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Youth voices led the climate strikes of 2019 and motivated millions to take to the street and demand climate action. Aotearoa New Zealand is experiencing more frequent and devastating weather events such as flooding, cyclones, droughts and fires, evidence of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s assertion that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to go unchecked, the impacts on humans and ecosystems will be irreversible, pervasive, and severe. Furthermore, those least responsible for the causes of climate change are likely to be the most affected. This includes the youth of today. Despite the predicted scale of the impact climate change might have on future generations, academic literature relating to youth concerns and perceptions on climate change education has also been limited. While this research largely confirms what is already known about climate change education in secondary schools, it has focused on youth perspectives, and this is where the value lies by offering a theoretical contribution to pedagogical practise based on the voices of youth climate strike leaders. Education traditionally mirrors the cultural norms of society and secondary schools have not shown a willingness to engage with their youth about climate change education. This thesis is grounded in a Freirean theoretical position, the context of which, supports an education process that enables students to become agents of change and argues for greater implementation of holistic critical pedagogies in secondary schools. The 2019 climate strikes represented an uprising of youth, through this action the strike leaders’ experiences led to their realisation that climate instability necessitates an educational shift away from prioritising cultural reproduction to an education system that supports cultural transformation. With a critical theory lens, I explore the barriers and opportunities within secondary schools in regard to climate change education and ask what teachers can learn from t

Food waste is a widespread global issue. Food is wasted at various stages of the food supply chain and there are unique reasons for wastage at each stage. Whatever may be the reason, food waste has social, economic, and environmental impacts which can be felt globally. It is unethical to waste food when there are so many hungry people in the world. It is a waste of our precious resources and a burden on our precarious food situation. Food waste in landfills releases methane - a harmful greenhouse gas, which adds to global warming, and a harmful liquid called leachate which is toxic to the environment. Food waste is a major issue globally and also in New Zealand. Fortunately, food waste at the consumers’ level may be reduced by developing their Food Waste Literacy. I explored existing studies and ideas in Food Literacy. However, the current definition of Food Literacy only includes the health and nutrition aspect of food. Therefore, the inclusion of food waste in Food Literacy warrants an explicit need at this point in time. Therefore, I proposed the term Food Waste Literacy in this study, which is the literacy for the judicious use of food, by acquiring the ability to use the food produced efficiently, with an understanding of concepts ranging from the production to consumption of food. Food Waste Literacy may include developing knowledge, attitudes and values, and behaviour towards food waste. This literacy may be situated alongside Environmental Literacy and may be developed by implementing a similar framework. The purpose of this study was to explore and develop the Food Waste Literacy of Year 7 students in a school in New Zealand. Primarily, the focus of my study was (1) to explore the students’ Food Waste Literacy, (2) to design an intervention to engage these students in developing their Food Waste Literacy, and (3) to explore the effect of the intervention in activating the students’ inquiry and decision making about Food Waste Literacy. I employed a converge

This research focuses on enhancing teacher mediation to foster students’ metacognition in flipped learning classrooms in a middle-high school in China. A series of designed workshops aimed to develop teachers’ professional understanding of metacognitive engagement in flipped learning classrooms and facilitate their exploration of classroom talk with a view to enhancing students’ metacognitive thinking to assist their learning. Flipped learning, as one example of digital learning, is increasingly pervasive in many educational settings. Research suggests that self-regulated learners benefit more in the flipped learning pedagogical environment than those who have low self-knowledge and self-management. Self-regulation is one of the main subcomponents of metacognition. There is a need to help teachers to be metacognitive teachers, so that in turn, metacognitive learners may be cultivated through daily classroom instructional activities and teacher practice. The school in this study had identified a need to further develop metacognition in their flipped classroom learners. The study used an interpretive methodology and a qualitative research approach to explore the use of dialogic talk processes by teachers to engage in metacognitive thinking with their students within the flipped learning context. Data were gathered through classroom observations prior to and after a series of designed professional learning workshops for the teachers. Key incidents of teachers using dialogic talk were captured by video during further classroom observations and post-observation interviews with teachers, and student focus groups and analysis of student work completed the dataset. The participants in this study included five teachers and their students, to investigate the phenomena of teacher mediation in students’ development of cognition and metacognition in a flipped learning approach. In this study, the use of flipped learning suggested a need for metacognitive learners and metacogniti

Research on teacher expertise has identified pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as the most important factor impacting student progress (Neumann, Kind & Harms, 2019; Park & Chen, 2012) and supported its recognition in teacher practice (Kind & Chan, 2019). Since the recognition of PCK as something that teachers possess, there has been theorizing and research into its nature, its components, and the relationship among these components. To address such issues, two international summits were organized in 2012 and 2016. The key outputs of these summits were theoretical consensus models of PCK (Carlson & Daehler, 2019; Gess-Newsome, 2015). This study builds on novel emerging ideas in the first PCK consensus model (Gess-Newsome, 2015). These consensus models stressed the need for examination of PCK in classroom practices. Researchers have argued for research to understand teachers’ PCK in their practice, with the ultimate goal of the enhancement of students’ learning (Abell, 2007; Barendsen & Henze, 2019; Lee, 2020). This study then had the aim to examine experienced science teachers’ PCK during their classroom practices when they taught a chemistry topic to Year 10 students in New Zealand. A case study approach was adopted for an in-depth examination of these teachers’ practices (e.g. Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2018; Yin, 2009). The sample of this study was two experienced science teachers who were selected by the convenient sampling technique. The data were collected from teachers only. The data were gathered through a pre-topic questionnaire, document analysis, follow-up lesson interviews, follow-up topic interviews, and classroom observations including video recordings of lessons. Each class lesson within a 12 lesson topic for each teacher was observed and video-recorded. The lesson follow-up interviews were conducted after each lesson and follow-up topic interviews were conducted after completion of the topic. A conceptual and analytical framework was developed to in

Children are among the most vulnerable groups to the adverse impacts of climate change. They can be psychologically disturbed and rendered powerless by the magnitude of its impacts. Tonga and its island groups are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and these impacts affect the environment, the people and their livelihoods. Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) directs countries to consider education, training, and public awareness as integral responses to climate change. Climate change education empowers children to learn about how to minimise the impacts of climate change and learn to adapt and live sustainably in an environment already affected by climate change. In order to plan and design effective climate change education, it is crucial to determine students’ and teachers’ conceptions and misconceptions of climate change, their attitudes and motivations to act about climate change, and the climate change curricula in schools. This research then explored secondary school teachers’ and students’ awareness, knowledge, attitudes about climate change and their motivations to act upon it. This research also explored the place of climate change in the school curriculum in Tonga. This research also examined how talanoa as a form of interactive engagement and communication could help students to learn to understand and address climate change and its impacts. Talanoa, which is a Pacific research methodology, was used in this research to inform and guide its data collection. This study adopted a mixed method approach, in which culturally appropriate methods such as talanoa fakataautaha (one-on-one talanoa) and talanoa fakatokolahi (group talanoa) and vakavakai’i (observation) were mixed with Western methods, including questionnaires and document analysis. Talatalanoa and tālanga were the two methods of talanoa used to conduct the talanoa fakataautaha and talanoa fakatokolahi. Data were collected in two phases. P

Increasingly rapid consumption of natural resources and the production of wastes and their impacts on ecosystems have become unsustainable practices due to the increase in population, technological development and economic growth. The role of environmental education (EE) has been highlighted for promoting more sustainable ways of living by improving knowledge, behaviour and action to address environmental challenges and help society to shift toward sustainability. Environmental education is positioned in New Zealand education as an interdisciplinary teaching and learning approach. The non-mandatory status of EE emphasises an holistic approach to meeting the aims of EE. However, teachers face some challenges integrating the complex and evolving content of EE into school curricula due to lack of support and professional learning opportunities. Collaboration for teachers could help them to share their experiences with challenges regarding teaching and learning in EE. Building connections between teachers could help them to increase their knowledge and enhance their teaching practice, which in turn could affect students’ learning. Social media is used for collaborative learning in diverse disciplines for various purposes. It has the potential to be used for teacher professional learning (TPL) as communication and resources can be combined to create collaborative learning opportunities. However, there is little evidence to date of its use in TPL in EE. Considering the advantages and the possibility of social media for use in TPL in EE, the purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of professional learning through social media in EE in New Zealand. A mixed method study was designed and conducted in three phases using a phenomenographic approach. Findings from questionnaires and interviews in the first and second phases suggested that teachers see TPL through social media as potentially collaborative, convenient, and ubiquitous. They also believed building

The adoption of blended learning solutions in higher education has increased significantly over some years in many developing countries, including Vietnam. While blended learning has been well-researched in Western countries such as the USA, the UK and Australia, little has been known about blended learning in Vietnamese contexts. Previous research has indicated that the adoption of blended learning in higher education can be affected by numerous factors. Thus, my study aims to add to this research, by exploring factors that affect the teaching and learning of English in a blended learning approach in a Vietnamese university. I used a mixed methods design approach for gathering data. Quantitative data were collected from an online survey to 339 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) second-year students at the university. Qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 7 students, 3 programme leaders (PLs) and 5 teachers at the university. The collected data were then analysed and interpreted using Engeström’s (1987) Activity Theory as a framework. Key findings indicated that the PLs’ design activity, teachers’ works and students’ learning in their English blended courses were mediated by the Learning Management System (LMS) structure, the institutional regulations and their roles and responsibilities. The PLs and the teachers viewed the LMS as having affordances including helping deliver learning content materials and monitor students’ online task completion. However, the constraints of the LMS such as a lack of communicational tools within the LMS and its behaviouristic features hindered students’ blended learning experience. These constraints also prompted the teachers to use communicational tools external to the LMS to interact with students. The institutional requirements were also found to influence blended learning design decisions and teaching activities. Several online learning challenges inhibited students’ blended learning experience inc

Environmental education (EE) has been recognized as a vital tool that could help to alleviate the prevailing environmental and sustainability issues facing our world today. One of the goals of environmental education (EE) has been recognized as the development of environmental literacy (EL). The development of environmental literacy for pre-service teachers (PSTs) is critical if they are to be confident and competent to deliver EE in schools. This study sought to examine the preparedness of PSTs to teach EE in New Zealand primary schools, after completing a compulsory EE paper in their first year of a three-year teacher education programme, in a New Zealand public university. This research is relevant as EE in New Zealand primary schools is recommended to be taught through integration into the core learning areas. This study was conducted using a case study strategy within an interpretive paradigm to seek the meanings of the experiences of PSTs and their learning in the EE paper. Data was gathered from different cohorts of pre-service teachers and their lecturers using a mixed method approach that involved administration of questionnaires, focus group discussions, interviews, observations, and document analysis. The cohorts included Year 1 PSTs taking the paper at the time the research was conducted, Year 3 PSTs looking back on the paper they had previously taken two years ago, and beginning teachers who had recently completed the degree. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as t-test, ANOVA, Pearson product moment correlation and path analysis. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to run undertake these tests. The qualitative data were analyzed thematically using content analysis. Findings from this study showed that the EE paper has an immediate impact on PSTs’ EL, especially on their knowledge and concern for issues extensively discussed during the paper. The PSTs also believed that, amongst othe

Sustainability, though not well understood, is an increasingly important concept in society, and as such has become incorporated in school curricula. In New Zealand, sustainability was added to the national curriculum in 2007 as a non subject-bound thematic link through the values and key competencies associated with student learning. Teachers use the national curriculum, a statement of policy describing educational objectives, to plan their classroom practice with their particular learners in mind, a process referred to as local curriculum development. Though sustainability education is new to New Zealand teachers, there is a strong history of environmental education where implementation has been successful in many primary schools, in which the curriculum is integrated. In the secondary school setting, the implementation of non subject-bound learning, like environmental education, has proven to be less successful, partly due to the siloed nature of subject specialisation. Sustainability as the interaction between environmental, social and economic perspectives has proven to be particularly difficult to address in such siloed secondary schools. This study investigates the sense making practices of some English, science, social science and technology secondary teachers as they interpret sustainability in the national curriculum and create local sustainability curricula in their school settings. The research occurred three years after the introduction of the revised national curriculum and at a time when few professional learning opportunities existed to support teacher professional development. The research is founded on sociocultural learning theory drawing on concepts of mediated action, and situated and distributed cognition. Research data was generated over a year-long collaborative action research programme and analysed using Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a tool. The findings indicate that these teachers were challenged by the siloed nature of curriculu

To address environmental and sustainability problems we need a new way of educating our young people; one that provides them with the capabilities and skills to find and examine their own frameworks for solving these problems in the future. Thus, it has been argued that we urgently need to find new models and approaches to education that reflect and contribute to sustainable practices, as traditional educational systems have contributed to the unsustainable conditions we now face. A whole school approach to education for sustainability (EfS) supports the notion that children learn both through an enacted curriculum and informally through the messages and meanings inherent in their surroundings. A whole school approach to EfS involves transforming the system rather than reforming it or simply accommodating change. One school-focussed programme that has been fostering such whole school approaches in New Zealand is the Enviroschools programme. The Enviroschools programme supports a whole centre/school approach to EfS, and describes four key areas of schooling life that have an effect on sustainability and student learning: (1) People (and Participation); (2) Programmes; (3) Practices; and (4) Place. This thesis has examined the development of a whole school approach to EfS by investigating the planning, implementation and outcomes of such an approach in a New Zealand primary school. An interpretive methodology was used to guide data collection through observations, interviews and analysis of student work as an Enviroschools facilitator worked with the staff and students of the school during their first year of integrating EfS into their school. An analytical framework, based on themes emerging from the ‘People, Programmes, Practices and Place’ dimensions of a whole school approach to EfS, was used to interpret the data arising from this single, case study school. This study found that the school leader(s), such as the Principal, have a profound effect on the success of

This article offers a set of unique vignettes or stories that attempt to illustrate examples of critical approaches to environmental education (EE) in diverse contexts. It draws from the experiences of five environmental educators in four different regions of the world. We detail the history of the emergence of critical consciousness in education in Brazil, and its application in a Brazilian region, then move to examples of critical educational responses to oppression in New Zealand and Zimbabwe, before closing with a critical examination of innovative teaching and research in Europe. Through this breadth of endeavour, we identify commonalities across these contexts such as the importance of participatory action and research to examine people-environment relations, particularly as constituted by indigenous peoples, and to interpret realities in ways that empower through learning-led social-ecological change. We argue that this critical approach can foster emancipation through individual and collective learning in EE processes within very different contexts.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has been argued to have a significant role as a strategy for sustainable resource management. TEK in this context refers to all aspects of indigenous knowledge and practice related to human interactions with the environment, and is particularly important in developing countries, where significant tensions exist between indigenous ways of life and capitalistic economic development. This research explored the perceptions of indigenous Papua New Guineans about a relationship between TEK and sustainability, the role of education in using TEK in sustainable resource management, and the extent to which existing education and sustainable resource management policies emphasise TEK. Twenty-four participants were invited from stakeholder groups involved in natural resource management, such as community members, educators, conservation practitioners, policy makers and resource developers. This qualitative study combined elements of both interpretivism and critical theory to understand and interpret participants’ perceptions of the challenges, limitations and management strategies for sustainable natural resource management using TEK. These approaches were informed by the literature on TEK and sustainability in developing the research design. Data was collected in two phases through semi-structured interviews and follow-up workshops and critically analysed using analysis of themes that emerged from the data and the literature. The findings indicated that TEK in the indigenous Papua New Guinean context led to a sustainable way of life through exercising the values of respect, responsibility and reciprocity for continuity. TEK was found to be a way of life that used holistic approaches of maintaining connection to land and other resources, and ensuring these were equitably accessed to meet social, cultural and physical human needs. This also showed that sustainability was embedded in every social and environmental aspect of TEK. The findings

Many human behaviours, including social, political, and economic actions, have an impact on the natural environment, and are responsible for causing many of the current environmental challenges and issues. This raises the importance of education, particularly environmental education (EE), as a necessary tool to equip people to address environmental issues and move towards environmental sustainability. International EE declarations such as the Tbilisi Declaration have highlighted that investigating peoples’ environmental awareness, attitudes, and behaviour towards environmental issues could inform educational approaches geared towards a more sustainable future. The research presented in this thesis explored the environmental awareness, attitudes, and behaviour of secondary school students and teachers in Tehran, Iran. The aim was to investigate the current context of EE in Iranian secondary schools. An interpretive approach was used to explore participants’ perspectives through a mix of quantitative and qualitative data, including questionnaires, individual interviews, and focus group interviews. Data were collected in six secondary schools in Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Two populations were included: 337 secondary school students (9th grade) and 12 secondary school teachers. Two different computer software programmes (SPSS for quantitative and NVivo for qualitative data) were used for data analysis and coding. The findings indicated that students had reasonably high levels of understanding about environmental issues, particularly about local issues that have a greater impact on their everyday lives, such as air pollution. This highlights the important issue of context. Students also expressed positive attitudes towards the environment, but indicated low levels of agency. Many researchers have shown that both awareness and attitudes are prerequisites of pro-environmental behaviour. However, they are not necessarily sufficient for action, as confirmed in this st

New Zealand is facing a biodiversity crisis as forest and wetland habitat loss continue, and the quality of freshwater declines. But in recent years, a grassroots, nationwide network of community environmental groups has been expanding its contribution to restoring, protecting and enhancing these terrestrial and aquatic habitats. At the same time, government agencies are becoming increasingly reliant on voluntary community input to enhance conservation outcomes and to manage freshwater values. Globally, volunteer participation in environmental monitoring (citizen science) is recognised as an important mechanism for producing robust data that contributes to research, management and policy development, and for enhancing scientific and environmental literacy. New Zealand, however, lags far behind international efforts in acknowledging the value of, and uses for, the type of data that community groups undertaking environmental restoration may generate. Furthermore, strategies and policies around supporting community data generation as well as use have not yet been developed at a government level. This study sought to address this shortcoming by investigating characteristics of New Zealand community environmental groups and their projects, partnerships between groups and their project supporters, and the current and potential roles of environmental monitoring by these groups (i.e., citizen science). Data to inform this investigation was gathered using an online questionnaire sent to 540 community environmental groups across New Zealand, and 34 semi-structured interviews with project partners (e.g., resource managers and scientists), including nine interviews with members of four well–established (>10 y) community environmental groups. Qualitative data from the questionnaire and interviews were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis, and quantitative data from the questionnaire were analysed for frequency counts, chi-square significance and Random Forest

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

Environmental education can play a major role in achieving sustainability. In the context of this research, environmental education is defined as a process to impart and instil knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations and commitment among the population to work towards environmental solutions, problem prevention and to live sustainably. This research focussed on non-formal environmental education with adults in communities in Sabah, Malaysia. In Sabah, solid waste is a significant problem, and oil palm plantations are one of the main agricultural activities that produce solid agricultural waste or by-products in rural areas. This research focussed on co-constructing an environmental education programme for waste management with villagers, including the independent oil palm smallholders, in local communities in Beaufort, Sabah. This research has elements of both interpretivism and a critical theory approach. It has elements of interpretivism because of the interaction with the local communities to obtain their views and perceptions on waste management practices in their own areas. It was also partially aligned with the critical theory paradigm because it sought to create positive changes among the communities in terms of waste management practices by providing an avenue for discussions, creating empowerment and collaboration. The theoretical principles of community environmental education drawn from the areas of community education and environmental education guided the framing of the research design. Data were collected in two stages. Stage one involved interviews with government officers, a community survey and a focus workshop with two rural communities. This data combined with the theoretical principles of community environmental education guided a co-construction of an educational programme on waste management for the two communities. Stage two involved the programme implementation, and an evaluation process which included a survey, interviews and observation.

An increasing recognition of the impact of human activity on the natural environment has oriented attention to the role of education for sustainability (EfS) as a means to create more ecologically literate and sustainable societies. One premise is that socio-ecological sustainability issues and challenges are immediate and locally rooted. This calls for educational interventions that promote participative action by local communities, recognizing that adults in those communities need to engage in action and change towards sustainability. In relation to this, current evidence indicates that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Internet have the potential not only to promote teaching and learning for EfS, but also to increase knowledge, and promote attitude and behaviour change of individuals and the broader community. In addition, sustainability issues are interrelated with other social dimensions with inherent complexity. Similarly, the design, implementation and use of ICT in education bring together learning and technology in complex ways. To address these types of educational contexts, both the ICT and EfS literature support a holistic and systems thinking approach. This suggests that developing a theoretical framework that informs the development of EfS websites, based on a systems thinking approach, might be an effective way to enhance ecological literacy, and action competence for socio-ecological sustainability at the community level. Within this context, this PhD research study aimed to investigate the use of Internet websites for community EfS in Chile. A theoretical model for the design and development of EfS websites aimed at the community and non-formal level was developed based on literature from EfS, systems thinking, ICT, and community education. This model was trialled in an authentic context in Chile, through the design and build of an EfS website addressing the ecological sustainability issues of a lake, and its impact on the local

This study investigated the nature of students’, and student group, interactions through the incorporation of an online collaborative learning (OCL) initiative, with its aim to enhance students’ learning in a Malaysian tertiary classroom. In order to contribute to knowledge and understanding about the nature and quality of OCL, the learning processes and outcomes were drawn predominantly from Harasim’s model, with inclusion of a socio-cultural framework aimed at enhancing learning outcomes for undergraduate science and ICT education students. Harasim’s model of OCL that was used in the intervention includes steps to setting up the stage and a system for Idea Generating (IG), modeling and guiding the OCL discussions for Idea Organizing (IO), and evaluating and reflecting the OCL discussions for Intellectual Convergence (IC). The interactions in OCL were analysed through four dimensions: participative, interactive, social, and cognitive in support of the students’ cognitive, social and emotional development. The OCL intervention in this study was conducted through an ICT education course in a Malaysian university that required OCL discussions for 13 weeks: the first four weeks were intra-group work discussions (Task 1), followed by four/five weeks of inter-group work discussions (Task 2), and the remaining four weeks were for the final intra-group work discussions (Task 3). The OCL intervention was aimed at facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration and interaction between students from Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics majors through the university’s Learning Management System (Moodle), which provided the shared space for the OCL discourse and tools for collaboration. A total of nine groups of four to six students (N=46) were involved in this study. In order to evaluate the OCL intervention using a holistic view, an interpretive approach that included the collection of quantitative and qualitative data was adopted to frame the collection and analysis of the data.

Government policies in Papua New Guinea (PNG) identify the need for environmental education for sustainability (EEfS) to respond to environmental and sustainability issues faced within the country. However, little has been achieved to develop EEfS in pre-service teacher education. This doctoral study developed an intervention to address this problem in one PNG teachers college. The intervention design was underpinned by a theoretical framework comprising conceptual knowledge and pedagogical ideas from the EEfS literature, conceptions of teacher education and the local traditional knowledge of PNG, and a survey of pre-service teacher students and document analysis. The intervention was delivered to 300 year one pre-service teachers. An evaluation of the intervention used pre and post intervention questionnaires, student reflective journals and student work of 81 pre-service teacher participants. The analysis involved simple statistical and thematic analysis, using themes that both were informed by the literature and emerged from the data. Student perceptions indicate that knowledge, skills and attitudes for EEfS were developed during the intervention. After the intervention, the students identified land problems and biodiversity depletion especially that of endangered species, as important issues for PNG, but their views on poverty as an issue were more complex. The data further suggests that the pre-service teachers were motivated and confident to teach EEfS, using learning approaches that were modelled in the intervention. While, it is unclear if the pre-service teachers will take personal action to contribute to future sustainability, it appears that the implementation of the intervention has had some impact on the pre-service teachers’ awareness, interest, and confidence to deliver EEfS in their future classrooms. The study also indicated that further development of an EEfS course in pre-service teacher education in PNG may require changes to current teacher educ

Environmental, economic, and social trends suggest the need for more sustainable ways of thinking and patterns of behavior. Such a shift would require humanity to function at high levels of ecological literacy, which relies on a certain amount of scientific literacy. However, troubling evidence indicates an international pattern of student disengagement with science at the secondary level. Evidence also suggests that it is difficult to integrate environmental or sustainability education at this level, both within New Zealand and elsewhere. This research was aimed at examining the use of a novel approach, using permaculture, in junior secondary science (years 9 and 10) to enhance students‘ ecological and scientific literacy, as well as their attitudes toward studying science in school. Permaculture is an ecological design system based on science and ethics. A permaculture approach to science education involves eco-design thinking as well as the use of local permaculture properties and practitioners, and the science behind common permaculture practices. The approach is also meant to be relevant and engaging, and to promote systems thinking. This study involved the design and delivery of an intervention based on permaculture principles to one year 10 science class in New Zealand. Research took the form of a naturalistic, interpretive, mixed methods case study, which included the use of questionnaires, interviews, and observations. Data collection focused on the impacts of a permaculture approach on the teaching and learning of science, on students‘ ecological literacy, and on students‘ attitudes toward learning science in school. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires probed students‘ opinions on the environment, science, and learning science in school, and tested their sustainable thinking and systems thinking with concept mapping and SOLO Taxonomy exercises. Classroom observations took place over the course of 12 weeks, on average 3 days per week, totaling 31 days

The depth and breadth of science knowledge that is required to educate registered nurses has been the subject of much debate, both nationally and internationally. Central to the debate is the lack of clarity on what science is required for nursing. Nursing students world-wide report anxieties and difficulties with learning science within nursing programmes. It has not been established if science is required for nursing, nor has it been established how science is used by nurses engaged in clinical practice. This research was aimed at examining the use of science in nursing practice and therefore identifying an appropriate undergraduate nursing science curriculum for New Zealand nursing schools. To achieve this aim, a mixed method, interpretive, naturalistic approach has been employed involving interviews, surveys, observation studies and document analysis. The research had four phases; interviews with nine nurse educators and lecturers, written surveys undertaken by 71 registered nurses, observation and in-depth interviews with 17 registered nurses’ in practice across the central and lower North Island, and document analysis. Nurse educators and lecturers were interviewed to gain their perspectives of the role of science in nursing. A Science Attitude and Self-Efficacy (SASE) survey included sections that focused on nurses’ attitudes towards their nursing science courses, attitudes towards science in nursing, and probed their confidence in their own ability to use science in practice. Observations of nurses in their clinical practice were conducted over several hours and the nurses interviewed about their observed actions. The observed nursing actions and espoused science knowledge that were extracted from clinical practice were categorised into science and science-related topics which frame the breadth of content used in nursing practice, and the depth was ascertained by the level of complexity the nurse was able to articulate. Document analysis of curriculum inform

This paper focuses on the pedagogical approaches used in New Zealand WIL programs in terms of integration of student knowledge, and what impact these have on student learning. A collective case study methodology was used involving three areas of tertiary education science and engineering; business and management; and sport studies. The study involved researchers working collaboratively conducting focus group interviews with a selection of WIL students, academic supervisors, and employers from the relevant discipline about their teaching and learning experiences at both the academic institution and in the workplace. Relevant documentation (e.g., course/paper outlines, graduate profiles, etc.) was analyzed to afford data triangulation. The findings indicated that the WIL experience is a point of difference that students and employers value. Student learning (soft and hard skills, personal and professional development) occurs from a variety of sources (self-directed, supervisors, and peers) and a variety of modes (on campus, on placement). The findings reinforce what can be achieved through WIL programs, and through dissemination of the findings raise awareness amongst tertiary education institutions (TEIs) of the future possibilities available via this pedagogy.

A key aspect of work-integrated learning (WIL) is the notion that it entails the integration of knowledge and skills gained in the educational institution and in the workplace. WIL educators are interested in what way students take what they learn on campus into the workplace; and conversely how what they learn in the workplace becomes related to, or incorporated into, the next phase of learning when the student returns to the campus after completing a work placement Here we report on a major national study of the pedagogical approaches used in New Zealand WIL programs in terms of integration of student knowledge, and consider what impact these might have on student learning.