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Tutors in higher education are receiving and responding to student disclosures that include racism, anxiety, loneliness, legal disputes, family upheavals, physical, emotional, and mental health, bereavement, legal battles, and harassment. In many cases, this caring aspect of the tutor role is not acknowledged, allocated time in job descriptions, or accurately remunerated. This qualitative study explored how tutors experienced and managed student disclosures, the personal and professional impact of responding to disclosures, and how tutors believed they could be better supported. Data was collected from two cohorts of participants tutoring at a University in Aotearoa New Zealand. Using interviews and questionnaires and analysed by reflexive thematic analysis. Our findings showed that our participants believed they were positioned vulnerably between a rock and a hard place. At the rock, tutors were told to follow university guidelines and refer distressed students to over-loaded course coordinators or over-subscribed support services. At the hard place, tutors were often the first to be disclosed to, because of their front-facing positioning at the university and once they had heard the disclosure felt it was unethical not to try and help. Tutors believed they could assist students with personal challenges if their precarious positioning within the university was protected and strengthened and if appropriate support was provided by their university through training, time, and remuneration. Findings have implications for higher education providers to reconsider how tutors are supported to support students.

Rapid developments in ideas of knowledge, the role of educational technologies and the needs of students suggest that innovation is important in higher education. However, many factors can affect how and whether innovation occurs. In a study of identified innovative teachers, five thematic dimensions were identified that served to support or constrain pedagogical innovation: the teacher, the institution, colleagues, students and the teaching environment. In this paper we discuss the ways in which innovative teachers experienced each theme within their practice. We also consider how individuals and institutions might better support pedagogical innovation.

This paper examines the pedagogical and organisational changes three lead teachers made to their statistics teaching and learning programs. The lead teachers posed the research question: What would the effect of contextually integrating statistical investigations and literacies into other curriculum areas be on student achievement? By finding the significance of statistics nested within mathematics and other curriculum learning areas, the teachers increased their own value of statistical content and contexts and this impacted positively on the statistical achievement outcomes of their students. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.)

The ability to reflect and self-assess are essential attributes for graduates to develop during their education. At many tertiary institutions, peer and lecturer-assessment contribute to summative assessment, but self-assessment, whilst recommended for development, does not. In order to make a case for the inclusion of self-assessment as a summative assessment task its reliability needs to be analysed, tested and established. This paper reports a study comparing the alignment of self, peer and lecturer-assessment of 34 pre-service teacher-education students and their lecturer. Students annotated a teaching artefact evidencing their attainment of an Aotearoa New Zealand Graduating Teacher Standard. Peer groups of students and their lecturer also assessed the annotated artefacts using the same collaboratively constructed assessment rubric and feedback sheet. While 59% of self, peer and lecturer-assessments fully aligned, in the remaining 41% many of the participants awarded lower grades to their achievement, indicating less confidence concerning their attainment than their peers and lecturer did. Emerging themes from the annotations of those students whose self-ratings were lower than those of their peers and/or the lecturer indicate a need for further research focussed on the potential influence of self-efficacy and cultural responsiveness on the reliability of self-assessment.

This exploratory study examined how two teachers from two New Zealand primary schools introduced and taught the same mathematics lesson to their lowest ability group of year 2 and 3 students. Emphasis was given to analysing the positioning of the teacher and students and the developing storylines and social acts from that positioning. Different positionings by teachers of themselves and their students led to inequitable opportunities for active and collaborative participation in the mathematics. The differences in pedagogy revealed through the use of positioning theory suggest that the way teachers positioned themselves and their students was more influential than the resources they were teaching with.

This paper builds from a prior study into the teaching and learning of basic number facts in New Zealand. It reports the changes in practice of one teacher that were brought about by her reflection on the effectiveness of her teaching and learning programme. It details how this teacher created a process which helped make the learning of basic facts more relevant and meaningful to her and her Year 6 students.

The ability to reflect and self-assess are essential attributes for graduates to develop during their education. At many tertiary institutions, peer and lecturer-assessment contribute to summative assessment, but selfassessment, whilst recommended for development, does not. In order to make a case for the inclusion of self-assessment as a summative assessment task its reliability needs to be analysed, tested and established. This paper reports a study comparing the alignment of self, peer and lecturer-assessment of 34 pre-service teacher-education students and their lecturer. Students annotated a teaching artefact evidencing their attainment of an Aotearoa New Zealand Graduating Teacher Standard. Peer groups of students and their lecturer also assessed the annotated artefacts using the same collaboratively constructed assessment rubric and feedback sheet. While 59% of self, peer and lecturer-assessments fully aligned, in the remaining 41% many of the participants awarded lower grades to their achievement, indicating less confidence concerning their attainment than their peers and lecturer did. Emerging themes from the annotations of those students whose self-ratings were lower than those of their peers and/or the lecturer indicate a need for further research focussed on the potential influence of self-efficacy and cultural responsiveness on the reliability of self-assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survey research undertaken in 2004 indicates that the recreation priorities of New Zealand local government authorities have altered little since 1987 despite the introduction of new legislation focusing on servicing community groups. The 2004 survey of local government park and recreation managers replicated questions asked in 1993 and 1987. Responses to the most recent survey were consistent with the two previous studies. Survey responses indicated that the provision, construction and maintenance of facilities, along with the beautification of the environment, remain areas of greatest importance for New Zealand local authorities with respect to recreation provision. Goal priorities that specifically contained references to the planning process rated highly, but these priorities were not evident in existing local government policies relating to conducting research within the community. Policies associated with recreation counselling and programming, providing for user groups such as people who are unemployed or have a disability, and for individual growth, rated very low. These findings suggest a need to identify, and put in place, ways of quantifying demand by communities for recreation resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The clinical onset of borderline personality disorder (BPD) usually occurs in young people (aged 12-25 years) and commonly leads to difficulty achieving and maintaining vocational (education and/or employment) engagement. While current psychosocial interventions lead to improvements in psychopathology, they have little effect upon functioning. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a client-driven model that assists individuals with severe mental illness to engage with education and/or employment appropriate to their personal goals, and that provides ongoing support to maintain this engagement. The objective of the INdividual Vocational and Educational Support Trial (INVEST) is to evaluate the effectiveness of adding IPS to an evidence-based early intervention programme for BPD, with the aim of improving vocational outcomes.Methods/design: INVEST is a single-blind, parallel-groups, randomised controlled trial (RCT). The randomisation is stratified by gender and age and uses random permuted blocks. The interventions are 39 weeks of either IPS, or 'usual vocational services' (UVS). Participants will comprise 108 help-seeking young people (aged 15-25 years) with three or more DSM-5 BPD features and a desire to study or work, recruited from the Helping Young People Early (HYPE) early intervention programme for BPD at Orygen, in Melbourne, Australia. All participants will receive the HYPE intervention. After baseline assessment, staff who are blind to the intervention group allocation will conduct assessments at 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks. At the 52-week primary endpoint, the primary outcome is the number of days in mainstream education/employment since baseline. Secondary outcomes include the cost-effectiveness of the intervention, quality of life, and BPD severity.Discussion: Current treatments for BPD have little impact on vocational outcomes and enduring functional impairment is prevalent among this patient group. IPS is a targeted functional intervention, which has proven effective in improving vocational outcomes for adults and young people with psychotic disorders. This trial will investigate whether IPS is effective for improving vocational (employment and educational) outcomes among young people with subthreshold or full-syndrome BPD.Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ID: ACTRN12619001220156 . 13 September 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]