title: Gaming Business Communities: Developing online learning organisations to foster communities, develop leadership, and grow interpersonal education

authors: Gallagher, Lloyd

subjects: gaming business communities

abstract: This paper explores, through observation and testing, what possibilities from gaming can be extended into other realms of human interaction to help bring people together, extend education, and grow business. It uses through action learning within the safety of the virtual world within Massively Multiplayer Online Games. Further, I explore how the world of online gaming provides opportunity to train a wide range of skills through extending Revans’ (1980) learning equation and action inquiry methodology. This equation and methodology are deployed in relation to a gaming community to see if the theories could produce strong relationships within organisations and examine what learning, if any, is achievable.

I also investigate the potential for changes in business (e.g., employee and customer relationships) through involvement in the gaming community as a unique place to implement action learning. The thesis also asks the following questions on a range of extended possibilities in the world of online gaming: What if the world opened up to a social environment where people could discuss their successes and failures? What if people could take a real world issue and re‐create it in the safe virtual world to test ways of dealing with it? What education answers can the world of online gaming provide?

text: Gaming Business Communities: Developing online learning organisations to foster communities, develop leadership, and grow interpersonal education This paper explores, through observation and testing, what possibilities from gaming can be extended into other realms of human interaction to help bring people together, extend education, and grow business. It uses through action learning within the safety of the virtual world within Massively Multiplayer Online Games. Further, I explore how the world of online gaming provides opportunity to train a wide range of skills through extending Revans’ (1980) learning equation and action inquiry methodology. This equation and methodology are deployed in relation to a gaming community to see if the theories could produce strong relationships within organisations and examine what learning, if any, is achievable.

I also investigate the potential for changes in business (e.g., employee and customer relationships) through involvement in the gaming community as a unique place to implement action learning. The thesis also asks the following questions on a range of extended possibilities in the world of online gaming: What if the world opened up to a social environment where people could discuss their successes and failures? What if people could take a real world issue and re‐create it in the safe virtual world to test ways of dealing with it? What education answers can the world of online gaming provide?

year: 2012

title: Mothers, kids, and COVID: Suburban geographies of the COVID-19 pandemic

authors: Arnott, Elizabeth Charlotte

subjects: Mothers

abstract: This thesis extends pandemic, health, and maternal geographies by examining how the emotions and actions of seven mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic influence the health outcomes of their children. The research seeks to explain mothers’ responses to, and lived experiences during, the COVID-19 pandemic in a coastal Bay of Plenty suburb in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research addresses three main questions: first, how have COVID-19 public health requirements altered mothers’ relationship with their homes and suburban communities? Second, how have mothers understood COVID-19 scientific knowledge and mis/dis information in relation to the vaccine for 5 to 11-year-old children? Third, how do mothers with their vaccinated and unvaccinated children navigate their suburban movements during COVID-19 public health requirements? The thesis aims to promote awareness of the influence and impact mothers can have on geographies of disease management.

Discussion around COVID-19 has been wide-ranging and varied on the geographical consequences of the pandemic, however, there is little that accounts for the role of mothers, children and their disrupted everyday geographies. Current discourses marginalise mothers in their role as caregiver and this research seeks to re-image mothers and make space for their alternative ways of generating and sharing knowledge. Seven mothers, with at least one child aged 5 to 11-years-old, participated in semi-structured interviews with an emotional mapping activity. The methodology is theoretically and empirically innovative and seeks to open up creative ways of conducting pandemic and health research.

My findings are organised into three areas: the idea of home as being both ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’ for mothers during the pandemic; the consequence of ‘bubble’ living on the mobility of mothers and their children; and, how mothers’ behaviours changed over the course of the pandemic in relation to the rise of mis/dis information, with particular focus on information towards the vaccine for young children. I assert that the lived experiences of mothers during the pandemic have created space for increased confidence when making health-related decisions for their children. Some mothers have challenged the public health advice. The consequences of which are visible through the low uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. Ultimately, this thesis shows how mothers can be at the forefront of disease management. Mothers who combine science and emotion to make decisions add to complex geographies of disease management. Understanding this may help frame effective strategies of preparedness and response to future pandemics.

text: Mothers, kids, and COVID: Suburban geographies of the COVID-19 pandemic This thesis extends pandemic, health, and maternal geographies by examining how the emotions and actions of seven mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic influence the health outcomes of their children. The research seeks to explain mothers’ responses to, and lived experiences during, the COVID-19 pandemic in a coastal Bay of Plenty suburb in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research addresses three main questions: first, how have COVID-19 public health requirements altered mothers’ relationship with their homes and suburban communities? Second, how have mothers understood COVID-19 scientific knowledge and mis/dis information in relation to the vaccine for 5 to 11-year-old children? Third, how do mothers with their vaccinated and unvaccinated children navigate their suburban movements during COVID-19 public health requirements? The thesis aims to promote awareness of the influence and impact mothers can have on geographies of disease management.

Discussion around COVID-19 has been wide-ranging and varied on the geographical consequences of the pandemic, however, there is little that accounts for the role of mothers, children and their disrupted everyday geographies. Current discourses marginalise mothers in their role as caregiver and this research seeks to re-image mothers and make space for their alternative ways of generating and sharing knowledge. Seven mothers, with at least one child aged 5 to 11-years-old, participated in semi-structured interviews with an emotional mapping activity. The methodology is theoretically and empirically innovative and seeks to open up creative ways of conducting pandemic and health research.

My findings are organised into three areas: the idea of home as being both ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’ for mothers during the pandemic; the consequence of ‘bubble’ living on the mobility of mothers and their children; and, how mothers’ behaviours changed over the course of the pandemic in relation to the rise of mis/dis information, with particular focus on information towards the vaccine for young children. I assert that the lived experiences of mothers during the pandemic have created space for increased confidence when making health-related decisions for their children. Some mothers have challenged the public health advice. The consequences of which are visible through the low uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11. Ultimately, this thesis shows how mothers can be at the forefront of disease management. Mothers who combine science and emotion to make decisions add to complex geographies of disease management. Understanding this may help frame effective strategies of preparedness and response to future pandemics.

year: 2023

title: Whānau Stories: Creating meaningful engagement and wellbeing for the indigenous culture of Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Cruse, Diana Caroline Annavale

subjects: Engagement

abstract: This research sees my interests coalesce into a particular focus on how collaborative partnerships with parents/caregivers can provide whānau Māori with opportunities to strengthen wellbeing in their own lives. It is located in Aotearoa New Zealand and within the context of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996), Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum.  The Ministry of Education has a target that 98% of all children in Aotearoa New Zealand under 5 will attend an early childhood education setting (Ministry of Education, 2016), with Māori children having lower participation rates than the national participation rate (Ministry of Education, 2013).  The premise for this thesis is that meaningful whānau engagement in early learning contexts within Aotearoa New Zealand can empower whānau Māori, and honour the promises made in Te Tiriti o Waitangi of partnership, participation, and protection.
Therefore, this thesis sets out to examine what constitutes meaningful engagement for whānau Māori in an early childhood setting in Aotearoa New Zealand, and how meaningful engagement can assist whānau to enjoy an increase of wellbeing.
To explore this issue, I conducted research within an early childhood setting in Aotearoa New Zealand, using methodologies of Kaupapa Māori Research and Narrative Inquiry.  I listened to the narratives of whānau Māori indicating how meaningful engagement was created for them, and investigated if links were generated between engagement and wellbeing for their whānau. These links were identified in the literature as significant levers for educational success.
This research discovered three stages of engagement for the whānau Māori who participated in this study: establishing engagement, developing engagement and solidifying engagement.  Once created, meaningful engagement can lead to flourishing, indicating that there is relationship between meaningful engagement and whānau wellbeing.

text: Whānau Stories: Creating meaningful engagement and wellbeing for the indigenous culture of Aotearoa New Zealand This research sees my interests coalesce into a particular focus on how collaborative partnerships with parents/caregivers can provide whānau Māori with opportunities to strengthen wellbeing in their own lives. It is located in Aotearoa New Zealand and within the context of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996), Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum.  The Ministry of Education has a target that 98% of all children in Aotearoa New Zealand under 5 will attend an early childhood education setting (Ministry of Education, 2016), with Māori children having lower participation rates than the national participation rate (Ministry of Education, 2013).  The premise for this thesis is that meaningful whānau engagement in early learning contexts within Aotearoa New Zealand can empower whānau Māori, and honour the promises made in Te Tiriti o Waitangi of partnership, participation, and protection.
Therefore, this thesis sets out to examine what constitutes meaningful engagement for whānau Māori in an early childhood setting in Aotearoa New Zealand, and how meaningful engagement can assist whānau to enjoy an increase of wellbeing.
To explore this issue, I conducted research within an early childhood setting in Aotearoa New Zealand, using methodologies of Kaupapa Māori Research and Narrative Inquiry.  I listened to the narratives of whānau Māori indicating how meaningful engagement was created for them, and investigated if links were generated between engagement and wellbeing for their whānau. These links were identified in the literature as significant levers for educational success.
This research discovered three stages of engagement for the whānau Māori who participated in this study: establishing engagement, developing engagement and solidifying engagement.  Once created, meaningful engagement can lead to flourishing, indicating that there is relationship between meaningful engagement and whānau wellbeing.

year: 2017