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    Progress or paradox? : NZQA, the genesis of a radical reconstruction of qualifications policy in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1991) Selwood, Stuart James
    This thesis investigates the origins of, and influences on, the policy developments that preceded the establishment of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). It is a case study of qualifications policy and draws heavily on material gathered from interviews with key-players and an analysis of a range of reports and other documents. The report traces the policy origins from developments in early New Zealand educational history. An essential ingredient to the policy mix that produced NZQA is its frequently paradoxical nature. This study investigates the extent of this paradox and seeks to describe it explain it. It does this by a description of events and developments, and relating them, where appropriate, to relevant theory. The chapter on centralisation and control focuses on the contradiction of what appears to be a centralising development amidst a sea of devolutionary rhetoric is examined. The period of more detailed examination coincides with the tenure of the Labour Government from 1984 to 1990. The role of legitimation is discussed in explaining the paradox apparent in the policy mix that produced NZQA. The impact of the new structure and its associated framework on curriculum, particularly that of secondary schools, is analysed. Here the problematic nature of the split between curriculum and assessment is discussed. This section reinforces the discussion on centralisation, as it unveils the potentially centralist and controlling nature of the new curriculum structure. Concern is voiced over the National Curriculum and Achievement Initiative and how they may combine with the qualifications framework to provide a greater measure of centralised curriculum extending from primary school level and up. The impacts of a modular, or units-of-learning, approach to increasing motivation, flexibility, and efficiency is also scrutinised. Concern is voiced again about controlling influences and the impact of managerialist ideologies. While the potential advantages of modularisation are acknowledged, a critical account is given of its short-coming and dangers as a means of legitimating essentially controlling mechanisms. All three aspects of the policy, curriculum, centralisation and modularisation are shown to be instruments capable of moving the locus of control ever closer to the centre. This inherent susceptibility is in turn related to the prevailing ideologies, and in particular those associated with managerialism and neo-Friedmanite economics. Specific attention is paid to debunking the pejorative association of conspiracy theories with the searches for explanations for policy developments, and care is taken to explain that despite the existence of ideological pressures, much policy occurs in a rather arbitrary, even ad hoc manner. A range of factors that aided the shaping of this particular policy are described and explained. The thesis concludes that explanations of policy developments need to consider a whole raft of factors that shape a particular policy. Furthermore the thesis also demonstrates that there are several inherent tensions and contradictions that remain unresolved in the policy example it examines.
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    Is workplace assessment working? : a critical theory analysis of the stated intentions for NQF workplace assessment in NZ and their realization in a case study in the ambulance service : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Education (Adult Education) at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Hoy-Mack, Penny
    Workplace Assessment (WPA) of National Qualifications Framework (NQF) competency standards has assumed significance as an alternative pathway for vocational qualifications for the NZ workforce. The stated intentions of the initiators of workplace assessment of NQF qualifications were multiple, an, at times, uneasy alliance of differing ideologies. These intentions included: an increase in the capability of the workforce, unified qualifications, social well-being and upward mobility for workers, the widening of participation in education, more fair and valid assessment and public choice. These official narratives for WPA are viewed through a critical theory 'lens', which is then focussed on a case study within the NZ Ambulance Service. The qualitative field work constitutes semi-structured interviews of six workplace assessors and eight candidates employed by Wellington Free Ambulance service. This research indicates that the intention to increase skill levels was partly realised in the valid and direct assessment of performance offered by WPA. Yet, competition with university qualifications detracted from the unified nature of the NQF; its qualifications were relegated to lower levels of the ambulance service. The intention to provide equitable pathways encountered barriers, particularly for volunteer ambulance officers. Moreover, lessened provider capture has resulted in inconsistencies in assessment practice. However, the assessors' holistic evidence-gathering methodologies employed an interplay model, integrating atomistic competencies and holistic judgements of ambulance work. This hermeneutic knowledge counters tendencies to reductionist assessment of ambulance work. A further model of workplace assessors' practice is developed showing how the level of closeness or distance between assessors and candidates influences the candidates' confidence and therefore fairness in workplace assessment. Participatory practices and positive closeness favourably affected assessment events. Costs, particularly the time required for WPA, are partly borne by the ambulance workers, with a resulting intrusive effect into the 'lifeworld' of these workers. The study concludes that WPA is a site where the ongoing contest for emancipation is played out, where workers may challenge the subjectivity of the learning organisation. Yet, candidates saw WPA as a way to meet their personal and career aspirations and valued the rewards attached to the qualifications gained, which offered them protection from the vagaries of the labour market.