NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL STUDIES最新文献

Abstract

There is much to celebrate about the liberal-progressive approach championed by New Zealand, which continues to be a prized feature of New Zealand education. Many liberal-progressive practices developed in New Zealand and contextualised for New Zealand students that sought to expand and enrich education were borrowed from Native Schools, Māori teachers, and Pākeha perceptions of preferred Māori pedagogies, giving rise to the perception that New Zealand education is bi-cultural in nature. This article offers critique of the key philosophies that have underpinned New Zealand education for the past 100 years to consider some of the challenges of liberal-progressive education for Māori. The philosophical foundations of a cutting-edge, creative, student-centred schooling system remain problematic for Māori and have been largely unsuccessful in expanding or enriching schooling for many Māori. A te ao Māori perspective of the foundational education philosophies highlights that the negative socio-political and educational positioning of Māori in New Zealand has been purposeful and well-coordinated.

Literature shows that navigating transitions from traditional single-cell classrooms to innovative learning environment (ILEs) calls for careful considerations. The importance of professional learning and development (PLD) in supporting teachers to thrive in educational transition has been continuously emphasised. Even though the key role of PLD for teachers in ILEs has been recently explored in the Aotearoa New Zealand context, few studies have investigated how teachers’ working experiences can be influenced by the ways they view their teaching practice in ILEs and the support teachers receive to work effectively in those spaces. Moreover, less attention has been given to how school-, class-, and individual-level variables interact in the same context. This study explored New Zealand secondary teachers’ experiences working in ILEs, by analysing survey data (quantitative data and qualitative data) from 248 teachers who taught in ILEs for most or all of the time. The structural equation modelling showed that both the reliable digital resourcing and a culture of ongoing PLD predict positive experiences of working in ILEs, both of which are also positively associated with teachers’ work (morale and workload). The quantitative findings were reinforced by the thematic analysis of teachers’ comments, which identified enablers and barriers to working effectively in ILEs. Overall, this study highlighted the importance of supporting teachers when responding to pedagogical challenges related to working in an ILE.

This paper explores the effectiveness of existing conceptions of digital citizenship education (DCE) to address the challenges and issues of postdigital societies. Current conceptions of DCE aim to develop learners who are capable of using digital technologies to their advantage or for the betterment of society. However, existing DCE approaches do not fully acknowledge the relational space between humans and digital technologies. Applying postdigital theory to DCE forefronts sociotechnical relations and the issues citizens face in postdigital societies. Using the Aotearoa New Zealand context as an example, digital citizenship policies and guidelines are unpacked to reveal the shortcomings of the guidance schools and teachers are offered. The analysis suggests ways to update current DCE approaches to reflect the realities of citizenship in continuously developing, complex postdigital societies.

This paper provides a review of recent empirical research investigating middle leadership practices in New Zealand secondary schools. Eight academic articles and one report are included to establish an analysis of the recent evidence of practices of curriculum middle leaders. The majority of the research utilises mixed methodology and aligns middle leadership practices within a paradigm of instructional leadership practice. Researchers found that effective middle leadership practices are associated with higher academic achievement and more equitable student outcomes. Effective middle leadership includes practices such as capability in instructional leadership, the ability to undertake problem-solving conversations with teachers and goal setting skills. Research reveals middle leaders found managing problems and conflicts challenging especially when they were concerned with teacher performance. They were required to coach and mentor staff with minimal leadership preparation, despite often being leaders of large teams of people with responsibility for considerable budgets and resources.

Student self-beliefs can shape their self-efficacy and influence achievement. Further, student self-beliefs can be influenced by teachers’ own beliefs and expectations for their students. Yet, the relations between teacher expectations, teacher and student gender, student mathematics achievement outcomes and self-efficacy have been little explored. Aotearoa New Zealand intermediate school students (n = 1314) and their teachers (n = 73) from three urban schools ranging in ethnicity and socioeconomic status, were surveyed at the beginning and end of one school year regarding their beliefs about and expectations of mathematics achievement, and student mathematics achievement was measured. ANOVAs determined that all teachers held greater expectations of their female as compared to male students’ mathematics achievement. No differences in self-efficacy to meet mathematics expectations or in self-efficacy to achieve in mathematics were demonstrated at the beginning of the year by student gender. However, boys exceeded girls in these regards by the years’ end. When student self-efficacy to meet expectations in mathematics was examined by teacher gender, male students demonstrated greater levels than female students at both year points in female teachers’ classes, suggesting the influence of teacher gender on student beliefs. Greater self-efficacy in mathematics organisation was evidenced for female students in both male and female teachers’ classes. Interestingly, no statistically significant difference in student mathematics achievement was noted by student gender either between or within the classes of male and female teachers. Student mathematics self-beliefs and achievement outcomes, their association with teacher and student gender, and implications for student futures are discussed.