Research on the causes of truancy from mainstream education suggest that a range of factors such as poverty, ethnicity, the quality of relationship between students and teachers, and the nature of the classroom environment impact on students’ attendance in schools. The majority of the studies on truancy have been carried out with students in alternative education in the U.S.A and Australia. In New Zealand, research has focused on the truancy of Maori students. This study investigates the causes of truancy for Pasifika students in alternative education in New Zealand. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected using questionnaires and three focus group interviews. The findings from this study suggest that a number of factors affected students’ motivation to study. The behaviour of teachers and the school environment were found to affect the Pasifika students’ approach to learning. Some students had negative views of their own ability and lacked perseverance. Other students believed that a lack of parental or family support impacted negatively on their attendance. Consistent with the findings in other studies on truancy, this study found that a range of influences such as a lack of support from community leaders, students’ perceptions of their performance, the nature of the classroom environment, family structure, lifestyle factors and cultural and church activities contributed to Pasifika students’ truanting behaviour. This study suggests that schools that employ teachers who understand and empathize with the cultural aspects of Pasifika students and who can empathize with their situation will be most effective in preventing truancy among these students. Similarly, schools have dedicated programmes that accommodate the academic requirements of Pasifika students foster a more positive learning environment. Finally, schools should look to put in place initiatives to enable Pasifika parents to become effective partners in their children’s education.

Research on the causes of truancy from mainstream education suggest that a range of factors such as poverty, ethnicity, the quality of relationship between students and teachers, and the nature of the classroom environment impact on students’ attendance in schools. The majority of the studies on truancy have been carried out with students in alternative education in the U.S.A and Australia. In New Zealand, research has focused on the truancy of Maori students. This study investigates the causes of truancy for Pasifika students in alternative education in New Zealand. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected using questionnaires and three focus group interviews. The findings from this study suggest that a number of factors affected students’ motivation to study. The behaviour of teachers and the school environment were found to affect the Pasifika students’ approach to learning. Some students had negative views of their own ability and lacked perseverance. Other students believed that a lack of parental or family support impacted negatively on their attendance. Consistent with the findings in other studies on truancy, this study found that a range of influences such as a lack of support from community leaders, students’ perceptions of their performance, the nature of the classroom environment, family structure, lifestyle factors and cultural and church activities contributed to Pasifika students’ truanting behaviour. This study suggests that schools that employ teachers who understand and empathize with the cultural aspects of Pasifika students and who can empathize with their situation will be most effective in preventing truancy among these students. Similarly, schools have dedicated programmes that accommodate the academic requirements of Pasifika students foster a more positive learning environment. Finally, schools should look to put in place initiatives to enable Pasifika parents to become effective partners in their children’s education.

This study seeks to determine the reasons for the departure of New Zealand-born Samoans from a South Auckland traditional Samoan Seventh-day Adventist church. The concept of SURVIVAL: Exposure, Exit, and Reinvestment Model is used to explain the two factors instrumental in these young people's decisions to depart from the church. The first factor, which is a push factor, is the atmosphere at church, or what I refer to in this study as exposure. The second factor, which is a pull factor, involves the benefits of reinvesting their time and talents in other churches or in other non-church related activities. The results of this study strongly indicate that the church atmosphere was neither conducive nor promising, but very antagonistic to developing New Zealand-born Samoan young people's spiritual and social journeys. Consequently, the situation at church made these young people look elsewhere for social and spiritual survival. An analysis of the data suggests that the church can reverse the problem of departure by putting in place an active and effective system whereby the concerns and ideas of New Zealand-born Samoans as well as other youths are shared, heard, and rightly understood by the elders and the leadership of the church.

Research on the causes of truancy from mainstream education suggest that a range of factors such as poverty, ethnicity, the quality of relationship between students and teachers, and the nature of the classroom environment impact on students’ attendance in schools. The majority of the studies on truancy have been carried out with students in alternative education in the U.S.A and Australia. In New Zealand, research has focused on the truancy of Maori students. This study investigates the causes of truancy for Pasifika students in alternative education in New Zealand. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected using questionnaires and three focus group interviews. The findings from this study suggest that a number of factors affected students’ motivation to study. The behaviour of teachers and the school environment were found to affect the Pasifika students’ approach to learning. Some students had negative views of their own ability and lacked perseverance. Other students believed that a lack of parental or family support impacted negatively on their attendance. Consistent with the findings in other studies on truancy, this study found that a range of influences such as a lack of support from community leaders, students’ perceptions of their performance, the nature of the classroom environment, family structure, lifestyle factors and cultural and church activities contributed to Pasifika students’ truanting behaviour. This study suggests that schools that employ teachers who understand and empathize with the cultural aspects of Pasifika students and who can empathize with their situation will be most effective in preventing truancy among these students. Similarly, schools have dedicated programmes that accommodate the academic requirements of Pasifika students foster a more positive learning environment. Finally, schools should look to put in place initiatives to enable Pasifika parents to become effective partners in their children’s education.

Thesis (M.Ed. Mgt.)--Unitec New Zealand, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-79).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Pennsylvania State University, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Concordia University, Montreal, 1998. / "December, 1998." Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-188).

Question: Can passive static stretching lower blood glucose in an at-risk population? Design: Randomised, within-participant experimental study. Participants: 22 adults (17 males) either at increased risk of Type 2 diabetes or with Type 2 diabetes. Intervention: The participants reported to the laboratory 2. hr after eating a meal, and drank 355. ml of fruit juice (∼43. g carbohydrate). Thirty minutes later, they underwent either a 40. min passive static stretching regimen or a mock passive stretching regimen. Stretching consisted of six lower body and four upper body static passive stretches. For the mock stretches, the same positions were adopted, but no tension was applied to the musculature. Outcome measures: Blood glucose levels for both the stretching and mock stretching were analysed from a finger prick sample using a hand-held glucometer. Values were obtained at baseline (0. min), during the regimen (20. min), and after the regimen (40. min) on both study days. Results: Compared to mock stretch, stretching resulted in a significantly greater drop in blood glucose at 20. min (mean difference 28. mg/dL, 95% CI 13 to 43; or 1.57. mmol/L, 95% CI 0.72 to 2.39). This effect was also statistically significant at 40. min (mean difference 24. mg/dL, 95% CI 9 to 39; or 1.35. mmol/L, 95% CI 0.50 to 2.17). Conclusion: These results suggest that passive static stretching of the skeletal muscles may be an alternative to exercise to help lower blood glucose levels.

In this four-week, family-focused pilot intervention study, researchers studied the impact of culturally relevant nutrition and activity sessions on eleven children from eight Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) families. Mixed methods were used in analysis. In their favorite meal drawings, children included more fruits and vegetables at week four than week one, which was consistent with their self-reported intake of healthy foods that were new to them. From week one to four, mean total scores increased on the nutrition and exercise knowledge exercise questionnaire and the physical activity self-efficacy tool; however, the mean total score decreased on healthy diet self-efficacy tool, and two children moved to less healthy BMI categories. This is the first study on the impact of a family intervention on nutrition and healthy activity for NHPI children. Further studies are needed with larger samples and longer duration to determine the most helpful intervention for NHPI families.

An alarmingly high level of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) college students in the United States end up dropping out of secondary education institutions. One important predictor of academic success and retention at the secondary level is student sense of school belonging. This thesis explores NHPI college students' perceptions of how their university instructors foster or undermine their sense of school belonging. A snowball sample of 97 NHPI students participated in 18 focus groups that included students from various islands and ethnicities in Oceania who were attending one U.S. university in the Pacific Rim. Focus group data were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic analytic approach. Open coding was conducted to investigate ways that NHPI participants talked about how their instructors did or did not help them feel a sense of belonging at the university. Four main findings emerged from this study. First, NHPI students were able to articulate ways their instructors fostered or undermined school belonging, highlighting the importance of instructors for fostering school belonging. Second, responses reveal that NHPI students feel a sense of school belonging when instructors show care and build bridges for academic success. NHPI students also noted why these were so important for them, given their cultural backgrounds and experiences. Conversely, when instructors failed to show care or build bridges, NHPI students shared how directly and devastatingly their sense of school belonging was undermined. Third, many NHPI students shared the positive and negative impacts of these school belonging experiences as pertaining to academic self-efficacy, motivation, and persistence. Finally, NHPI students articulated how important it was for them to have instructors who chose to attend to the student-teacher relationship and were able to provide cultural representation within their classrooms. There are several implications from this study for university instructors who work with NHPI students. First, the teacher-student relationship really matters for these students and instructors must develop relationships with their NHPI students in meaningful ways. Second, instructors should seek to create safe spaces for their NHPI students to speak and share. Third, instructors need to be explicit in their instruction and build the bridges for academic success that NHPI students cannot build for themselves. Overall, instructors should be made aware that they really matter for fostering or undermining NHPI students' experiences of school belonging in the college or university setting.