Search

Background: The Empowering Dementia Carers in an iSupport Virtual Assistant (e‐DIVA) project aims to develop a website based on the World Health Organisation's iSupport to support carers in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), Australia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The website will be supplemented with culturally‐appropriate videos showing different scenarios in caring. As NZ had limited funding for the adaptation process, we decided to utilise the videos already developed by the Australian team and modify them to be locally‐relevant to NZ culture. There are some similarities in the culture and ethnic populations of the two countries, but also considerable differences. Here we aim to understand the need of cultural adaptation and describe the process of developing locally‐relevant videos for self‐paced dementia training to support carers in NZ. Method: We worked with carers and social and health care practitioners to adapt the iSupport manual for use in NZ. We conducted separate focus groups with carers and care practitioners to agree on adapted videos for use in different modules in iSupport website. We reviewed the scripts and visuals and discussed how to ensure the content (scenario, dialogue) and delivery (music, visuals) were acceptable and relatable for NZ carers from different backgrounds. To adapt for Māori carers, we took the manual and videos that had been adapted for non‐Māori, and conducted focus groups with Māori carers and care practitioners to produce content that was culturally‐appropriate and Māori‐friendly. Result: Using co‐design and consultation with carers and care professionals from specific cultures, we made changes to the backgrounds and visual representation of the characters to better reflect NZ culture, and ensuring inclusion and representation of Māori and Pasifika in the videos. We will present the adapted videos in AAIC 2023 next to the poster. Conclusion: Adapting existing videos can be a low‐cost approach to provide supporting media for an online training tool such as iSupport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed 'iSupport for Dementia', a self‐paced training for family carers of people with dementia. Empowering Dementia Carers in an iSupport Virtual Assistant (e‐DIVA) project aims to develop a website based on iSupport to support carers in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), Australia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. We aim to understand carers' perspectives on iSupport to inform the NZ adaptation. Method: We recruited primary unpaid carers through a local non‐government dementia support organisation. We included carers who were aged 18 years old or over, caring for a person living with dementia for at least six months, able to speak English and use internet for video conference. Participants were provided with the original iSupport manual to review for a month. We conducted online focus group discussions with the carers (3‐4 per group) who provided feedback on the original manual. Each group met twice for two hours. The meetings were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed thematically. We then used the results of the thematic analysis to inform the development of the iSupport‐VA NZ website and supporting materials such as videos. Result: Seven carers participated in this study. We identified common feedback which could be grouped into content, delivery, and potential use beyond immediate family carers. Based on the feedback, we split Module 1 into four sections, adding contents on optimising brain health, person‐centred care, and planning for the future. We also rearranged Modules 4 and 5 to start with information that all carers need then moving on to information more relevant to mid‐to‐late stage dementia. We also made changes in the illustration and language used. We amended the school‐like features (right‐or‐wrong approach), but kept the reflective activities. Carers also discussed the possibility of using iSupport as resources for extended family not involved in care and for care professionals. Conclusion: Several changes were required to adapt iSupport for use in NZ. This tool has some potentials for wider use beyond unpaid family carers. A separate research with Māori carers using a similar method started in 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Linnaean system has a set of rules governing botanical nomenclature, zoological nomenclature and bacteriological nomenclature for the scientific naming of species. These set the principles, rules and standards with which authors should comply with when naming new species. In Aotearoa/New Zealand (ANZ), the knowledge and taxonomic systems of Māori (the indigenous people) have largely been the preserve of Western anthropologists, linguistics and ethnographers. As such, the Linnaean classification system has been superimposed over the pre-existing classifications of Māori since European settlement approximately 200years ago. A range of strategies have been applied to the naming of new species within a scientific context when using the Māori language (an east-Polynesian language), which do not adhere to the Linnaean system including arbitrary practices, hybridisation, incorrect linguistic context, a lack of full understanding of the meanings of the words and names and questionable naming practices of taxonomists. This paper discusses these issues, including examples, to illustrate the breadth of issues that we encountered. Although no code of practice or set of rules can anticipate or resolve the problem, there is an advantage to developing a set of possible recommendations as to the use of Māori words in the names of new species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Opinions are divided about how the content of language courses should be specified and whether educational authorities should include specifications/ suggestions about language content in national curriculum documents. Issues associated with language content are, however, not ones that can be avoided, particularly as teachers are expected to prepare students for national examinations at the upper levels of schooling and these examinations are necessarily predicated on general expectations about proficiency achievements and more specific expectations about the types of language with which students will be familiar. In this article, we explore the complex nature of some of the issues involved and the ways in which the New Zealand Ministry of Education has sought/ is seeking to resolve them in the case of the curriculum for Māori in English-medium schools. We also report on the responses of a sample of teachers of Maori in secondary schools in New Zealand to the omission of language examples from the final version of the curriculum guidelines document. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I report here on a part of a research project involving the investigation of a range of authentic Māori texts in terms of two types of meaning relation - those that operate within propositions (referred to here as 'intra-propositional relations'), and those that link propositions or groups of propositions (referred to here as 'inter-propositional relations'). In focus here is the second of these types, that is, inter-propositional relations, and in particular, the ways in which they are signalled in te reo Māori. The implications of the findings for the teaching and learning of te reo Māori are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, research in the area of discourse analysis has expanded rapidly and has yielded insights that could usefully inform the teaching and learning of languages. In this paper, we report on the results of a comparative study of a number of commercially available textbooks designed for learners of English and learners of te reo Māori at intermediate level in terms of the extent to which they can be shown to have been influenced by specific aspects of discourse analysis research. In the textbooks designed for learners of English, there is some evidence that the writers are aware of, and have been influenced by some aspects of discourse analysis research, particularly in the teaching of writing skills. In the textbooks designed for learners of te reo Māori, however, there is almost no sign of influence of research of this type. In view of the importance of the teaching and learning of te reo Māori in relation to the maintenance of the language, and in view of the fact that many young people in New Zealand now learn a range of academic subjects through the medium of te reo Māori, this raises issues that we believe need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines issues relating to the appropriate display and conservation of taonga Māori in the context of a discussion of the establishment of Mahi Māreikura, a room in the University of Waikato library that is dedicated primarily to the display and conservation of the collected taonga and works of the late Dr. Pei te Hurinui Jones and a collection of the work of his colleague and close relative, Professor Bruce Biggs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1994, and under contract to the New Zealand Ministry of Education, the University of Waikato has provided teacher professional development programmes in the context of kaupapa māatauranga Māori. Because these programmes are designed to play a role in the Māori language revitalisation agenda as it relates to the teaching and learning of te reo Māori in school contexts, we believe that it is important to share our experiences with others. In this article, we discuss the context in which these programmes are delivered, some of the ways in which they have changed over time, and what we have learned from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]