Irregular pagination: p. 462 omitted. / This thesis examines the complex historical and political processes that helped to forge, shape and renew the Catholic educational mission during a period of significant change, 1943-1965. It utilises a qualitative methodology, including a "situated reading" of documentary, archival, visual and oral accounts to illustrate how Catholic educators worked to improve the educational standards of their schools and to promote the examination success of pupils while protecting distinctive religious and Cultural values and the autonomy of the Catholic education system from state control. The nineteenth-century mission to provide a basic primary schooling to all Catholic pupils and a secondary schooling for the select few was shaped by an Irish and Roman inheritance, diocesan structures, the characteristics of teaching orders and by distinctive religious, cultural and pedagogical values, gendered practices, and the religious formation of Catholic teachers. From 1943 to 1965, the educational mission expanded to provide a secondary schooling for all Catholic pupils. It encompassed four goals: the transmission of faith and cultural practices; the social and educational advancement of all Catholic pupils; their successful integration as citizens in New Zealand society; and the promotion of religious and intellectual leaders. In the context of the 1944 Thomas reforms, Catholic educators defended the autonomy of their schools from state interference and the distinctive characteristics of Catholic education from "secular" values. In the post-war years Catholic teachers resolved tensions between religious and secular goals by infusing curriculum subjects with religious values and promoting a Catholic world view. At the same time they utilised state models of teacher training and the expertise of inspectors to improve the educational standards of Catholic schools while incorporating pedagogical and curriculum advances to ensure the "secular" success of Catholic pupils. This thesis demonstrates issues that cross State-Catholic educational boundaries: the process of educational policymaking, the role of the State in education, issues of citizenship, power, identity, gender and difference. By exploring the political, cultural and religious context of teachers' and pupils' lives, the location of Catholics in New Zealand society and conflicts over educational values it reshapes understandings about the nature and compass of education in New Zealand.

The ability to understand what one reads is fundamental to much school learning and is part of the school curriculum. The processes used by expert readers to comprehend text can be analysed and used as a basis for comprehension instruction. Such expert readers use particular mental strategies such as rereading, paraphrasing, and predicting, and adapt these to assist them in understanding various texts. This study investigated whether the implementation of reading comprehension strategy instruction to classes of Year 4 students would result in significant gains in metacognitive abilities, standardised reading comprehension, and reading self-efficacy. The quasi-experiment involved a treatment group of 48 students in two classes who were taught by one teacher, a treatment control group of 61 students in three classes taught by three teachers, and a non-treatment control group of 41 students taught in three composite Year 3 and Year 4 classes taught by three teachers. In total, 150 Year 4 students from eight classrooms in three suburban primary schools were involved in the study. Results from 2 x 3 analyses of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures revealed differences between the treatment group and control groups in several aspects of reading comprehension ability. The treatment group performed significantly better than either control group on the Jacobs and Paris (1987) measure of metacognitive awareness of strategies (Index of Reading Awareness). Treatment group students were also more confident about their ability to perform tasks related to reading comprehension than one of the control groups. Though they also made greater gains in confidence than the other control group, these gains were not statistically significant. Gains in reading comprehension as measured by a standardised reading comprehension measure (Progressive Achievement Test of Reading Comprehension) were marginal in comparison to one of the control groups, and not significant in comparison to the other. Secondly, this study also investigated whether intensive teacher training would result in successful implementation of reading comprehension strategies. Teachers need to know how to model their own mental processes for students so that students can see the strategies being applied. They then need to demonstrate for students when and how to adapt the strategies to various texts. In addition, teachers need to know whether to target instruction to only the struggling readers in their classrooms, or to students of varying abilities. A two-year professional development programme was developed and implemented to assist primary school teachers with the implementation of reading comprehension strategy instruction in their classrooms. During the first year a group of 14 teachers participated, and during the second year one teacher remained to implement the programme. This teacher, who taught at the Year 4 level, was provided with additional professional development in the explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies to her entire class of mixed ability students. Results from analysis of qualitative data indicated that the teacher had made significant progress in becoming competent in the teaching techniques needed for teaching reading comprehension strategies. These results suggested that the teacher moved from modelling process into content to being creative and inventive. By the end of the intervention, interviews conducted with the teacher and the students, as well as lesson observations and field notes, suggested that she had a good knowledge of the components of strategy instruction and was incorporating these in her classroom practice. Her students became increasingly aware of the teacher's central lesson aims regarding what she was teaching, why she was teaching it, and how it could be applied to the students' learning. The findings of the present study indicate that students of varying ability may improve their reading comprehension through instruction in reading comprehension strategies, though the marginal gains in standardised reading comprehension do not support this conclusively. Findings also indicate that a teacher can successfully be trained to implement reading comprehension strategy instruction in an entire class of mixed-ability students. Such findings have important implications for teacher and student education.

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.

The story of wired schools addresses the lack of critical debate over the adoption and implementation of the Internet in New Zealand schools. It is set in the backdrop of rapid technological change and growing international concern over the wisdom of the substantial investment in new computer technology in the education system. The study addresses the problem that the hype surrounding the Internet in schools is potentially diverting much attention away from its real pedagogical value. Thus, the research objective investigates how teachers believe the Internet has affected learning and teaching—for better and worse. In the context of this objective, a number of methodological issues related to conducting research in the area of educational technology are considered and a multi-paradigmatic framework is adopted utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. The research consists of three phases over a period of three school years. It reports a process to identify and systematically investigate a purposive sample of proficient, accomplished and experienced internet-using teachers. The first phase involves a survey in which a written questionnaire gathers baseline information on the background characteristics, experiences, perceptions and practices of a group of teachers nominated as proficient in using the Internet for learning and teaching. In Phase Two, the survey is repeated through a follow up questionnaire and informant interview with a refined sample of perceived accomplished internet-using teachers. The final phase culminates with narrative-biographical and micro ethnographic case studies of three teachers judged to be experienced in using the Internet for pedagogical purposes. An analysis of data shows that the advent of the Internet has clearly had an impact on the nature of teachers' work. The standout effects of the Internet are reported under the themes of: (a) school organization and classroom management, (b) displacement costs, (c) collegial relationships, (d) workload considerations, and (e) teachers thinking more globally. Notably, the research shows that teachers do not simply experience the Internet, they reshape and reframe it based on their pedagogical beliefs and lived experiences. Thus, teachers have equally affected the Internet and these effects are reported under the themes of: (a) differential uptake, (b) limited local action, (c) teaching is messy, (d) computer as tool, and (e) technology as progress. The key lesson is that the implementation of an educational technology is a mutually adaptive process full of conflicts, tensions, and contradictions that simultaneously give rise to positive, negative, and unknown effects. Accordingly, the effects of the Internet on teachers' lives and work culture can not be analysed in terms of simple dichotomies of good and bad as a more dialectical perspective is required of the relationship between technology and society. A rough portrait of the educational technology landscape is sketched from the tensions and individual mindsets embedded in the research sample, and the shape of the topography is shown to amplify rival theoretical positions in the literature. From a post-technocratic political economy perspective, the new digital landscape consists of a number of competing and coexisting discourses that borrow and co-construct a socio-cognitive language of persuasion to advance their own hegemonic agenda. Such an analysis brings into question the hidden curriculum behind the new ways of enterprise constructivism promoting the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in New Zealand schools. The ensuing discussion endeavours to reframe the teacher's role around critical pedagogy and the need for pedagogical activism in the backdrop of a number of potential dark clouds looming on the digital horizon. Finally, the story of wired schools is brought together through the metaphor of planes, trains and automobiles in which a lot of misinformation, dissembling language and even propaganda is claimed to prevent teachers from understanding the meaning and non-educational intention of the ICT-related school reform movement. A number of implications arise from the explanation of how things have come to be this way and these are presented for teachers, researchers and policy-makers. The central thesis is that teachers need to approach the ICT movement as problematic and a deeper level of critical dialogue is required over the move to plug New Zealand schools into the Knowledge Economy. In short, wired schools require wired educators capable of reading and responding to current efforts to boost capacity, increase bandwidth and catch the knowledge wave—for better and worse.

This thesis examines the perceptions of the student teacher, the associate teacher and the visiting lecturer regarding the adequacy of the practicum for the preparation of the first year primary school teacher. Six triads, or case studies, comprising a student teacher, a visiting lecturer and an associate teacher were selected, each within a different school setting. Using grounded theory, the collected data were analysed and sorted until a conceptual framework emerged. Three key themes were identified: the emotional nature of the teaching practicum; the practicum as situated learning; and the practicum as a professional learning community. Each member of the triad viewed the final teaching practicum as critical to teacher preparation. To a large extent understandings of the roles played by each member of the triad had been implicit rather than explicit. This study highlighted the importance and complementarities of the roles the members of the triad play. It found that student teachers often rely on the solutions provided by the associate teacher and/or the visiting lecturer, and that they lack confidence in their own ability to solve challenging classroom problems. A professional learning community requires each member of the triad to collaborate actively as a member of the teaching team and collectively reach solutions posed in the teaching of the class. Finally, the student teachers experienced difficulty in meeting the challenges of student needs, particularly in low decile schools; for some the challenges were overwhelming. The study has implications for other initial teacher education programmes regarding practices to meaningfully bridge the gap between the classroom context and the university programme. It provides insights into the requirements for the implementation of practicum that promote a professional learning community. It challenges the assumptions teacher education providers may have about the current models of teaching practicum in which it is perceived as a site where student teachers simply practise teaching and prove their readiness to assume the mantle of a first year teacher. It contributes to the debate of the role and function of the practicum in pre-service teacher education and the need for a deeper understanding and expectation in its implementation by the university and the school, who should be viewed as professional partners in this endeavour.

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.

Previous research of supervision in educational psychology has regularly reported low rates of participation and dissatisfaction with the adequacy of supervisory arrangements. Most studies to date have been conducted on the assumption that supervision is a formalised, often one-to-one relationship. However, this view of supervision is incongruent with the ecological theories of human development that currently guide educational psychologists' work. The present study sought to develop understanding of the nature and contexts of supervision for a group of educational psychologists through examination of the actions they took to meet the goals of supervision. A situational analysis research method was used to examine the supervisory actions, in relation to the theories underlying current field practice, of 38 educational psychologists. This collaborative method of inquiry reflected the procedures of the psychologists' professional practice and enabled the understanding of supervision to be constructed using the participants' own sense-making processes. Results of the study indicated that the psychologists pursued the goals of supervision through the multiple interactions that took place within the regular activity of their community of practice. Supervision included a combination of formal, informal and situated interactions. It was concerned with connectedness to the professional community and comprised a range of integrated activities. The psychologists demonstrated that their supervision-in-action was guided by the same ecological principles that guided their professional practice. When supervision was conceptualised as a practice that included formal, informal and situated interactions intended to meet the goals of supervision, the participants reported high levels of satisfaction with current supervisory arrangements and participation in the practice. This thesis proposes an extended view of supervision that depicts supervision as activity situated within the interaction of a community of practice. It suggests that ecologically valid evaluations of supervision activity and the development of applicable systems of supervision must consider a wide range of supervision activities and contexts of practice.

Inclusive education was introduced into the Malaysian school system as a pilot scheme in 1994, involving a small number of elementary schools throughout the country. This study examines teachers' and principals' conceptions of inclusive education, their understanding of the Inclusive Education Policy and their attitudes towards the pilot implementation of inclusive education. Using individual interviews and surveys, the researcher explored the views of regular and special education teachers from pilot and non-pilot elementary schools. A total of 36 special and regular classroom teachers and six principals from six geographically representative pilot schools and 18 traditional classroom teachers from six matching non-pilot schools participated in this study. Data examination showed that differences existed in the teachers' conceptions of inclusive education. Seven hierarchically ordered conceptions of inclusive education were identified. They ranged from the provision of educational opportunities in the traditional classroom for all students regardless of disability to the provision of enrichment for students with special abilities. Teachers were found to have limited understanding of the educational policies related to inclusive education. Many principals and teachers, nevertheless, favoured inclusive education but the teachers were concerned about an increase in workload as a result of the inclusion of children with special needs in their classes. Class size was also seen as a barrier to implementing inclusive education. It was concluded that principals and teachers were concerned about the inadequate professional preparation of teachers for inclusive education and the difficulties of coping with children with special needs when placed in the traditional classroom settings. These findings have serious educational implications and support the need for comprehensive inservice training programmes that are designed to meet the needs of teachers during pre-service programmes and in in-service training. The researcher also gave some attention to the process of change as it occurred during the pilot implementation of inclusive education while her discussion of theoretical issues, related to the implementation, led to the development of an explanatory model to assist understanding of an approach to the further implementation of inclusive education in Malaysia.