{"title":"“Spider man does not get lost”: Examining transitional objects in supporting a child’s transition to school","authors":"H. Woodhouse","doi":"10.15663/wje.v24i2.661","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v24i2.661","url":null,"abstract":"In their move to school, children and their family are faced with significant changes in their relationships, environment and routine. In this article, the experiences of a group of children transitioning into a new entrant (NE) school classroom from their early childhood centre (ECE) are discussed. As they began adapting to the new social and geographical climate of school, the use of digital images and transitional objects became a foundational tool to support them in forming a connection and sense of belonging in this new place. Through the combination of these images and transitional objects there is potential to support their roleplay, enabling them to rehearse social and geographical scenarios that are affecting them in their world. This article will discuss that play is the medium through which children can show teachers where they are in their understandings, in effect planning their own next steps in their transition journey. This emphasises the importance of the NE teacher observing children’s play to provide a thorough and responsive transition plan.","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"125 1","pages":"3-10"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78466918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A comparative study of urban, rural and remote teachers’ de-privatised practices","authors":"Parmeshwar Prasad Mohan, K. Swabey, John Kertesz","doi":"10.15663/wje.v24i2.662","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v24i2.662","url":null,"abstract":"De-privatisation of classrooms is characterised by formal and informal invitations to colleagues to \u0000access classroom management, pedagogical approaches and teaching practices. This case study of six \u0000secondary schools examined the perceptions and practices of de-privatised practice amongst Fijian \u0000urban, rural and remote area teachers. Quantitative and qualitative data was generated from a total of \u0000197 online questionnaires and 48 face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Key findings of the research \u0000were, firstly, that school geographical locations had no impact on teachers’ perceptions and practices \u0000of classroom de-privatisation. Secondly, de-privatised practices are impacted on by individual, group, \u0000school and governmental factors. Thirdly, in Fiji the consistent drive to de-privatise classrooms is \u0000lacking, as the policies do not support such reforms. Nonetheless, teacher perceptions validated the \u0000belief that classroom de-privatisation enhances teacher professional growth that promotes improved \u0000student learning. These findings have implications for the design of teachers’ professional learning \u0000communities (PLCs) in Fiji and beyond.","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"20 1","pages":"83-94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87157701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Augmented Reality: Examining its value in a music technology classroom. Practice and potential.","authors":"M. Cook","doi":"10.15663/wje.v24i2.687","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v24i2.687","url":null,"abstract":"Augmented reality (AR) provides exciting opportunities for advancing the design and practice of classroom instruction. AR can facilitate unique opportunities for students to conceptualise, understand and recall learning content. AR offers students contextual learning experiences. These views suggest that AR can assist in reducing distances between learner’s knowledge and what they need to understand. In my senior music classroom, I tested these ideas, wanting to see if students, through using AR, could visualise relationships between component parts, describe their function and use that knowledge in practice. The focus centred on students need to construct a sound system for performance in a Year 12 music class (16–17 years old). The project question was; Would AR aid the understanding and conceptualisation of content and develop the quality and retention of their learning? Through observation, interviews and a questionnaire, I used these data to understand levels of knowledge retention, conceptualisation and understanding of content. Findings indicate that while students displayed content conceptualisation skills, they also showed secure knowledge retention in line with previous studies. An encouraging finding suggests that in using AR, students retained what they had learned, remembering the function and use of various components after one learning experience. The potential impact of new and emerging technologies such as AR on student progress and instructional design is exciting, offering alternative ways of delivering and mediating learning content and concepts that connect with teaching and learning.","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"52 1","pages":"23-38"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85568003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the influence of the curriculum on student learning in culturally and ethnically diverse classroom contexts: Praxis, paradoxes and perspectives of stakeholders","authors":"Ganga B. Gurung, David Moltow, P. Brett","doi":"10.15663/wje.v24i2.671","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v24i2.671","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores the perceptions and lived experiences of Nepalese educators and stakeholders in \u0000relation to the school curriculum and its influence upon student learning in a culturally and ethnically \u0000diverse classroom context. The study adopted a qualitative research design using face-to-face semistructured interviews and focus group discussions to gather the perceptions of students, teachers, \u0000school principals and curriculum experts from three different schools representing distinct and \u0000diverse Nepalese settings. The findings identified that there are six main factors that affect curriculum \u0000delivery in Nepal: a centralised education system; social, economic and cultural diversity; political \u0000instability; curriculum content; the involvement of curriculum development stakeholders; and \u0000teachers’ content and pedagogical knowledge and related attributes. These six factors all contribute \u0000to a significant influence on student learning.","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"34 1","pages":"53-64"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80919856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The ABCs of Collaboration in Academia","authors":"Diana Amundsen, N. Ballam, M. Cosgriff","doi":"10.15663/wje.v24i2.667","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v24i2.667","url":null,"abstract":"The occurrence of research collaboration among multiple researchers is becoming more widespread within the academic research community. Research collaboration endeavours offer many benefits yet are not without challenges. This think piece draws on our lived experiences as educators and university researchers to evaluate a research collaboration journey. The process prompted us to deeply question and critically reflect on what enables and supports research collaboration in academic research partnerships. We undertook a critical reflective-in-action study collecting and analysing data for a period of 15 months. We uncovered three elements we propose are integral to supporting effective research collaboration practice and outcomes in academia. These are Acknowledging the Affective, Becoming Bolder, and Cultivating Creativity in what we term, the ‘ABCs of collaboration in academia.","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"23 1","pages":"39-53"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74547271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Young Children are Natural Inquirers: Posing and Solving Mathematical Problems","authors":"Jill Cheeseman","doi":"10.15663/wje.v24i2.664","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v24i2.664","url":null,"abstract":"Carefully observing young children at play in a mathematically rich environment has led me to reflect on the way children naturally pose and solve interesting mathematical challenges. Here, three examples of the playful learning of six-year-old children illustrate the problem solving and persistence children can display. Teachers are encouraged to foster children’s problem posing by providing opportunities for children to engage with playful mathematics, planning time for children to pose and to solve their own problems, and watching and listening but intervening only to inspire children’s mathematical investigations.","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80346464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impact of school locality on teaching and learning: A qualitative inquiry","authors":"D. Chand, Parmeshwar Prasad Mohan","doi":"10.15663/wje.v24i2.672","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v24i2.672","url":null,"abstract":"This research examined the impact of school location on teaching and learning through a case study of \u0000two urban, two rural and two remote Fijian secondary schools. A total of 48 semi-structured interviews \u0000were conducted: 16 from each category of urban, rural and remote. Each school was represented by \u0000three teachers, three heads of department and two administrators. The study established that rural and \u0000remote schools often face different challenges to their urban counterparts: geography, poverty and \u0000funding influence the quality of education. Leadership support and adequate resources are the key to \u0000breaking the overreliance on traditional methods of teaching and enhancing student classroom interest \u0000and participation. Finally, just as schools serve different communities, geographical location impacts \u0000on external links, cooperation and professional exchange and development. Understanding the impact \u0000of school locality on teaching and learning in Fiji should benefit other developing nations and the \u0000educational community at large.","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"8 1","pages":"65-72"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74264234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mathematics teachers’ professional learning: Impact of story sharing and reflective dialogue","authors":"Parmeshwar Prasad Mohan, D. Chand","doi":"10.15663/wje.v24i2.668","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v24i2.668","url":null,"abstract":"This research examined the impact of story sharing and reflective dialogue on mathematics teachers’ professional learning in Fiji. Employing a qualitative research methodology, semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from nine Fijian secondary school mathematics teachers. The study established that: 1) teachers improve their instructional practice when they share stories of classroom experiences of teaching with their colleagues and collectively reflect on those stories; 2) the truth of stories is that those that are concrete and willingly shared are powerful in transferring rich knowledge; and 3) when teachers share their stories with their colleagues and engage in reflective dialogue, it provides rich conversations that enhances teachers’ professional growth. Understanding the impact of story sharing and reflective dialogue could provide policy makers and administrators with valuable insights into how to best accommodate into educational policy to enhance teachers’ professional growth.\u0000","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"114 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85793964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Negotiating conflicting discourses of quality teaching in Fiji: Initial teacher education and practicum at the University of the South Pacific","authors":"G. Burnett, K. Prakash, V. Sharma","doi":"10.15663/WJE.V24I1.647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/WJE.V24I1.647","url":null,"abstract":"This article identifies a number of conflicting discourses informing education in Fiji and their impact on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students. The socially constructivist progressivism of the Ministry of Education and the ITE provider is being eroded by a set of socially conservative discourses symptomatic of neoliberal education reforms elsewhere. It is the Practicum where the conflict is most acutely evidenced. To highlight the conflict 90 ITE students, as ethno-graphic fieldworkers, have used an accepted quality teaching checklist to record the teaching they witnessed while on practicum. The resulting misalignments between discourses of quality teaching identified in this article and highlighted by ITE students contributes to debates about what constitutes effective teaching in Fiji. Additionally, despite the multi-discursive reality of Fijian education the article suggests ITE based on a learning-centred rather than learner-centred approach where teachers make critical choices for teaching based on links between pedagogy, context and consequence.","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87854356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An old story, a new voice: Tertiary education in the Bay of Plenty region","authors":"Diana Amundsen","doi":"10.15663/WJE.V24I1.666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15663/WJE.V24I1.666","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, I first critique neoliberal effects on the Aotearoa New Zealand tertiary education sector and then provide a close-up look at tertiary education in the Bay of Plenty region. Information is based on aspects of my doctoral research which was located across three tertiary education organisations comprising the Bay of Plenty Tertiary Education Partnership: The University of Waikato, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology and, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. The findings of this research examine connections across the partnership, delving into relevant aspects of universities, polytechnics and wānanga. I evaluate the historical, geographical, political and socio-cultural context of all three institutions. Lastly, I discuss campus connections between the partnership organisations. The emerging picture reveals an old story of expansion and growth with a new voice of tension between collaboration and competition in the face of a neoliberal education context. This article offers timely implications for contemporary and future University of Waikato campus connections and may appeal to academics, graduate students, policymakers and the general public. \u0000 ","PeriodicalId":37007,"journal":{"name":"Waikato Journal of Education","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75166874","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}