In 2003 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) unveiled their new junior high school (JHS) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy, which focused strongly on oral communication. Although there is evidence of policy noncompliance in schools until now there has been no English language research on the attitudes or practices of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), or the views of the students, and their parents in regards to teaching/learning English speaking skills. The research, based on JHSs in a mid-sized Japanese city (pop. 475,000 approx.), focused predominantly on JTEs, but also included students, and their parents. Focus group sessions, questionnaires, and one-on-one interviews were used to collect data. The study reveals that learning English speaking skills is considered important, but passing the senior high school (SHS) entrance examination is the main concern and so, test impact from the SHS entrance examination exerts the greatest pressure on JHS JTEs. The JTEs also perceive themselves as facing other issues such as student motivation, JTE speaking proficiency, and large class sizes. Another finding is that JTEs appear to receive inadequate training– pre- and inservice– resulting in issues, such as a reliance on traditional methods (yakudoku), which are not in accordance with MEXT’s intentions, and JTE proficiency test achievement levels lower than those desired by MEXT. As a result of these issues gaps exist between MEXT JHS EFL policies and actual teaching practices, and have unfortunately led to a situation where JTEs believe that MEXT does not care about or understand the teaching environment. The study concludes that implementation of MEXT’s policy require a better match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy, a decrease in class sizes, and JTEs receiving more adequate training. A more positive relationship between MEXT and JTEs would result from these two groups working collaboratively when designing JHS EFL policies and could better achieve a match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy.

In 2003 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) unveiled their new junior high school (JHS) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy, which focused strongly on oral communication. Although there is evidence of policy noncompliance in schools until now there has been no English language research on the attitudes or practices of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), or the views of the students, and their parents in regards to teaching/learning English speaking skills. The research, based on JHSs in a mid-sized Japanese city (pop. 475,000 approx.), focused predominantly on JTEs, but also included students, and their parents. Focus group sessions, questionnaires, and one-on-one interviews were used to collect data. The study reveals that learning English speaking skills is considered important, but passing the senior high school (SHS) entrance examination is the main concern and so, test impact from the SHS entrance examination exerts the greatest pressure on JHS JTEs. The JTEs also perceive themselves as facing other issues such as student motivation, JTE speaking proficiency, and large class sizes. Another finding is that JTEs appear to receive inadequate training– pre- and inservice– resulting in issues, such as a reliance on traditional methods (yakudoku), which are not in accordance with MEXT’s intentions, and JTE proficiency test achievement levels lower than those desired by MEXT. As a result of these issues gaps exist between MEXT JHS EFL policies and actual teaching practices, and have unfortunately led to a situation where JTEs believe that MEXT does not care about or understand the teaching environment. The study concludes that implementation of MEXT’s policy require a better match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy, a decrease in class sizes, and JTEs receiving more adequate training. A more positive relationship between MEXT and JTEs would result from these two groups working collaboratively when designing JHS EFL policies and could better achieve a match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy.

In 2003 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) unveiled their new junior high school (JHS) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy, which focused strongly on oral communication. Although there is evidence of policy noncompliance in schools until now there has been no English language research on the attitudes or practices of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), or the views of the students, and their parents in regards to teaching/learning English speaking skills. The research, based on JHSs in a mid-sized Japanese city (pop. 475,000 approx.), focused predominantly on JTEs, but also included students, and their parents. Focus group sessions, questionnaires, and one-on-one interviews were used to collect data. The study reveals that learning English speaking skills is considered important, but passing the senior high school (SHS) entrance examination is the main concern and so, test impact from the SHS entrance examination exerts the greatest pressure on JHS JTEs. The JTEs also perceive themselves as facing other issues such as student motivation, JTE speaking proficiency, and large class sizes. Another finding is that JTEs appear to receive inadequate training– pre- and inservice– resulting in issues, such as a reliance on traditional methods (yakudoku), which are not in accordance with MEXT’s intentions, and JTE proficiency test achievement levels lower than those desired by MEXT. As a result of these issues gaps exist between MEXT JHS EFL policies and actual teaching practices, and have unfortunately led to a situation where JTEs believe that MEXT does not care about or understand the teaching environment. The study concludes that implementation of MEXT’s policy require a better match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy, a decrease in class sizes, and JTEs receiving more adequate training. A more positive relationship between MEXT and JTEs would result from these two groups working collaboratively when designing JHS EFL policies and could better achieve a match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy.

In 2003 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) unveiled their new junior high school (JHS) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy, which focused strongly on oral communication. Although there is evidence of policy noncompliance in schools until now there has been no English language research on the attitudes or practices of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), or the views of the students, and their parents in regards to teaching/learning English speaking skills. The research, based on JHSs in a mid-sized Japanese city (pop. 475,000 approx.), focused predominantly on JTEs, but also included students, and their parents. Focus group sessions, questionnaires, and one-on-one interviews were used to collect data. The study reveals that learning English speaking skills is considered important, but passing the senior high school (SHS) entrance examination is the main concern and so, test impact from the SHS entrance examination exerts the greatest pressure on JHS JTEs. The JTEs also perceive themselves as facing other issues such as student motivation, JTE speaking proficiency, and large class sizes. Another finding is that JTEs appear to receive inadequate training– pre- and inservice– resulting in issues, such as a reliance on traditional methods (yakudoku), which are not in accordance with MEXT’s intentions, and JTE proficiency test achievement levels lower than those desired by MEXT. As a result of these issues gaps exist between MEXT JHS EFL policies and actual teaching practices, and have unfortunately led to a situation where JTEs believe that MEXT does not care about or understand the teaching environment. The study concludes that implementation of MEXT’s policy require a better match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy, a decrease in class sizes, and JTEs receiving more adequate training. A more positive relationship between MEXT and JTEs would result from these two groups working collaboratively when designing JHS EFL policies and could better achieve a match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy.

Statistical covariation refers to the correspondence of variation of two statistical measures that vary along numerical scales. Reasoning about covariation commonly involves translation processes among three representations: (1) numerical data, (2) graphical representations, and (3) verbal statements such as "taller people tend to be heavier". Two well-known translations are graph production and graph interpretation. Less well known is the process of speculative data generation, involving translating a verbal statement into a possible graph or other data representation. This study explored school students' reasoning involving these three translation skills through various tasks in surveys and interviews. Evidence is presented concerning methods to assess these skills, and concerning how students as young as third-grade can engage covariation tasks involving familiar contexts. Interviews involved prompting for cognitive conflict using responses from other students, and provided evidence of limited engagement of ideas that were slightly more sophisticated than their own responses. Responses for each of the three translation skills were described within assessment frameworks involving four levels - Nonstatistical, Single Statistical Aspect, Inadequate Covariation, and Appropriate Covariation - distinguished by the structure of combining correspondence and variation. Distinguishing features of the levels suggested stages of development that may inform instruction. For development from prior beliefs to data-based judgements, tasks involving counterintuitive covariation were designed to prompt students to engage data. For development from single variables to bivariate data, time was observed as a natural covariate, implicit in statements such as "it's getting hotter", with a connotation of order that supported pattern recognition of passing time being associated with corresponding change in a measured variable. For development from single cases to global trends, many students represented correspondence in a single pair of values, at the expense of representing variation. Tasks involving discrete data with few cases, and the use of case labels in responses, were observed to support the view of two data values each linked to the same corresponding case label. This consolidated view of correspondence supported consideration of additional bivariate cases involving variation. Students tended to articulate covariation using the language of comparison and change. Findings were related to issues in the historical development of coordinate graphing, to findings from educational research in statistics, algebra, science and psychology, and to recommendations within curriculum documents. Student representations of statistical covariation were observed to provide a window into statistical reasoning, and are advocated as a valuable basis for classroom discussions to help develop statistical literacy.

This thesis explores the knowledge needed for teaching statistics through investigations at the primary (elementary) school level. Statistics has a relatively short history in the primary school curriculum, compared with mathematics. Recent research in statistics education has prompted a worldwide move away from the teaching of statistical skills, towards a broader underpinning of statistical thinking and reasoning. New Zealand’s nationally mandated curriculum reflects this move. Consequently, little is known about the types of knowledge needed to teach statistics effectively. Ideas from two contemporary areas of research, namely teacher content knowledge in relation to mathematics, and statistical thinking, are incorporated into a new framework, for exploring knowledge for teaching statistics. The study’s methodological approach is based on Popper’s philosophy of realism, and the associated logic of learning approach for classroom research. Four primary teachers (in their second year of teaching) planned and taught a sequence of four or five lessons, which were videotaped. Following each lesson, a stimulated recall interview, using an edited video of the lesson, was conducted with the teacher. The video and interview recordings were analysed in relation to the teacher knowledge and statistical thinking framework. The results provide detailed descriptions of the components of teacher knowledge in relation to statistical thinking that are needed and used in the classroom. Included in the results are profiles of each teacher’s knowledge. These profiles describe ‘missed opportunities’, which were defined as classroom incidents in which teacher knowledge was needed but not used, and consequently resulted in the teachers not taking advantage of chances to enhance students’ learning. A number of significant themes were revealed, linked to knowledge for teaching statistics. The themes include: problems associated with teacher listening; the need for the teacher to be familiar with the data; students’ difficulties with various components of the statistical investigation cycle; and understanding variation and the development of inference. The study concludes that for effective teaching of statistics through investigations, it is necessary for teachers to have knowledge in each of four categories as related to each component of statistical thinking. If any aspect of knowledge is not available or not used, teachers will not enhance, and could disadvantage, students’ learning. Implications from the findings are considered for initial and on-going teacher education.

This thesis explores the knowledge needed for teaching statistics through investigations at the primary (elementary) school level. Statistics has a relatively short history in the primary school curriculum, compared with mathematics. Recent research in statistics education has prompted a worldwide move away from the teaching of statistical skills, towards a broader underpinning of statistical thinking and reasoning. New Zealand’s nationally mandated curriculum reflects this move. Consequently, little is known about the types of knowledge needed to teach statistics effectively. Ideas from two contemporary areas of research, namely teacher content knowledge in relation to mathematics, and statistical thinking, are incorporated into a new framework, for exploring knowledge for teaching statistics. The study’s methodological approach is based on Popper’s philosophy of realism, and the associated logic of learning approach for classroom research. Four primary teachers (in their second year of teaching) planned and taught a sequence of four or five lessons, which were videotaped. Following each lesson, a stimulated recall interview, using an edited video of the lesson, was conducted with the teacher. The video and interview recordings were analysed in relation to the teacher knowledge and statistical thinking framework. The results provide detailed descriptions of the components of teacher knowledge in relation to statistical thinking that are needed and used in the classroom. Included in the results are profiles of each teacher’s knowledge. These profiles describe ‘missed opportunities’, which were defined as classroom incidents in which teacher knowledge was needed but not used, and consequently resulted in the teachers not taking advantage of chances to enhance students’ learning. A number of significant themes were revealed, linked to knowledge for teaching statistics. The themes include: problems associated with teacher listening; the need for the teacher to be familiar with the data; students’ difficulties with various components of the statistical investigation cycle; and understanding variation and the development of inference. The study concludes that for effective teaching of statistics through investigations, it is necessary for teachers to have knowledge in each of four categories as related to each component of statistical thinking. If any aspect of knowledge is not available or not used, teachers will not enhance, and could disadvantage, students’ learning. Implications from the findings are considered for initial and on-going teacher education.

Teaching Health Education in New Zealand secondary schools: Policy into practice. Health education has a long informal history in New Zealand schools. This study attempted to illuminate and explain the effects on a small sample of secondary school health teachers of official policy changes in curriculum and assessment for Health Education in the period 1999 – 2004. These teachers were deeply concerned about the health issues that they perceived their students were facing, and saw Health Education as a means of helping students address these. The publication of Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1999) legitimated their teaching in a general way through the inclusion of issues they were concerned with (such as mental health and sexuality). Teachers positioned themselves idiosyncratically in relation to a variety of personal discourses. Different subject positions were possible at school level because of the weak classification (Bernstein, 1971; 1996) of the 1999 curriculum. This was less likely to occur in senior health which was assessed at system level through the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (the NCEA). Health Education‘s inclusion in the NCEA resulted in pedagogical change for teachers in the study due to greater prescription of content and assessment requirements. This study also illustrated the pedagogical and relational tensions that were created when Health and Physical Education were placed within the same official curriculum. Internal subject politics were intensified as teachers competed for resources within the one learning area. Sexuality, gender and emotionality were three further layered discourses of teaching secondary Health Education illuminated by this study. Teachers generally positioned themselves in relation to a reproductive health discourse and several positioned themselves within an essentialist gender discourse. Emotionality was shown to have both personal and institutional dimensions. Implications based on the findings were considered for teachers, policy makers, teacher educators and researchers.

In 2003 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) unveiled their new junior high school (JHS) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy, which focused strongly on oral communication. Although there is evidence of policy noncompliance in schools until now there has been no English language research on the attitudes or practices of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), or the views of the students, and their parents in regards to teaching/learning English speaking skills. The research, based on JHSs in a mid-sized Japanese city (pop. 475,000 approx.), focused predominantly on JTEs, but also included students, and their parents. Focus group sessions, questionnaires, and one-on-one interviews were used to collect data. The study reveals that learning English speaking skills is considered important, but passing the senior high school (SHS) entrance examination is the main concern and so, test impact from the SHS entrance examination exerts the greatest pressure on JHS JTEs. The JTEs also perceive themselves as facing other issues such as student motivation, JTE speaking proficiency, and large class sizes. Another finding is that JTEs appear to receive inadequate training– pre- and inservice– resulting in issues, such as a reliance on traditional methods (yakudoku), which are not in accordance with MEXT’s intentions, and JTE proficiency test achievement levels lower than those desired by MEXT. As a result of these issues gaps exist between MEXT JHS EFL policies and actual teaching practices, and have unfortunately led to a situation where JTEs believe that MEXT does not care about or understand the teaching environment. The study concludes that implementation of MEXT’s policy require a better match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy, a decrease in class sizes, and JTEs receiving more adequate training. A more positive relationship between MEXT and JTEs would result from these two groups working collaboratively when designing JHS EFL policies and could better achieve a match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy.

In 2003 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) unveiled their new junior high school (JHS) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) policy, which focused strongly on oral communication. Although there is evidence of policy noncompliance in schools until now there has been no English language research on the attitudes or practices of Japanese teachers of English (JTEs), or the views of the students, and their parents in regards to teaching/learning English speaking skills. The research, based on JHSs in a mid-sized Japanese city (pop. 475,000 approx.), focused predominantly on JTEs, but also included students, and their parents. Focus group sessions, questionnaires, and one-on-one interviews were used to collect data. The study reveals that learning English speaking skills is considered important, but passing the senior high school (SHS) entrance examination is the main concern and so, test impact from the SHS entrance examination exerts the greatest pressure on JHS JTEs. The JTEs also perceive themselves as facing other issues such as student motivation, JTE speaking proficiency, and large class sizes. Another finding is that JTEs appear to receive inadequate training– pre- and inservice– resulting in issues, such as a reliance on traditional methods (yakudoku), which are not in accordance with MEXT’s intentions, and JTE proficiency test achievement levels lower than those desired by MEXT. As a result of these issues gaps exist between MEXT JHS EFL policies and actual teaching practices, and have unfortunately led to a situation where JTEs believe that MEXT does not care about or understand the teaching environment. The study concludes that implementation of MEXT’s policy require a better match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy, a decrease in class sizes, and JTEs receiving more adequate training. A more positive relationship between MEXT and JTEs would result from these two groups working collaboratively when designing JHS EFL policies and could better achieve a match between the SHS entrance examination and JHS EFL policy.