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This paper examines the extent to which there has been a shift towards disciplinary knowledge in recently developed curriculum documents in New Zealand and evaluates whether a new 'Understand, Know, Do' structure for the curriculum has the potential to facilitate coherent design of teaching programmes and 'deep learning'. Using a social realist lens, Bernsteinian theories on knowledge structures and recontextualization, and the principles of a Curriculum Design Coherence Model, the analysis identifies instances of both conceptual coherence and epistemic confusion which raises questions about the underlying principles upon which the curriculum documents are being developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most secondary (high) schools in a broad range of jurisdictions internationally engage in various forms of high stakes, standardized assessment and related qualifications. In this paper, we interrogate how educational achievement regimes – especially via the reporting of curriculum and assessment ‘data’ – continue to mobilize particular gender norms. Drawing on Derrida’s notion of haunting we explore how such regimes impose and reinscribe stable and binary gendered patterning and create what Barad has named ‘entangled relationalities of inheritance’ [https://doi.org/10.3366/drt.2010.0206,] despite young people (and many schools) moving towards greater recognition of non-binary genders. Drawing on assessment data from Aotearoa New Zealand, we look at both generalized reporting of educational achievement data along the lines of ‘male’ and ‘female’ and on reporting of a single (historically gendered) curriculum subject – health education. We argue that such systems are ‘haunted’ by stable gender categorizations and hierarchies and we ask what this means for the reporting of educational assessment data and the erasure of identities that don’t align with the binary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curriculum policy and enactment in early childhood education is a political phenomenon that plays out in particular cultural contexts. Comparative lenses to curriculum articulate locally constructed and implicit knowledge to external audiences. In doing so, global commonalities and tensions may become explicit. This paper interrogates curricular documents in Greece and New Zealand using selected questions from Joseph's (2011a) heuristic of 'curriculum as culture'. We do this through writing letters to each other that share our local knowledge and experiences and raise further questions. Although New Zealand and Greece are geographically and culturally two worlds apart, their curricular practices share certain discourses and have both been influenced by international trends. We argue that both countries' documents relate to first-order change where the policy document may not, in itself, update or change prior practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia are similar in many ways. Both were colonised by English-speaking British settlers, and English is a national language in each country. In recent years, both countries have become destinations for immigrants speaking languages other than English and international fee-paying students. Both have a chequered history of maintaining the languages of the tangata whenua (people of the land) or aboriginal people. However, their histories and educational systems diverge on educational programmes and practices supporting citizens and newcomers from non-English heritage cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The linguistic and cultural histories of these two countries have shaped educational policies and practices that, in turn, have impacted how teachers are prepared to teach in linguistically and culturally heterogeneous classrooms. This paper reviews approaches found to support emergent bilingual learners, and those that research suggests are culturally sustaining. It then compares educational documents from Australia and NZ against principles drawn from this literature. It asks whether supporting the needs of emergent bilingual learners in mainstream classes in these countries emerges as a cultural or linguistic issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the importance of the stories and perspectives of early childhood education Associate Teachers (ATs) at a time when there is considerable flux being experienced in the Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood sector, due in particular to the ongoing impact of changes in government funding policy, ongoing debates about pathways into the teaching profession, and an updated curriculum framework. The paper developed out of a research project that asked Associate Teachers (AT) about their views on the impact of recent national education policy changes. The views of ATs provide an influential voice for the sector, and particularly for teacher education providers through the student teacher practicum experience. Evidence and analysis of AT views provides insight into how the triadic of student, lecturer and practitioner can work together to support student teachers with their practicum experience in relation to the recent policy changes. A very small return rate for online questionnaires left the research team with the challenge of talking about the meaning of such silence, while at the same time acknowledging and valuing the views of those who did complete the questions. The paper presents a shift in the researchers' perspectives on the subject of their research, and raises awareness of the problem of working with, and being committed to, the silent voices. The paper concludes with foundations for future research, focusing on ATs as active participants in teacher education policymaking and involving them both as researchers and participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper presents the pilot testing of an online professional development (PD) course for New Zealand (NZ) speech-language therapists (SLTs) working with Māori with stroke-related communication disorders (predominantly aphasia). Taking a public health approach and focusing on the context of Māori as Indigenous peoples in a colonised society, the course lays the foundation for aphasia management for Māori. It consists of two modules. Module One addresses health inequities, social determinants of health, racism, the Treaty of Waitangi, cultural safety and power inherent in the role of the SLT. Module Two includes specific information about providing therapy for Māori stroke patients (particularly those with aphasia) and family members and working with Māori health colleagues. Aim: The primary aim was to ascertain the impact of the course on participants' clinical practice with Māori with aphasia. A secondary aim was to examine participants' assessment of the content and delivery of the course. Methods & Procedures: This was a qualitative longitudinal pilot study. Eleven SLTs completed the online course, immediately followed by a survey in which they gave feedback on the course and named three activities they would do to apply their learning in the following six months. Eight participants were available for interview six months later. Interviews aimed to ascertain what participants learned from the course, how they applied their learning and how the course could be improved. Interview data were analysed using a "general inductive approach", in conjunction with responses to the survey. Outcomes & Results: Interview findings were divided into two main themes – "putting it into practice" which revealed what participants learned and how they applied their learning and "keeping it at the forefront" which focused on maintaining that learning and practice, including reflection on the course content and delivery. All participants were positive about the course and all would recommend it to colleagues. Conclusions: The pilot testing revealed that participants made positive changes to their practice as a result of their learning. Challenges inherent in completing the course and applying learning and suggestions for improvement were also identified. Although the course content is NZ-specific, many of the ideas in the course are relevant to numerous multiethnic contexts across the world in which the speech-language therapy culture in service delivery could be impacted by issues such as power, racism, and inequity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexuality education is a compulsory part of The New Zealand Curriculum for state-funded schools. In 2015, the Ministry of Education has published an updated revision of their official guidelines for schools on the teaching of sexuality education. This paper employs Foucauldian discourse analysis to argue that this policy document, Sexuality Education: A Guide for Principals, Boards of Trustees, and Teachers, reflects and reproduces particular ways of knowing which constrain possibilities for socially just sexuality education. These discourses include the adoption of an intellectual approach to teaching sexuality, the mandate to measure learning objectives, and a narrow emphasis on positive sexuality. Intentions for the curriculum to deliver a holistic, socio-ecological vision of sexual health as well as one which embeds Māori values are undermined by dominant understandings of individual action which shape approaches to both sexuality and pedagogy. Furthermore, the liberal recognition of cultural, ethnic, sexual and gender diversity in the curriculum unintentionally reinscribes an unmarked white, secular, heterosexuality as the norm. This paper reflexively critiques the discursive tensions that inhibit the realisation of sexuality education in schools which meets the needs of diverse students and offers it as a possible site for social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance-based research evaluations have been adopted in several countries both to measure research quality in higher education institutions and as a basis for the allocation of funding across institutions. Much attention has been given to evaluating whether such schemes have increased the quality and quantity of research. This paper examines whether the introduction of the New Zealand Performance-Based Research Fund process produced convergence or divergence in measured research quality across universities and disciplines between the 2003 and 2012 assessments. Two convergence measures are obtained. One, referred to as β-convergence, relates to the relationship between changes in average quality and the initial quality level. The second concept, referred to as σ-convergence, relates to the changes in the dispersion in average research quality over time. Average quality scores by discipline and university were obtained from individual researcher data, revealing substantial β- and σ-convergence in research quality over the period. The hypothesis of uniform rates of convergence across almost all universities and disciplines is supported. The results provide insights into the incentives created by performance-based funding schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper centres on research that investigated the contemporary policy, curriculum and pedagogical landscape of Health and Physical Education (HPE) in Aotearoa New Zealand, in the light of increasing impressions that provision was moving to an ‘open market’ situation. Publicly available information sourced via the Internet was used to examine the public and privately funded initiatives, programmes and resources targeted towards the provision of HPE across all phases of education. The data arising revealed an array of government and non-governmental agencies and organisations acting as producers of resources and deliverers of HPE-related programmes in schools. It also clearly pointed to structural convergence between government and non-government sectors. This paper locates the findings from the research amidst developments in policy relations and networks spanning education, health and sport, and presents a theoretically oriented critical re-examination of the structural reconfiguration of contemporary HPE in Aotearoa New Zealand. Analysis brings together insights from Ball and Junemann's work on policy networks and Bernstein's theorising of the social construction of discourse to explore linkages between policy and pedagogic relations, and the discourses and practices in HPE. Attention is directed to the significance of changes in the nature of both the Official Recontextualizing Field and Pedagogic Recontextualizing field, and the connections between the two fields. Changes in the recontextualizing fields are discussed in relation to official pedagogic discourse of HPE and the pedagogic discourse of reproduction. This analysis brings to the fore prospective curriculum and pedagogic implications of new policy networks and new networks of providers associated with provision of HPE in schools. Discussion acknowledges potentially varied readings of contemporary developments and addresses the opportunities and challenges for teachers and teacher educators in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recognition and affirmation of student identity in New Zealand primary schools is a policy requirement. While directives for its implementation are found in the current national curriculum, little, if any, guidance is given about what this means or how it might look in classroom programmes. This paper discusses a study concerning the beliefs, understandings and practices of teachers as they interpret the curriculum related to the identity directive. The findings indicate that a marked divergence exists between the identity directive encoded into the curriculum and the way in which teachers decode and enact the directive in their practice. This article argues that two unintended effects are produced as a result of this divergence. First, rather than promote the affirmation of student identity, the enactment of this directive might, in fact, lead to ethnic division. Second, attempts to recognise and affirm identity have led to the displacement of school subject knowledge in classroom programmes. These unintended outcomes are not only unacknowledged, but they continue to disadvantage the community the identity directive was intended to address. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Health education in Aotearoa New Zealand is an enigma. Premised on ostensibly open and holistic philosophical premises, the school curriculum not only permits, but in some ways prescribes, pedagogies and teacher dispositions that engage with the diversity of young people at its centre. A capacity, to not only understand contemporary health missives, but also critique them in light of lived experience and broader sociocultural conditions, is desired from students and formal assessments reward this. The New Zealand Curriculum is considered a treasure, a document that is the envy of many educators around the world, however, there is not necessarily a direct link between official curriculum and practice. In this paper, we interrogate the extent to which the aspirations of a document so laden with promise can be realised in a political climate that leans heavily on a representation of youth as troubled, fat and risky subjects. We explore the tensions, the paradoxes and the fissures that arise when an avowedly socially critical syllabus rubs up against public health imperatives and a context where the capacity to ameliorate youth health problems is ‘capital’ for vying political interests. Drawing on contexts of obesity and sexuality, we use the work of Bourdieu to explore how health education exists at the intersection of different fields of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reading assessment is a critical feature of education systems. The aim of this study is to explore reading assessment policy in the New Zealand (NZ) assessment culture. We reviewed research publications, national policy documents and test protocols on reading for year levels 6–9 (ages 9–13). We found that assessment data are broadly conceptualised and used for multiple purposes, that the representation of reading assessment data is located in an improvement-oriented environment and that the use of reading assessment for improvement purposes involves multiple actors and organisation levels. We discuss to what extent reading assessment policy supports student learning and teacher professional learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health and Physical Education (HPE) has been an important learning area in the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) since the two learning areas were integrated in the 1990s. HPE in the NZC proposed a multi-dimensional education vision, principles and values for students' holistic development founded upon theoretical perspectives such as critical theory, humanism and socio-cultural theory. However, it is unclear whether physical education (as opposed to HPE) is still considered relevant to students' holistic learning experience espoused by academics. Using the theoretical assumption of phenomenology, this research is a qualitative case study designed to investigate primary school classroom teachers' perceived value of physical education in New Zealand. Four primary schools and eight classroom teachers were purposively recruited. Data were from individual semi-structured interviews, documents, observation and email. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and the constant comparative method. The findings identified six subthemes under the postulated value of physical education (physical, psychological and cognitive development): (1) 'it has benefits for physical well-being and health'; (2) 'students learn a lot of social skills'; (3) shaping good character and self-efficacy; (4) physical education is for fun; (5) good character and self-efficacy can bring into classroom learning; and (6) physical education as 'a reset button'. The teachers' perspectives indicate their understanding of the contribution physical education has to the primary school curriculum in terms of facilitating students' holistic development in physical well-being, social skills and supporting other learning areas. We strongly suggest that teachers need to concentrate on students' learning experiences rather than the learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Senior medical students at the University of Auckland, New Zealand spend most of their learning time in clinical attachments. Experiential apprentice-style training is traditionally recognised as an important aspect of obtaining competency. In March 2020 they were stood down from their general practice placements in the context of a national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Acute conversion of their general practice education from experiential clinical exposure to online and offsite learning was required. This paper describes the steps taken and the underlying theoretical foundations for our expediently developed online course. Our online learning programme has three online components, reflecting the domains of educational environment theory: asynchronous discussion forums; a symposium facilitating social interactions and teacher presence, and a portfolio facilitating personal goal aspects. The latter is underpinned by a multi-theories model of adult learning, built upon the scaffolding framework that supports our entire medical curriculum. Within this theory, we propose a five-stage model of learning. Learning from this experience contributes to the body of knowledge around online education, particularly in meeting the needs of a clinical attachment traditionally grounded in experiential learning. It is hoped that the mechanisms described here might be useful to other educators facing similar challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management accountants work in a computerized workplace with information technology (IT) for producing financial ledgers and for reporting. Thus, the role of the management accountant has shifted from capturing and recording transactions to analyzing business issues. The research question is: what IT knowledge and skills do employers require of management accounting graduates? An exploratory field research approach was used; chief financial officers and their subordinates at some of New Zealand's largest firms were consulted. These respondents were consistent in their requirements. They emphasized intermediate proficiency with some Microsoft tools (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and sufficient familiarity with the structure and navigation of an enterprise resource planning system to process transactions such as accounts receivable. Of those requirements, Excel for analysis was the most important. Our contributions update and augment the literature by clarifying the perceptions of employers regarding the IT competencies required of management accounting graduates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Issues of equity, such as service user and student participation, are reinforced in global and national standards of social work education, along with themes of Indigeneity, culture, accessibility, gender, and sexuality. Although standards influence and guide practices in social work education the range and degree to which democratising practices are operationalised at the local level depends upon the actual program delivery within higher education. Semistructured interviews were undertaken with social work education leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand to explore how democratising practices were demonstrated within their programs. Leaders of social work education have a vital role to play in the operationalising of democratising practices within social work programs. Leadership was identified as key to supporting student representation and diversity, recruiting and sustaining a diverse workforce, advancing expressions of activism, and working through internal and external challenges that are paramount to leading an equity-focused social work program. IMPLICATIONS The pursuit of equity is a fundamental professional value in social work education programs that is achieved through democratising practices. Leaders have a key role in operationalising this equity focus, which can be reinforced through standards and regulatory frameworks. An equity-focused program is demonstrated through supporting student representation and diversity, developing a curriculum and a pedagogy that advances equity, and recruiting and sustaining a diverse workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here the authors explore everyday teaching strategies that work to implement early childhood curriculum frameworks, using published transcripts of video-recorded data of real-life teacher–child interactions in early childhood centres in Australia and New Zealand. The analysis uses a conversation analysis approach to reveal the sequences of action (talk and gesture) in the co-construction of pedagogical interactions. The authors illustrate how this approach builds on Elizabeth Stokoe's Conversation Analytic Role-play Method (CARM), helping guide early childhood teachers in their interactions with infants, toddlers and young children. They argue that emphasis on real rather than recalled events and close attention to the sequential organisation of talk are central to understanding teaching and learning in early childhood education. The importance of promoting skills and knowledge in the mechanisms of high-quality interactions – that can respond to different contexts, children and concepts for learning – is emphasised, rather than a prescriptive 'best practice' template. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the second of two detailing the outcomes of an extensive study exploring a largely unrecognised role for social workers as educators in their everyday practice in Aotearoa New Zealand. The first focused on the quantitative aspect of the study. The second, smaller phase of the study is discussed in this article. In a series of semi-structured interviews, social workers from a range of settings and positions shared short narratives describing their practice. While their accounts gave clear examples of undertaking educative tasks in their everyday practice, the social workers did not always recognise them as such. In addition, content analyses showed that the role is hardly recognised in position descriptions, and educational theory and practice skills are not included in the Social Work Registration Board's requirements for curricula for professional programmes. It is considered that making the role explicit and incorporating education theory into the social work curriculum would create an opportunity to refocus the lens for practice away from the current pervasive neoliberal paradigm. The article concludes by arguing that, as is being considered in a number of western countries, the European discipline of social pedagogy has much to offer in this endeavour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the New Zealand Ministry of Education released a new curriculum policy document for sexuality education in all schools - Sexuality Education: A Guide for Boards of Trustees, Principals and Teachers. This policy is a rare international example of a curriculum document that explicitly values diversity, promotes inclusive school environments, and approaches sexuality education as an area of study (rather than a health promotion intervention). Since its release, the document has, however, gained little attention either of a scholarly nature or in terms of dedicated implementation in schools. One exception is a recent article in this journal by Sarah Garland-Levett, which raises some interesting and important concerns about the possibilities of such policy documents. I follow her lead here and continue the discussion about the place and potential of progressive sexuality education policy, and offer some thoughts about the content and intentions of this text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines evidence regarding the assessment learning of preservice teachers (PTs) in a new Master of Teaching designed to prepare teachers to address the less than equitable outcomes of certain groups of students in New Zealand. The assessment curriculum was integrated across all of the courses and the in-school experiences as one of six interconnected facets of practice for equity. Evidence about the assessment learning of 27 preservice teachers was collected using a survey, interpretive analysis of three assignments and a focus group interview. The findings demonstrated that preservice teachers combined theory and practice encountered in many contexts to build the assessment understanding and competence needed to address equity issues. We argue that this was facilitated by incorporating the assessment curriculum within each course, intertwining university and school experiences, and the specific focus on addressing equity throughout the programme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent decades, physiotherapists have become concerned with cultural, economic, philosophical, political, and social questions and have been exploring more flexible ways of speaking about and practicing physiotherapy. While recognizing the need to embrace a broader range of perspectives, physiotherapy educators and other medical educators have been at a loss as to how to best achieve this. Drawing on two examples from South Africa and New Zealand, we seek to illustrate possibilities and barriers to teaching social sciences to physiotherapy students, specifically theories of embodiment as an alternative to the biopsychosocial model. We review each educator’s choice of embodiment theory in curriculum design and the role of the educator’s disciplinary background on teaching, learning, and assessing that learning. Against this background, we explore physiotherapy students’ experiences with theories of embodiment and possible transformative implications for their self-worth and/or professional practices. We suggest that students were able to explore physiotherapy’s relation to the body and the profession’s historical inattention toward the body as a philosophical/theoretical construct. From the lessons learned, some can perhaps be usefully passed onto others thinking of introducing a more diverse and inclusive approach of the body; one that we argue will be needed in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective Clinical psychology trainees with problems of professional competence ( PPC) continue to be a challenge for courses. Despite the rapid development of competency-based training models, the impact of this shift to the identification and management of professional competency problems is unclear. This project aims to describe how clinical psychology trainees with PPC are identified and managed within the Australian and New Zealand context. Method An online survey was distributed through Australian and New Zealand universities offering clinical psychology training programmes. Questions addressed approaches to monitoring progress on placements, identification and management of trainees determined to be underperforming on placements, and the perceived usefulness of a range of strategies such as the use of standardised-rating tools. Results Thirty one responses were received, representing 40 clinical psychology training courses in 22 institutions across Australia and New Zealand. In all cases, at least one trainee with a PPC had been detected in the previous 5 years, most commonly attributed to psychological, behavioural, and developmental issues. Respondents reported the use of a range of preventive and remedial strategies, including the use of psychometrically validated competency evaluation rating forms to assist in the grading of placements. Conclusion Trainees with PPC occur on a fairly regular basis in clinical psychology training courses in Australian and New Zealand. While some processes involved in the identification and management of these students have been refined and systematised, some opportunities to facilitate early identification and remediation may yet need further enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to explore and problematise teachers’ talk about outdoor education in New Zealand. The focus is on what can be said, how it is said and the discursive effects of such ways of speaking. The inquiry draws on Foucauldian theoretical insights to analyse interview transcripts derived from semi-structured interviews with eight outdoor education teachers who work at secondary schools in New Zealand. Findings suggest that different discourses co-exist and are intertwined in the participants’ talk. Associated with a dominating discourse of adventure are subdiscourses of risk and safety, pursuit-based activities, skill and assessment. Connected to a discourse of learning are subdiscourses of environment, sustainability and social critique. Resistance towards a dominating discourse of adventure with pursuit-based activities can be traced in a discourse of learning in the form of a more place-responsive pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]