global-scale trends to the introduced dung beetle communities in pastures of Aotearoa New Zealand. In the first chapter, I provide an overview of the research topic. I go on to describe ecosystem functioning, and in particular the biotic drivers that shape these processes which ultimately lead to ecosystem multifunctionality and the delivery of ecosystem services that benefit humans. I then emphasise the natural history of dung beetles as a springboard to posit whether we can use dung beetles to enhance ecosystem functioning in human modified landscapes, such as agricultural livestock pastures.
The ecosystem functions and services delivered by dung beetles are wide-ranging, including dung removal, nutrient cycling, plant growth enhancement, bioturbation, secondary seed dispersal and trophic regulation. In a meta-analysis of the relationships between dung beetles and ecosystem functions and services (chapter two), I reveal significant positive relationships between dung beetle presence on all measured ecosystem functions, with mixed nesting behaviours showing greater enhancement of ecosystem functioning. Additionally, the findings highlight the significant gaps in our understanding of the mechanisms by which dung beetles contribute to ecosystem functioning, particularly in relation to primary productivity and trophic regulation. Next, in a comparative analysis of dung beetle community characteristics (chapter three) I examine the potential of community structure, community-weighted functional traits, and metabolic rates in predicting dung removal. My findings show that the use of a nesting behaviour index serves as a reliable functional trait for predicting dung removal.
In a mesocosm experiment (chapter four), I attempt to disentangle the mechanisms through which dung beetle temporal diversity drives direct and indirect changes in ecosystem multifunctionality. By comparing methods including individual ecosystem functions, ecosystem multifunctionality metrics, and structural equation modelling, I demonstrate that a causal inference approach best describes ecosystem multifunctionality. In the concluding chapter (chapter five), I synthesise the overarching significance of the findings obtained in the preceding chapters and examine the potential of dung beetles as a nature-based solution in agricultural landscapes. I propose that the introduction of dung beetles can be viewed as a means of ecological intensification, offering potential advantages for multitrophic diversification. Overall, the findings of this thesis have positive implications for nature-based management, offering promising prospects for fostering self-sustaining agroecosystems that can benefit future generations.

year: 2023

title: Enabling conditions for professional development of te reo Māori teachers

authors: Franken, Margaret

subjects: Māori language teachers

abstract: The paper outlines a professional development programme for secondary school teachers of te reo Māori (under the auspices of Te Hiringa i te Mahara) conducted by a language teacher educator and an expert in Māori bilingualism and biliteracy. While the principles underpinning the programme reflect a strong task-based
orientation, the programme approached development needs for the teachers from the point of view of understanding “enabling conditions” (Franken, Rau, Ngata & Parata, n.d.) for effective language learning and teaching (see also Ellis, 2005),
rather than understanding task based learning and teaching per se. The programme drew on the current practices of the teachers and made use of epistemology of Māori language and Māori language learning. The paper presents observations from monitoring data collected during the programme supporting the claim that such an approach to the professional development of language teachers promotes a strong knowledge base and pedagogical reasoning skills (Richards, 1998), and in particular for te reo Māori teachers, fosters a sense of their own professional identity.

text: Enabling conditions for professional development of te reo Māori teachers The paper outlines a professional development programme for secondary school teachers of te reo Māori (under the auspices of Te Hiringa i te Mahara) conducted by a language teacher educator and an expert in Māori bilingualism and biliteracy. While the principles underpinning the programme reflect a strong task-based
orientation, the programme approached development needs for the teachers from the point of view of understanding “enabling conditions” (Franken, Rau, Ngata & Parata, n.d.) for effective language learning and teaching (see also Ellis, 2005),
rather than understanding task based learning and teaching per se. The programme drew on the current practices of the teachers and made use of epistemology of Māori language and Māori language learning. The paper presents observations from monitoring data collected during the programme supporting the claim that such an approach to the professional development of language teachers promotes a strong knowledge base and pedagogical reasoning skills (Richards, 1998), and in particular for te reo Māori teachers, fosters a sense of their own professional identity.

year: 2009