Houses of stories: the whale rider at the American Museum of Natural History

In April 2013, fifteen members of the Māori tribal arts group Toi Hauiti travelled to New York to reconnect with their carved wooden ancestor figure, Paikea, at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). They gave educational presentations  to school groups, museum staff and members of the public about Paikea and the whare kōrero , or house of stories, which Paikea had adorned as a gable figure.Through a discussion anchored in the importance of taonga (ancestral treasures), this paper describes embodied forms of knowledge used by Paikea’s descendants to know him in his absence, and introduce him to diverse audiences. Its foci are: museum education in multicultural contexts; learning by doing through the use of interactive activities; and community outreach and museum education. In addition, it discusses the challenges to protocols and opportunities for learning offered to AMNH staff through this engagement, and examines the impact it had son Toi Hauiti members themselves

Māori and community news constructions of Meningococcal B: the promotion of a moral obligation to vaccinate

News media communicate various risks of disease, showcase medical breakthroughs and disseminate texts that both reflect and renegotiate shared cultural understandings of health and illness. Little is known about the role of Māori and community news media in the social negotiation of health and illness in Aotearoa. To address this gap in the literature, this paper reports findings from a study of news reporting on Meningococcal B by the Māori Television Service and two community newspapers serving Māori communities. Findings document how news works to position vaccination as a ‘common sense’ practice that whānau have a moral obligation to undergo. Neglected are wider socio-structural considerations that impact the prevalence of illness among Māori

Criteria used to determine the equitable distribution of learning resources in public secondary schools in Misungwi District, Mwanza, Tanzania

Learning resources are important because they are utilized as the primary source of information for teachers and students during lessons. The study objective was, to explore the criteria determining equitable distribution of learning resources in public secondary schools. The study used a sequential explanatory mixed research design and was conducted in Misungwi district. The study used Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling to sample 78 respondents out of 718, in public secondary school teachers, Heads of Schools, Ward Education Officers, Ward Executive Officers and District Secondary Education Officer. Qualitative data obtained were analyzed thematically and described using words while quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.The study findings highlight that while there is a prevailing belief in the importance of the number of the students as a major criterion for learning resource distribution, the practical allocation process does not consistently align with this criterion. Challenges of resource inadequacy and delays reveal a mismatch between intended and actual distribution of leaning resources practices. Additionally, the study emphasizes the significance of factors such as school needs, community engagement, and transparency in influencing distribution decisions

To stand, belong and flourish : exploring the belonging and success of of Aotearoa university students : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatū, New Zealand

A sense of belonging has been described as a fundamental motivation for humans to feel accepted, valued and recognized by others and groups. While the importance of the need to belong has been extensively demonstrated throughout psychological literature, the importance of belonging in higher educational contexts – like universities – is not as clearly understood. Current research has shown that the stronger a student's sense of belonging is to their institution, the more likely they are to be successful in their academic achievement. However, the degree to which belonging plays a role in in this, especially in an Aotearoa context, is unknown, as well as the lack of student voice in psychological literature, leading to the question of what students define as success. A particular group of university students who are more commonly associated with the concept of belonging are those who are first in their family to attend university. These students often face unique challenges when entering university when compared with their counterparts, with connection, belonging, and relationship satisfaction being identified as key protective factors in the retention of first generation students. The current study explored the relationship between university belonging and student success through the experiences of First in the Family (FIF) and non-First in the Family (non-FIF) students. Two-hundred and thirteen Massey University undergraduate students completed an online questionnaire which measured their perceptions of academic success and feelings of belonging at university. This research found a significant and positive relationship between students' feelings of belonging and their feelings of university success. That is, the greater a student's sense of belonging to their university, the greater their feelings of academic success at university. It also found that students held multiple understandings of what success at university meant to them, as well as no overall significant difference in First in the Family and non-First in the Family experiences of belonging at university. The findings of this research will contribute to the sparse literature on university belonging and will provide an alternative pathway of understanding the concept, and will provide insight into how students define success at university

Plastics pollution as waste colonialism in Te Moananui

Plastics pollution is a global, relational, integrated, and intersectoral issue. Here, we undertook narrative analysis of semi-structured interviews with nineteen key plastic pollution decision-makers. They offered a contextual lens to understand challenges facing Pacific Island (Te Moananui) nations in preventing plastics pollution. We build on the work of Ngata (2014-2021) and Liboiron (2014-2021) to situate the narrative analysis within a "waste colonialism" framework. We argue that plastics pollution as waste colonialism transcends environmental, policy, and industry concerns. "Indigenous political ecologies" of plastics pollution provide an understanding by which plastics pollution prevention can be examined at multiple scales. These include, at the international level: trade agreements and import dependency, donor aid and duplication, and transnational industry influence. At the local level: pressure from local plastics manufacturers, importers and suppliers, and barriers to accessing the latest science. Located within a global and regional context, our findings capture the systemic and long-standing impacts of colonialism on Indigenous responses to plastics pollution prevention and management, highlighting its effects on human and environment health and wellbeing. Sustainable solutions to plastics pollution for Te Moananui require the centering of its peoples and their deep, lived, and intergenerationally transmitted knowledges in the identification of challenges and solutions, the implementation of activities, and amplification of a shared regional voice.fals

An external evaluation of Phat Pak process and structure: Volume 1: Evaluation report

An evaluation was conducted by the 510 Evaluation Research Group 2007 after receiving a request from the Phat Pak Governance Group (PPGG). The evaluation focused on four areas identified in the Phat Pak service specification plan attached to it’s Ministry of Health contract (Youth participation, Communication Strategies, Decision making Processes and Skills Development). Our intention of evaluating the Phat Pak Programme has been to, through feedback from a range of participants, gauge the extent that the programme objectives (such as those highlighted in the contract are being met. More specifically, the function of the evaluation has been to help identify specific areas that are working well and those areas that need further development. It is our intention that the evaluation will provide both short and long-term direction with added insight towards increasing participation and enhancing health outcomes for youth and the wider community of the Waikato region

An external evaluation of Phat Pak process and structure: Volume 2: Appendices

An evaluation was conducted by the 510 Evaluation Research Group 2007 after receiving a request from the Phat Pak Governance Group (PPGG). The evaluation focused on four areas identified in the Phat Pak service specification plan attached to it’s Ministry of Health contract (Youth participation, Communication Strategies, Decision making Processes and Skills Development)

Te waiata tangi a Rangiuia : he kaupapa tuhi hei tutuki i nga tikanga o te tohu matauranga Pukenga Toitikanga o Nga Kaupapa Maori Te Whare Wananga o Manawatu

Text written in MaoriHe whainga kaupapa tenei mahi, he hokihokinga ki nga puwananga, ki nga ruamatauranga o te po. Ko te take, ko te whai, ko te hopu, ko te mau i tenei mea te matauranga, hei titi ake i runga i te mahuna Maori. Hei aha hoki ?; hei korero, hei wananga, hei whakamana hoki i te hinengaro Maori, i te korero a te Maori i te ao nei. Heoi tenei au te hokai nei i taku tapuae ki nga huarahi, ki nga huanui i whaia ai e Pu ma, e Rua ma, e Matau ma, e Tohunga ma. Me kore ake ka taea te timotimo atu ki nga mokamoka korero kua mahue muri mai; kati auatu, kaore e taea te aha, me whai-a-mua. Ko te kaupapa o tenei korero, he ata wananga i te waiata tangi a Rangiuia o Te Aitanga a Hauiti, o te whare wananga o Te Rawheoro, Uawa, Tairawhiti. Ko te take hei whakautu i te patai nei; i whakanuia peheatia a Te Rawheoro e te waiata tangi a Rangiuia, kia noho ai hei whare wananga whaimana i te rohe o Te Tairawhiti ? Ko taku e mea nei, i whaimana a Te Rawheoro mai rano i te po, tatu iho ki te wa i a Rangiuia ma, ki enei ra hoki. No te mutunga o te wananga ka noho ko tona tangi hei taonga, hei tauira korero mo nga kaupapa o Te Rawheoro, na reira i whaimana hoki i te wa e ngarongaro haere ana, e pokia ana nga korero a te whare wananga

Perceived effect of corruption on the quality of public health services in Mbeya Urban District, Tanzania

Corruption is a concern in all sectors of the economy,and it is a critical problem in the health sector.Nevertheless, there is little empirical evidence which shows the way corruption affects the quality ofhealth services.The main objective of this study was to determine the perceived effect of corruption on the quality of public health services.The study was conducted in Mbeya Urban District and it adopted a cross-sectional research design. Quantitative and qualitative and data were collected using individual surveysandkey informant interviews,respectively. A random sample of 180 individuals of which 91 (50.6%) were male and 89 (49.4%) were female was involved.Quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.A Mann Whitney U test was used to compare between perceptions of corruption andrespondents’ characteristics. In addition, the same test was used to compare between the effect of corruption on quality of health services andrespondents’ characteristics.The results show thatthe overall corruption was perceived as an unfavourable phenomenon that negatively affected quality of health services. The results further show that there is relationship between perceptions of corruption andmarital status at 5% level of significance whereby singles perceived higher corruption than the married ones. In addition, a long queue was one of the major factors driving corruption during health services delivery.The result also showed thatthe quality of health services was perceived to be low. Therelationshipbetweenage, wealth status and employment type andperceived quality of health services was statistically significant at 5% and 1% levels of significance. The study concludes thatthe perceived effect of corruption lowers the quality of health services. The study recommends thatit is important to improve quality of health services.Generally, findings of the study shed light on the need for further research about the perceived effect of corruption on communication between clients’ and health services providers