title: Learning dispositions and the role of mutual engagement: factors for consideration in educational settings

authors: Duncan, Judith

subjects: education

abstract: This article describes an emerging theoretical framework for examining relationships between learning dispositions and learning architecture. Three domains of learning dispositions - resilience, reciprocity and imagination - are discussed in relation to the structures and processes of early childhood education settings and new entrant classrooms. This framework was developed during the analysis of the data collected for the Dispositions in Social Context project, funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund and headed by Anne B. Smith and Margaret Carr. This article includes examples from this research project, which explored the relationship between learning architecture and the dispositions of children within these education contexts.

text: Learning dispositions and the role of mutual engagement: factors for consideration in educational settings This article describes an emerging theoretical framework for examining relationships between learning dispositions and learning architecture. Three domains of learning dispositions - resilience, reciprocity and imagination - are discussed in relation to the structures and processes of early childhood education settings and new entrant classrooms. This framework was developed during the analysis of the data collected for the Dispositions in Social Context project, funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund and headed by Anne B. Smith and Margaret Carr. This article includes examples from this research project, which explored the relationship between learning architecture and the dispositions of children within these education contexts.

year: 2008

title: Air Force Pataka: Fifty years of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in Hamilton: A history of the Te Rapa Air Force Base 1942-1992

authors: Amner, Lindsay

subjects: Military bases New Zealand

abstract: As a boy growing up in Hamilton in the 1970s, I can remember the hundreds of times we drove past the Te Rapa Air Force Base, and how each time I searched intently for a glimpse of the Grumman Avenger parked inside the gates. Great was my excitement if I ever got a good look, and great was my disappointment when in 1978, the Avenger was removed for a reason beyond my limited understanding. 
Also beyond my understanding was the purpose of the Base itself. In spite of my intent gaze on our trips to Auckland, I can seldom recall ever seeing a uniformed serviceman, and I certainly never saw the faintest sign of aircraft landing or taking off, which as every small boy knows, must be the sole purpose for an Air Force Base. Was there an underground airstrip? Or did the Base have some secret purpose which small boys were not permitted to know? Whatever the reason, the Base was a solid existence on the road out of Hamilton towards Auckland, and I, like most other Hamiltonians, accepted its presence without ever really knowing or questioning its true role. 
This study will show the purpose of the Te Rapa Base and in discussing its function will also show the wider aspect of the relationship of the Base to the city of Hamilton. The questions of whether the Base adequately filled the role for which it was designed, and why the Base was finally closed down, will be answered as this history of the Air Force supply house unfolds.

text: Air Force Pataka: Fifty years of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in Hamilton: A history of the Te Rapa Air Force Base 1942-1992 As a boy growing up in Hamilton in the 1970s, I can remember the hundreds of times we drove past the Te Rapa Air Force Base, and how each time I searched intently for a glimpse of the Grumman Avenger parked inside the gates. Great was my excitement if I ever got a good look, and great was my disappointment when in 1978, the Avenger was removed for a reason beyond my limited understanding. 
Also beyond my understanding was the purpose of the Base itself. In spite of my intent gaze on our trips to Auckland, I can seldom recall ever seeing a uniformed serviceman, and I certainly never saw the faintest sign of aircraft landing or taking off, which as every small boy knows, must be the sole purpose for an Air Force Base. Was there an underground airstrip? Or did the Base have some secret purpose which small boys were not permitted to know? Whatever the reason, the Base was a solid existence on the road out of Hamilton towards Auckland, and I, like most other Hamiltonians, accepted its presence without ever really knowing or questioning its true role. 
This study will show the purpose of the Te Rapa Base and in discussing its function will also show the wider aspect of the relationship of the Base to the city of Hamilton. The questions of whether the Base adequately filled the role for which it was designed, and why the Base was finally closed down, will be answered as this history of the Air Force supply house unfolds.

year: 1993

title: Culturally-Oriented Environmental Identity Transitions: Migrant Indian Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand Early Childhood Education

authors: Rathore, Devika

abstract: An increasingly multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education (ECE) landscape that includes a growing number of migrant teachers forms the context for my doctoral study. In this country, respect for the natural world and kaitiakitanga are integral to the ECE bicultural curriculum framework Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2017) which is grounded in Indigenous Māori worldviews that acknowledge strong spiritual connections to land and place. The natural environment is considered an integral part of the national identity and early childhood has been recognised as an important stage when Environmental and Sustainability Education should begin.   

Within the context of this superdiverse nation, a significant number of migrant teachers transfer their cultural and environmental knowledge, practice, and identity as they transition into the Aotearoa New Zealand context. This thesis explored migrant Indian teachers’ understandings of their culturally-oriented and negotiated environmental identities. I was keen to examine if the environment might hold different meanings and places in their home (Indian) and host (Aotearoa New Zealand) cultural systems.   

Through this study, insights were gained into migrant Indian teachers’ perceptions of the influence of cultural identity on their environmental identities in Aotearoa New Zealand ECE. A sociocultural theoretical perspective informed this study, drawing primarily on Sauvé’s (2009) model of personal and social development of the self in relation to other humans and the environment. Primary data for this interpretivist study were gathered through in-depth interviews with nine Indian ECE teacher participants. Interviews with their ECE setting managers/head teachers were conducted to support and supplement the teachers’ practices and experiences. The audio-recorded interview data were transcribed and examined using thematic analysis. Observations of teacher participants’ workplaces were used to provide a contextual profile for each of the nine Indian teachers. I also obtained a small number of assessment documents in the form of Learning Stories which the teachers had prepared, to analyse them for cultural and environmental themes and experiences.   

Indian teacher participants’ perceptions of their own culturally-oriented environmental identities highlighted the significance of teachers’ own early childhood environmental experiences and home cultural context influences on their environmental identities. Teacher participants’ perceptions shed light on their cultural and environmental identity transitions and acculturation process. These teachers brought their cultural and environmental identities from their home cultural context and used their cultural lens to interpret the connections between the host cultural context and environmental worldviews.   

The Indian teacher participants perceived close connections between their cultural and environmental identities. At the same time, they recognised cross-cultural connections between their culturally-oriented environmental identities and tikanga Māori (Māori ways of doing including practices, customs and rituals) and te ao Māori (the Māori world). These perceived connections were most evident through the significance of Indian philosophies of spirituality, relationships, belonging, and cultural recognition and exchange in their specific ECE contexts. These connections facilitated teachers’ cultural and environmental identity transitions and had a positive impact on their cultural and environmental teaching practices when supported within the ECE setting and by management/leadership.   

Cultural and environmental transitions for this steadily growing group of migrant teachers require further investigation to facilitate their cultural and environmental participation and acculturation into the Aotearoa New Zealand ECE context. In these ways, the existing cultural, environmental, and sustainability connections within ECE could be strengthened to foster children’s culturally-oriented environmental identities.

text: Culturally-Oriented Environmental Identity Transitions: Migrant Indian Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand Early Childhood Education An increasingly multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education (ECE) landscape that includes a growing number of migrant teachers forms the context for my doctoral study. In this country, respect for the natural world and kaitiakitanga are integral to the ECE bicultural curriculum framework Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2017) which is grounded in Indigenous Māori worldviews that acknowledge strong spiritual connections to land and place. The natural environment is considered an integral part of the national identity and early childhood has been recognised as an important stage when Environmental and Sustainability Education should begin.   

Within the context of this superdiverse nation, a significant number of migrant teachers transfer their cultural and environmental knowledge, practice, and identity as they transition into the Aotearoa New Zealand context. This thesis explored migrant Indian teachers’ understandings of their culturally-oriented and negotiated environmental identities. I was keen to examine if the environment might hold different meanings and places in their home (Indian) and host (Aotearoa New Zealand) cultural systems.   

Through this study, insights were gained into migrant Indian teachers’ perceptions of the influence of cultural identity on their environmental identities in Aotearoa New Zealand ECE. A sociocultural theoretical perspective informed this study, drawing primarily on Sauvé’s (2009) model of personal and social development of the self in relation to other humans and the environment. Primary data for this interpretivist study were gathered through in-depth interviews with nine Indian ECE teacher participants. Interviews with their ECE setting managers/head teachers were conducted to support and supplement the teachers’ practices and experiences. The audio-recorded interview data were transcribed and examined using thematic analysis. Observations of teacher participants’ workplaces were used to provide a contextual profile for each of the nine Indian teachers. I also obtained a small number of assessment documents in the form of Learning Stories which the teachers had prepared, to analyse them for cultural and environmental themes and experiences.   

Indian teacher participants’ perceptions of their own culturally-oriented environmental identities highlighted the significance of teachers’ own early childhood environmental experiences and home cultural context influences on their environmental identities. Teacher participants’ perceptions shed light on their cultural and environmental identity transitions and acculturation process. These teachers brought their cultural and environmental identities from their home cultural context and used their cultural lens to interpret the connections between the host cultural context and environmental worldviews.   

The Indian teacher participants perceived close connections between their cultural and environmental identities. At the same time, they recognised cross-cultural connections between their culturally-oriented environmental identities and tikanga Māori (Māori ways of doing including practices, customs and rituals) and te ao Māori (the Māori world). These perceived connections were most evident through the significance of Indian philosophies of spirituality, relationships, belonging, and cultural recognition and exchange in their specific ECE contexts. These connections facilitated teachers’ cultural and environmental identity transitions and had a positive impact on their cultural and environmental teaching practices when supported within the ECE setting and by management/leadership.   

Cultural and environmental transitions for this steadily growing group of migrant teachers require further investigation to facilitate their cultural and environmental participation and acculturation into the Aotearoa New Zealand ECE context. In these ways, the existing cultural, environmental, and sustainability connections within ECE could be strengthened to foster children’s culturally-oriented environmental identities.

year: 2024