The thesis argues that who we are, what we aspire to, and how we enact social and cultural practices are a result of the way we narrate stories about ourselves as both individuals and members of communities. The question ‘Who am I?’ is frequently answered with reference to what is important to us: our commitments and what we determine as good, valuable and right. Our identity is thus inextricably woven into our understanding of life as an unfolding story, bound by an ethical commitment to what we value. In this way, understandings of narrative and identity become part of the social and cultural context of education, drawing upon complex relationships between individual and community. It is through narrative that we construct truth about ourselves in relation to others. The central concern of the thesis is the interplay between the ‘capable’ child subject and various readings of texts that form the educational landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand: in curriculum documents with their emphasis on relationships, reciprocity, community, culture and language; and in policy documents with their emphasis on economic rationality. The thesis examines some important narratives that emerge from readings of these curriculum and policy documents, and the impact of those narratives on identity formation in early childhood education. Examined in turn are a liberal narrative, an economic narrative and a social narrative. Each of these narratives emphasises particular discourses and rationalities within education. The thesis finds these narratives inadequate to explain understandings of the self of early childhood education. The thesis argues that Ricoeur’s hermeneutical approach enables a range of narrative possibilities for early childhood education. The use of Ricoeur’s narrative theory in the thesis is twofold: a methodological approach for the study, and a critical exploration of the formation of ‘narrative identity’ (for both the individual and the group) through an examination of selected narratives. The thesis responds to the tensions of these narratives through Ricoeur’s understandings of ‘intersubjectivity’ and ‘just institutions’ and provides educators with an ethical framework by promoting Ricoeur’s understandings of the ‘good life’ and a ‘capable subject’.

This thesis analyses induction programmes in low-socioeconomic New Zealand primary schools. A review of the literature indicates that effective induction is integrated and has four main components: pedagogical development, socioemotional support, professional agency, and structured balance. In addition, New Zealand’s induction programmes are reported to be strong by international standards. Literature is synthesised to create a framework of low-socioeconomic schools as induction experts. Although there have been large-scale analyses of New Zealand induction programmes, there has been no research on the integrated induction systems found in low-socioeconomic primary schools. A mixed-methods approach was used to investigate the support provided for beginning teachers (BTs) in these schools. Methods included a nationwide survey of BTs in low-socioeconomic primary schools, which was mailed to 467 primary and intermediate BTs (44% response rate). Additionally, from all 156 low-socioeconomic primary schools, five exemplar induction programmes were selected and visited throughout the 2007 school year. Survey analysis, success case methods, discourse analysis, and grounded theory methods indicated that induction in these schools is integrated and strong by international standards. Findings indicate that induction programmes in low-socioeconomic schools are pedagogical, supportive, and well structured; however, not all schools focus on enhancing the professional agency of teachers. Exemplar practices such as peer coaching, university partnerships, on-site BT support groups, curricular leadership roles, and formal programme evaluations were found at case study sites. Analyses of factor themes, cluster graphs, frequency-utility matrices, documents, events, and transcripts of meetings and interviews reveal several key findings. First, the Hauora model—a Mäori concept of balanced pedagogical, spiritual, socioemotional, and physical development—may be applicable to induction in the New Zealand setting. Second, analyses indicate that low-socioeconomic schools have relatively strong induction programmes. Third, some teachers—particularly those beginning after the start of the school year or older teachers in their second year of teaching—may receive varied support. Findings from this research may provide framing for induction programmes in New Zealand as well as for international longitudinal studies of teacher induction models.

In 1993 a new draft technology curriculum was introduced to New Zealand schools, followed by the publication of the final document in 1995. Its design and intentions required a shift in thinking within schools, in teaching and learning, and in the wider community. This had significant implications for the way schools managed curriculum implementation, for staffing in technology, and for resourcing. Professional development opportunities, funding support and support resource material were made available over a number of years as research in this area continued. Access to this support was not consistent for teachers and schools, and in some cases, not always sought. By the time the implementation of the technology curriculum became mandatory in 1999 for all students, Years 1 – 10, anecdotal evidence and some initial research showed that its interpretation and delivery in schools was varied,or no different from that of the previous workshop focussed syllabus. This research sets out to discover how technology education has been implemented across a small selection of schools in the Wellington region and to consider the way school management and technology staff in each school have interpreted and implemented it. Student responses to this implementation are also examined. The study draws from four secondary schools, and the focus is on senior technology as this was viewed by the researcher as a level where the interpretation and implementation of technology education could be most diverse. Changes in national assessment practices also highlighted this diversity. Each school was treated as a case study involving interviews with principals, teachers and senior students, in order to examine how technology is understood and practised. The ways in which teachers and students understood technology is examined within a framework of contemporary national and international research literature. The findings need to be considered in view of the fact that only four sites were used, the research is interpretive in nature, and makes use of case study methodology. In other words, the results cannot be directly generalised; however, readers are able to identify from the descriptions the extent to which findings transfer to their own context. The distinctive factors that emerged from this study highlight that the teachers concerned interpreted and implemented the technology curriculum with a strong consideration of their students’ backgrounds, learning needs, abilities and aspirations. In addition, the teachers’ own experience and qualifications, along with contextual factors associated with the school, such as its decile rating, appeared to be linked with the teachers’ interpretation of the curriculum. Teachers identified a need for ongoing, robust professional development so that they could be confident in their practice, and have a common understanding of terminology presented in the curriculum and national assessment standards. Resourcing for schools in the form of facilities, materials and staffing was varied and also needed to be supported. The study also identifies further research requirements to inform and support this curriculum area. These requirements ask for the extension of the present research to other schools, the evaluation of professional development programmes in technology, and the evaluation of the impact of school technology programmes on students’ learning and students’ future educational/work pathways.

Interest in the power of heads of field offices in the United Nations Organization (UN) began with the researcher's appointment to such a position and with anecdotal suggestions that any explanation of the powers they held would be complex. For these reasons, this study has the research aim of explaining the power of some UN heads of field offices. The study focusses on seven heads of field offices in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Literature searches indicated that no academic study had been made of any UN field work but the searches produced considerable literature on the UN and a wide range of theories about organizations, leadership and power, related issues of ethics and rationality and useful concepts from the work of Weber and Foucault. The research is interpretive. A case study and an appropriate conceptual framework were designed to reflect both the literature and the three research questions that promote the aim: organizational bureaucracy, organizational capital and frontline work are the guiding concepts. Because case studies may be challenged for possible lack of rigour and for validity, a number of data collection and analysis methods were used to promote reliability: both the data sources and the analysis checks included participants, UNESCO documents and information from other international bodies. Appropriate literature is also used for theoretical analysis. The results are presented progressively in three chapters, each chapter focussing on one framework concept and its appropriate question. The relevant data are presented and theoretical analysis, including selected concepts from Weber and Foucault, suggests answers to each question posed. The research results suggest that in the organization the participants gain power from UNESCO's intellectual and ethical purpose but are constrained in its use by processes of the bureaucracy, especially its lines of communication. The participants also have considerable power in organizational capital that includes tangible capital of qualifications, experience, skills, high level of position, the resources of the post in which they work and the intangible capital of the assumptions they hold about their work. At the frontline, although constrained by bureaucratic processes that limit their time for programme work, participants report valuable contributions to UNESCO's development and advocacy work: they gain power fiom proximity to the countries they serve and from their ethical motivation. They also gain some power in the freedom of distance from their headquarters, thus weakening the possible double jeopardy by being in a class-at-the-frontline and being in a group-not-in-headquarters. The final chapter brings all suggestions together and examines participants' power for sources (as rights or capacities), limitations (as control or domination) and agency (with compliance and resistance); when these perspectives are combined in a circle of power, the study suggests a Janus syndrome in which participants paradoxically are powerful/powerless agents, sited as they are between the power provision and constraints of both their bureaucracy and the governments and other bodies with whom they work.

In 1993 a new draft technology curriculum was introduced to New Zealand schools, followed by the publication of the final document in 1995. Its design and intentions required a shift in thinking within schools, in teaching and learning, and in the wider community. This had significant implications for the way schools managed curriculum implementation, for staffing in technology, and for resourcing. Professional development opportunities, funding support and support resource material were made available over a number of years as research in this area continued. Access to this support was not consistent for teachers and schools, and in some cases, not always sought. By the time the implementation of the technology curriculum became mandatory in 1999 for all students, Years 1 – 10, anecdotal evidence and some initial research showed that its interpretation and delivery in schools was varied,or no different from that of the previous workshop focussed syllabus. This research sets out to discover how technology education has been implemented across a small selection of schools in the Wellington region and to consider the way school management and technology staff in each school have interpreted and implemented it. Student responses to this implementation are also examined. The study draws from four secondary schools, and the focus is on senior technology as this was viewed by the researcher as a level where the interpretation and implementation of technology education could be most diverse. Changes in national assessment practices also highlighted this diversity. Each school was treated as a case study involving interviews with principals, teachers and senior students, in order to examine how technology is understood and practised. The ways in which teachers and students understood technology is examined within a framework of contemporary national and international research literature. The findings need to be considered in view of the fact that only four sites were used, the research is interpretive in nature, and makes use of case study methodology. In other words, the results cannot be directly generalised; however, readers are able to identify from the descriptions the extent to which findings transfer to their own context. The distinctive factors that emerged from this study highlight that the teachers concerned interpreted and implemented the technology curriculum with a strong consideration of their students’ backgrounds, learning needs, abilities and aspirations. In addition, the teachers’ own experience and qualifications, along with contextual factors associated with the school, such as its decile rating, appeared to be linked with the teachers’ interpretation of the curriculum. Teachers identified a need for ongoing, robust professional development so that they could be confident in their practice, and have a common understanding of terminology presented in the curriculum and national assessment standards. Resourcing for schools in the form of facilities, materials and staffing was varied and also needed to be supported. The study also identifies further research requirements to inform and support this curriculum area. These requirements ask for the extension of the present research to other schools, the evaluation of professional development programmes in technology, and the evaluation of the impact of school technology programmes on students’ learning and students’ future educational/work pathways.

This thesis proposes a new conception for pre-service teacher education. Current pre-service teacher education programmes are, in the main, one-dimensional, skill-based and performative: one-dimensional, in that programmes focus on preparing teachers to deliver a pre-determined curriculum; skill-based, in that professional judgement and reasoning are ignored; and, performative in the prescribed nature of knowledge and the drive to establish standards and competencies. Rather than focusing on professionalism - which is at the heart of what it means to be an educator - professionalisation, economic-driven policies and political ideologies underpin contemporary pre-service teacher education programmes. The new conception for pre-service teacher education has at its core, teachers as professional educators. This thesis argues that in order for teachers to become professional educators, their preparation ought to be enhanced and broadened to incorporate aspects of professional judgement, professional expertise, and ethical and moral commitment. To enable this to occur, pre-service teachers need to learn what it means to be moral agents through active and authentic engagement within communities of practice and learners. In sum, the professional educator's role is argued to be an agent for, and of, change who promotes and engenders an education system that underpins a socially, culturally and economically just society.

This thesis critically examines the historical construction of initial teacher education at the turn of the 20th century. It focuses particularly on the extent of state involvement in the process of learning to teach, arguing that this process fulfils the necessary conditions of a rite of passage. The investigation utilises a different theoretical and methodological approach which combines the post-structuralist analyses of Michel Foucault with the cultural-anthropological work of Arnold van Gennep. Together, they provide a framework which enables an archaeological examination of teacher training at the macro-level of the state and its institutions, whilst providing a complementary, genealogical analysis of student teachers at the micro-level of their everyday lives. The investigation found that, in order to transform colonial society into an enlightened rural democracy, the state needed to transform its teachers. It did this through ensuring neophyte teachers passed through a carefully orchestrated rite of passage within a highly centralised and regulated system of training colleges. This necessitated a shift away from the devolved, differentiated pupil-teacher training system. The study traces this move, examines the state?s rationale, and explores the implications for all three phases of the trainees? rite of passage: separation, transition and incorporation. It also explains how specific „ceremonial rituals? and „sacred knowledge? prescribed what new teachers should know and do in order to become productive, docile and economically useful members of society. The study also emphasises that student teachers became subjects-in-their-own-making within this regime of order. The study then shifts its focus to the present, „re-meeting? history by comparing the ritual practices and specialist knowledge of past rites of passage with those of the present. It challenges teacher educators and teachers to take control of teacher education and suggests ways in which they should take advantage of its location in the university by opening up new political spaces and reasserting the importance of professionalism in action.

In recent years educators have become increasingly aware of the necessity to support the development of higher order thinking abilities in all students. It has been suggested that, in this regard, special attention should be given to those aspects of the curriculum "which are inherently enabling of further learning" (Resnick, 1987, p44). Library research skills tuition is one such area but traditional modes of teaching these have frequently overlooked the cognitive and metacognitive demands of tasks requiring information retrieval and use. The extent of these demands as they affect students undertaking project assignments independently was largely unknown and prompted the following study. To access the levels of knowledge and thinking processes used by students, think aloud/concurrent interviews were conducted individually while 23 Form 1 students (mean age 11 years 8 months) attempted to gather information for a project. These interviews were videotaped and then replayed to students to provide memory cueing for retrospective interviews. Students were found to have wide ranging metacognitive knowledge, the accuracy of which influenced their performance on the information retrieval task. However, the knowledge they made public concerning the learning task and the criteria by which their learning would be assessed was very limited. Few students voiced recognition that the criteria for evaluation would have implications for the way in which they approached the learning task itself. In contrast, they voiced considerable awareness concerning the expected features of the materials they must use, qualities of their own learning abilities and processes, and interactions between these. However, Form 1 students often lacked an accurate understanding of the relationships within the library system and between access structures in individual books. Overall they had insufficient general and tactical knowledge to facilitate the use of alternative action paths when a favoured approach failed. However, both able and less able students were found to engage in some form of executive control processing. Two case studies are presented which illustrate differences in the quality of students' executive control processes. In particular, students varied in the degree to which monitoring events triggered associated planning and regulation/revision episodes. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for providing a learning environment that supports the development of higher order thinking and increased information retrieval success.

This thesis critically examines the historical construction of initial teacher education at the turn of the 20th century. It focuses particularly on the extent of state involvement in the process of learning to teach, arguing that this process fulfils the necessary conditions of a rite of passage. The investigation utilises a different theoretical and methodological approach which combines the post-structuralist analyses of Michel Foucault with the cultural-anthropological work of Arnold van Gennep. Together, they provide a framework which enables an archaeological examination of teacher training at the macro-level of the state and its institutions, whilst providing a complementary, genealogical analysis of student teachers at the micro-level of their everyday lives. The investigation found that, in order to transform colonial society into an enlightened rural democracy, the state needed to transform its teachers. It did this through ensuring neophyte teachers passed through a carefully orchestrated rite of passage within a highly centralised and regulated system of training colleges. This necessitated a shift away from the devolved, differentiated pupil-teacher training system. The study traces this move, examines the state?s rationale, and explores the implications for all three phases of the trainees? rite of passage: separation, transition and incorporation. It also explains how specific „ceremonial rituals? and „sacred knowledge? prescribed what new teachers should know and do in order to become productive, docile and economically useful members of society. The study also emphasises that student teachers became subjects-in-their-own-making within this regime of order. The study then shifts its focus to the present, „re-meeting? history by comparing the ritual practices and specialist knowledge of past rites of passage with those of the present. It challenges teacher educators and teachers to take control of teacher education and suggests ways in which they should take advantage of its location in the university by opening up new political spaces and reasserting the importance of professionalism in action.

Professional military education is a well‐established system in most modern militaries. Like all things though, incremental and ad hoc improvements to legacy approaches typically lead to reduced quality. It is therefore, essential to periodically review the entire system for holistic effectiveness. For military education, this need is particularly important when the global security environment is experiencing such rapid change. Added to this is the emerging understanding of the ‘new sciences’ that provides a unique opportunity to improve cognitive agility when confronting complex adaptive systems. There is also an urgent need to acknowledge and enhance the intangible dimension of professional military education beyond mere content‐centric subject expertise. From the literature on hidden learning and constructivism, there are a number of opportunities available for modernizing the legacy paradigm of professional military education. This study investigated the role of holistic learning (formal, non‐formal, informal, selfdirected, and incidental learning) in the professional development of 29 mid‐career military officers. It involved detailed study of their participation on the seven‐month staff course at the New Zealand Defence College from May to December 2008. Mixed methodology data collection included observations, interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and document analysis. Analytic procedures ranged from statistical comparisons through to qualitative theme constructs. The study found a number of dimensions (sources and influences) contributing to holistic learning. It also identified a number of opportunities to improve the learning experience. The findings identify a number of important factors in developing strategic artists. Of these, the greatest need is for a strategic plan to extend the current content‐centric syllabus into a full curriculum with intangible traits clearly linked to formal and informal learning activities. Specific components required in this strategic plan include an academic philosophy and a cross‐referencing matrix. The study also recommends reviewing time allocated to cross‐discipline learning of the profession and cognitive agility focused on deep learning. There is also a need to re‐examine the directing staff requirements, management of learner stress, and shaping practical‐value motivation strategies through cultural artefacts. Collectively, the findings recommend shifting from the traditional vessel‐filling paradigm of formal courses to a sociological approach of growing strategic leaders.