title: George Wilson: inspector of mines at Te Aroha

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: A Scot who first mined on the Victorian goldfields, George Wilson then arrived in New Zealand to fight in the Waikato War. Once mining commenced at Thames, he moved there, and was involved in this industry for the rest of his life. He was also active in the Thames community. He held several official posts at Te Aroha after moving there in the early 1880s, the most important being as the mining inspector. Before acquiring these positions, he had invested in mines there. He did all he could to assist the development of the Te Aroha field, notably by encouraging miners to become more skilled.
His efficiency led to his being appointed as the mining inspector for Hauraki and then the chief inspecting engineer for the Mines Department. Before official duties required him to leave Te Aroha, he had assisted the latter community in several ways, notably in developing and improving the hot springs domain. His wife kept a low profile but was equally popular, and they died esteemed and respected by all.

text: George Wilson: inspector of mines at Te Aroha A Scot who first mined on the Victorian goldfields, George Wilson then arrived in New Zealand to fight in the Waikato War. Once mining commenced at Thames, he moved there, and was involved in this industry for the rest of his life. He was also active in the Thames community. He held several official posts at Te Aroha after moving there in the early 1880s, the most important being as the mining inspector. Before acquiring these positions, he had invested in mines there. He did all he could to assist the development of the Te Aroha field, notably by encouraging miners to become more skilled.
His efficiency led to his being appointed as the mining inspector for Hauraki and then the chief inspecting engineer for the Mines Department. Before official duties required him to leave Te Aroha, he had assisted the latter community in several ways, notably in developing and improving the hot springs domain. His wife kept a low profile but was equally popular, and they died esteemed and respected by all.

year: 2016

title: The Globalization of English: Its Impact on English Language Education in the Tertiary Education Sector in Taiwan

authors: Her, Jia-Huey

subjects: English language teaching in Taiwan

abstract: The overall agenda for the research reported here grew out of semi-structured
interviews with senior educational managers from a tertiary educational institution
in Taiwan. These managers raised a number of issues, including the changing
profile of tertiary students, the changing nature of English curricula, the
increasing need for English teaching staff to be adaptable, highly qualified and
research-active, and the growing pressure on institutions to introduce English
language proficiency benchmarking. Each of these issues can be related to the
impact of globalization and, in particular, the impact of the globalization of
English, on the education sector. Following a critical review of selected literature
on the impact of globalization on the teaching and learning of English, each of
these issues, as it affects the tertiary education sector in Taiwan, was explored.
Analysis of the Taiwanese national curriculum guidelines for schools, strongly
influenced by academics in the tertiary education sector, revealed a number of
problems relating to a lack of proficiency benchmarking and a lack of coherence,
consistency and transparency in some areas. These problems may be associated
with the initial phase of transition from a grammar-based curriculum to a more
communicatively-oriented, outcomes-centered one. Problems of a similar type
were indicated in responses to questions relating to curriculum matters included in
a questionnaire distributed to a sample of teachers of English in the tertiary sector.
Among other things revealed by questionnaire responses was the fact that many
survey participants had received no training in English teaching.
The results of a C-test (one that was initially used in a major European study)
taken by a sample of entry-level and exit-level Bachelors degree students
indicated a wide variation in proficiency, with individual scores differing by as
much as 64 percentage points in the case of exit-level students. Furthermore, there
was a difference of almost 10 percentage points between the mean scores of
students from two different institutions who had majored in English. These results
indicate some of the difficulties that Taiwan faces in attempting to establish
graduation proficiency benchmarking.
-ii-
C-test participants completed a background questionnaire, the responses
indicating a generally positive attitude towards English-speaking people, a general
willingness to use English in situations where there was the option of not doing
so, and a strong tendency towards instrumental motivation. Although one of the
factors that appeared to have a positive impact on C-test performance was time
spent in an English-speaking country, fewer than 18% of respondents had done so.
Although there appears to be considerable anxiety and uncertainty associated with
the teaching of English at tertiary level in Taiwan, and some genuine cause for
concern, there are also many positive indicators of future success. Teachers and
educational managers are aware of the problems they currently face and appear
determined to resolve them. Taiwanese academics are increasingly involved in
language-related research and increasingly prepared to interrogate their own
practices, and Taiwan, unlike some other countries in Asia, is moving towards
graduation proficiency benchmarking.

text: The Globalization of English: Its Impact on English Language Education in the Tertiary Education Sector in Taiwan The overall agenda for the research reported here grew out of semi-structured
interviews with senior educational managers from a tertiary educational institution
in Taiwan. These managers raised a number of issues, including the changing
profile of tertiary students, the changing nature of English curricula, the
increasing need for English teaching staff to be adaptable, highly qualified and
research-active, and the growing pressure on institutions to introduce English
language proficiency benchmarking. Each of these issues can be related to the
impact of globalization and, in particular, the impact of the globalization of
English, on the education sector. Following a critical review of selected literature
on the impact of globalization on the teaching and learning of English, each of
these issues, as it affects the tertiary education sector in Taiwan, was explored.
Analysis of the Taiwanese national curriculum guidelines for schools, strongly
influenced by academics in the tertiary education sector, revealed a number of
problems relating to a lack of proficiency benchmarking and a lack of coherence,
consistency and transparency in some areas. These problems may be associated
with the initial phase of transition from a grammar-based curriculum to a more
communicatively-oriented, outcomes-centered one. Problems of a similar type
were indicated in responses to questions relating to curriculum matters included in
a questionnaire distributed to a sample of teachers of English in the tertiary sector.
Among other things revealed by questionnaire responses was the fact that many
survey participants had received no training in English teaching.
The results of a C-test (one that was initially used in a major European study)
taken by a sample of entry-level and exit-level Bachelors degree students
indicated a wide variation in proficiency, with individual scores differing by as
much as 64 percentage points in the case of exit-level students. Furthermore, there
was a difference of almost 10 percentage points between the mean scores of
students from two different institutions who had majored in English. These results
indicate some of the difficulties that Taiwan faces in attempting to establish
graduation proficiency benchmarking.
-ii-
C-test participants completed a background questionnaire, the responses
indicating a generally positive attitude towards English-speaking people, a general
willingness to use English in situations where there was the option of not doing
so, and a strong tendency towards instrumental motivation. Although one of the
factors that appeared to have a positive impact on C-test performance was time
spent in an English-speaking country, fewer than 18% of respondents had done so.
Although there appears to be considerable anxiety and uncertainty associated with
the teaching of English at tertiary level in Taiwan, and some genuine cause for
concern, there are also many positive indicators of future success. Teachers and
educational managers are aware of the problems they currently face and appear
determined to resolve them. Taiwanese academics are increasingly involved in
language-related research and increasingly prepared to interrogate their own
practices, and Taiwan, unlike some other countries in Asia, is moving towards
graduation proficiency benchmarking.

year: 2007

title: The Price of Mauri: Exploring the validity of Welfare Economics when seeking to measure Mātauranga Māori

authors: Awatere, Shaun

subjects: welfare economics

abstract: Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the  economic efficiency  of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

text: The Price of Mauri: Exploring the validity of Welfare Economics when seeking to measure Mātauranga Māori Since the 1980s New Zealand has pursued neo-classical or market-based policies with a particular fervour. Market-based options are seen by resource management decision makers as essential frameworks for efficiently allocating resources, an approach that continues to support the view of the inherent dominance of Western knowledge. This is particularly concerning, given that Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand), have an important role to play in New Zealand resource management and perceive their own knowledge systems have been marginalised. The primary goal of this thesis is to explore the validity of welfare economics when seeking to measure quantitatively Mātauranga Māori or Māori views of the environment through the contingent valuation method. A contingent valuation study is carried out using three separate samples drawn from the general Māori population in Auckland city, a hāpu/sub-tribe indigenous to the Auckland isthmus, and drivers of motor vehicles in Auckland city. Data collection modes include a postal survey and face-to-face interviews. This thesis challenges the validity of political-legal ethnicity constructs to measure Mātauranga Māori. The search for a central tendency will lead to biased, misleading and inaccurate results. The thesis also challenges the validity of contingent valuation to produce true economic measures and to measure and identify Mātauranga Māori. Despite advances in analytical techniques, economic efficiency measures are always deficient, given the difficulty of capturing and anticipating all impacts and valuing them appropriately. Mātauranga Māori is derived from a Māori epistemology and should be considered or analysed with primary reference to this body of knowledge. Economic analysis is only one important cog in the machinery of resource management policy. Given that an economist's contribution to local and regional resource management is most valuable when focusing on the  economic efficiency  of the proposed resource allocation, it is appropriate that other perspectives such as Mātauranga Māori be considered.

year: 2008