School of Education
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Research within the School of Education is driven by students working towards postgraduate qualifications, staff pursuing their own research interests, and contracts for funding agencies such as the Ministry of Education and other partners. Research interests in the School of Education include; Learning and teaching, theory and practice, Curriculum and development, Teacher education, Early childhood education, Adult and tertiary education and development, Schools, E-learning, Educational administration, and Professional inquiry and practice.
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Browsing School of Education by Author "Benade, L"
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- ItemAccess Denied: Academic Life Under Lockdown(New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 2020) Devine, N; Stewart, G; Benade, L
- ItemAre school visions sustainable? Assessing the relevance of Senge’s notion of shared visions(New Zealand Educational Administration & Leadership Society, 2012-06) Benade, LContemporary schools, in the pursuit of developing community, will seek to build statements of vision based on values that focus action and become the impetus for the daily renewal of commitment by those bound to these statements. In New Zealand, a current focal point for Education Review Office reviews is the ability of schools to maintain sustainable performance. This paper reports on a small-scale pilot study undertaken at an establishment (new) school that has strong foundation statements of vision, mission and values. The question at the centre of this investigation is how this new, and rapidly expanding, school will maintain and sustain its visionary focus, in particular, its concept of community, through the growth cycle. A concept of shared vision is proposed by Peter Senge as one of his ‘ five disciplines of learning organisations’. Senge’s theorisation includes notions of the genesis, development, anchoring, advocacy and long-term sustainability of visions. This pilot study seeks to establish the relevance of Senge’s model to the question of vision sustainability in the case study school. The design is based on a series of semi-structured interviews of key stakeholders associated with the early establishment of the case study school.
- ItemChallenging the domestication of critical reflection and practitioner reflectivity(Taylor & Francis, 2012) Benade, LNo abstract.
- ItemConstructing a Dialogic Pedagogy in Virtual Learning Environments: A Literature Review(School of Education, Auckland University of Technology, 2019-11-13) Farooq, S; Benade, LThis literature review is a condensed version of one prepared for a small-scale qualitative study of educators (Farooq, 2019) who have recently transitioned from face-to-face to online teaching at New Zealand tertiary providers of education. The study aimed to understand how online educators picked cues from the discussion platforms offered by virtual learning environments to critically reflect on their pedagogical practice, and the associated changes they made to help students achieve their learning outcomes. It critically assessed how dialogic pedagogy and critical reflection can be adapted to fit in the framework of virtual learning, and contrasted these philosophical ideas to the Western criticism of automation and de-professionalisation of universities in the wake of increased distance learning options provided by tertiary institutes. The findings were discussed within a post-intentional phenomenological framework. In what follows, significant literature that illuminates this question has been critically analysed.
- ItemCourage, Freedom and Educational Know-how(AUT University, 2017-09-20) Devine, N; Benade, LNo abstract.
- ItemEditorial: Teaching As Inquiry–mandated Requirement or Critical Disposition?(AUT University, 2016-12-06) Benade, L; Devine, NNo abstract.
- ItemEducators Behaving Badly(AUT University, 2016-12-23) Devine, N; Benade, LAs 2016 comes to an end, salacious news headlines seem to suggest that an element of the teaching profession will not be able to look back on this year with any degree of pride or satisfaction.
- ItemElizabeth Rata (2012) The politics of knowledge in education. Reviewed by Leon Benade(New Zealand Sociology, 2013-07-01) Benade, LNo abstract.
- ItemThe Evolution of Policy: A Critical Examination of School Property Under the National-led Government(Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, 2017-08-21) Benade, LNew Zealand's National-led Government, elected in 2008, has pursued a deliberate policy to design and construct modern school facilities around the country. This article argues that this policy is not simply focused on providing cutting-edge school buildings. A more complex agenda is to fundamentally alter teacher practice and, as the Christchurch experience has suggested, to consolidate schooling provision. The article provides background to understanding the role of building design and why it has developed as a significant educational issue, particularly for this government. Policy is considered from the perspective of the Ministry of Education in relation to building design. An indicator of government commitment is its budgetary resourcing of its property objectives, thus evidence from Vote Education budget data is considered. Specific reference ismade to the property policy enacted in the wake of the natural disaster of the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Finally, a selection of Ministerial press releases is considered, shedding further light on state education policy in relation to school property.
- ItemFlexible and Innovative Learning Spaces: An Exploration of Parental Perspectives on Change, Consultation and Participation(SAGE Publications, 2021-09-16) Benade, LThe role played by innovative educational environments to support learning for the 21st century has attracted the interest of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development at the global governance level and at the national policy level internationally. This article draws on global, European and Australasian research and data from a qualitative study of consultation and participation in the development of innovative and flexible learning spaces in the New Zealand context. It focuses specifically on the role of parents, drawing data from relevant policies and documents, a parent questionnaire and interviews of parents, architects and Ministry of Education Delivery Managers, responsible for delivering large capital works projects. While the architect participants believe their bold designs are inspirational and promote new pedagogical styles, and positive relationships, some parents view these open-plan learning areas (and associated pedagogies) as needlessly experimental, placing the needs and education of their children at risk. Delivery Managers are focussed on seeing the projects to conclusion, on time and on budget. The critical analysis considers the findings in relation to the research question and reflects on the dual themes of innovation and risk. Further questions for research are suggested.
- ItemFlexible Learning Spaces: Inclusive by Design?(New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 2019-02-21) Benade, LThe idea that the New Zealand education system will cater to all students, regardless of ability, and support them in developing their full potential to the best of their abilities, is enshrined in the famous 1939 Beeby/Fraser statement. Equality of access policy discourse has shifted to emphasise equitable outcomes, focussed increasingly on preparing students for success in the globalised, 21st century knowledge economy. In this context, the design and development of innovative new school buildings and refurbishments of existing facilities have been promoted as a policy that will enable, even bring about, modern pedagogical practices that, in turn, will achieve the stated aim of preparing students for the 21st century global economy. Arguments against retaining traditional single-cell classrooms include their perpetuation of traditional, mainstream (‘one-size-fits-all’) approaches to teaching and learning, while new, radical building designs hold the promise of enabling the desired ‘new’ pedagogies. Flexible learning environments encourage and enable teachers to exchange ‘front-of-the-room’, single teacher presentational approaches for collaborative, dispersed and facilitative styles, often in teams, working with multiple students in shared, common learning spaces. The New Zealand Curriculum has ensured inclusion as an educational principle, and current Ministry of Education policy discourse reminds schools of their commitment to this principle, and specifically links building design and design processes to ensuring inclusivity. So it should be asked whether non-traditional, flexible learning spaces can be inclusive. This article places this question in the context of the historically evolving approach to inclusion in the New Zealand context, and with reference to the ‘spatial turn’ in recent New Zealand education policy. This turn to enhanced flexibility and innovation has implications for inclusivity, reflected in both Ministry of Education policy discourse and critiques suggesting the exclusionary effects of flexibility. It is argued with reference to Lefebvre that notions of inclusion and exclusion are inherent in social practices that are both superimposed upon material space as much as they are influenced by the design features of that space.
- ItemFreedom of Academic Speech in Aotearoa-New Zealand(Springer, 2019-07-01) Stewart, G; Benade, L; Devine, N
- ItemIn the Market for an ECE Transition-to-school Programme?(Addleton Academic Publishers, 2017-09-06) Benade, L; De Lautour, N; Stover, S; Stewart, GThis article draws on a small evaluation research project, conducted in one early childhood education (ECE) centre in Auckland, New Zealand, with the aim of supporting its capacity for self-review. The centre management and governance team was motivated to seek out the support of research as part of their response to two recent Education Review Office (ERO) reports that had cast doubt over the value of their transition-to-school programme, and the pedagogy used at the centre. This article draws on this evaluation research to discuss knowledge debates that featured in the discourses of the centre and its community: dispute about the value of the transition programme; the paradox of mandatory self-review; and the difficult work of changing practice, in responding to ERO advice to move away from teacher-directed pedagogy.
- ItemIs Our Schooling System Broken?(Springer, 2021) Benade, L; Devine, N; Stewart, G
- ItemIs peer review in academic publishing still working?(Taylor & Francis, 2018-01) Jackson, L; Peters, MA; Benade, L; Devine, N; Arndt, S; Forster, D; Gibbons, A; Grierson, E; Jandrić, P; Lazaroiu, G; Locke, K; Mihaila, R; Stewart, G; Tesar, M; Roberts, P; Ozoliņš, JJPeer review is central to academic publishing. Yet for many it is a mysterious and contentious practice, which can cause distress for both reviewers, and those whose work is reviewed. This paper, produced by the Editors’ Collective, examines the past and future of peer review in academic publishing. The first sections consider how peer review has been defined and practised in changing academic contexts, and its educational significance in the development of scholarship. The paper then explores major historical and contemporary issues around identity, diversity, anonymity, and the review process, and the related power of editors versus reviewers in academic publishing. Finally, the paper discusses the case of new scholars as reviewers engaging in neoliberal labour, before concluding with some brief recommendations based on our analysis.
- ItemKnowledge and educational research in the context of 21st century learning(European Educational Research Association (EERA), 2013) Benade, LEducational researchers and academics cannot ignore the ever-present call for education and schooling in particular, to reflect the needs of the 21st century knowledge economy. Since the 1990s, national curricula and education systems have reflected this call in their focus on technology and shifting pedagogy to increasingly constructivist paradigms that aim at the development of competencies rather than the acquisition of knowledge. Despite these shifts in thinking about education and the process of schooling, there remains evidence of irregular or inconsistent practice. Furthermore, national education systems seem still to have little impact on social inequalities that continue to plague post-industrial nations. Against this background, an underpinning question in this paper is to ask what should be the key questions for research in the context of ‘21st century learning’? It suggests that these questions arise from the knowledge—competencies nexus. Does knowledge continue to play a role in education and education research? Does the interest in competencies devalue or undermine knowledge? Does a curriculum that is centred on key competencies mean that knowledge is abandoned? Does a social constructivist paradigm necessarily dismantle disciplinary knowledge? As noted, education systems seemingly continue to struggle to achieve social equality, thus an important further question is to ask what the relationship is between knowledge and improving the life chances for the marginalised. There is a growing body of educational research over the past decade drawing attention to the notion of ‘21st century learning’. Does the focus on 21st century learning address the on-going issues of social inequality in post-industrial society? This paper therefore has two related concerns: the first is the role of knowledge, and the second is the concept of 21st century learning. They are closely related issues, because the former appears to be under attack by the latter—or at the very least, subject to significant transformation. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used Using a critical theoretical methodology, I will consider the questions I have raised firstly by asking what the social realist and emergentist positions have to offer that helps to address these questions. The ‘emergentist’ position is represented by Osberg and Biesta, who have written extensively on the topic (2007a, 2007b, 2008, 2010). The ‘social realist’ position is taken up by education sociologists (Moore, 2007; Moore and Maton, 2010; Young, 2008; 2010; 2012a; 2012b; and Young & Muller, 2010), and more recently, Rata (2012). Second, I will address these questions from the perspective of recent qualitative New Zealand research that contributes significantly to the concept of ‘21st century learning’, conducted by Bolstad and Gilbert. The first two groups of writers agree that knowledge springs from the social, but creates new meanings that transcend the conditions of their production. However, they also both reject reductionist approaches to curriculum that regard the purpose of education to be a relay for the transmission of competencies that will prepare the young for a pre–determined economic future. In contrast, the latter writers argue for a notion of knowledge closely tied to competencies and preparing students for a complex economic future. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings My intention in this paper is to synthesise these three perspectives on knowledge, and to determine what might be an appropriate way forward for education research in the 21st century.
- ItemPBRF Changes – Encouraging On-Going Fiddling With the Rules While the Academy Burns(School of Education, Auckland University of Technology, 2021-08-11) Benade, L; Devine, N; Teschers, COver the last 18 years successive governments have tried various schemes to reward and encourage good research, without actually conducting much research into the effectiveness of the rewards and discouragements inherent in their schemes. Universities have been very quick to analyse where the weaknesses in the successive formats gave them opportunities to promote their stronger players, and hide their weaker ones, to the point where the focus of universities seems to have become playing the rules, rather than actually supporting good research.
- ItemPBRF Changes: Encouraging On-Going Fiddling with the Rules While the Academy Burns?(School of Education, Auckland University of Technology, 2021-08-11) Benade, L; Devine, N; Teschers, COver the last 18 years successive governments have tried various schemes to reward and encourage good research, without actually conducting much research into the effectiveness of the rewards and discouragements inherent in their schemes. Universities have been very quick to analyse where the weaknesses in the successive formats gave them opportunities to promote their stronger players, and hide their weaker ones, to the point where the focus of universities seems to have become playing the rules, rather than actually supporting good research.
- ItemSchool evaluation or disciplinary subjection? A consideration of the ‘complementary’ evaluation of New Zealand’s Education Review Office(2013-12-09) Benade, L; Webster, S; Stolz, SEducational evaluation in New Zealand schools harmonises with the reformist agenda of public choice theory that applies dispassionate reviews of schools conducted by non–captive ex–teachers and school leaders, who work in the Education Review Office. They are ‘non–captive’ in the sense of being beholden to State Services, rather than the Ministry of Education. Variously accused of engaging in politics of blame or teacher bashing, ERO has attempted to present itself as supporting schools in a cycle of ‘complementary’ review, which synthesises external accountability with internal learning from review. This paper will examine the underpinning epistemology of the Education Review Office approach to review and reflect on its particular research method, arguing that it is motivated by a commitment to ‘evidence–led’ teaching, a problematic concept. Questions are raised regarding the ‘complementary’ nature of the review process to establish whether there is commitment to democratic participation by schools in the review process, as implied in the concept of complementariness. With reference to Foucauldian concepts, of disciplinary subjection, it will be argued that the so–called ‘complementary’ dimension of the Education Review Office process is characterised by the administration of technologies of self–discipline and self–punishment, and that ‘learning’ in this context is deeply punitive in nature.
- ItemSchool Zoning: Spatial Justice and Education Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, ) Stewart, G; Devine, N; Benade, L; Couch, D