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Wrestling with Biculturalism in Social Work Education
Get PDFWhen approached to write a piece on Donna Awatere’s (1984) book Māori Sovereignty from a social work perspective we seized the opportunity to reconsider her work. Revisiting the text after a 30-year-plus hiatus sparked a series of reflective conversations about how we wrestle with teaching biculturalism and our efficacy in preparing students for bicultural practice realities. This article draws upon our co-constructed narratives about what it means to be a social work educator in a bicultural practice landscape. Social work students graduate into an exceedingly complex practice environment fraught with tension about how to resolve inequities across the micro-to-macro continuum. The focus of this article is how Donna Awatere’s work is reflected in the tensions and responsibilities experienced when socialising students into the bicultural mission of social work practice in Aotearoa (New Zealand)
“My culture is like comfortable clothing”: Parenting experience of first-generation South Korean immigrants in Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFAlthough the parenting experience among first-generation South Korean immigrants in New Zealand has been documented, a further qualitative study was needed to understand the complexities of adjusting to New Zealand, where different parenting values and practices exist compared with South Korea. Through interviews with ten first-generation South Korean parents, this study explored the processes of participants re-evaluating their original values and practices. This study was guided by existing research on the cultural differences between Korea and New Zealand and theories of acculturation, immigrant parenting modification, dual route to value change, and cultural translation.
Three themes were extracted through thematic analysis. First, participants appeared to have found some values and practices easier to adapt and change, and some were more effortful. For example, many participants tended to encourage their children’s autonomy and independence in academics and careers domain sooner or later. However, some participants found it difficult to encourage their children’s independence in the financial and self-care domain because these new practices clashed with their original values. For example, adolescent children paying rent to their parents clashed with the importance of accumulating jeong (정), while making young children do house chores clashed with their belief that children should devote their time for self-development.
Second, parents and children’s bi-cultural socialisation emerged as a new parenting goal. Participants were concerned about them acquiring the New Zealand culture (e.g., family leisure life, involvement in their child’s school, and English fluency) and transmitting Korean culture to their children. Nevertheless, they seemed to have found practical, cultural, and language barriers to translate their values into action. In discussion, we discuss the importance of this issue and provide recommendations for immigrants.
Third, many participants reported having enhanced their relationships with their children. Male participants reported increasing time spent with their children because New Zealand work and family lifestyles enabled it. In contrast, female participants appeared to have found the overlap between the mother’s role as a comforter in Korean culture and the New Zealand parents’ communication style, and they reported becoming more validating of children’s emotions and less demanding and controlling.
Our findings support the theory of the dual route to value change and the hierarchical nature of the value system (e.g., independence vs jeong). Also, we found our participants demonstrating cultural translation process to maintain values, which involves creating new solutions when tension arose between Korean and New Zealand cultures (e.g., private tutoring, communication method to overcome language differences, and family trips).
Supporting migrant parents may require extra attention to the family’s experience of reconstructing their ethnic identity, cultural socialisation to the mainstream culture and cultural maintenance as these lead to understanding their practices and behaviours. Also, migrant families may benefit from exploring creative solutions or applying the skills mentioned. At community and policy level, creating opportunities for participation in cross-cultural activities and increasing access to translation services can support migrant families. It is recommended for schools to invest time to clarify cultural expectations with newly migrated families
Rural and remote communities: Health needs and aspirations of Pacific peoples
Get PDFIn Aotearoa New Zealand, Pacific peoples have worse health status and substantially limited access to healthcare, particularly in remote and rural communities, when compared to the general population. In addition, Pacific peoples are underrepresented in the Aotearoa health workforce, including within the medical workforce. There is a need for a fit-for-purpose health workforce with the skills and commitment to care for Pacific peoples living in remote and rural communities. In the context of the University of Waikato’s preparations to establish the Aotearoa Graduate Entry Medical School, this Masters study explores the perspectives and aspirations of rural Pacific peoples with the aim of understanding their health needs and their expectations of healthcare, particularly medical care.
This qualitative study is underpinned by the Pacific-valued and respect-based Pacific Post-Development Research Framework. The study design includes survey questionnaires, semi-structured interview and focus groups within a talanoa – a Pacific form of discussion/dialogue – space. Research participants will be Pacific peoples (n=9) over the age of 18 years and living in rural Te Rohe Pōtae (South/West Waikato region). The research data was explored using thematic analysis and focused coding.
The study suggest rural Pacific peoples want more healthcare services options with better accessibility, and that caters to their cultural differences. They aspire to see more Pacific doctors in their rural communities, as well as a health workforce that is responsive to their cultural needs
Menstrual Tracking, Fitness Tracking and Body Work: Digital Tracking Tools and Their Use in Optimising Health, Beauty, Wellness and the Aesthetic Self
Get PDFDigital self-tracking tools can be part of body work to measure, monitor, and optimise progress towards idealised versions of the self. Fitness and calorie trackers are obvious examples but menstrual tracking apps, which can track a large range of bodily ‘symptoms’, can also be part of body work. In this article, I present accounts of young people’s menstrual and fitness tracking experiences from existing literature, illustrating how both types of trackers can function as part of their users’ body work. I interweave these stories with an autoethnographic account of my own embodied experiences with and through menstrual and fitness tracking apps. I explore the ways in which health, beauty, and wellness can become enmeshed in self-tracking practices; how emotions, stress, and sleep can become personal problems to solve; how tracking tools can make body work feel more ‘real’; and the mutual but asymmetrical shaping of digital tracking tools and their users. Though there is an existing body of work on young people’s experiences of digital self-tracking tools more generally (particularly health and fitness tracking tools), young people’s use of menstrual tracking apps is a relatively understudied phenomenon to date. The themes identified in this article point towards possible avenues for future research
Developing culturally responsive psychology curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand
Get PDFThere are some significant wins in the development of a culturally competent undergraduate psychology curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand. These include how Mātauranga Māori is incorporated into research methodology papers, neuroimaging papers, and degree offerings. However, the number of specifically Māori-focused papers has halved since 2007. Further research is needed to gauge students' experiences of the quality of cultural competency in these papers
Image classification using class-agnostic object detection
Get PDFHuman-in-the-loop interfaces for machine learning provide a promising way to reduce the annotation effort required to obtain an accurate machine learning model, particularly when it is used with transfer learning to exploit existing knowledge gleaned from another domain. This paper explores the use of a human-in-the-loop strategy that is designed to build a deep-learning image classification model iteratively using successive batches of images that the user labels. Specifically, we examine whether class-agnostic object detection can improve performance by providing a focus area for image classification in the form of a bounding box. The goal is to reduce the amount of effort required to label a batch of images by presenting the user with the current predictions of the model on a new batch of data and only requiring correction of those predictions. User effort is measured in terms of the number of corrections made. Results show that the use of bounding boxes always leads to fewer corrections. The benefit of a bounding box is that it also provides feedback to the user because it indicates whether or not the classification of the deep learning model is based on the appropriate part of the image. This has implications for the design of user interfaces in this application scenario
Moonwalking "Backwards into the Future": 'Poi E,' Music Video, and Documentary
No full textExplores how contemporary music videos travel across, shape, and transform various media, online platforms, art institutions, and cultural industrie
Animated satire and collective memory: reflecting on the American “history wars” with The Simpsons
Get PDFDriven by the knowledge that how societies remember their past matters in the present, the field of collective memory studies has paid significant attention to the media’s role in contributing to the production of socially shared representations of history. The genre of satire, however, has so far remained largely neglected. My paper addresses this gap and argues that, compared to other forms of media, satire not only adds to the production of memories, but it also offers distinct rhetorical techniques to encourage audiences to reflect on the construction and maintenance of collective memories. I develop the argument about satire’s memory-reflexive function through a case study of how The Simpsons – by deploying the fictional persona of Jebediah Springfield as a metaphor of the Founding Fathers – critically comments on America’s hyper-polarized “history wars” between conservatives and liberals. I argue that animated satire is a particularly powerful vehicle for reflection on collective memory, not only because it subverts audience expectations, but also because the unlimited storytelling potential of animation makes it possible to imitate the politics of collective remembering with a high degree of realism
Network Analysis Reveals Unique Associations of Mindfulness and Distress with Immunity in Māori and Non-Māori New Zealanders
Get PDFObjectives:
A healthy immune system is required to protect against viral infection and ensure the efficacy of vaccines. Psychological distress can threaten immune resilience, while mindfulness practices can be protective. In New Zealand, Māori experience significantly higher levels of distress compared to non-Māori. The aim of this study was to explore the role of ethnicity in the relations among immunity, depression, anxiety, stress, and mindfulness relate to each other.
Method:
Network analysis was used to explore unique relations among distress (depression, anxiety, stress), mindfulness facets, and immune status in matched (age, ranging from 19 to 88 years, sex, and self-classified socio-economic status) samples of Māori (n=195) and non-Māori (n=195) participants from New Zealand.
Results:
The networks of distress, mindfulness, and immune status were significantly different between Māori and non-Māori participants. The mindfulness facets Describe and Act with Awareness were more strongly positively linked in Māori, and Non-judge and Depression more strongly negatively linked in Māori, while Describe and Non-judge were more strongly positively linked in non-Māori. For both Māori and non-Māori, similarities included a negative link between anxiety and immune status, strong positive links between the distress variables, and positive links between the mindfulness facets of Non-judge and Act with Awareness, Observe and Non-React, and Observe and Describe.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that anxiety is strongly linked to poor immunity across both Māori and non-Māori in New Zealand while networks of mindfulness and distress also demonstrated differences unique for each of these groups. Both similarities and differences between Māori and non-Māori should be considered when developing targeted interventions to improve physical and mental health in New Zealand.
Preregistration:
This study is not preregistered
Responses of male recreational runners during outdoor running in three shoes: Quantitative and qualitative studies
Get PDFThe introduction of advanced footwear technologies (AFT) in running shoes has sparked debate due to their significant impact on performance. However, there is a lack of research on how runners perceive them, especially compared to their own shoes and minimal shoes, which are also used in racing. Most research surrounding shoes with AFT is conducted in a laboratory environment, despite being designed for outdoor running. Therefore, this study aimed to provide a quantitative (Chapter 2) and qualitative (Chapter 3) assessment of runners running outdoors wearing three different shoes: Nike Vaporfly 4% (VP4), the original shoe with AFT; Saucony Endorphin Racer 2, a minimalist lightweight racing flat (FLAT); and runners’ habitual running shoes (OWN). The thesis aimed to compare biomechanical and subjective measures between shoes and explore possible correlations between comfort measures and biomechanical and subjective measures. Additionally, the thesis aimed to provide qualitative insights into shoe comfort and preferences of recreational runners wearing novel footwear.
Chapter One briefly reviews the evolution of running shoes and research investigating the design, performance, comfort, and injury of minimalist shoes and shoes with AFT. Minimalist shoes are designed to mimic barefoot running and have been shown to improve running economy due to being lightweight. These shoes are perceived as potentially preventing injuries for being “closer to nature”. Shoes with AFT typically contain a thick midsole of polyamide block elastomer foam and curved stiff plate. Shoes with AFT are reported to improve running economy; however, individual responses vary, especially in recreational runners. Comfort is a critical factor for runners when purchasing shoes and is proposed to enhance performance and minimise injury risk. However, comfort is multifaceted, and individuals value different factors during footwear selection.
Chapter Two is a quantitative study. In a cross-sectional study, 18 male recreational runners (age: 31.2 ± 10.5 y) ran three 1.5 km trials outdoors in OWN first, followed by FLAT and VP4 in random order. The first 1.1 km was run at a comfortable self-selected pace, and the final 400 m at a perceived 5 km race pace with a 30-second rest between speeds and 12-minutes rest between shoe conditions. Biomechanical measures were collected approximately 700 m into the 1.1 km run and 300 m into the 400 m run. Foot-strike angles were smaller in FLAT at both speeds (small to large effect size, ES) compared to both other shoes. The propulsion phase was shorter in VP4 (moderate to large ES) than in the other shoes. FLAT was ranked as being the least comfortable at the slower speed and perceived as the most likely to cause injury. OWN was ranked as the most comfortable at the slower speed and perceived as the shoe with the lowest injury risk. Comfort measures were more strongly correlated with subjective than biomechanical measures, illustrating the subjective nature of comfort.
Chapter Three is a qualitative study. The 18 male recreational runners were interviewed before and after running the 1.5 km trials in the three shoes (OWN, FLAT, and VP4). From the interviews, four main themes emerged with regards to comfort, performance, and injury risk: familiarity, cushioning, support, and ease of running. VP4 had the highest number of participants who most favoured it for performance as well as least favoured it for performance, exhibiting the divergent perceptions of runners with regards to the shoe (i.e., runners either liked or disliked them). The FLAT was described as light and quick, while the VP4 was described as bouncy and quick. Regarding cushioning, participants perceived OWN as balanced and reflecting a middle ground between the two extreme novel shoes. OWN provided a sense of familiarity and reassurance to runners regarding injury risk, while the lack of cushioning in the FLAT was perceived to increase injury risk. Overall, the interviews revealed the perceived link between comfort and performance in recreational runners and the variability in runners' footwear preferences.
The results of this thesis provide a more holistic understanding of running footwear comfort and performance in recreational runners. Comfort is a critical factor for shoe selection in runners, however, there is little association between comfort and biomechanics. Additionally, runners appear more likely to purchase shoes with AFT than minimalist possibly due to these being more similar to traditional running shoes and having more cushioning. Combining qualitative and quantitative analysis enables the extraction of a meaningful and nuanced interpretation from data. Furthermore, the valuable insights attained can help inform future shoe design and enhance the overall running experience for recreational runners