title: Developing an effective education reform model for indigenous and other minoritized students

authors: Bishop, Russell

subjects: indigenous

abstract: Educational disparities between indigenous Maori students and those of the majority continue to be a major issue in New Zealand. Te Kotahitanga, an iterative research and development programme, which commenced in 2001, supports teachers to implement a relationship-based pedagogy in their classrooms in order to improve Maori students' achievement in mainstream secondary schools. This article addresses the question of how gains in Maori students' achievement can be sustained and expanded. Schools, from an earlier phase of the project, in their 6th and 7th year of the programme were examined, using a theory-based model designed to evaluate and promote dimensions necessary for effective institutional support of the teaching innovation. This article demonstrates that schools that have been the most effective implementers of the intervention have seen the greatest gains made by Maori students in the 1st year of national assessments. This article then discusses effective leadership for addressing problems schools encountered while implementing the pedagogic reform.

text: Developing an effective education reform model for indigenous and other minoritized students Educational disparities between indigenous Maori students and those of the majority continue to be a major issue in New Zealand. Te Kotahitanga, an iterative research and development programme, which commenced in 2001, supports teachers to implement a relationship-based pedagogy in their classrooms in order to improve Maori students' achievement in mainstream secondary schools. This article addresses the question of how gains in Maori students' achievement can be sustained and expanded. Schools, from an earlier phase of the project, in their 6th and 7th year of the programme were examined, using a theory-based model designed to evaluate and promote dimensions necessary for effective institutional support of the teaching innovation. This article demonstrates that schools that have been the most effective implementers of the intervention have seen the greatest gains made by Maori students in the 1st year of national assessments. This article then discusses effective leadership for addressing problems schools encountered while implementing the pedagogic reform.

year: 2012

title: Indigenous knowledge, methodology and mayhem: What is the role of methodology in producing indigenous insights? A discussion from Mātauranga Māori

authors: Smith, Linda Tuhiwai

abstract: The emergence of an academic discourse called Indigenous knowledge internationally, and mātauranga Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand, presents some substantive challenges to concepts of knowing and being, of knowledge creation, knowledge work and the making of meaning. These challenges engage us across philosophical, disciplinary, institutional, inter-generational, territorial and community boundaries, presenting an opportunity to imagine this field anew, and the theories and methodologies that inform contemporary Māori or Indigenous Studies. This article raises some discussion about ‘research methodologies’ being used when discussing mātauranga Māori and Indigenous knowledge (hereafter referred to as IK mātauranga). Research methodologies are often associated with specific disciplines of knowledge and viewed as the primary if not singular way in which knowledge is generated. Arguably, IK mātauranga occupies a different knowledge space from traditional academic disciplines, including their transdisciplinary interstices. This article speaks to a gnawing sense that mayhem is at play, as the academic work around IK mātauranga begins to consolidate and become institutionalised away from its indigenous communities and contexts, where it began and where it still informs identities, ways of living and being.

text: Indigenous knowledge, methodology and mayhem: What is the role of methodology in producing indigenous insights? A discussion from Mātauranga Māori The emergence of an academic discourse called Indigenous knowledge internationally, and mātauranga Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand, presents some substantive challenges to concepts of knowing and being, of knowledge creation, knowledge work and the making of meaning. These challenges engage us across philosophical, disciplinary, institutional, inter-generational, territorial and community boundaries, presenting an opportunity to imagine this field anew, and the theories and methodologies that inform contemporary Māori or Indigenous Studies. This article raises some discussion about ‘research methodologies’ being used when discussing mātauranga Māori and Indigenous knowledge (hereafter referred to as IK mātauranga). Research methodologies are often associated with specific disciplines of knowledge and viewed as the primary if not singular way in which knowledge is generated. Arguably, IK mātauranga occupies a different knowledge space from traditional academic disciplines, including their transdisciplinary interstices. This article speaks to a gnawing sense that mayhem is at play, as the academic work around IK mātauranga begins to consolidate and become institutionalised away from its indigenous communities and contexts, where it began and where it still informs identities, ways of living and being.

year: 2016

title: Searching for happiness in ‘other worlds’: Utopias and dystopias in Japanese isekai

authors: Wang, Xueqian (Amy)

subjects: Isekai

abstract: This thesis focuses on the popular, but under-researched genre, of isekai. Although the wider medium umbrella under which isekai falls — anime, manga and light novels — have received increasing critical attention, the isekai is a genre that has only begun to be academically explored over the last three to four years, particularly from 2020 onwards. Literally translating to ‘another world,’ it is a branch of the familiar portal-quest fantasy category that has, particularly in recent years, formed its own, distinctive formulas and tropes. This thesis makes an important contribution to unpacking and understanding this surprisingly complex and nuanced genre that offers readers and viewers both entertainment, and a way of thinking about relevant issues to do with personal happiness and self-fulfilment. In this thesis, I will offer an analysis of three isekai narratives through the primary lens of utopian and dystopian discourse, highlighting the way in which the isekai explores both human desires and fears. Hybridity is a key finding of my analysis, with the genre not only juxtaposing and combining utopia and dystopia, but also, old and new worlds, portal-quest and immersive fantasy elements, and Western and Japanese literary and cultural perspectives. This hybridity points to the entangled, interconnected nature of utopia and dystopia itself.
The three texts I have chosen all follow the contemporary isekai trend of featuring adult protagonists (as opposed to teenagers), the “Japanese Salaryman/woman”, worn out by work and modern society. The three series that I analyse are That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2014) by Fuse, By the Grace of the Gods (2017) by Roy, and I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level (2017) by Kisetsu Morita. Each of these new worlds is structured in a way that encourages the protagonist to embrace personal desires that were suppressed on Earth, and provides a sense of healing. With the skills and knowledge inherited from Earth, combined alongside the new abilities the protagonists gain as they are reincarnated or summoned into the new world, the central characters are granted the opportunity to create a new, utopian life for themselves. By extension, they exert an influence on the land and people around them to ultimately forge a more utopian world. The way that the protagonists navigate and explore their relationship between both old and new worlds, as well as their old and new selves, further reveals a more complex relationship between utopia and dystopia. The recurring cultural aspects present in these texts, most notably cuisine and business practices, emphasises the desire for cultural fusion, as well as offering insightful social critique. While the new world also contains dystopian elements, I propose that the isekai can be viewed as a new reimagining of a Japanese utopia.

text: Searching for happiness in ‘other worlds’: Utopias and dystopias in Japanese isekai This thesis focuses on the popular, but under-researched genre, of isekai. Although the wider medium umbrella under which isekai falls — anime, manga and light novels — have received increasing critical attention, the isekai is a genre that has only begun to be academically explored over the last three to four years, particularly from 2020 onwards. Literally translating to ‘another world,’ it is a branch of the familiar portal-quest fantasy category that has, particularly in recent years, formed its own, distinctive formulas and tropes. This thesis makes an important contribution to unpacking and understanding this surprisingly complex and nuanced genre that offers readers and viewers both entertainment, and a way of thinking about relevant issues to do with personal happiness and self-fulfilment. In this thesis, I will offer an analysis of three isekai narratives through the primary lens of utopian and dystopian discourse, highlighting the way in which the isekai explores both human desires and fears. Hybridity is a key finding of my analysis, with the genre not only juxtaposing and combining utopia and dystopia, but also, old and new worlds, portal-quest and immersive fantasy elements, and Western and Japanese literary and cultural perspectives. This hybridity points to the entangled, interconnected nature of utopia and dystopia itself.
The three texts I have chosen all follow the contemporary isekai trend of featuring adult protagonists (as opposed to teenagers), the “Japanese Salaryman/woman”, worn out by work and modern society. The three series that I analyse are That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2014) by Fuse, By the Grace of the Gods (2017) by Roy, and I’ve Been Killing Slimes For 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level (2017) by Kisetsu Morita. Each of these new worlds is structured in a way that encourages the protagonist to embrace personal desires that were suppressed on Earth, and provides a sense of healing. With the skills and knowledge inherited from Earth, combined alongside the new abilities the protagonists gain as they are reincarnated or summoned into the new world, the central characters are granted the opportunity to create a new, utopian life for themselves. By extension, they exert an influence on the land and people around them to ultimately forge a more utopian world. The way that the protagonists navigate and explore their relationship between both old and new worlds, as well as their old and new selves, further reveals a more complex relationship between utopia and dystopia. The recurring cultural aspects present in these texts, most notably cuisine and business practices, emphasises the desire for cultural fusion, as well as offering insightful social critique. While the new world also contains dystopian elements, I propose that the isekai can be viewed as a new reimagining of a Japanese utopia.

year: 2022