title: A critical analysis of the place of culture in evaluation

authors: Masters-Awatere, Bridgette

abstract: For the past 100 or so years formal evaluation has taken its lead from frameworks that originate from a culturally blind standpoint. Worldwide the major influence on evaluation practice comes from the United States of America. The absence of non-dominant (or indigenous) culturally constructed frameworks has been replicated around the world. Before the formation of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association (ANZEA), as a New Zealand specific evaluation group, practitioners generally belonged to the Australasian Evaluation Society (AES) and joined in the sharing, adoption and adaptation of USAs Program Evaluation Standards. However, the context of evaluation in New Zealand has been somewhat different from the rest of the world, becoming more culturally centered than other countries. The role and place of the Treaty of Waitangi has been acknowledged as an attributing factor (ANZEA, 2011). Four indigenous “By Maori for Maori” health & wellbeing programmes externally evaluated were case studies within my research. I draw upon examples from the cases studies to highlight the vulnerable and contentious position indigenous service providers and indigenous evaluators were in. Adapting Sandra Grande’s (2004) analysis, I critiqued the context of the case study evaluations that commissioners considered as Kaupapa Maori. In this presentation I argue that while stakeholders perceived the work to be an indigenous evaluation, the case studies demonstrate that whitestream evaluation was prevalent.

text: A critical analysis of the place of culture in evaluation For the past 100 or so years formal evaluation has taken its lead from frameworks that originate from a culturally blind standpoint. Worldwide the major influence on evaluation practice comes from the United States of America. The absence of non-dominant (or indigenous) culturally constructed frameworks has been replicated around the world. Before the formation of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association (ANZEA), as a New Zealand specific evaluation group, practitioners generally belonged to the Australasian Evaluation Society (AES) and joined in the sharing, adoption and adaptation of USAs Program Evaluation Standards. However, the context of evaluation in New Zealand has been somewhat different from the rest of the world, becoming more culturally centered than other countries. The role and place of the Treaty of Waitangi has been acknowledged as an attributing factor (ANZEA, 2011). Four indigenous “By Maori for Maori” health & wellbeing programmes externally evaluated were case studies within my research. I draw upon examples from the cases studies to highlight the vulnerable and contentious position indigenous service providers and indigenous evaluators were in. Adapting Sandra Grande’s (2004) analysis, I critiqued the context of the case study evaluations that commissioners considered as Kaupapa Maori. In this presentation I argue that while stakeholders perceived the work to be an indigenous evaluation, the case studies demonstrate that whitestream evaluation was prevalent.

year: 2015

title: Equity, inclusivity and shared humanity:  Addressing intergenerational failure of schooling for Māori

authors: Egan, Margaret

subjects: Equity of Māori learners

abstract: Despite decades of education reform aimed at Māori students succeeding in schooling, the New Zealand education system’s failure to engage effectively with Māori is persistent with Māori underachievement remaining chronic and seemingly intractable.
This thesis examines the interface between leadership and professional learning in a single sex secondary school during their engagement with Te Kotahitanga (Unity of Purpose). The school’s leaders were focused on closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori students and asserted that if students remained engaged at school into the senior year levels, they were more likely to “achieve success”. Te Kotahitanga’s initial focus on teaching and learning in the junior years 9 and 10 presented a potential solution. As this school began to engage with Te Kotahitanga, Ka Hikitia (to step up), a strategy aimed at Māori students achieving educational success as Māori, was launched. Thus, a mandate for school reform focused on Māori potential supported the professional learning provided by Te Kotahitanga.
The findings, presented as quantitative and qualitative evidence, show that school leaders focused on their teachers implementing a more culturally responsive and relational pedagogy at Years 9 and 10 in order to close the achievement gap between Māori and their non-Māori peers. They believed that this would prepare Māori students for the more formal and traditional learning experience required in the senior school, aimed at getting through important national qualifications. While teachers and leaders who were fully engaged in Te Kotahitanga transformed the classroom experiences for their junior and senior learners, not all teachers and leaders engaged, therefore not all learners experienced the change in pedagogy throughout their time at this school. The findings also uncover layers of bias within the school and its community which prevented Māori families from contributing to their children’s education on their own terms. The two key foci, closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori and retaining Māori students into the senior school obfuscated a focus on shared humanity, equity, belonging and better engagement for all.
While this research took place in New Zealand with Māori students these findings can contribute to those involved with school reform especially those in other colonised countries where indigenous students and their families face similar issues.

text: Equity, inclusivity and shared humanity:  Addressing intergenerational failure of schooling for Māori Despite decades of education reform aimed at Māori students succeeding in schooling, the New Zealand education system’s failure to engage effectively with Māori is persistent with Māori underachievement remaining chronic and seemingly intractable.
This thesis examines the interface between leadership and professional learning in a single sex secondary school during their engagement with Te Kotahitanga (Unity of Purpose). The school’s leaders were focused on closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori students and asserted that if students remained engaged at school into the senior year levels, they were more likely to “achieve success”. Te Kotahitanga’s initial focus on teaching and learning in the junior years 9 and 10 presented a potential solution. As this school began to engage with Te Kotahitanga, Ka Hikitia (to step up), a strategy aimed at Māori students achieving educational success as Māori, was launched. Thus, a mandate for school reform focused on Māori potential supported the professional learning provided by Te Kotahitanga.
The findings, presented as quantitative and qualitative evidence, show that school leaders focused on their teachers implementing a more culturally responsive and relational pedagogy at Years 9 and 10 in order to close the achievement gap between Māori and their non-Māori peers. They believed that this would prepare Māori students for the more formal and traditional learning experience required in the senior school, aimed at getting through important national qualifications. While teachers and leaders who were fully engaged in Te Kotahitanga transformed the classroom experiences for their junior and senior learners, not all teachers and leaders engaged, therefore not all learners experienced the change in pedagogy throughout their time at this school. The findings also uncover layers of bias within the school and its community which prevented Māori families from contributing to their children’s education on their own terms. The two key foci, closing the achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori and retaining Māori students into the senior school obfuscated a focus on shared humanity, equity, belonging and better engagement for all.
While this research took place in New Zealand with Māori students these findings can contribute to those involved with school reform especially those in other colonised countries where indigenous students and their families face similar issues.

year: 2022

title: Improving road safety and health: Understandng kava's impact on driver fitness.

authors: Aporosa, S. 'Apo'

abstract: Kava (Piper methysticum) is a traditional and culturally significant Pacific Island beverage that produces a soporific relaxant effect. Kava’s psychopharmacological action is similar to the anti-anxiety drug Benzodiazepine. Traditional users often consume the kava drink at volumes as much as 30 times greater than pharmacologically recommended doses. Prompted by concerns regarding driver impairment post kava drinking, a study was undertaken replicating traditional kava sessions in terms of duration and kava consumption, to investigate the effects of kava on driving capability.
Kava consumers (n=20) attended two six-hour kava sessions, each participant drinking an average 3.52 litres of kava. A non-kava consuming control group (n=20) was included in the study. At baseline all the participants completed computerised industry standard driver safety assessment tests (Vienna Test System: Traffic WAFA Alertness and WAFG Divided Attention) to measure reaction time, perception and attention. Re-testing was conducted at hourly intervals over the six-hour period. Pre/post analysis compared person to person and between groups change. Statistical modeling was based on ANOVA, independent t-tests and Bayesian analysis.
Data analysis indicated no statistically significant (p<0.05) difference between reaction time and divided attention, both within individuals and between groups, at any measurement point over the six-hour testing period. The mean reaction time and divided attention time at the baseline measurement was 249.95msec (milliseconds) and 583.58msec respectively. The control and active group mean reaction time at the final test was 256.70msec and 271.8msec respectively. The mean divided attention times for the control and active groups at the final test were 499.75msec and 568.32msec.
Kava at traditional consumption volumes was not correlated to response latency or impairment on perception and attention tasks, when measured using authoritative driver assessment tests. From this it could be inferred that kava use at traditionally influenced consumption volumes does not compromise driver safety. However, it can be argued that current industry standard accepted cognitive measures of driver safety, assess impairment from the use of euphoric and hallucinogenic drug substances (such as alcohol and marijuana), and fail to account for kava’s unique form of ‘intoxication’. Further research beyond the assessment of these two cognitive functions is, it seems, desirable to better understand if kava has any effect on driver ability.
The study was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (16/462) and the University of Waikato, and the test battery was generously donated by Vienna Tests Systems, Germany.

text: Improving road safety and health: Understandng kava's impact on driver fitness. Kava (Piper methysticum) is a traditional and culturally significant Pacific Island beverage that produces a soporific relaxant effect. Kava’s psychopharmacological action is similar to the anti-anxiety drug Benzodiazepine. Traditional users often consume the kava drink at volumes as much as 30 times greater than pharmacologically recommended doses. Prompted by concerns regarding driver impairment post kava drinking, a study was undertaken replicating traditional kava sessions in terms of duration and kava consumption, to investigate the effects of kava on driving capability.
Kava consumers (n=20) attended two six-hour kava sessions, each participant drinking an average 3.52 litres of kava. A non-kava consuming control group (n=20) was included in the study. At baseline all the participants completed computerised industry standard driver safety assessment tests (Vienna Test System: Traffic WAFA Alertness and WAFG Divided Attention) to measure reaction time, perception and attention. Re-testing was conducted at hourly intervals over the six-hour period. Pre/post analysis compared person to person and between groups change. Statistical modeling was based on ANOVA, independent t-tests and Bayesian analysis.
Data analysis indicated no statistically significant (p<0.05) difference between reaction time and divided attention, both within individuals and between groups, at any measurement point over the six-hour testing period. The mean reaction time and divided attention time at the baseline measurement was 249.95msec (milliseconds) and 583.58msec respectively. The control and active group mean reaction time at the final test was 256.70msec and 271.8msec respectively. The mean divided attention times for the control and active groups at the final test were 499.75msec and 568.32msec.
Kava at traditional consumption volumes was not correlated to response latency or impairment on perception and attention tasks, when measured using authoritative driver assessment tests. From this it could be inferred that kava use at traditionally influenced consumption volumes does not compromise driver safety. However, it can be argued that current industry standard accepted cognitive measures of driver safety, assess impairment from the use of euphoric and hallucinogenic drug substances (such as alcohol and marijuana), and fail to account for kava’s unique form of ‘intoxication’. Further research beyond the assessment of these two cognitive functions is, it seems, desirable to better understand if kava has any effect on driver ability.
The study was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (16/462) and the University of Waikato, and the test battery was generously donated by Vienna Tests Systems, Germany.

year: 2018