Massey Documents by Type

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Special education, New Zealand

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    Special education as social control : the historical development of industrial schools and special classes : a thesis submitted to the Education Department, Massey Univeristy [i.e. University] in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
    (Massey University, 1985) Vincent, Carol
    This thesis represents an attempt to go beyond the largely descriptive surveys of previous histories of special education in New Zealand. The argument presented is that special education can be seen as a form of social control. The problem of who is selected for special education and the accompanying rhetoric is examined. It is argued that the definition of children as exceptional (deviant) and the consequent treatment of them constitutes a form of social control. Further, that the medical model has been the dominating influence in defining what is to be regarded as deviance, and has therefore, functioned as a form of that control. To illustrate how an historical analysis of special education in New Zealand can be informed through a sociological perspective, an analysis of the provisions for neglected and criminal children, and the establishment and subsequent development of special classes for backward children is presented.
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    Special abilities : a Māori perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1993) Bevan-Brown, Jill
    This study investigated special abilities from a Māori perspective. In particular it sought to discover if traditional and contemporary concepts of special abilities existed and if so, what these concepts were. It also sought Māori opinion on effective and appropriate ways of identifying and catering for Māori CWSA. A two-pronged approach was utilised. Possible traditional and contemporary Māori concepts were constructed from: • a documentary analysis of a variety of resources • informal, exploratory interviews with 33 Māori participants. Whānau networks were used to select the interview sample of 6 kaumātua, 12 educators and 15 "others" who strongly identified themselves as being Māori and had a demonstrated commitment to Māoritanga. Participants came from a variety of educational and socio-economic backgrounds and there was wide tribal and hapū representation. Data from documentary analysis and interviews was both equivalent and complementary. The concepts of special abilities from the past and present that emerged: • were holistic in nature and inextricably intertwined with other Māori concepts, values, customs and beliefs. • were broad and wide-ranging. Many abilities and qualities were valued. These included spiritual, cognitive, affective, aesthetic, artistic, musical, psychomotor, social, intuitive, creative, leadership and cultural abilities and qualities. • were not bounded by social class, economic status or gender. • were grounded firmly in Māori kaupapa. • placed importance on both "qualities" and "abilities." Qualities in the intrapersonal, affective domain were particularly valued. • incorporated an expectation that abilities and qualities would be used in the service of others. • involved the bestowing of mana tāngata especially in the areas of service to others and cultural knowledge. The suggestions about how Māori CWSA could be identified and catered for at home and at school contained many approaches equally applicable to all children. Culture-specific suggestions emphasised the encouragement and teaching of Māoritanga, the development of strong, supportive whānau networks, the training of teachers in Māoritanga especially aspects relevant to recognising and catering for Māori CWSA and the provision of culturally appropriate education. The latter involved teaching programmes, strategies, styles and environments particularly suited to Māori children. It was also emphasised that educational provisions for Māori CWSA should not isolate them from their culture. The research concluded that to enable children who identify as Māori and live within Māori norms to realise their potential, identification procedures and educational provisions should be based firmly on a Māori concept of special abilities.
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    Inclusion and behavioural difficulties in secondary schools : representations and practices : a thesis presented for partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Fortier, Marie-Pierre
    Despite a political commitment towards inclusive education, research evidence suggests that barriers to inclusion in New.Zealand remain. Notably, disciplinary practices exclude students from secondary schools. There is also little evidence as to how teachers define and practice inclusion, in spite of the fact that the translation of inclusion into practice necessitates the development of an articulated and shared vision of what inclusion entails for practice. Thus, this study aims to explore social representations of inclusion among secondary school teachers. It also aims to explore how these representations function in the classroom by examining their relationships with the practices used by teachers to prevent and manage difficult behaviour. The study was designed as an iterative two-phase research process. Phase One involved an online questionnaire intended for teachers, teacher aides, Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour and Ministry of Education: Special education staff to explore their representations of inclusion and behavioural difficulties. Building on this preliminary investigation, Phase Two involved case studies conducted with teachers in three schools where multiple sources of information and data collection methods allowed investigation of teachers’ representations and practices in context. Findings indicate that inclusion is multi-dimensional in teachers’ representations with elements pertaining to practices, values, social justice, and resourcing. This reveals that teachers are knowledgeable about inclusion as a professional group. Each school context and teachers’ representations of their school community influenced their respresentations of inclusion. However, results also show that teachers’ representations are anchored in the model of integration as participants name conditions to inclusion, among which is the condition that students’ behavioural needs are not too severe for their presence in regular classrooms. Barriers to inclusion are also identified within teachers’ representations. Teachers’ practices in preventing and dealing with difficult behaviour show a progression with preventative strategies used first and targeted practices used as behaviour seriousness increased. The variety of explanations used by participants to justify their practices point to the importance of understanding the complex relationships between representations and practices to evaluate the inclusiveness of teachers’ actions. Recommendations are made to help individual teachers and school communities building on their existing knowledge for greater inclusion.
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    In-school factors associated with the SENCO role that influence the rate of referral to the RTLB service : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Educational Psychology, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Taylor, David
    This research investigates what responsibilities and supports allocated to the Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO) are associated with lower referral rates to the Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) service. A SENCO that is referring at a lower rate will allocate less time to collaboration and liaison with RTLB and therefore will have more time to allocate to other tasks that can be supporting students with special education needs (SWSEN). This research compares the results from a survey of the responsibilities and supports for SENCO within 20 primary schools to the rate of referral to RTLB. The SENCO indicated what they considered influenced whether a student was referred to RTLB. Rates of referral less than the mean for the 20 schools were associated with experienced SENCO and SENCO that were part of a team referral process. The literature supports SENCO having a leadership role but this research shows that the SENCO who are part of a school management team do not always have influence or control of key special education decisions. The responsibility that was most frequently given a high priority by SENCO was liaison with external agencies. Experienced SENCO more frequently indicated that the most important factor influencing whether a referral was made to RTLB was the effect of the student on the classroom, which is an observation supported by literature on referral rates of boys to special education services. This research indicates that schools could decrease the amount of SENCO release time used for collaboration with RTLB by appointing an experienced SENCO and providing a team to support the SENCO in the referral process.