Images of Research

From local colours to global hues
Alea Macam

The stirring sight of children standing in unison, reciting their patriotic oath while gazing at their country's flag, embodies a deep sense of national pride and identity. However, like the sun that will eventually set, the grounds that will soon be emptied, and the flag that will be lowered and retreated at the end of the day, this identity, too, may transform. As global hues blend with local colours, we bear witness to the emergence of new forms of identity shaped by the broader social, economic, and political forces that are constantly redefining our sense of self and nationhood.

© 2023 | Alea Macam

Identification as emerging researchers
Atif Khalil

To explore the socialisation experiences of doctoral students, I traced the stories of students from a university in Pakistan. This image represents an aspect of doctoral students' socialization, that of participating in research conferences. Presentation of findings for peer critique is a key aspect of researcher identity. By disseminating research to the wider academic community, doctoral students gain constructive feedback which enhances their confidence to communicate and helps clarify their conceptual understanding. Besides, students develop a sense of belonging through contributing knowledge in the academic community.

© 2023 | Atif Khalil

Magnifying learning
Megan Grainger, Helen Turner, Sophia Rodrigues, Cathy Buntting, Brent Wagner

Investigating the impacts of a school-scientist partnership between the University of Waikato and Maeroa Intermediate provided Year 7 and 8 students with an opportunity to observe bees – and varroa mites – in new ways. Using the University’s compound microscopes and portable scanning electron microscope was a highlight for many of the students, vividly demonstrating how additional learning opportunities can emerge from school-scientist connections. The project was inspired by colleagues at Cardiff University and funded by the Waikato-Cardiff seed fund.

© 2023 | Megan Grainger, Helen Turner, Sophia Rodrigues, Cathy Buntting, Brent Wagner

Playing the air, soldering the ether: Reaching Brazilian students through Art and Science
Christian Quimelli

My PhD research uses the Theremin to develop interdisciplinarity across Science and Music, improve student engagement at school and enhance peer interaction in group work. This picture displays the multifaceted workshops I did in Brazil over a 14-week period. For that, I used the Theremin, an outstanding musical instrument that you play while waving your hands in the air without physical contact. The students were taught how to play the instrument, compose to it using alternative music notation, and build an optical version of it.

© 2023 | Christian Quimelli

Back to school : Can a teacher educator still kick it in the classroom?
Claire Coleman

This artwork represents research where, as a current teacher educator, I returned to the classroom as a generalist primary teacher to reflect upon my own practice as a teacher, make connections to my research and ITE experience, and consider the relationship between those two aspects of myself. Through creating this artwork, I reflected upon the pressure I felt to conform to the ‘performance’ of the good teacher, my acts of resistance through playful pedagogy, and the privilege I have to enact them.

© 2023 | Claire Coleman

Te Whāriki: A rich interweave of myriad cultural and environmental strands
Devika Rathore

Early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand is becoming increasingly multicultural. A traditional woven whāriki or mat represents the early childhood curriculum framework Te Whāriki. Migrant Indian teachers bring with them their unique and diverse socio-cultural as well as ecological histories, identities, experiences to add to this mat. They bring their own cultural and environmental fibers and interweave them into the loose strands of Te Whāriki, thus adding to the richness of the ever-expanding mat as they continue their learning journeys alongside those of the children.

© 2023 | Devika Rathore

Hierarchical versus non-hierarchical in the mentoring relationship
Dwi Purwestri Sri Suwarningsih

Traditional mentoring refers to a more experienced person passing on their skills and knowledge to a less experienced person. A contemporary definition refers to the promotion of personnel growth leading to richer subsequent experiences. My doctoral research explores the Early Childhood Development (ECD) mentoring experienced by teachers, mentors, government representatives, and development agency staff. Some participants asserted that their mentoring relationship is more hierarchical (guiding and helping), depicted as someone watering plants. Others contended that relationships are non-hierarchical, and both mentor and mentee have an opportunity for professional growth, represented by the two hands (from different people) producing zucchinis.

© 2023 | Dwi Purwestri Sri Suwarningsih

Maize as a concept for understanding childrearing practices in the African context
Emela Fenmachi

Maize as a metaphor for child development in the African context considers children as kernels protected and nurtured by husks, leaves, stalks, roots, as well as influenced by rain, sunshine, and soil. The husks, leaves, stalk and roots represent the entire family system (the immediate family, extended family members and ancestors). The rain, sun and soil are external influences on child development, like educational and social services and the government. Maize plants growing together metaphorically depict different family units supporting each other in a community. Healthy growth requires all parts of the maize plant. Therefore, children's wellbeing and development require collaboration among all stakeholders.

© 2023 | Emela Fenmachi

Drawing: An artefact of students’ understanding of chemical reactions
Garry Galvez

Combustion (or burning) is a familiar chemical reaction. In chemistry classrooms, burning magnesium is an activity used to spark students’ interest or demonstrate reaction concepts (e.g., mass conservation or reaction types). The image shows the combustion of magnesium producing a bright white light (a perceptible phenomenon) and a student’s drawing of the reaction at the submicroscopic level (i.e., structure and behaviour of imperceptible entities like atoms, molecules, and/or electrons). My research examined the visual-spatial elements of students’ submicroscopic drawings of various reactions after observing them through practical work. The findings provide insights into students’ thinking and understanding of chemical reactions.

© 2023 | Garry Galvez

Distributed leadership and teachers’ professional learning
Dwi Janet Zhong

Promoting teacher professional learning is not just the responsibilities of school principals and individual teachers. This is especially so for rural schools in China due to a lack of qualified teachers and school leaders. The photo illustrates a collective learning activity after a demonstration class in a rural school, where university researchers, an expert  teacher from an urban school, school leaders and teachers of the rural school were discussing how to teach a mathematics concept. The findings of this research project imply distributed leadership which underscores collective intelligence could contribute to teacher professional learning in rural schools.

Photo from a collaborative project by Faculty of Education, Southwest University and a rural primary school in P.R.China. Photo credit: Project researcher Janet Zhong

© 2023 | Janet Zhong

Who is the young rural citizen?
Janina Suppers

This image shows findings from a mixed-methods case study, conducted in Anderberg, a small rural village in Germany. In this study, I engaged in conversations with young people aged 13 to 16 and their teachers using focus groups, interviews, and a questionnaire to explore how young rural citizens participate in their communities and their school. Findings suggest participants’ engagement was closely tied to their rural place. While their remote rural location restricted access to some citizenship activities such as protests, it facilitated access to unique participation opportunities such as club leadership roles, volunteering for community events and community service activities.

© 2023 | Janina Suppers

© 2023 | Jo McMillan

The key competencies in technology and engineering practices
Junming Wang

Competencies in technology and engineering are important educational content in China at the primary school level. This research gained insight into the pupils’ competencies by investigating how students performed the process of artefact creation (Design-Create-Test-Modification-Presentation). Through video recording and observation, we found most pupils created artefacts not based on a fixed/given plan but based on their curiosity, interest and existing capacities, demonstrating different levels of competencies in technology and engineering. The findings highlighted the importance of students’ existing knowledge and creativity, suggesting that technology and engineering practices help enhance students’ competencies in communication, participation and contribution.

© 2023 | Junming Wang

Artificial intelligence and languaging
Laura Gurney

What does it mean to communicate with artificial intelligence? While the architecture of our meaning making is vastly different, we seem to understand each other. How might language produced through artificial intelligence resemble, differ from, and shape human languaging?

[This image is based on a collaborative project with Dr Eugenia Demuro, Research Strategies Australia. The image was produced using OpenAI.]

© 2023 | Laura Gurney

Reality shapes our perceptions!
Maryam AL Aufi

This word cloud, consisting of over 100 views, is based on initial findings of 16 interviews conducted with academic staff in one of the public universities in the Sultanate of Oman. Perceptions are likely to be complex and multifaceted, reflecting a range of perspectives and experiences.

As a person in the academic field, can you see the hidden term in the word cloud?

[I designed and created this word cloud using Microsoft PowerPoint]

© 2023 | Maryam AL Aufi

On critical reading
Maurice Cheng

In media literacy education, students are to develop the awareness that a piece of “news” is not exactly the same as the “event” that has happened. I often wonder how the reconstruction is similar to ours, as researchers, when we write up our findings…

© 2023 | Maurice Cheng

He Awa Whiria: A braided rivers approach to research, policy, and practice
Melissa Derby

This image represents a bicultural framework called He Awa Whiria. Created by Professor Angus Macfarlane in 2011, the He Awa Whiria framework has had a significant impact in the academic world and beyond. Inspired by the braided rivers that feature on the landscape of the Canterbury Plains, the framework has been adopted by a range of government departments, National Science Challenges, and higher learning institutions. Often referred to as a ‘braided rivers’ approach, He Awa Whiria is anchoring the work of researchers and practitioners in both national and international spheres.

The metaphor of He Awa Whiria – or a braided river – acts as a methodological framework for drawing upon both Western knowledge and mātauranga Māori. The framework posits that a blending of these two knowledge streams creates an approach and results in solutions that are potentially more powerful than either knowledge stream is able to produce on its own. In this image, the framework was applied in a study exploring literacy with Māori children and their families. Together with Professor Angus Macfarlane and Associate Professor Sonja Macfarlane, I am co-editing a book showcasing the impact of He Awa Whiria in academia and beyond.

© 2023 | Melissa Derby

Layers and hierarchies
Nicola Daly

I think of research as happening in layers. I work in relation to layers of research which have been conducted by others, and I add to my own layers of understanding.  Much of my work also relates to hierarchies, or layers ordered in relation to power in language. I am interested in how languages are represented in children’s picturebooks: what this might communicate to children about the relative importance of the languages and how it might impact children’s metalinguistic awareness.

© 2023 | Nicola Daly

It matters what matters matter in initial teacher education
Olivera Kamenarac and Juan Jose Garces Olmos

What might initial teacher education (ITE) be like if we re-imagine teaching as an inter-dependent, response-able, entangled, ever-shifting, difference-rich, diffractive process that is produced between and among human, non-human, and more-than-human agents?

ITE is an assemblage of policies, politics, funding, bodies, memories, locations, technologies and more, all of which contribute to what matters in teaching and teacher becomings. Our project troubles teaching as a reflective, reflexive and analytical practice that treats agency as solely human. It explores possibilities for re-imagining ITE in ways that support teachers to be(come) response-able to and within, not just for what happens in educational spaces in the changing and inequitable more-than-human world.

© 2023 | Olivera Kamenarac and Juan Jose Garces Olmos

Dismantling certainties and crocodile alert!
Philippa Hunter

Max, the Head of History, was enthusiastic about Carl’s teaching.

“Carl’s great! He gets on really well with the kids, and he is learning to teach history just like me. When he is ready, I plan to pass on the mantle because I see him as a future head of history.”

In my problematised history pedagogy research within secondary teacher education, the symbolic mantle is viewed as embodying identity, expertise, authority, and the power to define history. The dismantling of cloaked weighty traditions and essentialist notions inspires deconstruction of historical representation as creative self-fashioning.

© 2023 | Philippa Hunter

Mīharo – to wonder at, to explore, to admire
Simon Taylor

This image was taken while we were researching the nature of curriculum integration at a Bay of Plenty primary school. We find much to admire in these three motivated and committed tamariki in their studies of Te Ao Hurihuri (the Changing World). Much can be achieved when teachers and students are committed to sharing their skills, knowledge and space. Our research seeks to explore the wide range of skills of measurement and constructions created by the students, as well as the associated talk. This has provided teachers with an effective way of checking developing conceptual knowledge and understanding.

Photo credit: Simon Taylor and Barbara Whyte

© 2023 | Simon Taylor

Nurturing women's health: Raising awareness of gynaecological cancers
Sonja Ellis

This image represents the fragility of the female reproductive organs. While protected within the bubble, the bubble itself is fragile and is protected by being nurtured (represented by the women's hands). Raising awareness of gynaecological cancer is the focus of my current research programme. My first study focuses on engagement (or not) in cervical screening among non-heterosexual women, many of whom have historically been excluded from cervical screening due to misinformation. Cervical cancer is largely preventable through cervical screening. In this respect, its prevention is quite literally "in our hands".

© 2023 | Sonja Ellis

Curiously quirky invasion — Research in motion
Sue Cheesman

© 2023 | Sue Cheesman

Brent’s self portrait in form of an assemblage drawing
Thomas Everth

Brent is a participant in a research project with “climate activist teachers” and produced this assemblage drawing as a self-portrait. Brent defines himself by the relationships with the world. He said about his drawing: Where could you find me if you needed to find me in the world? And that’s kind of what that system entails. It’s just, it’s just, you know, I’m connected to something. But what’s that something, and then it kind of goes into this third tier of interconnectedness. And that’s both my transport of myself, transport of the things that come to me, and the transport of things that go from me to something else.

© 2023 | Thomas Everth

Stimulating children’s curiosity and imagination – the patchwork quilt
Vicky Beckwith

Fifty years ago, this patchwork quilt’s fabric, colour, and imagery stimulated a child’s curiosity and imagination. Forty years before UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goals, this quilt was hand-stitched by a grandparent for their grandchild, giving new life to recycled material. Each hexagon brings its own unique lived experience from its previous life as a dress, jacket, off-cut, blouse, or skirt. There is meaning in remembrance, and belonging within the quilt’s journey and texture. The narrative continues, as the quilt’s fabric, colour, and imagery are talked about with the next generation, igniting curiosity and imagination for the next fifty years.

© 2023 | Vicky Beckwith

Collaborating in the liminal zone
Wendy Carss, Bronwen Cowie (University of Waikato) Helen Trevethan, Jane Tilson (University of Otago) Jeana Kriewaldt, Natasha Ziebell (University of Melbourne) Kim Beasy, Michelle Parks (University of Tasmania)

Beginning teachers are in a liminal zone facing multiple boundaries to being and becoming a teacher. In our research, we have found that networks of collaborators support the wayfinding needed for teacher growth. This involves building relationships as a professional with colleagues, students and the community, all the more so when it involves moving somewhere new. These relationships are enablers in the intellectual, emotional and social enterprise of teaching.

© 2023 | Wendy Carss, Bronwen Cowie (University of Waikato) Helen Trevethan, Jane Tilson (University of Otago) Jeana Kriewaldt, Natasha Ziebell (University of Melbourne) Kim Beasy, Michelle Parks (University of Tasmania)

Computational thinking embedded in authentic context for young Māori learners
Wendy Fox-Turnbull, Shaoqun Wu, Tiana Mayo, Matthew Stafford

This poster represents the underpinning ideas of our research in the field of computational thinking in technology education. This four-week unit study took place at a small semi-rural primary school where kaiako and tauira worked together in an authentic context to learn sequencing and orientation of computational thinking through the programme of Beebot. The Beebots symbolise our tauira, while harakeke, a natural fibre which is strong and versatile, symbolises the support that kaiako provide by connecting learning to their land and whānau. The research achieved success in the use of te reo Māori, Tuakana-Teina teaching and lived experience as Māori in technology education.

© 2023 | Wendy Fox-Turnbull, Shaoqun Wu, Tiana Mayo, Matthew Stafford

Narrative therapists address substance (mis)use in Aotearoa: Stories from the field
Wendy Talbot and Tina Phillips

We asked narrative therapy addiction counsellors to talk about their work with people who are grappling with addictions such as alcohol, drugs, gaming, gambling, food, sex and more. The therapist participants told us addiction is a political and social problem not an individual problem; they problematise the substance (not the person) and focus on the context that produces Addiction. At first glance the full recycling bin might evoke questions and ideas about the consumers of the alcohol but what questions might be asked about the substance and the cultural and political contexts that produce and maintain Addiction in societies?

© 2023 | Wendy Talbot and Tina Phillips

Assimilation or multiculturalism?
Yu Yuan

Cultural adaptation could follow different pathways. The pictures present the adjustments of a group of Chinese international students' dining habits. The top photo shows a traditional Chinese meal (hotpot) that the students shared at the beginning of their journey in New Zealand, while the one below shows a Western-style meal (grilled steak and potatoes) that they made for their gathering one month later. Nevertheless, the Western-style meal blended with students’original habits, including a shared dish of tomato and scrambled eggs. Did these students assimilate to Western dining, establish a new habit, or use multiple dining habits?

© 2023 | Yu Yuan

Sharing my story": Using digital storytelling to establish personal connection through visual expression.
Hazel Woodhouse & Zaida Moffat

Digital storytelling uses visual media to express personal and cultural identity. The image stems from research that explored how digital stories could be used by training teachers to introduce themselves and share funds of knowledge. This image, created by a summer scholar, illustrates their digital story by depicting a whānau kete, woven with the pattern Poutama – which symbolises the attainment of knowledge. The pictured pounamu taonga represent values drawn from personal connections and life experiences. In parallel representation, the old book, digital tablet and headphones represent a hybrid learning journey, as ferns surrounding the image signify new growth and aspirations.

© 2023 | Hazel Woodhouse & Zaida Moffat

Te Ao Hurihuri (The Changing World)
Barb Whyte & Simon Taylor

Te Ao Hurihuri (The Changing World) is an educational research project currently in a primary school in the Bay of Plenty region. The goal is for the school leadership, teachers and researchers, Barbara Whyte and Simon Taylor from the Division of Education, to share ideas and expertise to develop a future-focused, integrated curriculum to improve student engagement. The research critically examines teacher professional practice, using the Aotearoa New Zealand curriculum, through qualitative methodologies of teacher drawings, interviews and professional reflection episodes.The selected kaiako (teacher) drawing above depicts what learning looks like in the teaching hub from their perspective. The concept of whenua has significance; this is a term used for both placenta and the earth, symbolising a nurtured learning environment. The kaiako brings their passion and creativity to the learning through this. “For children’s growth (tupu), it’s a balanced, learning ecosystem which cycles through nurture and love of learning”.

© 2022 | Barb Whyte & Simon Taylor

The Story Behind the Stairs: Time Capsules of Curriculum Possibility
Emily Nelson & Bronwen Cowie

In our research, we employ the notion of a palimpsest to explore the curriculum potential of an outdoor space that has been developed as an outdoor learning centre but still retains elements of its past uses and 'wildness’. The past and present intermingle, refracted through the geography, geology, history, culture and politics of the site, taken up by all who encounter them. Primary students documented their responses and reactions to different elements in the space through photography as they visited the space multiple times over the course of a school year. We engaged in photo elicitation interviews with the students, exploring together their salient experiences and perspectives. What captured student attention varied widely. Some were captivated by stairs, sculptures, flowers and dead stumps, and others by ambiguous holes, algae and broken bricks. The palimpsestic nature of the space in connection with the students’ interests and imagination offer time capsules of curriculum possibility.

© 2022 | Emily Nelson & Bronwen Cowie

On2Science: Weaving a web of connections through online citizen science
Cathy Buntting

This three-year research project brings together an interdisciplinary team of education researchers, information systems researchers and teachers from three research organisations and eight schools to investigate how online citizen science projects can enhance school students’ science and digital technology learning. Together, we are exploring how our different areas of expertise weave together to enhance student learning outcomes. Our research is relevant for educators, curriculum developers, and developers of online citizen science projects. This Project is led by Cathy Buntting (science education, University of Waikato), and Cathal Doyle (information systems, Victoria University of Wellington), and includes Dayle Anderson, Matt Boucher, Carol Brieseman, Rose Campbell, Dianne Christenson, Ally Clark, Alana Cockburn, Melissa Coton, Ben Egerton, Brigitte Glasson, Rose Hipkins, Tanya Kotze, Jane Li, Markus Luczak-Roesch, Richie Miller, Azra Moeed, Cameron Pierson, and Stephen Ross. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education’s Teaching Learning Research Initiative.

© 2022 | Cathy Buntting

Developing a snorkelling methodology
Chris Eames & Claudio Aguayo

This image represents school students snorkelling at Te Hāwere-a-Maki/Goat Island Marine Reserve. The context was a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative project exploring the use of mobile technologies juxtaposed with outdoor experiences in order to develop students’ marine ecological literacy. As researchers, we captured this image using a GoPro whilst watching student behaviour and listening to student dialogue regarding the marine biodiversity at the Reserve. This ‘immersion’ research technique proved powerful in eliciting evidence of student learning, whilst at the same time posing challenges that were physical (needing to swim to keep up) and sensory (understanding words spoken through snorkels and seeing what they see underwater).

© 2022 | Chris Eames & Claudio Aguayo

Food for thought: Take all you can eat, but eat all you take
Deepa Goswami

One third of all the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted along the food supply chain. Food loss occurs from post-harvest up to the retail and consumer levels. Food waste at the consumer level is due to general apathy or lack of awareness about the scale and impact of food waste. Awareness about food waste at the consumer level can lead to changes in attitudes, values, and behaviour towards food waste. That is where the role of education is crucial as a tool to address this environmental and social issue. This calls for an education which develops action competence to be able to understand food waste problems and take action for a food secure future.

© 2022 | Deepa Goswami

Where do you come from: A sense of place and identity
Devika Rathore

The Lake Palace is a white marble palace built in the 1740s situated in the midst of Lake Pichola, an artificial lake built in the year 1362. The Aravalli Hills form the backdrop for this rich historical and environmental context of my city. The picturesque mix of the natural and the man-made presents a portrait of harmonious co-existence and sustenance. The flourishing natural and cultural milieu of where I come from provides me with a strong sense of place and identity in relation to the natural environment. My research explores parallel notions with migrant Indian teachers from diverse geographical and sub-cultural backgrounds in Aotearoa Early Childhood Education. It is an attempt to unearth similar metaphorical images representing the teacher participants. These metaphorical images represent their interpretations of their transitioning cultural and environmental identities and the influence of these identities on their teaching practices in Aotearoa.

© 2022 | Devika Rathore

Where are their voices? Shifting Older Adults from Vulnerable to Valuable in Media Portrayals
Diana Amundsen

Ageism affects everyone, everywhere, across the life course. My research is about changing how we think, feel, and act around older adults to foster healthy ageing for everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand. Ageism is in our beliefs, relationships, our education systems, and across every aspect of society. It has so many layers—no one person can tackle it all! To make a difference, we can begin by teaching our teachers how to see and understand ageism in order to help future generations combat ageism. This research aims to work with the news media outlets in Aotearoa New Zealand to understand how media can contribute to changing narratives of old age from “vulnerable” to “valuable”. Through interviews with editors, freelance journalists, art-directors, photographers and columnists, my research aims to produce media-informed guidance and resources on writing about ageing, including empowering older adult voices.

© 2022 | Diana Amundsen

What lies beneath big data?
Don Klinger

As a quantitative researcher, I often say “get a picture of your data.” Admittedly, this triple image suite is not what I meant but I also use images to illustrate statistical concepts. Underwater photography is challenging. It is difficult to get sharp images and the deeper one goes the less available light. Similarly, statistical analyses with large datasets often sacrifice specificity and depth for breadth, leading to less detail of what we are analysing. This image collage simultaneously captures my early university work in marine biology (and my desire to see the Great Barrier Reef) and my statistical research with large datasets. While snorkelling off Lady Elliot Island, I observed an entire coral shelf surrounded by small fish, creating a living wall. As I dove into and through the “fish wall” it parted, revealing a large wrasse near the bottom, equally surrounded by the living wall, albeit keeping a distance. And this is what happens when we work with big datasets. We examine population data in an attempt to find “hidden secrets or patterns” that are only found once we start moving through the data in front of us.

© 2022 | Don Klinger

‘Plotting a Course – Families Navigating to School’
Developing a collaborative transition to school using social media
Hazel Woodhouse

The transition to school is a process which a family experiences together as their child moves from ECE to primary school. In this research, a digitally facilitated transition process was co-constructed by the contributions of two Facebook groups: families and their teachers. The Facebook groups supported the development of tools and information which enabled a family to navigate their own route to school. Each family’s journey to school is unique. While all families travel to the same destination, it is not for all of them a familiar route. For some, it is as direct as a motorway, whereas others experience travel delays and need further information and support to arrive at their destination. Some families travel together, navigating the road with each other's support and advice. Offering families agency in their own transitions and help when they need it ensures they will experience a smoother journey to school.

© 2022 | Hazel Woodhouse

Where are their voices? Shifting Older Adults from Vulnerable to Valuable in Media Portrayals
Jessica Cira Rubin

My research followed a programme for US teachers who travelled to India to learn about ahimsa (nonviolence) and other Jain principles. We visited several Jain institutions, including this all-girls school in central Delhi. Postcolonial theories, including Bhabha’s ideas about liminal spaces, contributed to a comprehensive analysis of the programme, and this image of an encounter in a materially liminal space highlights the potential of metaphysical liminality as well. In this moment, we are both in the heart of a frenetic city and apart from it; teachers visit informally with the students, vibrant young women who were also confident teachers. Formal interactions were occurring within classrooms and in the courtyard below, but in this liminal space, the connections were authentic, reciprocal and joyful. One participant (far right) alluded repeatedly to the affective impact of this day on her learning about ahimsa, teaching, and India.

© 2022 | Jessica Cira Rubin

Beekeeping as a practice tradition and implications for vocational education and training
John P. Howse

My research aims to understand how everyday vocational practices such as beekeeping unfold and transform the world around us and how vocational education and training is expected to adequately respond to global issues of social inequality, climatic and ecological crises, and the increasing influence of technology in our lives. Tracing the historical formation yet emergent nature of our practices requires scrutiny if we are to avoid reproducing those practices that have adverse effects. In this photo, a beekeeper checks the health and condition of a hive. The white strip on the frame is a chemical treatment that targets the globally distributed Varroa destructor mite that is a significant cause of colony collapse. Overtime and without complex forms of treatment, apis mellifera or the “western honey bee” is unable to survive on its own. This presents an example of the irreversible impact yet necessary interventions of human practices in the world.

© 2022 | John P. Howse

A juxtaposition of “traditional” and “modern” learning environments
Julie Hest

All state-owned New Zealand schools must modify their learning environments. The design of this image makes visible the stark contrast between "traditional" and "modern" learning environments. It demonstrates and symbolises how architecture, technologies, and teaching and learning practices can differ between environments. The inspiration for this image is my PhD research, which collected the voices of principal, teacher and student participants involved in the daily operation of modified learning environments in four New Zealand secondary schools. One key finding my research revealed was that without guidance on how to operate within modified learning environments, participants sought guidance from their previous experiences in traditional classrooms; these practices were not always appropriate for the modified space and led to tension with colleagues hence the rip through the middle of the image.

© 2022 | Julie Hest

On ontologies of language
Laura Gurney (in collaboration with Eugenia Demuro)

The question of what language is persists within language studies. Ontologies of language traverse language as code, practice, assemblage and more. How do we claim that the language we investigate is indeed language, and on what basis do we do this? Which coordinates – physical, temporal, and so on – of language practice need to be acknowledged? Who or what are the actants involved, and would they also claim to be practicing language? Is it possible to imagine a time and situation in which language doesn’t exist? Well, that depends on your definition.

© 2022 | Laura Gurney

Who’s the real star of the show?
Marg Cosgriff

Beaches are an indelible part of the land and lifescape of Aotearoa. Vibrant and ever changing, the seas and sands of our coastal rim support and sustain our lives in a myriad of essential ways. My doctoral research examines the everyday beach relations of twelve young people living in proximity to the coast in Tauranga Moana and includes the sharing and exploration of photographs that the participants have taken. A key focus is considering how the ‘more-than-human’ and material realities of local beaches, including sand, seas, waves, dunes, fish, islands, shells, and coastal plants, infuse participants’ photo-stories, and with what (e)affects on wellbeing. This photograph was taken on one of my own daily beach walks. It invites you to notice how beaches teem with interconnected life, acknowledge the often overlooked more-than-human ‘stars’ of human-beach relations, and reflect on our responsibilities in increasingly precarious times.

© 2022 | Marg Cosgriff

Same school, different space: Parents’ mental maps of their child’s school
Megan Smith

We all create maps in our minds. Our experiences, worldview, and cultural capital inform the cognitive maps of our spaces. For my research on parental engagement in primary education, I used a mental mapping method to help parent participants display their cognitive map of Korimako School (not its actual name) where their child(ren) attend. Each map is unique and illustrates the diversity of parental experience of, and within, the school. The maps are representational and processual as they contain information about what we see (e.g., buildings, landmarks), how we move (e.g., timing, shortcuts), and how we feel (e.g., nervous, confident, rushed) and are constantly evolving. The maps demonstrate the need for schools to consider the built space and its varied impact on parents. They also show how individual parent backgrounds permeate every aspect of their interactions with schools—starting at the school gate.

© 2022 | Megan Smith

Turn Stories into Conversations and Watch Children’s Language Grow
Melissa Derby

This image was taken while I was completing my doctoral study on literacy development in bilingual (English and Te Reo Māori) preschool children. The study, which was part of A Better Start National Science Challenge, sought to determine the efficacy of Māori oral traditions and pedagogical approaches in enhancing children’s early literacy skills. Māori preschool children (N=8) and their whānau completed an intervention over a 12-week period. The intervention included practices associated with Māori oral traditions, such as storytelling, songs, and reminiscing about the past, as methods for strengthening key cognitive skills associated with early literacy development, specifically phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, and story comprehension and retell skills. These skills, in both English and Te Reo Māori, were assessed for change in response to the intervention. Additionally, the home literacy environment and whānau literacy practices were examined in order to determine the effect of the intervention on these phenomena.

© 2022 | Melissa Derby

Who Cares for the Carers?
Nadine Ballam, Katrina McChesney, Melissa Derby & Diana Amundsen

This longitudinal research (2019–) investigates the wellbeing and resilience experiences of those preparing for, and transitioning into, two key caring professions in Aotearoa New Zealand: teaching and social work. This image depicts the study’s foundations, design, and theoretical underpinnings. Pre-service teaching and social work students are interviewed annually throughout their degree and for two years beyond as they transition into their chosen profession following graduation. Every two years, surveys also track related experiences and perceptions of a wider group of preservice participants. Caring professions of teaching and social work have known challenges of underpayment, overwork, emotional burden, burnout, and attrition, all of which may threaten caring professionals’ wellbeing and resilience. The study is expected to offer new insights in relation to supporting wellbeing and resilience (caring for the carers) among those preparing for and entering caring professions.

© 2022 | Nadine Ballam, Katrina McChesney, Melissa Derby & Diana Amundsen

Bilingual picturebooks create language awareness
Nicola Daly

My research explores the linguistic landscape of picturebooks using more than one language to create possibilities for readers to see their own linguistic identity and draw on their linguistic resources; it also provides opportunities to see and explore unfamiliar language(s). Together with my colleagues at the University of Arizona (Professor Kathy Short and Dr. Dorea Kleker), we ran a 6 week after-school picturebook club for children (8-10 years), and a 6 week picture book club for university students. Across the 6 weeks we explored picturebooks featuring a range of languages alongside English from familiar (Spanish) to unfamiliar (Te Reo Māori and Indigenous US languages). The children explored working theories about what a language is and how they differ; the tertiary students became critically aware of the availability of these resources and how their format reflects and sometimes disrupts existing language hierarchies.

© 2022 | Nicola Daly

Redefining Literacy Competencies: An Iceberg
Nicolina Newcombe

Many adults with learning disabilities are far more literate than standard testing, the Literacy and Numeracy Adult Assessment Tool (LNAAT), gives them credit for. My Ph.D. research takes a fresh look at what constitutes literacy, drawing on perspectives and examples of literacies from participants with learning disabilities. This is an image of an iceberg. At the hummock are written questions from the LNAAT Starting Points, an assessment option commonly accessed by adults with learning disabilities (New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 2019). These questions represent privileged ways of being literate. At the bummock are examples of literacies shown by participants at group workshop sessions. These examples are a poster, a SMS text, photography, a magazine, tuhinga, and a Dungeons and Dragons map. My research aims to redefine literacy competencies to make the unseen seen.

© 2022 | Nicolina Newcombe

Leading the Learning
Nigel Calder

This image captures two Year 6 students explaining to the rest of the class, including the teacher and researchers, how they developed some coding script in Scratch to generate a particular geometric design. They then explained and demonstrated how small changes in the coding affected the design and positioning of it on the screen. Importantly, their demonstration and explanations initiated another iteration of engagement and learning in the class. This was part of a two-year project in four Tauranga schools. Students also used unplugged activities to enact various processes and algorithms. These helped them to envisage the movements that their coding would generate and consolidate their understanding and expertise with on-line coding..

© 2022 | Nigel Calder

Collaborating to develop accessible sexuality resources: A Participatory Action Research Group approach
Patsie Frawley

This project used participatory action research to co-develop resources to support people with intellectual disabilities to talk about relationships and sexuality in education and counselling. It brought together a group of researchers including people with intellectual disabilities, academic researchers and people who work in sexual health and counselling. We called ourselves the PARG (Participatory Action Research Group). All of the work of the PARG happened via Zoom, across three states in Australia and over almost two years. Four stories co-written with people with intellectual disabilities using a narrative research approach, to tell ‘their stories their way’, were at the centre of the PARG’s work. The resources the PARG co-developed are now being trialled in education and counselling with people with intellectual disabilities in Australia. This research has been all about collaboration. This image was another result of this group’s collaborative work. Research group: Patsie Frawley (University of Waikato), Monica Wellington, Amie O’Shea & Angela Dew (Deakin University) and Linda Stokoe, Jill S Purling, Ee-Lin Chang, Tess Moodie, Rosina Davidson-Tuck, Nathan Despott, Cherie Brandon & Donna Markwick.

© 2022 | Patsie Frawley

Transitions research: Liminal spaces and new possibilities
Sally Peters

This image reflects an idea at the core of my transitions research. At the threshold of a transition, there may be glimpses of the new role or context, but understanding could be limited (through this hole we can only see a partial view of what is beyond). As the transition begins, attention moves from the present (the foreground is blurring), and glimpses of the future (distance) come into sharper focus. At the heart of the transition, there may be a liminal space (traversing the hole in the image, one leaves behind the familiar but is not yet incorporated into the new). Temporal and other aspects of liminality vary from person to person due to a complex range of factors. My research seeks to explore the experience of transition and ways to support people to address challenges, so that the new possibilities transitions afford can be embraced.

© 2022 | Sally Peters

Exploring the phenomenon of global citizenship as experienced by children in Aotearoa New Zealand
Vicky Beckwith

Childhood is fleeting, and children’s ideas can be elusive. The running child, barefoot in a Kiwi garden surrounded by flax, native and introduced fauna and flora, tui, kererū, pīwakawaka, korimako and ruru, trails a woven blanket from the land of his ancestors, crafted by his parent’s cousin. Northern and Southern hemispheres merge, and cultures and intergenerational narratives blend, planting seeds for the child to nurture on their journey of exploration and understanding. Children’s experiences and perceptions of global citizenship offer an interesting perspective of this contested notion. The running child represents childhood, its elusiveness and agility, the blanket is made of single threads, interwoven to provide strength, colour, warmth, and protection, representative of global citizens, narratives, and our interconnectedness, combined with fluidity, movement, texture, and non-conformity within conformity.

© 2022 | Vicky Beckwith

“A picture is a thousand words”
Supporting effective transition back to school for children with cancer: A student and professional perspective
Wendy Hallett

My Masters Dissertation study used photo voice to research how to support effective. Transition back to school for children who had, or were having, treatment for cancer. The children shared images from their experiences that had meaning for them. Using a narrative approach, the children co-wrote their stories with me to tell “their stories their way”. This image of the Beads of Courage encapsulates the journey they are on, honouring their strength, courage and resilience. Children with cancer see themselves differently and are affected by how others see them, especially their friends, peers and teachers. They are suffering from treatment and trying to find a new normal. It can be multifaceted and complex for them to return to school life. Supporting them to be present and engaged is essential. They are on a journey and deserve to live the life of their peers. The Beads of Courage exemplify this sentiment.

© 2022 | Wendy Hallett

Mislearning as a barrier to academic acculturation
Yu Yuan

My research aims to unveil how Chinese students adapt to the New Zealand academic environment. In my research, I proposed that academic acculturation is a learning process. I adopted the Comprehensive Learning Theory to interpret academic acculturation. The picture related to one of the findings in my research, which shows that Chinese students respect their teachers and obey what the teachers instruct. When adapting to the New Zealand academic environment, students also think that they should follow the teacher’s ideas to show respect. The students’ thoughts represented a process of mislearning. If what a student learned was incorrect, the learning result could lead to another incorrect result and, hence, the misunderstanding will naturally become more pervasive. In academic adaptation, students adapted to the new environment based on their previous experiences. If their previous experiences were constructed by mislearning, the experiences would further cause misunderstandings. Mislearning could prevent students from adapting to new environments.

© 2022 | Yu Yuan