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Parental engagement in education is a deceptively simple idea. Supported by theory and empirical evidence, it is promoted in educational policy in many countries, including Aotearoa New Zealand. Nevertheless, research demonstrates a gap between the rhetoric and the reality of parental engagement practice. The critiques of factors and barriers influencing the gap in practice do not adequately address how schools, as sites of policy enactment, deal with the multifaceted dimensions of parental engagement. This study aims to increase the knowledge and understanding of the reality of parental engagement, especially as it is enacted and experienced in an Aotearoa New Zealand school setting. It focuses on two less considered material contexts, built and digital space. The research involved a single bounded case in an English-medium (state-not integrated) primary school. It is possible to apply multiple methods within a policy enactment case study, making it ideal for examining parental engagement's contextual, creative, and negotiated enactment process. The study's findings identified several limiting factors in the enactment of parental engagement. Dominant neoliberal and other, more traditional subjectivities constrained parental engagement by restricting the type of opportunities offered and which parents were able to take them up. Built space was underestimated as a source of both constraint and possible support for parental engagement, whilst digital space has transformative potential. The study concludes that greater clarity and a shared purpose would support the improved positioning of parents, the evaluation and alignment of built space to enhance parental engagement, maximise the potential of digital technologies, and help guide teachers and schools in their enactment. The findings have implications for government, teacher education, and teacher professional development to help realise these benefits for parental engagement.

This research investigated the construction of whare tapawhā discourses in national curricula since 1999 and (re)presents other Māori perspectives of how a whare (house, building, school of learning, curriculum) can be known. I explored the constitutions and subjectivities of a whare and its relationship to hauora, well-being and its dimensions. The central questions raised in this thesis are how has a whare model of hauora, well-being been signified within dominant education texts, and how could a Māori (re)envisioning of a whare assist future Māori-medium hauora learning area developments? Further elaborations on how a whare can be known and its potential contribution to future hauora learning area developments take priority as a focus within this thesis. For this study, I developed ngā pou whakaaro, a theoretical, conceptual, and methodological framework characterised by unfolding layers of awareness (and reflection) that I applied when thinking and reading through texts. Texts included primary and secondary literature such as curricula policy, hauora redevelopment wānanga (meetings, discussions) notes, hauora redevelopment video, hauora Ministry of Education milestone reports and interview transcripts. Within these texts, I searched for significations and signifiers of how the whare tapawhā model of hauora, well-being or a whare had been (re)presented. I searched for what was clearly evident and the assumptions made about a whare, and critiqued omissions of what had not yet been said. These gaps provided an opportunity to rewrite and reproduce other texts. I initially critiqued dominant representations of the whare tapawhā model of hauora, well-being, as evident in English-medium policy texts. I argue that the whare tapawhā model and its nuances in national curricula and compulsory schooling are not only driven by education imperatives, such as the valuing of the Māori language and knowledge in compulsory schooling, but are also assimilative in that the knowledg

This thesis explored the educational conditions for children with disabilities in Uzbekistan and the current development stage of inclusive education there. Of particular interest was how various groups perceived and understood the concept of inclusive education, what they saw as the critical issues in introducing inclusive practices, and how their experiences informed its better provision. These groups included parents of children with disabilities, teachers in general and specialised schools, non-governmental disability organisations (NGOs), and the government. The research is of importance as little has been written about inclusive education in Uzbekistan. It offers a platform for academics, policy-makers, and practitioners to further the agenda of equity in education in and beyond this setting through research, policy, and practice. The research used phenomenology as a research methodology to explore the experiences and perspectives of the participants. Within this study, the social model of disability and the human rights treaties were utilised as a theoretical framework. A mixed-methods approach was applied to collect data. Semi-structured interviews were employed for parents, teachers, and government officials and an on-line questionnaire was completed by representatives of non-governmental bodies. In total, 23 interviews were conducted and six questionnaire responses were received. The findings from the study suggest that inclusive education was mainly perceived as providing equal opportunity for children with disabilities to study in neighbourhood general schools, in age-appropriate classes, and with the necessary support to develop their skills and realise their potential. Children’s social development was considered by many participants to be the most important aspect of inclusion. Yet, children with intellectual disabilities were considered as unsuitable to attend general schools. Multiple challenges in the enactment of inclusive education were identifie

This study investigated the engagement in an inquiry process of six EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers from two Vietnamese universities, and how the inquiry process shaped the teachers’ professional learning, paying attention to cycles of reflection and co-construction of knowledge. Student-centred approaches relevant to English language learners were used as a content focus of teacher learning, and teacher inquiry was used as a tool to drive reflection and co-construction of new learning. In particular, the study investigated the process of enactment and reflection as the teachers applied student-centred approaches (SCA) while working to develop their pedagogical knowledge, improve their teaching practices, and engage in professional learning practice. The study lay within an interpretive paradigm and was predominantly qualitative, using a small amount of quantitative data from the questionnaire administered at the beginning of the study. Data were collected via a four-phase process comprising five data collection instruments. In Phase 1, an online questionnaire was sent out to a wider group of teachers from the two universities and was analysed descriptively to gather initial information about the teachers’ reported beliefs and practices to inform me as a researcher how to proceed the next stage of the study. Qualitative data were collected in Phases 2, 3 and 4 of the study. After the six teachers engaged in the inquiries, their classroom practices were observed to explore how they interpreted and enacted SCA. Most observed teaching sessions were followed by a debrief in which the teachers were asked questions to reflect on certain moments of their practice and to elicit the elaborative reasoning underpinning their classroom practices. The teachers then took part in group discussions, which gave them opportunities to present individual reflections on their practice and knowledge and at the same time established an understanding of how the teachers learne

It is now estimated that around 50 million displaced persons (highest number since the end of World War 2), and as many as 10 million are ‘on the move’ between countries at the present time. Mass migration is now undoubtedly be one of the biggest issues demanding global attention. A major concern for the United Nations over the next few years will certainly be how to deal with mass migration. The dominant messages from the mass media and politicians are dominated by ‘political correctness’, but fail to focus on the main issue of how newcomers and their children will function in their new location after arrival. Whilst the discourses of assimilation are becoming more pronounced, the question might then justifiably be asked, ‘What happens to the children of newcomers after arrival?’ This is a critical question in every sense and raises the issue of immigrant youth adaptation and experiences of identity and place in this age of shifting demographics, large-scale migration, and multicultural communities. Not long ago most of the people who came to New Zealand were coming from parts of the United Kingdom with relatively few coming from anywhere else. Relatively little is known about the psychosocial adaptations and self-identities of young immigrants coming of age in the compound multiethnicity of contemporary New Zealand. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was to better understand the complexities of contemporary youth adaptation, at a time when immigrants into New Zealand are coming from an increasingly diverse range of nations. Specifically, the aim was to offer insights into how personal, social and cultural factors might combine to shape male adolescent experiences, and how these insights may be of use to teachers who work with this age group in culturally and ethnically diverse contexts. I used detailed one-to-one interviews and drew on a social constructionist theoretical framework, to map the complex ways in which the boys said they negotiated, navigated, c