title: Precision horticulture - Helping make better orchard management decisions

authors: Hull, Graeme George

abstract: Horticultural production is becoming more complicated and consumers are becoming more demanding. Precision horticulture is the natural extension of precision agriculture, which has been widely applied in broad-acre production systems such as corn farming for many years. Precision horticulture considers both spatial and temporal variability at reasonably small scales when making orchard management decisions. Remote sensing tools such as multi-spectrum cameras together with computer support tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are key to collecting and analysing large amounts of information in a timely and cost-effective way. In the near future, growers will likely be able to create and use near-real-time canopy maps to help them make better management decisions.

text: Precision horticulture - Helping make better orchard management decisions Horticultural production is becoming more complicated and consumers are becoming more demanding. Precision horticulture is the natural extension of precision agriculture, which has been widely applied in broad-acre production systems such as corn farming for many years. Precision horticulture considers both spatial and temporal variability at reasonably small scales when making orchard management decisions. Remote sensing tools such as multi-spectrum cameras together with computer support tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are key to collecting and analysing large amounts of information in a timely and cost-effective way. In the near future, growers will likely be able to create and use near-real-time canopy maps to help them make better management decisions.

year: 2016

title: Overseas Trained Teachers' Experiences of Professional Socialisation in New Zealand

authors: Butcher, Jane

subjects: overseas trained teacher

abstract: This research traces the early experiences of overseas trained teachers (OTTs) recommencing their careers in urban secondary schools in New Zealand. The teachers’ professional lives during the first three terms of their employment are explored through their experiences. Participants’ share their perceptions and interpretations of the new situations, processes and events they encounter in their schools and beyond. 

The purpose of this research is to discover how immigrant teachers experience the systems and processes required to become members of their professional community. Aspects of participants’ experiences of national systems for immigration, qualification recognition, teacher registration, and salary assessment are discussed. School systems for teacher induction and professional learning are also critiqued.

The research contributes to the debate about the role and integration of OTTs in New Zealand schools. It will be of interest to national agencies, school principals and those with responsibility for teacher supply, teacher education and the provision of ongoing professional learning for teachers. The research also contributes to greater understanding of the lived experiences of migrant professionals in New Zealand. 

An interpretive research paradigm has been followed and a hermeneutic phenomenological methodological approach chosen to capture the lived experiences of the participants through their journeys towards professional socialisation. The research is guided by the philosophical thinking of Heidegger, Gadamer and van Manen. 

Ten participants shared their lived experiences through reports and anecdotes of events, relationships, emotions, and subjectivities as they occurred within the structures, institutions, and policies of their new environments. The findings revealed OTTs’ negative experiences with multilayered systems as they strove to establish their private and professional identities. 

The findings have uncovered systemic failure by agencies and schools to provide the necessary formal induction and ongoing assistance to meet the perceived needs of OTTs and facilitate their transition into New Zealand classrooms. It is shown that schools and their OTTs rely heavily on informal arrangements between colleagues to overcome knowledge gaps and communicate information. The progress of immigrant teachers towards professional socialisation is affected by their positioning and that of their schools. It is also shown to be aided by involvement with extra-curricula activities and the resumption of familiar hobbies, sports and interests. 

The research raises concern for the sustenance of OTTs in the New Zealand teaching community. It indicates that there is need for a wider study, and the follow up of teachers who immigrate to New Zealand to inform the systems and procedures for their professional socialisation.

text: Overseas Trained Teachers' Experiences of Professional Socialisation in New Zealand This research traces the early experiences of overseas trained teachers (OTTs) recommencing their careers in urban secondary schools in New Zealand. The teachers’ professional lives during the first three terms of their employment are explored through their experiences. Participants’ share their perceptions and interpretations of the new situations, processes and events they encounter in their schools and beyond. 

The purpose of this research is to discover how immigrant teachers experience the systems and processes required to become members of their professional community. Aspects of participants’ experiences of national systems for immigration, qualification recognition, teacher registration, and salary assessment are discussed. School systems for teacher induction and professional learning are also critiqued.

The research contributes to the debate about the role and integration of OTTs in New Zealand schools. It will be of interest to national agencies, school principals and those with responsibility for teacher supply, teacher education and the provision of ongoing professional learning for teachers. The research also contributes to greater understanding of the lived experiences of migrant professionals in New Zealand. 

An interpretive research paradigm has been followed and a hermeneutic phenomenological methodological approach chosen to capture the lived experiences of the participants through their journeys towards professional socialisation. The research is guided by the philosophical thinking of Heidegger, Gadamer and van Manen. 

Ten participants shared their lived experiences through reports and anecdotes of events, relationships, emotions, and subjectivities as they occurred within the structures, institutions, and policies of their new environments. The findings revealed OTTs’ negative experiences with multilayered systems as they strove to establish their private and professional identities. 

The findings have uncovered systemic failure by agencies and schools to provide the necessary formal induction and ongoing assistance to meet the perceived needs of OTTs and facilitate their transition into New Zealand classrooms. It is shown that schools and their OTTs rely heavily on informal arrangements between colleagues to overcome knowledge gaps and communicate information. The progress of immigrant teachers towards professional socialisation is affected by their positioning and that of their schools. It is also shown to be aided by involvement with extra-curricula activities and the resumption of familiar hobbies, sports and interests. 

The research raises concern for the sustenance of OTTs in the New Zealand teaching community. It indicates that there is need for a wider study, and the follow up of teachers who immigrate to New Zealand to inform the systems and procedures for their professional socialisation.

year: 2012

title: The chronology of Waikato pā: A spatio-temporal investigation of pā in the middle Waikato basin

authors: McBride, Rowan

subjects: pā

abstract: This study considers the chronology of pā construction, proliferation, and development within the 
Middle Waikato Basin through a spatio-temporal investigation of palisade construction activity as 
identified at six pā (fortified places). The chronological approach applied in this thesis uses 14C 
wiggle-match dating to provide an accurate and precise calendar date for the felling of a tree 
(Felling Date) used to construct a palisade defence at a pā. These Felling Dates are interpreted using 
the theory of time perspectivism, focusing on three distinct scales of analysis: Event, Local, and 
Regional. The event scale of analysis successfully produced twenty high-precision felling dates on 
posts recovered from Lake Mangakaware 1 (MA1), Lake Mangakaware 2 (MA2), Lake Mangahia 
(MGA), Taraheke Pā (TAR), Te Uapata Pā (TEU) and Lake Rotokauri (ROT). The local scale 
analysis utilised these felling dates to track the development of the identified palisade defences 
over time, identifying multiple palisade construction phases, representing construction, repair and 
redevelopment episodes at MA1, MA2, MGA, TAR and TEU. Finally, the regional scale analysis 
integrated this evidence into a broader chronological framework, identifying shared episodes of 
palisade construction activity within the Middle Waikato Basin. This analysis highlights three 
critical periods of proposed socio-political stress and stability between the late fifteenth and early 
nineteenth centuries, related to hypothesised influential variables from the broader cultural and 
archaeological landscape that are proposed to be responsible for the emergence, proliferation and 
development of pā over time.

text: The chronology of Waikato pā: A spatio-temporal investigation of pā in the middle Waikato basin This study considers the chronology of pā construction, proliferation, and development within the 
Middle Waikato Basin through a spatio-temporal investigation of palisade construction activity as 
identified at six pā (fortified places). The chronological approach applied in this thesis uses 14C 
wiggle-match dating to provide an accurate and precise calendar date for the felling of a tree 
(Felling Date) used to construct a palisade defence at a pā. These Felling Dates are interpreted using 
the theory of time perspectivism, focusing on three distinct scales of analysis: Event, Local, and 
Regional. The event scale of analysis successfully produced twenty high-precision felling dates on 
posts recovered from Lake Mangakaware 1 (MA1), Lake Mangakaware 2 (MA2), Lake Mangahia 
(MGA), Taraheke Pā (TAR), Te Uapata Pā (TEU) and Lake Rotokauri (ROT). The local scale 
analysis utilised these felling dates to track the development of the identified palisade defences 
over time, identifying multiple palisade construction phases, representing construction, repair and 
redevelopment episodes at MA1, MA2, MGA, TAR and TEU. Finally, the regional scale analysis 
integrated this evidence into a broader chronological framework, identifying shared episodes of 
palisade construction activity within the Middle Waikato Basin. This analysis highlights three 
critical periods of proposed socio-political stress and stability between the late fifteenth and early 
nineteenth centuries, related to hypothesised influential variables from the broader cultural and 
archaeological landscape that are proposed to be responsible for the emergence, proliferation and 
development of pā over time.

year: 2024