The Church College of New Zealand is a private co-educational secondary school located near Hamilton, New Zealand and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since its opening in 1958, it has hosted a large population of Polynesian students, in particular Māori. The questions that this thesis addresses centre on the nature, history and reasons for what seems to be a disproportionately higher level of achievement amongst Māori and Pacific Island students at Church College than in New Zealand more broadly. Through a life-history approach to research, this thesis provides an overview of the rich history behind the building of the Church College, and highlights the experiences of successful graduates over three particular timeframes - 1951-1969, 1970-1989 and the 1990s. A major contributing factor to the success of the students at Church College is an environment where both religious and cultural values of students are reaffirmed and considered normal. For some students, Church College provided an environment that validated what students were being taught in their own homes. For others, it provided a refuge from a conflicted home. With the growing pressures of social problems within the wider community for many Māori and Pacific Island families, the school environment of the Church College was a key factor in providing stability and security for some students at the College. On June 29 2006, an announcement was made by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of the phased out closure of Church College beginning in the year 2007 and eventually closing at the end of the year 2009. With Māori and Pacific Island students so under-represented in achievement and participation in education settings in New Zealand, the announcement of the closure provided an opportunity to highlight some of the successes experienced at the Church College of New Zealand.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.228-235).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 25-29). / viii, 29 leaves, bound col. ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1997 / Pacific Islands Studies

This research examines the ways in which the Pasifika second generation who have grown up in Aotearoa are operating culturally and explores the conditions in which they construct identities. The study took a positive deviance approach focusing on existing strengths within the Pasifika generation and learning from success. Taking a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, the project analysed data from the Youth2000 Survey, which included over one thousand Pasifika participants (n=1114). This showed that pride in Pasifika identities, reporting that Pasifika values were still important, feeling accepted by other people within one’s own ethnic group and outside it, and continuing to speak Pasifika languages were all associated positively with advantageous health, educational or wellbeing variables. Individual interviews with fourteen high-achieving, second generation Pasifika professionals, further explored connections between identity, acceptance and belonging. Second generation participants talked about performing identities across many spaces of symbolic interaction where they were called into relation with multiple others. These were local, cross-cultural, national and transnational relational spaces made possible via migration, diaspora, and relocation resulting in complex negotiations of sameness and difference. In these spaces they encountered competing narratives about who Pasifika peoples ought to be. The diasporic second generation often had to negotiate belonging from beyond the limits of what was validated as having most symbolic authority. Symbolic struggle and the politics of cultural reproduction came to the fore, as did the contested nature of Pasifika imaginaries. Identifications were further complicated by demands for crosscultural coherence and legibility across spaces, and shifting politics of recognition. Polycultural capital was coined to describe the ability to accumulate culturally diverse symbolic resources, negotiate between them and strategically deploy different cultural resources in contextually specific and advantageous ways. Performing strategic essentialism, strategic ignorance, strategic hybridity, dialogic distance, and bridging, were just some of the patterns identified. Manulua describes an aesthetic of shifting multidimensional cultural resolutions across many spaces in-between.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 1999. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-129). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.M.S.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Waikato, 2009. / Title from PDF cover (viewed December 16, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 291-314)

This thesis focuses on how cultural connections in classroom influences students value of learning, specifically, their value of reading. Several researchers and theorists have emphasized the importance of balancing cognitive and conative aspects of childrens reading development. However, what is lacking in these studies is a focus on Pacific Islander (PI) children. The purpose of this study was to examine value of reading for diverse students who may be struggling in classrooms designed for White, middle-class students. Findings provide educators and those working with diverse students a chance to consider how connecting cultural backgrounds for all students can help in classrooms. This study was framed from a larger study on equity in teaching academic language conducted by the supervising professor, Dr. Bryant Jensen. This research study used a mixed method approach: multiple regression analysis to predict gains in PI students reading values, and interviews with classroom teachers. Fourth through sixth grade Latino and PI students in 32 classrooms participating in the quantitative study, and three teachers were interviewed. Due to the short time frame, PI students value of reading did not increase on average. Themes also emerged during interviews with the classroom teachers. I conclude with a discussion, implications, and recommendations for future research studies and educators working with PI and other diverse students.

Variables such as stigma, weak ethnic identity, and cultural mistrust have been linked to the underutilization of therapy amongst ethnic minority populations. As such, ethnic minority populations may reach a higher threshold of distress-including areas such as anxiety and depression-before seeking professional help. While there is substantial research documenting ethnic differences among various ethnic minority populations (e.g., African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics) very little research has been conducted exploring differences among individuals from Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) backgrounds. For the current study, we explored differences in distress upon intake as well as the change in anxiety and depression scores over the course of 12 therapy sessions for NHPI college students compared to college students from other ethnic groups. We also explored the effect that spirituality and religiosity had on depression and anxiety among NHPI college students. We collected data from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH), a practice research network that has aggregated data from hundreds of university counseling centers across the United States, from the years 2012-2015. Our total sample was N = 256,242; of that sample, n = 452 identified as NHPI. We selected independent variables from the Standardized Data Set (i.e., ethnicity, age, gender, estimated socioeconomic status, importance of spirituality and religiosity) and dependent variables from the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms-62 and -34 (i.e., depression, social anxiety, generalized anxiety). We analyzed data using latent growth modeling and computed a conceptual effect size by comparing the change in standard deviation between treatment effects. Results yielded significant differences (p < .05) between both intercept and slope estimates for NHPIs compared to African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Whites. Notably, NHPI depression scores improved at the highest rate over time compared to other ethnic groups, while anxiety scores among NHPIs improved at the lowest rate. The effect of spirituality and religiosity on anxiety and depression was statistically insignificant. The results of this study indicated that NHPI college students experience psychotherapy outcomes differently than other ethnic groups, including Asian Americans, with moderate-to-large magnitudes of effect. Considering substantial meta-analytical research supporting the benefits of culturally adapted treatment, results of this study suggest the need to disaggregate the combined demographic Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), as research conducted on this broader group provides questionable validity when applied to clinical settings for NHPIs.