title: The influence of educational context on science learning: a cross-national analysis of PISA

authors: Coll, Richard K.

subjects: PISA

abstract: The literature is replete with studies about the importance of context in relation to teaching and learning. Major international studies such as PISA, among others, attempt to develop an understanding of achievement in science learning in a variety of educational contexts. Here we explore the influence of educational context itself on science learning as measured by PISA. Comparison is made between two countries: one developed or 'western' nation, New Zealand, and one non-western developing nation from southeast Asia, Thailand. In this work the authors seek to establish links between the nature of the educational context (based on Lave's notion of situated cognition) and achievement in the PISA science evaluation exercise.

text: The influence of educational context on science learning: a cross-national analysis of PISA The literature is replete with studies about the importance of context in relation to teaching and learning. Major international studies such as PISA, among others, attempt to develop an understanding of achievement in science learning in a variety of educational contexts. Here we explore the influence of educational context itself on science learning as measured by PISA. Comparison is made between two countries: one developed or 'western' nation, New Zealand, and one non-western developing nation from southeast Asia, Thailand. In this work the authors seek to establish links between the nature of the educational context (based on Lave's notion of situated cognition) and achievement in the PISA science evaluation exercise.

year: 2010

title: Online social networking and its impact on  New Zealand educators’ professional learning

authors: Melhuish, Karen Anne Vickery

subjects: social network sites

abstract: The trend towards collaborative social software and technology in education appears to be exponential. The notion of ‘Web 2.0’ seems almost traditional in the face of aggregation tools and multi-platform spaces, intertwined by a proliferation of social networking tools. With the roll-out of ultrafast broadband and the imminent development of the Network for Learning in New Zealand, it is timely to consider the extent to which online social networks present both challenge and opportunity for educators’ professional learning. This study explores the experiences of educators using the VLN Groups network (www.vln.school.nz) to determine how far this user-generated mode of professional learning might extend professional practices in school. The study considers the ways and the extent to which the affordances of the VLN Groups social network site combine to affect educators' abilities to engage in effective professional learning. 

This interpretive study positions the findings within activity theory in order to characterise the actions of educators in the social network and to draw out tensions and opportunities for development.  A literature review offers an overview of the field of online social networking in the context of educators' professional learning and outlines the challenges for integrating such informal, user-driven learning into meaningful student-focused professional development. A survey of members of the VLN Groups social network was conducted followed by interviews with four participants of the network.  Findings highlight how the typical usage patterns of participants within the social network site reflect a growing familiarity with online ways of working, as well as opportunities to exploit this mode of professional learning more effectively.  

This study suggests that the VLN Groups can provide a thriving participatory system that enables educators to engage in an informal kind of professional learning focused on immediate concerns and contexts in their own teaching and leadership situations. It also raises questions related to what 'counts' as professional learning and how self-driven learning can be integrated into a cycle of active inquiry into practice. The study concludes by outlining recommendations for teachers, schools and policy makers related to connecting and coordinating professional learning in ways that maximise opportunities in the digital age.

text: Online social networking and its impact on  New Zealand educators’ professional learning The trend towards collaborative social software and technology in education appears to be exponential. The notion of ‘Web 2.0’ seems almost traditional in the face of aggregation tools and multi-platform spaces, intertwined by a proliferation of social networking tools. With the roll-out of ultrafast broadband and the imminent development of the Network for Learning in New Zealand, it is timely to consider the extent to which online social networks present both challenge and opportunity for educators’ professional learning. This study explores the experiences of educators using the VLN Groups network (www.vln.school.nz) to determine how far this user-generated mode of professional learning might extend professional practices in school. The study considers the ways and the extent to which the affordances of the VLN Groups social network site combine to affect educators' abilities to engage in effective professional learning. 

This interpretive study positions the findings within activity theory in order to characterise the actions of educators in the social network and to draw out tensions and opportunities for development.  A literature review offers an overview of the field of online social networking in the context of educators' professional learning and outlines the challenges for integrating such informal, user-driven learning into meaningful student-focused professional development. A survey of members of the VLN Groups social network was conducted followed by interviews with four participants of the network.  Findings highlight how the typical usage patterns of participants within the social network site reflect a growing familiarity with online ways of working, as well as opportunities to exploit this mode of professional learning more effectively.  

This study suggests that the VLN Groups can provide a thriving participatory system that enables educators to engage in an informal kind of professional learning focused on immediate concerns and contexts in their own teaching and leadership situations. It also raises questions related to what 'counts' as professional learning and how self-driven learning can be integrated into a cycle of active inquiry into practice. The study concludes by outlining recommendations for teachers, schools and policy makers related to connecting and coordinating professional learning in ways that maximise opportunities in the digital age.

year: 2013

title: Imagining our own approaches

authors: Smith, Linda Tuhiwai

abstract: I spent some formative years of my life either in the back of museums or their basements helping my father, a scholar of Māori Studies, and keeping myself out of trouble. In the late 1960s I had one small job in the library basement of the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, typing new labels for the captains’ log books of ships that were sailing during the American Revolution. I read most of those journals that consisted of pages and pages of wind directions with the rare glimpse of an encounter with another ship or a list of supplies. Why were we there in Salem when we came from Aotearoa, New Zealand? We were there because Salem was the home base for ships that sailed into the Pacific and returned home with collections of materials from the various Pacific Islands countries they visited. My father was studying elaborately carved items from the Marquesa Islands that looked very much like Māori designs.

text: Imagining our own approaches I spent some formative years of my life either in the back of museums or their basements helping my father, a scholar of Māori Studies, and keeping myself out of trouble. In the late 1960s I had one small job in the library basement of the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, typing new labels for the captains’ log books of ships that were sailing during the American Revolution. I read most of those journals that consisted of pages and pages of wind directions with the rare glimpse of an encounter with another ship or a list of supplies. Why were we there in Salem when we came from Aotearoa, New Zealand? We were there because Salem was the home base for ships that sailed into the Pacific and returned home with collections of materials from the various Pacific Islands countries they visited. My father was studying elaborately carved items from the Marquesa Islands that looked very much like Māori designs.

year: 2015