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    Factors that influence the implementation and practice of team-teaching for English and Social Science teachers in secondary innovative learning environments in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Education (Educational Administration and Leadership) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Robinson, Amanda Joy
    Team-teaching in secondary school innovative learning environments (ILEs) in New Zealand is an emergent area of pedagogical practice and there is currently no research exploring the ways it can be supported by school leaders. Team-teaching has emerged as a result of national and global changes in education policy over the past decades. Both ILEs and team-teaching are viewed as providing a pathway to increasing specific knowledge, competencies and dispositions for students in the face of significant global changes. The purpose of this research was to: a) identify important factors that influence the implementation and practice of team-teaching in secondary school ILEs, and; b) seek methods school leaders might employ to optimise factors that influence teachers in their team-teaching practice. Much research has been done about team-teaching at primary level and in inclusive education settings internationally. However existing research largely focuses on the pedagogical practices teachers might use and has not been focused on the leadership of team-teachers in mainstream secondary schools or ILEs. This research aimed to contribute to the literature by examining the specific contextual factors presented by team-teaching in secondary ILEs in New Zealand, and the ways school leaders might optimise these factors. The sample groups for this research were drawn from English and Social Science teachers and heads of department (HoD) from six secondary school ILEs in New Zealand. The research spanned two phases, drawing on a mixed-methods approach to conduct semi-structured interviews with a small sample, before conducting a survey with a larger group of teachers and HoDs. The findings of this research largely reinforce the literature on team-teaching as similar factors were identified. A new contribution is made by considering how time is interconnected with professional relationships, along with the importance of evaluating the impact of changes in practice on students. Collectively, these interconnected factors influence teacher motivation. Additionally, the formation of individual teacher identity is reconceptualised for those team-teaching in highly visible ILEs, when the mitigating effect of career stage is considered. This research also highlights the increased time, space and support that teachers and HoDs require to develop their relational practice to create effective team-teaching partnerships in secondary school ILEs due to their involvement in multiple teams. It is concluded that school leaders may need to re-evaluate the process of supporting teacher change and pedagogical adaptation for those working as team-teachers in secondary ILEs in New Zealand.
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    Opportunities for learning mathematics in a newly established Innovative Learning Environment (ILE) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Logan, Maree Joanne
    There is currently an increasing movement towards the implementation of innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) in primary schools across New Zealand, advocated by the Ministry of Education. This ILE implementation has been met with both support and opposition from the public and educators alike. Simultaneously, mathematics education in New Zealand is undergoing reform, with research informing changes from traditional transmission-style approaches to those that place students at the centre and promote mathematical understandings in communities of learning. Reforms in how students learn mathematics are well-aligned to the skill sets promoted as reflecting the competencies required of 21st century learners. However, the paucity of research into opportunities for students learning mathematics in ILEs warrants the need for further research. Using a qualitative methodology and single case study design, this research explored the opportunities afforded to Year 7 and Year 8 students when learning mathematics in a newly established ILE. Throughout Term 2, 2018, data collected from one-to-one teacher interviews, classroom observations, and student focus group discussions were coded, analysed, and triangulated. Four salient themes emerged from the data: the affordances of spatial arrangement, opportunities for student agency, students leading the learning, and the ILE as a mathematics community of learners. Teacher and student participants reported space within the ILE opened opportunities for individual and collaborative mathematics learning. The increased affordance of student voice and choice positioned students as the central drivers in both the leading and learning of mathematics. The open, fluid, and flexible spaces within the ILE presented increased opportunities for varied grouping structures. When combined with new co-planning and teaching arrangements, teachers and students considered that opportunities to learn involved greater options for mathematical challenge and multiple perspectives on mathematics. This research study presents mathematics learning within an ILE through the voices of the participants, particularly the student participants. It provides insights into the set up and spatial qualities afforded within the ILE, ways students described their mathematical learning opportunities, and comparisons they made to their previous single-space learning environments. Teacher and student participants in this research were very supportive of the ILE arrangement and the opportunities for learning mathematics that it afforded.
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    Make a move : a multi-sensory, movement coordinated furnishing support system for children with ADHD : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Design
    (Massey University, 2012) Burnham, Brigid
    We must allow the time to think more deeply and broadly about our [design] . . . Deep inquiry . . . is critical . . . Broader thinking also helps us break out of our current mindset. Looking [differently] can reveal new opportunities, and challenge more entrenched thinking. [Laurel, Brenda. Design Research, Methods and Perspectives. MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England, 2003, 148.] The contemporary school chair is representative of the conflict between established traditional student behaviour in the conventional classroom and the ADHDer’s desire and need for more movement and sensory stimulation. Classroom furnishings, by their active potential, have the ability to change the dynamic embodied in existing classroom environments. New furnishings in the classroom may positively affect the traditional culture of conventionality (standardized classroom behaviours) in a positive way by directly involving students in the interplay between active learning and sensory stimuli. Ultimately, my design approach is to provide a furnishing that responds to the ADHDer’s learning experience in the classroom environment. Using my individual experience of having ADHD as an investigative blueprint, my study took on a design process that overlapped four explorative modes: I examined the context of traditional classrooms (searched for understanding), developed contextualisation (searched for ideas), tested the concepts (searched for solutions), and logically reasoned (searched for meaning) an optimal design. These explorative modes were not done entirely sequentially. There was an ebb and flow throughout my whole design process. The interrelatedness between the explorative modes, and iterative process of learning and knowledge generally, helped generate a reactive design process which was ultimately represented by my design solution.
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    A new model of students' perceptions of the primary school classroom emotional environment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2009) Andersen, Rachel Joy
    94 items was developed that encapsulate what children notice in their classrooms as affecting the emotional environment and the language they use to describe it. Study 3 had 63 adults use a modified decision task to sort the 94 items into groups of their selection of similarity and dissimilarity. The analysis of these data revealed 11 clusters of items and 3 underlying dimensions - Teacher Affect, Teacher Expectations and Style, and Classroom Dynamics. Each dimension has two opposing ends, and each of the 94 items can be viewed on a three dimensional map showing their relationship to each of the other 93 items along these 3 underlying dimensions. The visual graphic makes these dimensions easy to interpret for those who are likely to be organising classroom environments. This research shows that when given a chance to talk about their experiences in classrooms, students can explain what they value in a classroom, what they will remember about school, and what influences them and their learning.