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    Bai shan xiao wei xian : filial piety, academic self-concept, and the academic achievement of students in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Educational Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2016) Wu, Cindy
    Research has long argued in favour of the influence of culture on students’ learning and achievement. New Zealand, with its recent influx of migrants and rich multicultural background, is no exception to the way in which culture can implicate how students see themselves as learners. For East Asian students, the Confucian virtue of filial piety (‘xiao’) can be a significant motivator in their academic success. Currently, there is a lack of research on the motivational qualities of filial piety in regard to the academic self-concept of students and their subsequent achievement. This study examines the relationship between filial piety, and students’ academic self-concept and academic achievement in a New Zealand intermediate school. A quantitative method of self-reporting survey was used to assess filial piety and academic self-concept from a cohort of 43 students, and was collated in conjunction with their academic achievements in Literacy (English) and Numeracy (mathematics). Regression analysis is used to examine the relationships across the variables. Results indicate that filial piety does not have a significant impact on students’ academic self-concept and their subsequent academic achievement. However, there is a consistent, positive, and significant correlation between participants’ academic self-concept across both achievement areas. These findings suggest that students’ academic self-concept can play a key role in their levels of academic achievement, and that school and home effort should focus more on encouraging the positive self-perceptions of students of all cultures within New Zealand. While filial piety does not have a statistically significant impact on students’ academic self concept and academic achievement in this study, future research is recommended with a larger sample in order to derive results that have greater representation of the New Zealand population.
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    How able sixth form students felt about themselves, about learning and about others : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1994) Constable, Cheryl
    In order to investigate how able sixth form students felt about themselves, about learning, and about other people a pilot study was carried out. From an analysis of the findings of the pilot study, a questionnaire was designed which covered relevant affective (social and emotional) domain aspects such as competitiveness, perfectionism, fear, sensitivity, enjoyment, confidence, happiness, defensiveness, security, worry, and choices in what and how the students learned. In order to gain more indepth information about how these students felt about themselves, about learning, and about others, a second source of data was collected. Small groups of students from the questionnaire cohort were interviewed. The interview questions were based on the results from the questionnaire; that is the frequency counts of how many students agreed and disagreed with each of the fifty statements. These interviews gave the students the opportunity to respond to the results of the questionnaire, add a contextual base to their responses in the questionnaire, establish any causal relationships between the topics in the questionnaire, and reduce any researcher bias in the interpretation of the results. The questionnaire sample consisted of 283 students from 20 schools who were nominated by their teachers as able, according to criteria supported in the literature. The interview sample consisted of 46 students from 7 schools. The research aimed to explore how the students felt about themselves and how they described themselves, how they felt about their own learning, how they felt when they were learning with others, and to point to any problems they had in these areas of the affective domain. The results showed that the students perceived they had a lack of confidence; had fears and anxieties; were perfectionists at some things; were competitive in order to remain accepted by their group; wanted to change some things about what and how they learned, especially increasing the amount of discussion; were inexperienced in making choices, especially career goals; felt stressed; wanted more life skills; wanted to combine practical skills with theoretical knowledge to make sense of their experiences; but enjoyed being with others despite worrying about what others thought of them in certain circumstances. The students indicated that these areas adversely affected the quality of their learning.
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    The Johnson report : a critique of selected aspects : a thesis ... for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1979) Dalzell, Rex Stewart
    In August 1977 Mr J G Johnson, Chairman of the Committee on Health and Social Education, submitted to the New Zealand Minister of Education his Committee's report, Growing, Sharing, Learning. The Report of the Committee on Health and Social Education. This Report, subsequently to become known as the Johnson Report, declared that the Committee had endeavoured, in the light of its terms of reference, to produce a blueprint for action in the realm of health and social education. This thesis examines selected aspects of this Report and argues that in the areas examined the Committee has been unsuccessful in its endeavour. Following a brief historical introduction, four observations concerning response to the Report are presented. Against this background of response and within the historical context outlined, selected aspects of the Report are then examined in detail. Under the heading "General Concerns" the Committee's statements on the topics of "Research", "Social Education", "Academic Standards" and "School Climates" are examined in turn. Conceptual confusions are exposed, ambiguities are revealed and the detail necessary in a blueprint is shown to be absent. Under the heading "Specific Concerns" those areas of the Committee's Report which have occasioned most public debate, viz: "Moral, Spiritual and Values Education" and "Education About Human Development and Relationships", are then considered in some detail. In addition, the area of "Teacher Training", an area seen by the Committee as the key to change in education, is also considered. It is claimed that in all these areas the lack of conceptual clarity, the lack of precision in expression and the lack of any effective attempt to grapple with the central issues involved, militate strongly against the use of the Report as a blueprint for action. By way of conclusion a summary statement relating to the central claim of the thesis is presented.
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    Ability, effort and control : can attribution theory be valid in the New Zealand classroom? : a thesis submitted to the Education Department, Massey University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (Education)
    (Massey University, 1993) Watson, Sue Anne
    The validity of basic assumptions of attribution theory, that ability is conceptualised as an internal, stable and uncontrollable cause of success and failure in achievement situations, and effort is an internal, unstable and controllable cause, was investigated in relation to New Zealand school students. Two groups of students, Form One (11 years) and Form Four (14 years) responded within the classroom on three occasions in different school subjects to questionnaires about their ability and effort in regard to the tasks they had just been engaged in. Their achievement, ability and effort levels were rated by their teachers. A subset of students was also interviewed. Both age groups perceive ability (intelligence) as unstable, capable of being increased by schoolwork, yet rated their ability the same in the three different subject areas. In both age groups most students rated their specific and general effort as stable within subject areas but as unstable over three subject areas. Their general effort ratings correlated significantly with the teachers' ratings for effort. So, students perceive their effort as unstable but their relative effort level was stable. The controllability dimension was measured by the number of cognitive strategies given to improve ability and to demonstrate effort. The "controllability of ability" variable was a significant contributor for achievement for Form One students and the "controllability of effort" to achievement for the older students. The lowest achievement group had significantly fewer metacognitive statements than the other two groups which suggests that for them effort is not controllable. The findings suggest that some key principles of attribution theory may not be appropriate for New Zealand school children because their conceptualisations of ability and effort do not fit the constructs of attribution theory.
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    Teacher perceptions of stuttering : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MEdPsych in Educational Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2013) Nicholls, James Robert
    Stuttering is a largely misunderstood communication disorder, which can have long-term effects for people who stutter. A predominantly negative stuttering stereotype exists; previous research has found many groups, including teachers, subscribe to the stereotype. The current study investigated teacher perceptions of children who stutter and stuttering using a mixed-methods approach. The quantitative findings were based on a 15-item semantic differential scale and a 32-item attitudinal statement scale. The qualitative findings were based on two semi-structured interviews. Generally, in this study teachers provided positive or neutral ratings for the semantic differential adjective pairs and the attitudinal statements. These findings suggest that for this group of teachers that they appear not to adhere to a strong negative stereotype for children who stutter. Teachers’ ratings indicated that they did not view stuttering as a barrier to academic achievement. With respect to use of strategies to assist children who stutter, the teachers ratings indicated they were unsure about the best strategies to use. Their ratings also indicated they were unsure about the nature and etiology of stuttering. The results indicated that perceptions of children who stutter are changing and that teachers may not adhere to a negative stuttering stereotype. Education about stuttering and experience with people who stutter may facilitate change in teacher’s perceptions and attitudes towards children who stutter.
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    Professional supervision in a community of practice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology, Massey University, Albany Campus, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2005) Annan, Jean
    Previous research of supervision in educational psychology has regularly reported low rates of participation and dissatisfaction with the adequacy of supervisory arrangements. Most studies to date have been conducted on the assumption that supervision is a formalised, often one-to-one relationship. However, this view of supervision is incongruent with the ecological theories of human development that currently guide educational psychologists' work. The present study sought to develop understanding of the nature and contexts of supervision for a group of educational psychologists through examination of the actions they took to meet the goals of supervision. A situational analysis research method was used to examine the supervisory actions, in relation to the theories underlying current field practice, of 38 educational psychologists. This collaborative method of inquiry reflected the procedures of the psychologists' professional practice and enabled the understanding of supervision to be constructed using the participants' own sense-making processes. Results of the study indicated that the psychologists pursued the goals of supervision through the multiple interactions that took place within the regular activity of their community of practice. Supervision included a combination of formal, informal and situated interactions. It was concerned with connectedness to the professional community and comprised a range of integrated activities. The psychologists demonstrated that their supervision-in-action was guided by the same ecological principles that guided their professional practice. When supervision was conceptualised as a practice that included formal, informal and situated interactions intended to meet the goals of supervision, the participants reported high levels of satisfaction with current supervisory arrangements and participation in the practice. This thesis proposes an extended view of supervision that depicts supervision as activity situated within the interaction of a community of practice. It suggests that ecologically valid evaluations of supervision activity and the development of applicable systems of supervision must consider a wide range of supervision activities and contexts of practice.
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    A teacher's research journey into e-learning : aligning technology, pedagogy and context : a thesis presented in prtial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2008) Mentis, Mandia
    e-Learning has the potential to radically change the way we teach and learn in higher education, but there is ongoing debate as to what constitutes effective e-learning environments. This study explores the interrelated areas of e-learning technology and pedagogy within the context of a postgraduate special education and educational psychology programme. The study is framed in a scholarship of teaching and learning approach and covers three successive phases of overlapping activities of teaching, learning and research. The first phase of the research focuses on the design of a community of practice approach to e-learning. The aim is to enable students to develop their identity as members of the professional community by bridging the gap between university-based learning and its real-world application. In the second phase of the research, alternative technology is used to investigate a better alignment of e-learning technology and pedagogy. The findings here show that a community of practice pedagogy is better aligned with a social constructionist e-learning technology. In the third phase of the research an e-learning alignment guide is developed to analyse the changes in e-learning in relation to the interrelated areas of technology, pedagogy and context. The guide is applied to the e-learning case studies in Phases 1 and 2 of this study. The profiles of alignment from these case studies illustrate the complexities and tensions in e-learning and the potential of linking advanced technologies with effective teaching practices to change the way we teach and learn. The key finding of this study is that careful alignment of technology, pedagogy and context is needed to actualise the potential of e-learning in higher education. The e-learning alignment guide developed in this study enables analysis of e-learning environments to provide alignment profiles. Aligning innovative technologies with appropriate pedagogies in different contexts is essential for e-learning to meet the needs of learners in the digital age. The enormous and rapid development of new educational technologies has seriously challenged traditional forms of pedagogy. This study shows that both a scholarship of teaching and learning approach and the use of the e-learning alignment guide can make a positive contribution to designing effective e-learning environments.