New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work
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365 research outputs found
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The status of the image in ECE assessment practice: Insights from the field
Full text linkWhile much has been done to advance narrative assessment practice in the early years, less attention has been granted to the role of the image in this pursuit. As a consequence, the purposes, value and strategic use of images (photographs, videos, visual metaphors etc.) in foregrounding learning of young children are not well understood. This paper reports on the results of a short pilot survey, sent to the early childhood education (ECE) sector Aotearoa New Zelaand in early February 2022, asking a series of exploratory questions about the status and utility of the image in ECE assessment. Images were not only viewed by many respondents as central to assessment and the co-production of knowledge about children’s learning, but they were also considered to be significant in terms of the trustworthiness and credibility of assessment information. Images represented young children’s learning in accessible ways and provided for reinterpretation, negotiation of meaning, and ongoing conversations about children’s changing experiences, capabilities, relationships, and community in ECE. As entry points to assessment dialogues with whānau and children, images provided a shared source of evidence about valued learning. We conclude with a provocation arising from understanding images as central to assessment that calls for more critical literacy concerning the placement and status of the image in ECE assessment practice – especially in light of assessment in the bicultural curriculum context of Te Whāriki (MoE, 2017).
 
Critical reflection and authentic mentoring relationships in Initial Teacher Education.
Full text linkThis article argues that mentoring relationships between student teachers and lecturers can be enhanced when lecturers participate in personal critical reflections of their role and practice. Current literature acknowledges the need for successful practice-based mentoring and assessment relationships, with students stating these relationships support their professional growth. Mentoring is defined as a connection that encompasses nurturing, guiding, and encouraging. The Initial Teacher Education (ITE) lecturer role includes supporting a student teacher to develop their own understandings of critical reflection however the journey of reflection must begin with the lecturer. Lecturers using this approach to mentoring relationships will cultivate authentic and meaningful connections for student teachers, leading to successful outcomes. This article explores why lecturers themselves must engage in critical reflection when mentoring student teachers in Early Childhood Education (ECE) ITE. This article reflects concepts gathered from the research I completed towards a master’s degree that explored mentoring and power relations within ECE ITE, specifically focussing on the relationships between student teachers and their lecturer mentors. Reflections on my research and the implications these reflections have for my current role and practice as an ECE ITE lecturer will be explored within this article
Professional Learning Groups: is it possible to reimagine appraisal culture?
Full text linkThis article draws on a case study of how one school changed its annual appraisal process through the use of Teaching as Inquiry (TAI). Appraisal lies at the nexus of accountability and support for teachers, amidst a backdrop of global neo-liberal reforms and education policy initiatives that has ultimately eroded trust in teachers. This case study will employ the use of Michel Foucault’s “governmentality” (2000a, p. 201) to look at the annual examination of teacher work through appraisal. The contestability of this space, as teachers become sites of both resistance and drivers for change, is highlighted and the successes and challenges of recent innovations will be discussed. While TAI provides opportunity to do ‘ethical work’ to transform teaching pedagogy, it raises the key question of how to reimagine appraisal to adequately provide accountability and promote excellence. A collaborative approach using PLGs (Professional Learning Groups) and critical friends is proposed as one innovative method of transforming teaching pedagogy in this space
University ‘Values’ and Neoliberal Marketisation
Full text linkThis editorial evaluates the potential impact of neoliberal marketisation on university values and culture drawing on the example of current bargaining between unions and university management in Aotearoa New Zealand
Whakapūmau te Mana: Implications for Early Childhood Practice
Full text linkWellbeing is fundamental to an individual’s ability to function and live well. Māori have some of the worst wellbeing statistics in New Zealand (Chalmers & Williams, 2018). From a te āo Māori perspective mana (power, authority) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) encapsulate the critical relationships inherent in Māori understandings of wellbeing. These relationships highlight the interconnectedness and interdependence of humans with the people, places and things in their worlds, and the responsibilities associated with these people, places and things. This article discusses findings from a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative funded project, Te Whakapūmautia te mana: Enhancing Mana Through Kaitiakitanga (2020–2021), and outlines implications for early childhood education (ECE) from the findings. The aim of the project was to investigate ways that ECE provides mokopuna (children) opportunities to recognise mana and understand ways to attain mana through being kaitiaki (guardians) of themselves, others and their environment, thereby contributing to a collective sense of wellbeing. The article focuses on kaiako understandings of mana and kaitiakitanga and how they are currently reflected in contemporary ECE services.
 
The Teaching Council, teacher registration fees, and pedagogic incursions: Funding control through taxation?
Full text linkDivaswapna by Gijubhai Badheka
Full text linkReview of the semminal book Divaswapna by Gijubhai Badheka
'So far so good': Academic migrants adjust to teaching in Aotearoa New Zealand's tertiary vocational sector
Full text linkTertiary education providers increasingly recruit international teaching staff in their drive to fill skills gaps and build institutional knowledge and research capacity but literature examining the adjustment experiences of these academic migrants remains limited. This multiple case study focuses on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ITP (Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics) sector and explores how the experience of migration has impacted on four long-term academic staff with a range of industry, teaching and research experience.
Adapting to student-centred teaching and managing diverse student groups have presented some initial challenges for these migrant teaching staff, but their overall experience has been positive. The study highlights how these teaching professionals have contributed significantly to the academic life of their institution, particularly in the area of curriculum development
Attracting and Retaining Diverse Kaiako in Early Childhood Education in Aotearoa New Zealand
Full text linkAotearoa New Zealand is a bicultural nation with a superdiverse society, a feature which presents opportunities and challenges for our early childhood education (ECE) sector (Chan & Ritchie, 2020). A primary challenge within the sector is achieving, in accordance with the partnership, protection and participation principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi, equitable educational outcomes for Māori tamariki (children) as well as for tamariki from the many other minority groups attending ECE services. An important over-arching policy initiative in this regard is growing and sustaining a quality ECE teacher workforce that reflects and represents Aotearoa New Zealand’s increasingly diverse society (Ministry of Education, 2019). Research evidence suggests that such a workforce can make a positive contribution to ensuring more equitable educational environments for diverse tamariki, their whānau (family and extended family) and their communities. Our study investigated barriers to and facilitators of attracting diverse kaiako (teacher) to ECE in Aotearoa New Zealand and retaining them once there. Although our research showed some positive developments in this regard, it also indicates much work is still needed to ensure our ECE teacher workforce and workplaces are representative of and inclusive towards diversity. We hope this research and its recommendations will create further discussion and reflection around the opportunities and challenges still ahead of us in working towards a world-class inclusive ECE education system for all (New Zealand Government, 2019)
Ready or not? Problematising the concept of graduate teacher readiness in Aotearoa New Zealand
Full text linkThis article interrogates the concept of teacher ‘readiness’ within Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Aotearoa New Zealand. It reviews the influences of this concept, and interrogates the definition of readiness as currently understood and enacted within education in Aotearoa New Zealand. It highlights the opportunity to invoke concepts of readiness drawn from Kaupapa Māori Theory to provide a coherent, local concept of readiness that may resist the legacy of Western ideological domination in ITE. This article emanated from my own disquiet working in ITE, and a reconsideration of my relationship to Te Tiriti o Waitangi both as an individual and as representative of my institution. As a tuhiwai (non-Māori), I recognise my privileged position to ask these questions, my responsibility as tangata tiriti and the potential risk of acting as Western translator to Māori concepts (Mika & Stewart, 2017).