Learning te Reo Māori via Online Distance Education: A Case Study

Despite some gains in the regeneration of te reo Māori, the indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand, its long-term survival remains threatened. One avenue for regeneration seldom considered is the English-medium secondary school. This article reports on a case study where students in one such school chose te reo Māori as an option and, and, because no face-to-face teacher was available, opted to continue via online distance education. Their experience over a year was documented and analysed through the lens of Willems’ (2012) quadripartite model of resilience. Despite high levels of motivation, the students encountered considerable difficulties from which educators and education policy makers can learn important lessons

Learning te Reo Māori via Online Distance Education: A Case Study

Despite some gains in the regeneration of te reo Māori, the indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand, its long-term survival remains threatened. One avenue for regeneration seldom considered is the English-medium secondary school. This article reports on a case study where students in one such school chose te reo Māori as an option and, and, because no face-to-face teacher was available, opted to continue via online distance education. Their experience over a year was documented and analysed through the lens of Willems’ (2012) quadripartite model of resilience. Despite high levels of motivation, the students encountered considerable difficulties from which educators and education policy makers can learn important lessons

TEACHER ENGAGEMENT WITH ACADEMIC READING IN A POST-SERVICE TESOL COURSE

Engaging school teachers with academic reading is challenging for all teacher trainers, yet if teachers’ knowledge base is to be up-to-date the input of new research information is essential. Within the field of teacher professional development, few research studies focus primarily on teacher academic reading.  On the Auckland New Zealand TESOL diploma course reported on here, academic readings are key. They theorise the weekly lecture topics and provide practical strategies that embed the theory. Three approaches to academic reading are used.  These three approaches are the focus of the study reported here, exploring the attitudes of the 49 elementary and secondary school teachers over the two years of the part-time course. Quantitative questionnaire findings and relevant qualitative interview data which explicate the quantitative findings are reported on. The key finding was that, on average, the entire sample exhibited a large and statistically significant increase in engagement in academic reading over the two-year period. A majority of the teachers favoured the third approach to academic reading, being tightly structured, supportive reading groups rather than independent reading or reading presentation to a group. They valued the interdependence and reciprocity of the tightly structured reading groups

Te Reo Māori as a Subject: The Impact of Language Ideology, Language Practice, and Language Management on Secondary School Students’ Decision Making

Te reo Māori, the Indigenous language of Aotearoa (New Zealand), remains ‘endangered’ despite concentrated ongoing efforts to reverse declining numbers of speakers. Most of these efforts have focused on te reo Māori immersion education settings as these were considered the most effective means to ensure the survival of the language (May & Hill, 2008). More recently, the home has been identified as an important setting for language regeneration (Te Puni Kokiri, 2011). Despite the fact that the vast majority of secondary school-aged students (both Māori and non-Māori) attend English-medium schools, these settings are seldom considered as having potential to increase numbers of te reo Māori speakers. This article reports findings from a case study of one English-medium secondary school where factors surrounding the uptake of te reo Māori as a subject were investigated. Using Spolsky and Shohamy's (2000) language policy framework as an explanatory lens, it was revealed that even when students’ language ideologies orient them towards learning te reo Māori, language management and practice decisions can discourage rather than encourage this choice

Silence speaks volumes

The continuing failure of our education system to meet the needs of minority group students, who continue to walk through classroom doors in increasing numbers, provided the initial impetus for this research project. Researchers, academics, and school practitioners need to examine carefully 'taken for granted' patterns of talk and behaviour that occur in schools every day, because for many children, these are not effective. This study is situated in a mainstream primary school classroom where children from diverse language and cultural backgrounds work and learn together. The importance of the interaction that occurs between teachers and children is discussed and numerous studies which focus on the role of discourse in students' language learning are critiqued. The fact that students in mainstream primary schools must learn language while using language for content learning, is considered to be of paramount importance, and so discourse that occurred during small group mathematics lessons provided the major source of data for the project. An aspect of this discourse, language functions of student initiated interactions, was examined in depth. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to look beyond the surface level of classroom discourse in an attempt to better understand why children interact as they do, or why they remain silent, appearing to be on the periphery of the learning opportunities which are designed to help them to succeed. Classroom observations and individual interviews provided insights into the complex and competing forces which shape the talk that occurs between students and their teachers. It was revealed that successful students have effective relationships with teachers, regardless of whether or not they share the same cultural background. These successful students are able to deploy a range of thinking and learning strategies. The importance of making the 'culture of the classroom' explicit is highlighted, along with the fact that teachers feel constrained by the demands of an overcrowded curriculum and the need to address individual learning needs of all of their students. Implications for classroom practice along with teacher training and professional development are proposed