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Research Commons is the University of Waikato's open access research repository, housing research publications and theses produced by the University's staff and students.
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Item In their voice: Adult learners' perspectives on literacy and numeracy, learning and wellbeing(Report, Māori and Psychology Research Unit, University of Waikato, 2023)In their voice: Adult learners’ perspectives on literacy and numeracy, learning and wellbeing (2023) reports on a case study undertaken in collaboration with Literacy Aotearoa. It has been undertaken as part of a larger project, The expression, experience and transcendence of low skill in Aotearoa New Zealand (2019–2024), the aim of which is to provide policy recommendations to improve life-course trajectories and socio-economic outcomes for adults with low literacy and/or numeracy (L+N) skills in Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa). In their voice: Adult learners’ perspectives on literacy and numeracy, learning and wellbeing examines adults’ experiences as they navigate their lives and develop their L+N repertoire towards their aspirations for themselves and their families. Our focus is mainly on Māori (the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa) adults. The study has taken place at a time when adult L+N policy is at a crossroads in three senses. Policy over the last 23 years has only marginally improved L+N on the measures government uses with adults, yet it is known that wide-ranging, holistic benefits accrue from L+N education that values and embodies Māori interests and ways of being. Second, the most recent iteration of L+N policy expired in 2017 and is yet to be replaced, opening an opportunity for reconceptualisation and transformation of adult L+N policy. Third, Māori educators have articulated and demonstrated over decades the content and approaches for L+N learning that are of interest and value to Māori adults and whānau (immediate and extended family) but these remain by-and-large systemically unsupported. Nevertheless, government expectation is that all policy in Aotearoa account for wellbeing outcomes as set out in the ‘Living Standards Framework ‘and ‘He Ara Waiora’ (The Treasury, 2021, n. d.). The standpoint for this study is that the Eurocentric perspective of literacy that predominates in adult L+N policy in Aotearoa – reading and writing alphabetic text, usually in English, and primarily for economic purposes – is inadequate in our bicultural nation. This narrow view of literacy and its purposes severely limits the extent to which Māori expectations for adult L+N education and for Māori prosperity are realised, contrary to the word and the spirit of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi). Viewing literacy through sociocultural, sociomaterial, critical literacies and Indigenous lenses, the study makes a strong case for a much broader understanding of literacy and its purposes to decolonise adult L+N policy for the future. Supporting this aspiration, the study advances the notion of multiple meanings of literacy in which Māori perspectives are valued, upheld and promoted. Māori perspectives are understood as centring on whakapapa (genealogy) which provides the framework for connectedness of all things and is the basis for Māori identity and for comprehending and interpreting the world. The research process was informed by Kaupapa Māori (a Māori agenda) to the extent possible. Māori researchers conducted all but one interview and contributed to the thematic analysis of participants’ narratives. Two Pākehā researchers worked closely with the Māori team members and were guided by them. The specific approach for this case study was co-designed with Literacy Aotearoa to ensure participants’ needs and aspirations in the research were met. Twenty adults (15 Māori, one Samoan and four Pākehā) graciously agreed to share their insights and were interviewed individually, in pairs or in a focus group according to their choice. They were aged from early 20s to late 60s and varied in their qualifications and learning challenges. The same number of men and women took part. The following questions directed the interviews and focus groups: 1. What has motivated people/whānau to make change in their lives? 2. What was the pathway that people/whānau have taken to make change in their lives? 3. What are people’s experiences of their efforts to make change in their lives? 4. What have been supports or facilitators, barriers or challenges in their efforts? The narrative transcripts were analysed from a critical sociocultural and strengths-based standpoint. Findings were described and discussed in relation to the following broad thematic categories: 1. What matters to people in their lives – views of wellbeing, values and aspirations 2. Learning and life pathways – experiences of learning, schooling and post school 3. What enables people to live the lives they choose 4. What makes it harder for people to live the lives they choose The study shows the centrality of te ao Māori (Māori worldview) in the lives of Māori adults and whānau. It is fundamental to Māori identity and wellbeing and remains throughout their lives even when they have experienced periods of disconnection. Enacted valuing of te ao Māori within the programmes enabled participants to feel safe to be who they are, excited about their L+N learning, and looking forward to meaningful outcomes for themselves and their whānau despite the oft-present anxiety about returning to a classroom. Relatedly, prioritising the wellbeing of the learners through caring and respectful learning environments is crucial to coming to and staying in L+N learning opportunities which can then provide an opportunity to transcend hurtful past learning experiences and enable participants to see themselves as capable learners and contributing adults in the world. These characteristics of the participants’ learning experiences in the study programmes reflected values and ways of being fundamental to being Māori which meant the dissonance often experienced in other learning settings was not present and participants could enjoy learning what and how was important to them. The study notes that L+N in the Eurocentric meaning was addressed in the L+N programmes our participants attended (for example digital skills for work were taught) but the programmes simultaneously embodied broader meanings and purposes of literacy that are not typically foregrounded in L+N policy in Aotearoa. The study contends that the enactment in the programmes of Māori values and ways of being and doing allowed transformative learning to occur, not just for the Māori learners but for everyone. The study demonstrated that L+N learning valued by learners themselves is best defined as the acquisition of knowledge and skills that have meaning and are useful in their lives, can contribute to better lives for whānau, hapū and iwi and can be passed on to future generations. Defined from this viewpoint, valued L+N includes matauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and Māori cultural practices, values and language; foundational skills and knowledge in English missed at school; and specific skills for changing times including work and everyday personal, family and community life that centres whānau (family and extended family) wellbeing. The study calls for a change in the definition and rationalisation embedded in current (though expired) adult L+N policy from a narrow economy-focused approach to a broad and culturally inclusive definition and rationalisation. This requires detachment from a singular view of what literacy is to a view of literacy as a multiple construct; in other words, seeing literacy as having many meanings. Accompanying this embrace of literacies, Māori perspectives of L+N must move from the margins of adult L+N policy to the centre, led by Māori.Item Alternative anthropologies: Kete aronui from the Waikato(Internet Publication, FocaalBlog, 2025)As three anthropologists working at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, Aotearoa (New Zealand), we experience anthropology in our daily work in the context of our local histories, communities and politics. While many anthropologists are familiar with the critiques of anthropology that play out in the USA or Europe, the narratives and practices of anthropology from places such as New Zealand are less well known. We argue that these local, diverse experiences of anthropology can enlarge our international understandings and imaginations of what anthropology can be, as well as the challenges it may face. Anthropologists working in New Zealand today face the same plethora of academic pressures as those found in their counterparts in North America, Britain and Europe; pressures instigated by decades of neoliberal reform, managerialism, and the impact of new entrepreneurial and corporate models of universities that shape everyday identities and social relationships (Shore 2010). Similarly, the critique of anthropology as a discipline rooted in colonial imperatives and practices, resounds in a society whose imperial history and settler colonial present continues to imprint on educational institutions, pedagogy and research. In New Zealand, no neat historical trajectory marks a path from extractive research, wherein Indigenous knowledge and ways of life are pottled for export to the empire’s core, to one based on mutuality, co-creation and the indigenisation of anthropological knowledge.Item Using picturebooks to support student teachers to address complex social justice issues in early childhood education settings(Journal Article, Informa UK Limited, 2023)Aotearoa New Zealand society is diverse in its ethnic, cultural and linguistic composition. Teachers in all education settings in this country are required to develop learning focused-cultures that are collaborative, respectful and inclusive for all children/students and their families. In this article, we report on a case study describing how picturebooks were utilised in a compulsory graduate course entitled ‘Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing’ for preservice early childhood education (ECE) student teachers. Thirteen picturebooks selected to match weekly topics were shared with students in face-to-face and online classes. Weekly reflections by the tertiary lecturer/teacher educator relating to the picturebooks, associated readings and subsequent discussions by students were analysed to explore student teacher responses to the picturebooks. The findings are discussed in relation to exploring the power of picturebooks as pedagogical tools in a tertiary environment and as advocacy and activism provocations for student teachers and teachers to use with children/students and their families.Item Do youth in sport stay out of court? Insights and recommendations for families, coaches, community groups, sports organisations, and policymakers(Report, The University of Waikato | Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, 2025)In Aotearoa New Zealand, rugby and rugby league are popular sporting codes, historically and particularly among males. In their 2023 annual reports, New Zealand Rugby reported 147,434 registered participants, while New Zealand Rugby League reported 28,180. Both institutions have also developed equity, diversity and inclusion strategies aimed at nurturing the participation and involvement of women and girls, as well as Māori and Pacific communities. However, while both codes have recorded an increase in female participation, there has been a gradual decline in male participation (Cully, 2023; Radio New Zealand, 2023; Wilson, 2022). This decline in sport participation has also been noted by (former) Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft, who found that young male offenders are often not involved in sport (Bruce, 2013; Sport NZ, 2018). This report summarises the findings of a study that examines sports attrition in relation to youth offending. In that study, the author (Clarke, 2012) examined the childhood and youth sporting experiences and illegal activities of five young men aged between 18 and 25 years old. The aim of this report is to provide insights into how these young men became involved in sport and why they dropped out, how they became involved in crime, and possible links between their sport participation and offending. Their experiences highlight several issues that can be addressed by parents/caregivers, clubs, sport administrators, coaches, community groups, sports organisations, and policymakers. In course of the study, six key observations were made. For these young men: 1. rugby and or rugby league were their primary and final sporting codes; 2. these sports were or had become ‘just a game’; 3. aggressive coaches diminished their enjoyment and commitment to sport; 4. their parents/caregivers were absent from their sporting lives; 5. their participation in sport and crime was simultaneous; and 6. the collision aspect of rugby and rugby league may have helped to facilitate their offending. In this document, the names of these young men have been replaced with aliases. To provide the reader with a richer and deeper understanding of the issues, the report features a number of their stories and reflections (edited for readability only). The research methods are briefly outlined in Appendix 1. Sources included in this report are listed in the References section. For a fuller review of the literature and the research analysis refer to the original research document (Clarke, 2012).Item Developing researcher capability: What can I research and how do I do it?(Conference Contribution, 2024)Workshop delivered at the 5th WACE International Research Symposium on Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education, 19 April 2024, University West, Sweden.
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