title: The EOTC milieu as a setting for teaching and learning experiences for five-year-old students in Technology Education

authors: Milne, Louise

subjects: Technology Education

abstract: Technology Education has been a compulsory subject in the New Zealand primary school curriculum since 1999. Expert knowledge and practice in technology is important in the development of students’ technological knowledge. Whilst this may be acquired within the classroom, this study argues for, and investigates the viewpoint, that its achievement can be enhanced through education outside the classroom (EOTC).
Within New Zealand school culture there is general agreement that education outside the classroom is inherently good and impacts positively on student learning. However, there is a paucity of literature available on theorising or practice in integrating EOTC and curriculum-based teaching and learning in technology education.  This study focuses on five-year-old students undertaking a technology unit that incorporated an experience outside the classroom of technological practice, which was designed to inform students’ classroom practice.
This research comprised a qualitative, case-study approach. Two classes of five year old students participated in a technology unit during which they visited a chocolate factory and investigated how to make chocolates for a Mothers’ Day gift. This context, and the nature and age-group of the participants, drew on an examination of literature from three distinct domains: Technology Education, EOTC and the nature and characteristics of five-year-old students. The literature provided principles that underpinned a planning framework that was co-constructed between myself and the two teachers of the new entrant classes. Over a six month period, data was gathered during three phases of the study: (i) preparation in the technology unit for the visit outside the classroom, (ii) the visit to the chocolate factory and subsequent development of the chocolate gift in the classroom; and (iii) exploring enduring understandings resulting from the visit within the context of the unit. Data was gathered through a series of interviews with students and their teachers, observations and analysis of student work.  
The findings indicated that an EOTC visit integrated into a technology unit can enhance student learning by making links between the classroom and the real world, providing memorable experiences which students can transfer to new and varied contexts. These experiences were shown to develop context-specific language, understanding of technological process and equipment, and some understanding of material properties. These gains were shown to be most likely when supported by pre-visit scaffolding and post-visit reinforcement.  A finding of additional significance was the key role that the parent-helpers played during the unit, visit and in student learning, and the importance of having a shared understanding of the teaching and learning goals of the technology project.  
Whilst the study confirms young students’ abilities to transfer technological understandings from one context to another, it also highlights the parameters of five-year-old student knowledge in technology education, brought about by their lack of practical experience and their limited knowledge of materials and material properties. This has implications for the level of support and guidance which is offered by the classroom teacher, and the time provided for students to informally experiment and become familiar with the properties of a range of different materials.

text: The EOTC milieu as a setting for teaching and learning experiences for five-year-old students in Technology Education Technology Education has been a compulsory subject in the New Zealand primary school curriculum since 1999. Expert knowledge and practice in technology is important in the development of students’ technological knowledge. Whilst this may be acquired within the classroom, this study argues for, and investigates the viewpoint, that its achievement can be enhanced through education outside the classroom (EOTC).
Within New Zealand school culture there is general agreement that education outside the classroom is inherently good and impacts positively on student learning. However, there is a paucity of literature available on theorising or practice in integrating EOTC and curriculum-based teaching and learning in technology education.  This study focuses on five-year-old students undertaking a technology unit that incorporated an experience outside the classroom of technological practice, which was designed to inform students’ classroom practice.
This research comprised a qualitative, case-study approach. Two classes of five year old students participated in a technology unit during which they visited a chocolate factory and investigated how to make chocolates for a Mothers’ Day gift. This context, and the nature and age-group of the participants, drew on an examination of literature from three distinct domains: Technology Education, EOTC and the nature and characteristics of five-year-old students. The literature provided principles that underpinned a planning framework that was co-constructed between myself and the two teachers of the new entrant classes. Over a six month period, data was gathered during three phases of the study: (i) preparation in the technology unit for the visit outside the classroom, (ii) the visit to the chocolate factory and subsequent development of the chocolate gift in the classroom; and (iii) exploring enduring understandings resulting from the visit within the context of the unit. Data was gathered through a series of interviews with students and their teachers, observations and analysis of student work.  
The findings indicated that an EOTC visit integrated into a technology unit can enhance student learning by making links between the classroom and the real world, providing memorable experiences which students can transfer to new and varied contexts. These experiences were shown to develop context-specific language, understanding of technological process and equipment, and some understanding of material properties. These gains were shown to be most likely when supported by pre-visit scaffolding and post-visit reinforcement.  A finding of additional significance was the key role that the parent-helpers played during the unit, visit and in student learning, and the importance of having a shared understanding of the teaching and learning goals of the technology project.  
Whilst the study confirms young students’ abilities to transfer technological understandings from one context to another, it also highlights the parameters of five-year-old student knowledge in technology education, brought about by their lack of practical experience and their limited knowledge of materials and material properties. This has implications for the level of support and guidance which is offered by the classroom teacher, and the time provided for students to informally experiment and become familiar with the properties of a range of different materials.

year: 2015

title: Parents: Discipline, punishment and child abuse. A four decade study of child rearing attitudes and practices

authors: Ritchie, Jane

subjects: child abuse

abstract: Child abuse has been very much in the news recently. Each time a child dies because of it, there is much publicity, much media soul-searching, numerous pronouncements from spokespeople but there is little change. Parental use of physical punishment and child abuse are inextricably linked, and the only sure and certain way to save children from abuse is to prevent parents from striking their children (Straus 2000).

text: Parents: Discipline, punishment and child abuse. A four decade study of child rearing attitudes and practices Child abuse has been very much in the news recently. Each time a child dies because of it, there is much publicity, much media soul-searching, numerous pronouncements from spokespeople but there is little change. Parental use of physical punishment and child abuse are inextricably linked, and the only sure and certain way to save children from abuse is to prevent parents from striking their children (Straus 2000).

year: 2002

title: Ungentlemanly warfare: The impact of irregular warfare on military strategy in the New Zealand Wars

authors: Foy, Rhys

subjects: New Zealand Wars

abstract: ‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’ examines the impact of irregular warfare on strategic thinking in the New Zealand Wars (1845–1872). Britain entered the period as an eighteenth-century force reliant on European methods of war. In contrast, Māori were an experienced bushfighting force depleted on manpower but experiencing a period of military innovation. This interaction led to an important exchange of strategic ideology and methods.  
This thesis tracks how Māori, British, and colonial forces developed and exchanged irregular warfare practices across three regions and time periods. The Northern War exposed the shortcomings of conventional military conduct. Māori leadership altered their strategic approach and pursued a strategy of elastic offence. In contrast, British leadership persisted with their ineffective conventional means of warfare. In the Waikato War, British strategy was influenced by the success of colonial irregulars. British strategic and operational methods changed with the inclusion of multi-echelon warfare and the indirect approach. Kīngitanga leadership improved their combat capacity through guerrilla warfare, decentralised command, and a grand strategy of elastic offence. The Taranaki and West Coast campaigns highlighted the relationship between the use of irregular warfare and military success in New Zealand. Both sides experienced success and failure across numerous conflicts, the defining factor being the active use of irregular warfare. These case studies reveal the significance of irregular warfare strategies and tactics to military success in colonial New Zealand. They also reveal opportunities and challenges to military adaptation in Māori, British, and colonial martial cultures of the nineteenth century. 
 ‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’ provides a unique approach to the examination of the New Zealand Wars conflict. It is an operational history that draws upon methods and aspects of the ‘war and society’ approach to military history, especially the use of Māori scholarship, evidence, and theory. The thesis’ chapters consider strategic and tactical decision-making across the numerous conflicts within the period. To do so, I provide close readings of primary evidence, including military communication and reports, early histories, and first-person accounts, to identify the roles of irregular warfare and strategic adaptions in the New Zealand Wars. 
	‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’ analyses the impact of irregular warfare on the strategic thinking of military leaders within the New Zealand Wars. I argue that irregular warfare strategies and tactics played a significantly larger role in the outcome of events than previously acknowledged. This study illustrates the importance of guerrilla warfare and the strategy of elastic offence to Māori strategy. In contrast, it highlights the evolution of British military thinking from conventional conservatism to a multi-echelon force led by irregular warfare units and tactics. ‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’ argues that irregular warfare was central to military conflicts in nineteenth-century New Zealand.

text: Ungentlemanly warfare: The impact of irregular warfare on military strategy in the New Zealand Wars ‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’ examines the impact of irregular warfare on strategic thinking in the New Zealand Wars (1845–1872). Britain entered the period as an eighteenth-century force reliant on European methods of war. In contrast, Māori were an experienced bushfighting force depleted on manpower but experiencing a period of military innovation. This interaction led to an important exchange of strategic ideology and methods.  
This thesis tracks how Māori, British, and colonial forces developed and exchanged irregular warfare practices across three regions and time periods. The Northern War exposed the shortcomings of conventional military conduct. Māori leadership altered their strategic approach and pursued a strategy of elastic offence. In contrast, British leadership persisted with their ineffective conventional means of warfare. In the Waikato War, British strategy was influenced by the success of colonial irregulars. British strategic and operational methods changed with the inclusion of multi-echelon warfare and the indirect approach. Kīngitanga leadership improved their combat capacity through guerrilla warfare, decentralised command, and a grand strategy of elastic offence. The Taranaki and West Coast campaigns highlighted the relationship between the use of irregular warfare and military success in New Zealand. Both sides experienced success and failure across numerous conflicts, the defining factor being the active use of irregular warfare. These case studies reveal the significance of irregular warfare strategies and tactics to military success in colonial New Zealand. They also reveal opportunities and challenges to military adaptation in Māori, British, and colonial martial cultures of the nineteenth century. 
 ‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’ provides a unique approach to the examination of the New Zealand Wars conflict. It is an operational history that draws upon methods and aspects of the ‘war and society’ approach to military history, especially the use of Māori scholarship, evidence, and theory. The thesis’ chapters consider strategic and tactical decision-making across the numerous conflicts within the period. To do so, I provide close readings of primary evidence, including military communication and reports, early histories, and first-person accounts, to identify the roles of irregular warfare and strategic adaptions in the New Zealand Wars. 
	‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’ analyses the impact of irregular warfare on the strategic thinking of military leaders within the New Zealand Wars. I argue that irregular warfare strategies and tactics played a significantly larger role in the outcome of events than previously acknowledged. This study illustrates the importance of guerrilla warfare and the strategy of elastic offence to Māori strategy. In contrast, it highlights the evolution of British military thinking from conventional conservatism to a multi-echelon force led by irregular warfare units and tactics. ‘Ungentlemanly Warfare’ argues that irregular warfare was central to military conflicts in nineteenth-century New Zealand.

year: 2023