School of Education - Te Kura Mātauranga

Permanent link for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/3300

Research within the School of Education - Te Kura Mātauranga is driven by students working towards postgraduate qualifications, staff pursuing their own research interests, and contracts for funding agencies such as the Ministry of Education and other partners. Research interests in the School of Education include; Learning and teaching, theory and practice, Curriculum and development, Teacher education, Early childhood education, Adult and tertiary education and development, Schools, E-learning, Educational administration, and Professional inquiry and practice.

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Holding the Line: Maintaining Indigenous Sovereignty and Authority in International Research Collaborations
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2026-03-10) Hetaraka, Maia; Meiklejohn-Whiu, Selena; Webber, Melinda; Jesson, Rebecca
This article calls to attention the possibilities and problematics of upholding Indigenous ethics and approaches in cross-cultural international research collaborations. We describe the opportunities and challenges that present themselves and elaborate on four lessons learned during a recent education project, including (1) how the authority and mana of Indigenous stakeholders can be maintained, (2) how to ensure Indigenous concepts and worldviews are honoured, (3) how to decolonize western academic expectations about open data-sharing, and (4) how and why Indigenous rituals of encounter must be established to ensure cultural safety. Using Moana Jackson’s (2016) ten Māori research ethics, this paper identifies and examines what needs to be upheld, interrogated and refused when working in cross-cultural international research collaborations. We conclude with recommendations for collaborators, including the importance of embedding regular opportunities for collective reflexivity, as a means of rebalancing or refusing the uneven power relations that affect genuine partnership.
Transensus, Transculturalism, and Participatory Embodied Performing Arts: A Manifesto for Cultural Democracy Amidst Climate Mobility
(INTRACOMP, 2025-08-31) McIntosh, Hamish; Rowe, Nicholas; Madjar, Andrew; Mehta, Alesha; Piccolo, Emanuela; Guerinoni, Martina; Lämsä, Tiina; Salmi, Sara; Awi, Jane; Faik-Simet, Naomi; Frauenknecht, Lea; Giacaman, Nasser; Lysberg, Julie; Makinen, Katja; Milani, Marta; Naime, Sophie; Ness, Tove; Nokkala, Terhi; Bean, Teresa Ó Brádaigh; Risberg, Eirik Julius; Rønning, Wenche; Wuensche, Burkhard
Climate change and associated environmental, political, and economic impacts currently threaten democratic attitudes associated with equality, inclusion and diversity, across Europe and the world. Over the next 25 years, the anticipated scale of climate mobility will prompt an unprecedented growth in acculturation across Europe, which presents both opportunities and challenges for sociocultural cohesion. Anticipatory governance approaches therefore urgently seek co-designed policy solutions and strategies that can enable Europe to navigate the polycrises of this era; strategies and solutions that promote preparedness and support the transilience of communities across the continent. To advance such preparedness and transilience, lifelong learning in cultural awareness and expression becomes a highly significant educational endeavour, given the scale of acculturation during this period. Participatory arts are particularly relevant for engaging all children and young people in active, democratic processes of cultural deliberation and collaborative regeneration. Guided by the New European Bauhaus and the Porto Santo Charter for cultural democracy, participatory arts may advance critical and ethical approaches to superdiversity, through processes of collaborative worldbuilding. To explore this opportunity, the INTRACOMP (Intercultural and Transcultural Competence for Collaborative Cultural Expression) project has responded to the Horizon Europe call CL2-2024-Transformations-01-08-Arts and Cultural Awareness and Expression in Education and Training. The INTRACOMP Consortium brings together more than 50 scholars, educators, arts practitioners and administrators from 13 organisations in 12 countries across Europe and the world, in a transdisciplinary, cross-sectoral, multi-institutional, international examination that investigates: How can intercultural and transcultural expression be evidenced and assessed within arts education? As the outcome of the foundational theoretical task in the INTRACOMP project, this document critically examines contemporary academic literature associated with this research question, generating a manifesto for cultural democracy amidst climate mobility. Our manifesto presents several key ideological innovations that can guide INTRACOMP and like-minded initiatives as we address the climate crisis. The first is the conceptualisation of transensus, as a key outcome of deliberative democracy that transcends the determinist binaries of consensus and dissensus. Aligned with the Indigenous philosophy of tā-vā, transensus valorises the collaborative vibration experienced within liminal, imaginative states of possibility-thinking during democratic deliberation, thus enabling cultural democracy. We argue that transensus requires a strong transcultural competence; a disposition that extends beyond intercultural competence and purposefully values temporary and complex manifestations of culture. We further argue that participatory arts can contribute to the development of a transcultural competence, but such arts activities require a clearly rationalised participatory purpose, so as to avoid hegemonic and counter-hegemonic cultural encounters. This leads to our development of Participatory Embodied Performing Arts (PEPA) as a conceptual framework, purposefully designed to enable transcultural competence and experiences of transensus. Access to these encounters and experiences may be further broadened through engagement in virtual worldbuilding and posthuman approaches to collaboration. While these concepts present a speculative proposition, the INTRACOMP project seeks measures that can evidence the development of transcultural competence through PEPA. This requires the development of a complex and nested competence framework that foregrounds group competence amongst individual and ecological competences focused on human flourishing.
International ECE Student Teachers on Practicum in Aotearoa New Zealand: Fostering Ethnorelative Understandings
(Massey University, 2026-01-27) Weisz-Koves, Tamar; Li, Yanan
In Aotearoa New Zealand, an increasing number of international students are choosing to study through initial teacher education programmes and staying to teach after they have graduated. However, to date, little research has focused on the practicum experiences of international early childhood education student teachers and how to effectively support their professional growth in ways that foster ethnorelative understandings. In this article, Yanan Li shares insights and recommendations drawing on her experience of having been an international ECE student teacher from China and her current role as a Visiting Lecturer. The aim of this article is to foster ethnorelative understandings between international student teachers and those who work with them, to enhance communication, relationships, and mentoring in the early childhood education practicum space.
Bridging the Triple Bottom Line: Art & Design Students' Perspectives and Incorporation of Artificial Intelligence for Their Entrepreneurial Projects
(University of the Punjab, 2025) Pirzada, Gouhar
The current research investigates the interrelationships within the field of sustainable entrepreneurship, focusing on the evolution of the construct concerning the triad social, economic, and environmental and the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in creative practices. Within the management discipline, sustainable entrepreneurship is a new construct. Most of the literature addresses the practice as ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable business practices’. The term entrepreneurship is sustained in the literature to bridge the entrepreneurship and sustainable development literature. For this research, a qualitative approach was taken. The participants of the study included 39 students from Art & Design. They were also part of the research sample. These students were later assigned an entrepreneurial project where they incorporated sustainability and creatively AI integration as a core variable in the design, operational, and ethical frameworks. The sample comprised students from the last semester of four different sectors: Fashion Design, Textile Design, Interior Architecture Design, and Graphic Design. Adopting sustainable entrepreneurship strategies that satisfy all stakeholders' operational needs and advantages is challenging. This is due to institutional frameworks prioritizing established businesses and non-sustainable practices over newly sustainable alternatives. The results from this research offer valuable information regarding certain aspects of sustainable entrepreneurship, student perspectives regarding the role of AI in enhancing the ethics of the design and production processes, and the capacity of such innovations to promote a transition to a developing country’s economy.
Reorienting Aotearoa New Zealand Secondary School Geography Towards Decolonisation and Indigenisation
(European Association of Geographers, 2026-01-24) Finn, Karen; Turner-Adams, Hana; Webber, Melinda
Secondary school geography in Aotearoa New Zealand has a Western-centric curriculum due to the British colonial influence. Despite being the knowledge system of the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) has been sidelined from geography curricula. A recent system-wide review and overhaul of the national curriculum and assessment system aimed for equal status for mātauranga Māori, respecting it and addressing its exclusion and denigration, and added aspects of decolonising geography, such as critiquing power, to the secondary school geography curriculum. This study investigated how Aotearoa New Zealand secondary school geography teachers understand decolonising and indigenising geography. Qualitative data were gathered through an online survey of 47 geography teachers and analysed using content analysis and reflexive thematic analysis. The study findings are presented as three orientations that teachers take when decolonising geography: decolonising and indigenising geography in the classroom, engaging with Indigenous people to decolonise geography and reflexivity for decolonising geography. In doing so, the research outlines practical implications for geography teachers, initial teacher education and policy.
A Sidetrack to Autoethnography. Enriching a Reading Research Collective
(Institut für Qualitative Forschung, 2026-01-26) Maurice-Takerei, Lisa; Bernay, Ross; Boyask, Ruth; Hopkins, Rebecca; Milne, John; Jackson, Jayne; Tadi, Parisa
As a group of academics working for the first time together on a collective project on children and young people's reading engagement, we discovered the value of reflexive conversations on the nature of our individual roles as literacy educators and our roles as collaborative researchers. As the project progressed, we developed this paper from conversations that drifted into self-reflection on our own experiences as readers, teachers and researchers. Rather than viewing these conversations as digression, we decided to embrace wholeheartedly the possibility that they would enrich our research and progress our goals as a group. This was an opportunity to pause and venture into a less familiar research arena. In the process, as individuals, we revealed more of ourselves as collaborative researchers interacting in this new space which enriched our collective undertaking as well as our individual projects within different reading communities.
“Only a Sith deals in absolutes”: Dialogising a Single Truth
(Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2025-12-12) Westbrook, Fiona
Through a series of visual provocations from Star Wars’ Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, this article contemplates the allure and danger of a singular truth. Anakin Skywalker’s transition from Jedi to Sith Lord, Darth Vader, amplifies and breaks down notions of truth and lies, posing seductive simplicities and paradoxical tensions. These come to the fore in the battle which marks Anakin’s final transition from Jedi to Sith, with his former Master Obi-Wan Kenobi’s ironic, absolutist declaration “only a Sith deals in absolutes” (Lucas, 2005). This article explores how these scenes seduce viewers with the clarity of absolute thinking and undermine it through dialogic contradiction, signalling the allure and dangers of simplistic, idealised, certainty.
Holding the Family Photo: Queer Tensions and Happy Objects on Teaching Practicum
(Lighting the Academy, 2025-11-07) Bernay, Ross; Gaerlan, Eunice; Ingram, Toni; Lopez, Jess; Thomas Cameron, Yael
This paper is drawn from the STEDI study that points to student teachers experiences of discrimination and inclusion. In this paper we point to: the social economies that assure happiness on practicum and how this same space can become one of disavowal and foreclosure for queer student teachers, and the need for initial teacher education provider to offer better support and preparation for queer student teachers.
Jedi Mind Control, Idiot Compassion, and a Pedagogy of Discomfort: Rethinking Care and the Ethics of Pedagogical Influence: Star Wars: A New Hope for Visual Pedagogies in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
(Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2025-12-19) Hopkins, Rebecca L
This article brings together the Buddhist philosopher Chögyam Trungpa's notion of idiot compassion and a moment of Jedi mind control in Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones to question pedagogy in early childhood education. Through a philosophic playing with theory, the analysis situates a pop culture fragment-the bar scene in which Obi-Wan Kenobi encounters drug dealer Elan Sel'Sabagno-as a site for thinking critically about the ethics of compassion, authority, and pedagogical influence. Drawing on Buddhist philosophy, the article questions whether the Jedi's use of power constitutes compassion or coercion, and how this tension resonates with educational practice. The discussion proposes that idiot compassion, a form of empathy that avoids discomfort but often inadvertently perpetuates harm, has parallels in early education when teachers prioritise being 'nice' over engaging with conflict, inequity, or supporting children's agency. Using a visual analysis of the Star Wars mind control film clip, the article explores how cultural texts can function as pedagogical tools to foster critical reflection. Arguing for a shift from simplistic notions of kindness and care toward a more nuanced, skilful, and intelligent compassion in early childhood pedagogy.
Naming Māori Learning Spaces
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-01-15) Stewart, Georgina Tuari; Benade, Leon; Smith, Valance; Wells, Alastair; Yates, Amanda
Following up on our recent article in this journal, this research note discusses the range of names used in Māori school settings for flexible learning spaces (FLS) and innovative learning environments (ILE), There are various existing Māori names for FLS/ILE, which fall into two types: individual names and category names. We consider several of these names as a way to explore this concept and provide a background for positing ‘he wāhi ako’ as a generic name for Māori FLS/ILE, which translates into English as ‘Māori learning space(s).’
Queer Bodies in Teaching Spaces: Dis/orienting Practicum in Aotearoa
(Gender and Education Association, 2025-05-29) Cameron, Yael; Gaerlan, Eunice
In Aotearoa New Zealand, tertiary education institutions work within the Teaching Council of New Zealand’s requirements for teacher education and professional registration. These requirements include student teachers working towards demonstrating what the Council terms Key Teaching Tasks (Education Council, 2017). Ideally, teacher education and in-school support provide a seamless pathway for student teachers to become prepared for the responsibility of independently teaching a class as provisionally-certified teachers upon graduation. However, this pathway is not uniform for all student teachers. For those who identify as LGBTQIA+, or come from non-white ethnic backgrounds, or are neurodiverse, the journey to achieving these Key Teaching Tasks often involves additional challenges and barriers. Navigating these challenges and barriers profoundly impacts student teachers’ well-being, as they balance core teaching tasks with the emotional labour of negotiating discriminatory spaces. While international studies highlight these issues (e.g., Benson, Smith & Flanagan, 2014; Berry et al., 2021; Kohli, 2009; Toledo & Maher, 2021), there is limited research in Aotearoa New Zealand examining whether the inclusive practices emphasised for children are also extended to pre-service teachers. This study investigates whether and how schools enact inclusion as a whole-school practice and the extent to which student teachers experience discrimination and inclusion during practicum placements. In this presentation, we will offer preliminary findings from the first phase of the study, focusing on the ways practicum placements serve as both sites of struggle and growth for student teachers of minoritised identities. These findings contribute to conference themes by diversifying how we understand gender and its intersections with race, sexuality, and neurodiversity in educational contexts, activating routes for feminist and inclusive practice in teacher education. In doing so, this work furthers the Gender and Education Association’s vision of challenging injustice and advocating for equity within education.
Suicide and Sensationalism in Colonial New Zealand
(Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka, 2025-12-19) Neill, Carol
Emma Meurant’s death in 1890 at the age of 16 put her briefly but sensationally in New Zealand’s national news spotlight. Her suicide was described across New Zealand daily newspapers as an agonising death caused by her taking the poison “Rough on Rats”. Later, Emma’s death was explained by a coroner as influenced by her reading with sensational literature, which, he and a jury determined, had put her in a state of temporary insanity. They arrived at this finding after hearing the testimony of community and family members two days after Emma’s death. Sensationalism therefore reigned not only in the report of her death, but also in how it was explained – and, one might read, how that conclusion was drawn. This article examines the context of Emma Meurant’s death and its historical setting, to develop understanding of how sensationalism was understood, explained and acted out in late nineteenth century New Zealand through the coroner’s inquest and newspapers. It explores the record of interactions amongst those who were involved in the event of this death, and how they appeared to fashion their own positions in relation to their social standing, their connection with Emma, and their own perspectives on sensationalism.
The Life of Droids: A Droidean Corporeal Horror
(Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2025-12-19) Gibbons, Andrew; Denton, Andrew; Yu, Rainie
In this article the life of droids is explored through a weaving of scenes, dialogue, analysis, theory and an exhibition. The imagery and text are employed to work through the experiences of the droids and the relationships that are revealed, or perhaps even presenced (Heidegger, 1993). The works of Heidegger and Camus on technology and science, the story of Viktor Frankenstein’s absence of care for ‘his’ creation, and insights from Daniel Wallace’s book, 'Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Droids' add textual flavour to the images that have been produced by the authors and that invite exploration of life in the age of droidean corporeal horror. In this exhibition of machine lives, the images are presented as uncanny moments (Rancière, 2010), revealing questions concerning technology and being (Heidegger, 1993). The educational intention of this work is not to emancipate machine life through the horror stories of droidean cultures and communities, but rather to offer insights into the error of Modern mastery.
Kiwi kids once led the world in reading – this 1950s primary school syllabus still has lessons for today
(The Conversation, 2025-05-09) Boyask, Ruth; Milne, John
Why claims of ‘transformational’ school reading improvement are premature
(The Conversation, 2025-10-20) Milne, John
Reclaiming ‘fun’: A School Leader’s Reflexive Account of a Social and Emotional Learning Initiative in Primary Education
(Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2025-12-06) Drake, Melanie
In an era where schools are under immense pressure to deliver top academic results and meet performance expectations from stakeholders such as government departments, parents, and school boards, the idea of prioritising ‘fun’ over academic outcomes might appear unconventional. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, exposed the fragility of traditional schooling models and underscored the urgency of addressing students’ social and emotional well-being. This South African leadership narrative reflects on how the principal and leadership team, in the first ‘normal’ school year following the pandemic, implemented a year-long initiative known as the Fun Project. Designed to rekindle joy, connection, and emotional recovery, the project centred on fostering Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) through creative, collaborative, and academically aligned cross-curricular learning experiences. Drawing on a reflexive autoethnographic and pracademic approach, this study situates the author’s lived leadership experience within wider educational leadership theory, exploring the tensions between academic accountability and student well-being. The narrative demonstrates how integrating SEL and joy into school culture can reframe educational priorities, cultivate resilience, and model a form of leadership grounded in reflection, relational trust, and hope.
Teacher Inquiries Into the Education Journeys of Rangatahi in Alternative Education
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-06-06) Turner-Adams, Hana; Bruce, Judy; Piggot-Irvine, Eileen; Schoone, Adrian
This action research (AR) project explored critical moments from the education experiences of disenfranchised rangatahi (young people) in Alternative Education (AE). The rangatahi hoped their stories would help teachers, principals, Boards of Trustees, and the Ministry of Education understand their experiences and hear their recommendations for helping vulnerable rangatahi in the future. AE teachers utilised storytelling and arts-based methods that enabled rangatahi to tell their stories. The relational and collaborative nature of AR was crucial to amplify the voices of the rangatahi and their AE teachers. This article shares insights from AE teachers’ inquiries and the AR process. The stories were thematically analysed to understand common schooling experiences. Experiences of microaggressions and microaffirmations, social and cultural spaces, transition and transience, exclusion and alienation, identities and relationships, and pedagogical approaches all impacted rangatahi identity and learning. Recommendations for how teachers and school leaders might adapt their practices to support disenfranchised rangatahi are considered.
Self-Efficacy Perceptions of Tongan Students and Their Teachers Within Year 11 Business Studies
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-01-22) Hausia, Ella’peta Fifita; Matapo, Jacoba; Gaffney, Janet S
A growing number of Pasifika students are pursuing Business Studies at Secondary school. However, indigenous knowledge and epistemologies are not prominent in Business Studies. We discuss a qualitative decolonising study that explores the concept of self-efficacy in Business Studies from a Tongan perspective. We provide insights into the perceptions of Tongan student’s self-efficacy and their Business Studies teachers. Teachers’ views aligned with Western notions of self-efficacy, which conflict with Tongan perceptions, precisely the collective nature of Tongan self-efficacy. Key findings from teacher interviews and Talanoa with students provided an understanding of Pasifika students in general and experiences specific to Tongan students. Three main themes are highlighted: (a) key values for Tongan students, such as relationships, family, and identity; (b) students’ learning experiences across different contexts; and (c) framings of self-efficacy. This study’s implications for curriculum suggest how teachers can learn from and incorporate Tongan students’ values and identities, enhancing their engagement and performance in Business Studies. Extending this research to include the knowledge and understanding of Tongan families, community leaders, curriculum specialists, Business Studies educators, and researchers would create a transformational space for student engagement. Bringing together shared expert knowledge in the future would require more time for effective and meaningful Talanoa as a collective.
Big Changes to NCEA and Polytechs Must Deliver the Skills NZ Urgently Needs
(The Conversation, 2025-08-07) Maurice-Takerei, Lisa
NCEA Reform: How Will Schools Decide Who Takes an Academic or Vocational Path?
(The Conversation, 2025-08-27) Maurice-Takerei, Lisa

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