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Tertiary education leadership programmes in Tanzania and New Zealand : higher education for social development : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education, Massey University College of Education, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2000) Alphonce, Ndibalema Rwekaka
This thesis, about educational leadership development, explores selected tertiary programmes of educational leadership in New Zealand and Tanzania. The aim of the study was to explore whether, and how, Tanzanian programme development could benefit from the experience of programme development which has been acquired by New Zealand's tertiary institutions. For the purpose of the study, five programmes offered by tertiary institutions in New Zealand and courses from the, then, only tertiary educational leadership programme in Tanzania, were selected for examination. The study examined the context of educational leadership in both Tanzania and New Zealand, with particular reference to the contemporary reforms in education in the two countries and their influence on educational leadership development in recent years. The specific contents of the programmes were also examined in respect to their organisational, cognitive and affective aspects. Employing an eclectic qualitative research methodology, the study was underpinned by critical theory assumptions in advocating a framework for educational leadership programme development in the context of Tanzania, based on the concept of power diffusion, allowing for a more broad based democratic participation of teachers in leadership programmes. Premised on the assumption that educational leadership is central to the success or failure of any educative process in its conception of leadership, the thesis advocates the development of democratic, dialogic, participative and reflective leadership as opposed to leadership based on autocratic and power-wielding authority. The main thrust of the arguments rest on the understanding that, without the teachers' enthusiasm to teach and the learners' willingness to learn, schools would be nothing but "a wilderness of wasted logic". It is argued that educational leadership can contribute significantly towards the realisation of the ideal, albeit not necessarily clinical, environment for the educative process to take place. It is contended that, in the context of the contemporary social and political structures, especially in developing countries, such as Tanzania, educational leadership can either be for liberation or domination. Based on the findings from various New Zealand and Tanzanian programmes of educational leadership, examined in this study, it is underscored that, in order to be liberative, educational leadership requires the support of a socially critical philosophy. The findings of the thesis highlight the centrality of the role of tertiary education institutions in the development of leadership in educational places. Thus, it is concluded that, for a developing nation, like Tanzania, the need for tertiary programmes for educational leadership cannot be overemphasised.
Student's conceptions of learning and self-assessment in context : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University
(Massey University, 2000) Bourke, Roseanna
This study investigates years 7 and 8 students' conceptions of learning and self-assessment and then examines these conceptions in a number of learning contexts. The study was undertaken in two phases within a sociocultural framework. The first phase used a phenomenographic approach which involved indepth phenomenographic interviews with 26 students from one school. The second phase used ethnographic methods to explore the learning and self-assessment experiences of seven students during learning activities in both school and out-of-school learning settings. Interviews and observations with these students took place over a school year period, and their teachers and parents were interviewed. The phenomenographic results indicate that students hold a range of conceptions of learning and self-assessment. The less sophisticated conceptions of learning involve learning as a process of gathering facts from the teacher or other sources (books, computers) in order to "fill up the brain". More sophisticated views of learning involve students seeing learning as understanding, identifying different ways of knowing and applying different perspectives when solving a problem. The less sophisticated conceptions of self-assessment involve learners requiring external sources such as teachers, grades, stars, stamps or stickers to confirm learning, while more sophisticated conceptions of self-assessment involve the recognition of learning through pre-established or own identified criteria, and students would measure their performance in relation to these criteria. The ethnographic phase of the study portrays how students learn and self-assess in a number of different learning contexts and settings. Specifically, the thesis identifies that both the context and the assessment practices associated with the context, play a major role in identifying how students viewed learning and, ultimately, how they approached learning tasks and the way they self-assessed their work. Out-of-school learning settings established clear guidelines for the activity, identified explicit goals for learning and encouraged a community of practice. School settings tended to encourage fragmented learning and adherence to teacher expectations, rather than students' personal goal setting. The results from this study offer insights into how students conceptualise learning and self-assessment, and how different settings and contexts impact on the learner. Learners assume different roles and responsibilities according both to the group in which they are participating and to the meaning they attribute to the task.
Principles for effective organisational change : a qualitative case study of a cross-sector tertiary merger : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2000) Dalzell, Rex Stewart
Using a qualitative case study, the merger of the Palmerston North College of Education with Massey University, this research had two main goals. Goal One: To provide an objective, analytical account of the merger. Goal Two: To generate a substantive theory of change. To achieve these goals, two sets of specific questions were formulated, focusing on aspects of the merger and the change principles that could be used to guide organisational change. The research data were obtained, over a period of twelve months, during 1997 and 1998, from four main sources: organisational change literature, official merger records, key players' recollections and views, and staff recollection and views. Responses from key players and staff were obtained through structured interviews and questionnaires. The focus of the research was on the period from 25 October 1989, when merger negotiations were formally initiated with a letter to the Principal of the Palmerston North College of Education from the Vice-Chancellor of Massey University, until 1 June 1996, when the negotiations were formally completed. The research methodology involved the use of a qualitative case study design with a modified grounded theory approach to the collection and analysis of data. The research is presented in three parts. Part One: Setting the Scene, the writer outlines the research project, reviews the change literature relating to organisational change generally, and mergers in particular, and describes the grounded theory methodology used to collect the data. Part Two: Collecting the Data, summarises the merger discussions as revealed by official records, by key players and by staff of the merged institution, the Massey University College of Education. Part Three: Telling the Stories contains the researcher's report of the merger negotiations, the presentation of a principle-based theory for facilitating organisational change, a summary of the research and suggestions for further research. The theory presented argues for a principle-based approach to organisational change and provides ten principles for consideration: the Trust, Timing, Vision, Valuing, Communication, Consultation, Culture, Compromise, Commitment, Change and Serendipity principles. In providing a detailed examination of one significant organisational change, and by presenting a principle-based theory of changing, the study claims to have added further to our knowledge of the change process.
The historical evolution and contemporary status of Montessori schooling in New Zealand, as an example of the adaptation of an alternative educational ideal to a particular national context : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2004) Shuker, Mary Jane
There have been two distinct phases of the Montessori method of education in New Zealand. The first began in 1912 and continued into the 1950s. The second phase, starting in 1975, has resulted in over one hundred Montessori early childhood centres being established throughout the country. In this thesis I examined the historical evolution and contemporary status of Montessori schooling in New Zealand, as an adaptation of an alternative educational ideal to a particular national context. To situate this study, the history of the Montessori movement was investigated, taking into consideration the particular character and personality of its founder, Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952). It is argued that the apparent contradictions of Montessori, who claimed to be both a scientific educator and a missionary, help explain the endurance of her method. The thesis further maintains that Montessori became a global educator whose philosophy and pedagogy transcends national boundaries. The middle section of this thesis examines the Montessori movement in New Zealand during the first phase and the second phase, highlighting the key role that individuals played in spreading Montessori's ideas. The major aim was to examine how Montessori education changes and adapts in different cultures and during different time frames. The thesis concentrates on New Zealand as a culturally specific example of a global phenomenon. The final section of the thesis is a case study of a Montessori early childhood centre examining the influence of Government policy and how the development of the centre supports the ongoing implementation of Montessori's ideas. The perceptions of Montessori teachers, former parents and students regarding the nature and value of Montessori education are also considered. Finally, observations carried out as part of the case study are analysed to further demonstrate the ways in which the original ideas of Montessori have been reworked to suit a different historical and societal context. It is concluded that Montessori is a global educator whose philosophy and pedagogy transcends national boundaries. Nonetheless, the integration of Montessori education within any country, including New Zealand, does result in a culturally specific Montessori education.
Cross-cultural educational adjustment : a substantive theory based on the experiences of a group of mainland Chinese postgraduate business students : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2009) Thompson, Robert James
This project explored a basic social process experienced by ten Mainland Chinese postgraduate business students: cross-cultural educational adjustment. Over a two-year period, three interviews were held with each student in order to elicit his or her experience of this adaptation process. In addition, toward the end of this period an attestation group with the same student profile was recruited to review the emergent findings. A qualitative approach termed grounded theory was used for the methodology. Emphasis was placed on: hearing the students' voices; being open to students' experiences; developing a deep understanding of the adaptation process; and determining its theoretical conceptualisation. The initial interview was an inductive enquiry that isolated many aspects of the students' journey; the second interview deductively bent back on the initial data to saturate categories and determine how they were linked; the third interview further saturated categories, if needed, and sought a core category that underpinned the students' adjustment. In determining a theoretical conceptualisation of this process, a model was developed. This was shared with the original participants and the attestation group to assess their perspective of it. The model depicts that the homogeneity of the students' background produced an externally bounded and culturally harmonised learner identity. When they entered the New Zealand tertiary environment this identity was fractured. However, the resilient nature of the learner identity, the adoption of learning strategies, and the drawing on prime motivators meant a complete fracturing of the identity was prevented. Yet, as a consequence, the learner identity also absorbed new, more internalised elements. Overall, the core concept of a better future impelled students through all aspects of their journey. The major contributions of this study are that it presents an integrated understanding of cross-cultural educational adjustment and a conceptual picture of that process. The findings of this study, while limited in generalisability, suggest that students would benefit from: pre-departure culture and English language preparation; focused orientation programmes; and study skill support based on the strategies they are likely to employ and build the skills required in the new setting.
The social acceptance of visible ethnic minority adolescents of Asian origin in Auckland secondary schools : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2002) Sobrun-Maharaj, Amritha
This research explores the social acceptance of visible ethnic minorities of Asian origin within three selected secondary schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and presents the visible ethnic minority perspective on social acceptance within a diverse ethnic environment. This is done through an investigation of interethnic attitudes and perceptions of social acceptance amongst adolescents from the European, Maori, Pacific Island, West Asian (Indian) and East Asian (Chinese) groups in these schools, and an examination of the nature and extent of bullying and ethnic intimidation as key indicators of social non-acceptance. The thesis distinguishes between bullying and ethnic intimidation as separate issues within the domain of 'intimidatory practices', and argues that ethnic intimidation occurs independently of intra-ethnic bullying behaviour and has negative social, psychological and physical effects on visible ethnic minorities. 'Bullying' is used to signify intimidatory behaviour that occurs intra-ethnically, and is not ethnically motivated. 'Ethnic intimidation' is used to signify intimidatory behaviour that occurs inter-ethnically, is ethnically motivated and directed at peoples who are ethnically different. The behaviour does not have to be motivated by the usual personal and behavioural characteristics that motivate intra-ethnic bullying. Ethnic minority status is the primary motivation. Preliminary data from a small pilot study indicated that ethnic minority pupils feel unaccepted by their peers and consequently suffer varying degrees of health problems. These indications were examined in a main survey of 208 pupils from years 9, 11 and 13, and triangulated with interviews with pupils, parents, and teachers, plus observations of interactions in schools. Through an analysis of participants' perceptions of others (direct perspectives) and their perceptions of the perspectives held by others (meta-perspectives), the survey examined attitudes toward others of different ethnicity ('interethnic attitudes'), the extent of interethnic interaction, perceptions of intimidatory practices, orientations toward the acculturation of immigrants, the degree of peer victimisation and bullying experienced, and the effects of these on pupils' mental and physical well-being and self-esteem. Quantitative data from the survey suggests average levels of interethnic social acceptance, but significant social distance (separation) between ethnic groups, as well as some misconceptions on the part of the ethnic groups regarding acceptance and understanding of one another's ethnic differences. It confirms the existence of ethnic intimidation (as distinct from bullying), but suggests no significant difference in victimisation to bullying and the physical and mental well-being of pupils from the different ethnic groups. However, qualitative data from interviews suggests visible ethnic minority pupils are victims of ethnic intimidation to a significant extent, and experience poorer physical and mental well-being to varying degrees. This inconsistency may be due to the nature of the instrumentation used to measure non-acceptance. The Peer Victimisation Index, which was borrowed from an Australian study (Rigby, 1993), may have been devised to measure intra-ethnic bullying within a mono-ethnic environment, and may be insensitive to the subtleties of ethnic intimidation and feelings of non-acceptance. The relative invisibility of ethnic intimidation can be understood in terms of the impact that colonialist and liberalist discourses have had on the construction of social inquiry into school-ground intimidatory practices. A liberal understanding of social life that is embedded within colonialist practice, has contributed to the interpretation of school ground intimidatory behaviour in individualised terms, and the difficulty of recognising the ethnic vector that comes into play when such practices are interethnic in form.
Beginning teachers' preparedness to teach Māori children : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2010) Kenrick, Peti Mihiroa Mere Jessie
The preparation of teachers is complicated by a plethora of competing elements seeking consensus as to what a teacher education curriculum might look like for those entering the teaching profession. Ideally the preparation of teachers needs to be an exact science to ensure and secure the future of the teaching profession and educational outcomes for all New Zealanders. Unfortunately, teaching is not an exact science. In New Zealand, education, and teachers as agents of the education system, has not always served all students and groups well. Failure to serve all well challenges the education system and teacher educators’ preparation of teachers to teach. This research focuses on beginning teacher preparedness and whether they enter the teaching profession prepared or not. Beginning teachers represent the future of the teaching profession (Education Review Office, 2005). More specifically, and in light of growing diversity, disparity and rights, this research examines beginning teachers’ perception of their preparedness to teach Māori children. The consequence of a prepared or unprepared teacher is reflected in the student achievement and educational outcomes. A profession that does not prepare their professionals to perform the job they are charged with do a disservice to their clients. Sadly, poorly prepared teachers are too common, particularly when it comes to teaching Māori children. Concerns raised by participants in this study point clearly at the lack of preparation during their teacher education and later during their induction programme. However, this study did also find teacher education had not completely ignored preparing students to teach Māori children but the approach was limited. Unfortunately, the consequence for Māori children is poor educational outcomes that are too often mirrored in the workforce.
Image-making, creative minds and symbolic consciousness : in search of a methodology of interconnectedness : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Education), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2010) Cotton, Philip (Pip)
It is apparent that in recent decades there has been, in the Western World at least, a major escalation in general engagement with ‘the arts’ and personal arts practice, with a corresponding growth occurring in arts and creativity related education. This has happened within a global context of significant and escalating rates of social, political, technological and environment change. In turn this has fuelled debate about the role the arts and art education might play in an increasingly dynamic world. The dissertation identifies a number of gaps and weaknesses in current thinking about the relationship between art, education and change which can be addressed by adopting a ‘system’ perspective on cognitive development and changing consciousness. This project was a case study involving students at a School of Art and Creativity called The Learning Connexion, with the study having both descriptive and instrumental objectives (Stake 2000). The descriptive level aimed to achieve an in-depth ‘holistic’ picture of the personal and organisational factors influencing or reflected in student image-making. The instrumental aim was to analyse and interpret these findings from a ‘systems’ perspective that recognises that brain, culture and ‘mind’ essentially form interdependent elements that create the languages, ‘or currencies’ of human consciousness. This project also proceeded on the premise that the ‘arts’ generally, and image-making of students at The Learning Connexion specifically, offered a window into aspects of this. The systems approach was used in two ways, firstly to analyse some of the descriptive findings, and secondly as a framework for looking at the relationship between ritual and the earliest human image-making during the Upper Palaeolithic. Parallels and connecting themes were then explored between the pre-historic and The Learning Connexion setting. The findings indicate that engaging with a period of image- making can often be linked with a major period of reorientation or reframing in a person’s life, coupled with a particular desire to develop artistic skills and a sense of personal creativity. Those who engaged the longest with the school’s very open and unstructured programme, tended to be females in mid to later stages of life, often with significant prior qualifications and non-arts career experience. Moreover, when these people’s images were combined with interview statements a ‘narrative’ was revealed of an intense exploration by the students about their own lives and events affecting these. The data also indicated that a period of image-making resulted in general improvement in people’s sense of personal well-being. When the well-being finding was considered from the systems perspective, it was theorised to involve an interweaving of three sets of factors: people generally developed and strengthened an ‘artistic’ identity through a unique image-making ‘style’ with this assumed to reflect a person’s unique neurological make-up; the organisational environment provided important signals that what people did through their image-making was safe and appropriate; and thirdly, through the action of image-making people appropriated the most salient features of their own life story and recoded this into a new and unique visual ‘currency of thought’. When student work was also analysed in terms of connecting themes with Upper Palaeolithic image-making, common elements of shamanic transformational ritual and shamanic healing were identifiable in both contexts. The dissertation concludes with discussion of implications for further research, arts practice, mature age transformational education, and ways the systems approach used may be extended. Moreover the multiple perspectives used pointed to common ‘systemic’ elements underlying: ‘shamanic healing’, improved ‘well-being through image-making’, and pre-historic image-making and ritual playing some central role in the very emergence and ongoing reshaping of human symbolic consciousness. It is therefore felt the premise underlying the project that ‘the arts’ can offer viable research windows into how aspects of human cognition and consciousness change, was justified. With these views in mind the idea of ‘the art student as researcher’ and ‘the art school as a research organisation’ explicitly contributing to such inquiry is put forward, and seen as consistent with a general academic trend towards trans-disciplinary research fields. Such a move also requires the fashioning of ‘methodologies of interconnectedness’ which enable ‘art’ and ‘science’ to be able to be linked as forms of inquiry into areas of common interest, and it is hoped this project will contribute to this.
Motivation to learn in online environments : an exploration of two tertiary education contexts : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2010) Hartnett, Margaret Katherine
Research evidence suggests that motivation is an important consideration for online learners. Notably, existing research has frequently focused on the design of motivating online learning environments. Alternatively, motivation has been viewed as a collection of relatively stable personal characteristics of learners. In contrast, a contemporary view that acknowledges the complexity and dynamic interplay of factors underlying and influencing motivation to learn (e.g., Turner & Patrick, 2008) is adopted here. From this „person in context‟ perspective, this study investigates the nature of motivation to learn in online distance learning environments. The study explores how student motivation relates to online participation in these contexts. In addition, social and contextual factors that foster and undermine motivation are identified. The research design utilises a case study approach which focuses on learners in two separate online distance courses within the same university programme. The boundary for each case study is defined by one piece of assessed work and the associated activities within each course. Interview and questionnaire data, supported by archived online data and course resources, were collected. Analysis of the data were made using the three conceptual lenses of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and the continuum of human motivation encompassed within this theoretical framework. Findings indicate that the motivation of learners in online environments was multidimensional. Intrinsic motivation and various types of extrinsic motivation were shown to co-exist. Complex relationships were also shown to exist between motivation and participation that were sensitive to situational influences. Multiple factors fostered the expression of high quality (i.e. more self-determined) motivation. Most prominent among these were the relevance of the learning activity, the provision of clear guidelines, and ongoing support and feedback from the teacher that was responsive to learners‟ needs. Supportive caring relationships were also important. A range of factors also undermined the motivation of learners; most notably high workload, assessment pressure, and the perception that the learning activity lacked relevance.
An investigation into student academic help seeking behaviours in a tertiary institution's learning support centre : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2009) Protheroe, Mervyn
The majority of academic help seeking studies worldwide have predominantly used the quantitative paradigm and have been undertaken in the secondary and primary sector. This project addresses a perceived gap in the research as it was conducted in a tertiary institution‟s learning centre in Aotearoa, New Zealand using Constructivist Grounded Theory in order to gain a deeper understanding of tertiary students‟ academic help seeking. Help seeking theory was reconceptualised in order to provide a more descriptive model of the process, than had previously occurred because of the quantitative nature of the majority of the previous help seeking studies. Eight participants from a tertiary institute‟s learning centre were interviewed about their motivation to seek academic help; were videoed during a learning support session; and then interviewed regarding this session. Grounded theory was used to analyse the data from both interviews and the videoed learning support session. Four aspects were indentified that motivated participants to seek academic help: the recognition of the need for help; views of help seeking; participants‟ views of themselves as help seekers; and confidence. Two previously theorised types of help seeking, executive and instrumental help seeking, were confirmed in the videoed learning support sessions. Two new types were also identified, executive/instrumental and instrumental/executive help seeking, which were combinations of previously identified help seeking types. Help seeking approach was also discerned as different from help seeking type. Help seeking approach was theorised as a state that seemed to be a background against which the four help seeking types occurred. Behavioural precipitators of academic help seeking were identified as either tutor or student initiated and were further categorised as prompts, pressures, permissions and provocations. A tentative overall model of tertiary help seeking was developed. iv The findings of this study indicate that external pressures or permissions precipitated executive or instrumental help seeking, whereas external prompts precipitated executive/instrumental or instrumental/executive help seeking and provocation precipitators led to executive/instrumental, instrumental/executive or instrumental help seeking. Recommendations for practitioners include being aware of the four different help seeking types used by tertiary students, and that tutor actions can precipitate any of the four help seeking types dependent on the help seeking approach displayed by students. Recommendations also highlight that tutors need to be aware that student confidence is an important element in seeking help, and that students may not always see help seeking as positive. Suggestions for further research were outlined.

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