title: Red star over Iraq: Iraqi Communism before Saddam [Book Review]

authors: Drury, Abdullah

abstract: This article reviews the book 'Red star over Iraq: Iraqi Communism before Saddam', by Johan Franzén.

text: Red star over Iraq: Iraqi Communism before Saddam [Book Review] This article reviews the book 'Red star over Iraq: Iraqi Communism before Saddam', by Johan Franzén.

year: 2012-03

title: ‘Against the grain’: over 75 years and joining a community exercise programme

authors: Grant, Bevan C.

subjects: ageing

abstract: This study explores the meanings that 22 men over 75 years attributed to their experience when joining a community exercise programme. Information gathered via interviews was analysed by inductive analysis. Four dominant themes emerged and these provide a framework for representing the findings. All men believed a physical active lifestyle was desirable for well-being and quality of life, although engagement at various levels is strongly influenced by the social construction of ageing and one’s personal history. Being physically active via a programme in later life is as much an embodied as a technical endeavour. It is also as much biographical as biological, and for ongoing engagement exercise must be deemed purposeful to self, irrespective of whether or not what occurs is in accordance with the scientific script prescribed for optimal health. Just being ‘older’ poses a variety of challenges to adopting a physically active lifestyle in the later years, something the men in this study imply needs to be better understood.

text: ‘Against the grain’: over 75 years and joining a community exercise programme This study explores the meanings that 22 men over 75 years attributed to their experience when joining a community exercise programme. Information gathered via interviews was analysed by inductive analysis. Four dominant themes emerged and these provide a framework for representing the findings. All men believed a physical active lifestyle was desirable for well-being and quality of life, although engagement at various levels is strongly influenced by the social construction of ageing and one’s personal history. Being physically active via a programme in later life is as much an embodied as a technical endeavour. It is also as much biographical as biological, and for ongoing engagement exercise must be deemed purposeful to self, irrespective of whether or not what occurs is in accordance with the scientific script prescribed for optimal health. Just being ‘older’ poses a variety of challenges to adopting a physically active lifestyle in the later years, something the men in this study imply needs to be better understood.

year: 2012

title: A life-history analysis of achievement of Māori and Pacific Island students at the Church College of New Zealand

authors: Solomon, Tereapii Elinora

subjects: Church College

abstract: The Church College of New Zealand is a private co-educational secondary school located near Hamilton, New Zealand and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Since its opening in 1958, it has hosted a large population of Polynesian students, in particular Māori.  The questions that this thesis addresses centre on the nature, history and reasons for what seems to be a disproportionately higher level of achievement amongst Māori and Pacific Island students at Church College than in New Zealand more broadly.  Through a life-history approach to research, this thesis provides an overview of the rich history behind the building of the Church College, and highlights the experiences of successful graduates over three particular timeframes - 1951-1969, 1970-1989 and the 1990s.  

A major contributing factor to the success of the students at Church College is an environment where both religious and cultural values of students are reaffirmed and considered normal.  For some students, Church College provided an environment that validated what students were being taught in their own homes.  For others, it provided a refuge from a conflicted home.  With the growing pressures of social problems within the wider community for many Māori and Pacific Island families, the school environment of  the Church College was a key factor in providing stability  and security for some students at the College.

On June 29 2006, an announcement was made by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of the phased out closure of Church College beginning in the year 2007 and eventually closing at the end of the year 2009. With Māori and Pacific Island students so under-represented in achievement and participation in education settings in New Zealand, the announcement of the closure provided an opportunity to highlight some of the successes experienced at the Church College of New Zealand.

text: A life-history analysis of achievement of Māori and Pacific Island students at the Church College of New Zealand The Church College of New Zealand is a private co-educational secondary school located near Hamilton, New Zealand and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Since its opening in 1958, it has hosted a large population of Polynesian students, in particular Māori.  The questions that this thesis addresses centre on the nature, history and reasons for what seems to be a disproportionately higher level of achievement amongst Māori and Pacific Island students at Church College than in New Zealand more broadly.  Through a life-history approach to research, this thesis provides an overview of the rich history behind the building of the Church College, and highlights the experiences of successful graduates over three particular timeframes - 1951-1969, 1970-1989 and the 1990s.  

A major contributing factor to the success of the students at Church College is an environment where both religious and cultural values of students are reaffirmed and considered normal.  For some students, Church College provided an environment that validated what students were being taught in their own homes.  For others, it provided a refuge from a conflicted home.  With the growing pressures of social problems within the wider community for many Māori and Pacific Island families, the school environment of  the Church College was a key factor in providing stability  and security for some students at the College.

On June 29 2006, an announcement was made by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of the phased out closure of Church College beginning in the year 2007 and eventually closing at the end of the year 2009. With Māori and Pacific Island students so under-represented in achievement and participation in education settings in New Zealand, the announcement of the closure provided an opportunity to highlight some of the successes experienced at the Church College of New Zealand.

year: 2008