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The development of children’s strengths is essential for their success at school. Processes that assist children to recognise and act on their strengths, collectively referred to as “strengths-based approaches” in this study, are one aspect in the relatively new field of positive education that have been adopted enthusiastically by teachers for their reported constructive purpose and focus on improving student achievement and wellbeing outcomes. In recent years, however, the use of strengths-based approaches in New Zealand schools has moved beyond that warranted by the limited research base. In this study, qualitative data were collected to report on the perceptions and practices of common strengths-based teaching and learning approaches, as described by children, parents and teachers in a New Zealand primary school. Three separate sets of data were collected using a case study approach. The first data set involved 16 ten-year-old children; the second data set involved 15 parents of the child participants; and finally, five teachers of the children involved in the research were participants in the third data set. In light of the paucity of New Zealand studies in strengths-based teaching and learning approaches for children, this study aims to contribute to the knowledge in these areas and identify topics that warrant further investigation.

© 2018 The Authors This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the associations between active travel to school and the neighbourhood built environment in children and youth by systematically identifying and collating data from New Zealand studies. Data from five studies involving 2844 children and youth aged 6–19 years were included in the meta-analysis. Data on participant demographics and school characteristics were obtained from each study, and built environment features within 400 m and 1 km buffers around home were calculated in a consistent manner using geographic information systems. A one-step individual participant data meta-analysis was performed in SAS. Using stepwise logistic regression, age, school socioeconomic status, distance to school, dwelling density and intersection density (400 m and 1 km buffers) were taken forward from bivariate analyses into a multiple variable model. Active travel to school was positively associated with intersection density (p < 0.001) (1 km buffer) and negatively associated with school socioeconomic status (p = 0.001), dwelling density (p = 0.004) (1 km buffer), and distance to school (p < 0.001), including age, sex, ethnicity and number of siblings as fixed effects in the final model. The findings of this meta-analysis can be used to guide and support the development of policies on school location and catchment, and pedestrian and cycling infrastructure for children and youth to actively and safely travel to school.

Since the late 1990s, the competition for ‘the best and the brightest’ has shaped many developed countries’ policy approaches toward international students seeking permanent skilled migration in their countries. Australia and New Zealand are among those that established innovative immigration policies to facilitate the skilled migration of international students after successful completion of their studies. Using Considine's policy system framework, this paper reviewed each country's policy setting linking education and migration between 1998 and 2010 and compared policy developments by their constituent policy institutions, policy actors, political economy and policy culture. The similarities and differences between the two countries are identified and used to understand how international education and skilled migration policies had changed in each setting.

In her essay, Connell brings together two issues – the impact of neoliberalism on the production of knowledge and knowledge producers within the university, and the challenge of indigenous and sout...

New Zealand is an ethnically diverse nation. The number of overseas-born New Zealanders are increasing and migration pathways have added to the cultural diversity of New Zealand’s population. Acknowledging the health complexities experienced by older adults belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds is a growing research interest. This article aims to discuss the specific overlays between health and culture in the case of older Asian-New Zealanders by unpacking, presenting and critically analysing selected New Zealand studies. Based on this critical analysis, health-seeking behaviours and engagement with the healthcare system in New Zealand were influenced by cultural beliefs, traditional family values and the use of mainstream language. Understanding the overlaps between health and culture of the ageing ethnic groups is complex yet useful for health institutions. Furthermore, understanding the perspectives of ageing among ethnic and migrant groups within the context of cultural diversity is enhanced by considering an ethno-specific approach.

Until the 1970s neither Australian nor New Zealand political studies gave much attention to issues of diversity. This reflected both the makeup of the profession and the majoritarian nature of the political systems that was the major object of its attention. We argue that feminist organising on both sides of the Tasman had led to greater pluralism within the discipline. Using a comparative institutional approach, we trace the relationship between organising within the professional associations and the acceptance of greater diversity of approach and standpoint. We find, however, that while both countries’ Associations have become somewhat more inclusive, a hierarchy of knowledge still exists that may prove an obstacle to feminist and Indigenous political scientists joining discipline-based departments and programmes.

Despite the increasing attention paid by advertisers to preschool children as consumers, little academic attention has been paid to its implications or its consequences. To address this, the following article reports on two independent New Zealand studies of public and parental concerns about the nature and extent of television advertising to preschool children. Results show high levels of concern with the effects of advertising on preschool children and considerable support for its regulation. Importantly, the findings also reveal a fundamental concern with the normalisation of consumption values and promotion of material culture as consequences of advertising exposure not previously identified in the literature. The findings provide useful evidence to inform public policy recommendations and suggestions for future research.

Despite the compelling reality of our histories and geographies, interest in Asia from the Antipodes seems cyclical. Every five to ten years, there is a resurgence of ‘engagement’ with Asia, genera...

The present study investigates the influence of cultural differences on organisational-based self-esteem within New Zealand. A sample of 211 New Zealand European employees and 291 Māori (indigenous people of New Zealand) employees answered a range of questions on organisational-based self-esteem, job, and mood outcomes. Findings suggest that organisational-based self-esteem was directly associated with job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and organisational citizenship behaviours, as well as positive and negative affect. Relationships between variables were tested for each sample separately and for a combined sample. A comparison between the separate and combined samples was also investigated. The findings from this study suggest that organisational-based self-esteem has a greater influence on job outcomes and mood outcomes for Māori when compared with New Zealand Europeans. This could be because employment fulfils a basic need for self-determination. The present study suggests the implementation of tailored management policies to support cultural differences within New Zealand’s vibrant and diverse workforce.

This chapter summarises five eras of early childhood policy and research development in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the 1970s, there was a divided system of care and education, and the dominant view that childcare was primarily custodial and sessional care educational was questioned by research. In 1980s, policies moved towards integration, maintaining diversity and improving quality (especially through teacher education), while research explored the nature and long-term impact of quality. The 1990s saw the introduction of bicultural socioculturally based early childhood curriculum guidelines, Te Whāriki, and a wave of qualitative research followed to evaluate and support the curriculum and its implementation. During the 2000s, a strategic plan, Nga Huarahi Arataki (2002–2012), prioritised increased participation and quality and collaboration between services. In 2003, teacher-researcher partnership projects embarked New Zealand on an action research journey to explore, document and disseminate innovative teaching. In the recent era coinciding with a world economic downturn, a more conservative government approach to early childhood policy and cut backs to funding and programmes, research has, by political necessity, focused on the efficiency and effectiveness of taxpayer investment in the sector, increasing cost-effectiveness and promoting the participation of ‘disadvantaged’ children. The goal of improving quality has been put at risk by cutting funding for fully qualified staff.

I recently retired from my job as Director of the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. It wasn’t an easy decision after 17 years in the role. One of the most exhausting parts of it was clearing out my office. It wasn’t so much the papers, it was the bookshelves. And then I had to work out what to do with them when I got them home, trying to impose what Walter Benjamin called “the mild boredom of order.” I wish. I would like to be mildly bored if it meant my books were ordered. But what is the order? I can’t see myself implementing the Dewey system, I don’t want to alphabetize my New Zealand books or my Australian collection into the larger conglomerate, and what about poetry, children’s books and crime fiction? Luckily my house has bookshelves in a lot of its rooms so I can impose a geographical and architectural rationale: crime fiction in the spare room, for example. But the question of books has exercised me: what to keep, what to take down to Vinnies, what to put where. I don’t think in tidy categories and nor do my books, and in the course of thinking about this lecture the part books play in our lives seemed germane. Benjamin’s essay is not about the kind of haphazard bookbuyer and reader that I am, it is about book collecting. He had a rather stringent rule at one point in his life which resulted in what he called the militant age of his library—no more than two or three shelves—because no book was allowed to enter unless he had not read it. Needless to say, I have never had such a rule. At the end of his essay Benjamin says that “ownership is the most intimate relationship one can have to objects.” Not, he goes to say, “that they come alive in him; it is he who lives in them.”

Research in Aotearoa New Zealand on the guidance and counselling provision—including the role of the guidance counsellor—in secondary schools is limited. This chapter provides the background to the current education environment including guidance and counselling and outlines research undertaken for support and advocacy purposes or with the intention of influencing policy decisions in relation to guidance and counselling. A 2013 Education Review Office (ERO) evaluation on the effectiveness of guidance and counselling in secondary schools found a wide disparity in provision, and all schools had students with many different problems—often complex—presenting for guidance and counselling.

This chapter describes the development and current context for adult education in two case study countries – England and Aotearoa New Zealand. While the impact of neoliberalism has been powerful in both countries, the specifics of demography, history and culture have also shaped the possibilities for action, suggesting differences as well as convergences in education policy and practice. The chapter begins with a description of the demographic and historical contexts for adult education in both countries. It then goes on to discuss the development of policy around adult education in recent times and considers how policy changes are being played out in practice

The Australian and New Zealand Map Society was established in July 2009, hence its history as an entity is very short. This article examines the origins and early days of the component groups, the Australian Map Circle and the New Zealand Map Society, mentioning issues and concerns of each group and their responses. This synopsis covers the period 1973 to 2013.

Purpose – Care coordination for patients with chronic conditions is one aim of an integrated health care delivery system. The purpose of this paper is to compare findings from two separate New Zealand studies and discusses the implications of the results. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes and discusses the use of Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care Measure in two different geographic areas of New Zealand and at different times. Findings – The studies suggest that, despite the time that has elapsed since government investment in care coordination for long-term conditions, there has been little change in the nature of service delivery from the patient perspective. Originality/value – The paper highlights the shortcomings of simply providing additional funding for care coordination, without built in accountabilities, no planned evaluation and no concerted focus on what the model of care should look like.

This review examines the current literature on Pacific youth offending in New Zealand. Pacific Island youth offenders are over-represented in the rates of violent offenses, despite not being overly represented in youth offending statistics. A major concern is that the Pacific population has the largest percentage of children and young people under 15 years old in New Zealand. Therefore, this is an issue to be faced by Pacific and wider communities in New Zealand. We focus on risk factors of offending, and its current impacts on Pacific Island youth in New Zealand. A literature review was conducted to explore some of the risk factors for offending looking at New Zealand studies and government reports. This was followed by a review of overseas literature regarding Pacific youths and their offending behavior. Following this, ethnic minorities were included in the literature review from New Zealand and international perspectives. Expectedly, results in this area are sparse. However, a number of efforts have been made to address this gap in the literature which this review included. The findings in this review make future recommendations for Pacific youth with offending behavior. These include that ethnicity should be taken into account when addressing research on youth offenders; data relating to the youth offender such as social and demographic history should also be considered for a more collaborative approach to researching and understanding this population; and more targeted studies towards this population are needed to improve the overall health of the Pacific Island population in New Zealand and overseas. Finally, existing programs and interventions currently in place for our Pacific youths with offending behavior needs to be evaluated to ensure it continues to meet the dynamic needs of our Pacific youth population.

With a growing number of migrants who are of Chinese ethnicity in New Zealand, there have been demands from the wider Chinese community for increased educational opportunities that allow students to succeed in the mainstream New Zealand education system. Drawing upon literature and studies on community schools and interviews of migrants in Auckland, this chapter aims to define what a Chinese education model might be and the notion of success in the New Zealand context. Beurdieu’s notions of ‘capital’ and ‘field’, Lave and Wenger’s notion of ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ all aide to the analysis of the interview findings.

Australia and New Zealand are two countries for which the influence of migration, both international and internal, is extraordinary. Around half the population of current residents in these two countries are either themselves immigrants or the children of an immigrant. Within Australia and New Zealand, residents are highly geographically mobile, changing their usual place of residence more frequently than in most other countries. Although distinct nations with quite separate policies, Australia and New Zealand share many features with respect to international migration. Since Australia and New Zealand possess migration data of high quality, this chapter not only contributes an overview of the geographical mobility experience of these two countries of immigration and high internal mobility, these data can provide insights into migration processes which can be useful to the a broader understanding of geographical mobility internally and the development of more effective migration policy globally.

Biosolids management has been largely overlooked as an issue for environmental co-management, collaborative learning and public participation. This paper summarises four research projects on facilitating community involvement in biosolids management in New Zealand. The authors situate these studies both in relation to the New Zealand institutional and policy context for the management of biosolids and in relation to the themes of public participation and social learning in the literature on community involvement in environmental management. From the studies it can be concluded that: the incorporation of the knowledge and views of Māori is important from both public-participation and social-learning perspectives; both public-participation and social-learning approaches must consider the role of issue-definition in relation to willingness to participate; democratic accountability remains a challenge for both approaches; and locating biosolids management within an integrated water-and-wastewater or sustainable waste-management strategy may facilitate wider community participation as well as better-coordinated decision-making.

Welcome to the symposium issue about counselling and guidance in Aotearoa New Zealand.1 The idea for this symposium began while I was attending the 2009 AGM of the New Zealand Association of Counse...

Babington begins his A History of the New Zealand Fiction Feature Film with a quote from a 1945 book by film critic and future film censor Gordon Mirams: “If ever a post-mortem is performed on us, ...