Conferences

Professor Russell Bishop

Maori student retention and participation – outcomes from his very successful UCOL study in collaboration with Cognition Trust.

Fetaui and Sonny Iosefo

Fetaui Iosefo is the youngest daughter of Fuimaono Luse Vui-Siope and Sua Muamai Vui-Siope. Sonny is the eldest son of Sauimalae Iosefo and Fonoti Sanele Iosefo both of their parents migrated from Samoa to Aotearoa in the late 1950s. Fetaui and Sonny have the privilege of having two beautiful sons: Joshua who is married to Dallin and Muamai who is still at primary school. Both Sonny and Fetaui are advocates for Foundation studies. Sonny did foundation studies to strengthen his literacy and numeracy skills to be able to apply for the Police Force. Once Sonny settled into his career and their eldest son Joshua was five Fetaui, then enrolled in the Foundation program. They will be sharing their experiences of foundation education and its impact for them.

Julie Thorburn (Te Pūkenga Foundation programmes)

Development of the NZQA Foundation Qualifications for delivery.

Fleur Connor-Douglas (Director Curriculum Transformation, Massey University) 

Most famous for travelling from Attari, India to Istanbul, Turkey guided only by a sketch map originally drawn in the sand on a beach somewhere in Gokarna, India, Fleur is also well known for her work in curriculum design and academic literacies. Her applied linguistics and education background coupled with experience as a pre- and in-service teacher trainer and assessor in New Zealand and beyond, and a stint as an online learning development coordinator, laid the foundation for her current role as Director, Curriculum Transformation at Massey University. Fleur currently leads a strategic project which pulls together the strengths of approaches such as Salmon’s Carpe Diem Model, Kift et al.’s 3rd generation transition pedagogies and Scott’s FLIPCurric to create courses and programmes intentionally scaffolded against a literacies framework she co-developed with a team of Massey academic and professional staff.

Day 1 Thursday 10th February 2022

Day 2 Friday 11th February 2022

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS: PRACTICE AND RESEARCH

• Decolonising Foundation Education
  

  Facilitator/Presenter: Shelley Ashley (Pākehā),

  Senior Foundation Tutor, Massey University, FABENZ Māori SIG member.

  In the context of decolonising Foundation and Bridging education and promoting equitable outcomes for Māori students, what can and should we as Pākehā and other Tauiwi ally educators do?

  In the recent book by Elkington et al. ‘Imagining Decolonisation’, Amanda Thomas as the Pākehā contributor starts to explore the role of Pākehā in decolonisation. She highlights behaviour and ideas that we can challenge: from subtle ‘unintentional’ expressions of privilege to overt white supremacism, and the positive actions we can take to work as supportive allies of Māori to create a more equitable society together.

  This discussion will be an opportunity to briefly gain familiarity with Thomas’s concept of being a Pākehā /Tauiwi ally and then offer the opportunity to share perspectives on what attitudes and actions are being, and can be adopted to further this kaupapa in different Foundation education contexts.

  Questions to discuss will be decided by the group, but might include: What is an authentic and appropriate pepeha for non-Māori? How do we respectfully include elements of Te Reo and Māori tikanga in our educational spaces and practices? How do we respectfully engage with karakia?

  We welcome all educators Māori and non-Māori who are committed to, or interested in the decolonisation kaupapa to share perspectives in this discussion.

  
  

• Dr Lesley Collins

  Blended and online delivery in foundation programmes, experiences and ideas from lockdown and non-lockdown teaching

  In the last two years we have had to embrace online teaching during Covid-19 lockdowns and some of this has been good, some bad and some just plain ugly. For many teachers and tutors it was a relief to get back to the classroom. However, in the future we will engage with our students more online especially in a blended environment. Many discussions have focused on the issues especially around technology access and experience. This round table discussion is intended as an opportunity to share ideas and experiences in a positive manner, to focus on what worked and how we overcame many barriers to keep our students engaged and progressing in their studies. Topics can include: technology, timetabling around our students’ home lives, how we kept students engaged and promoting a sense of community online. We all did amazing things during what was a highly stressful time and now is the time to share and applaud our efforts and to use that to guide advice to our institutions and Te Pūkenga.

  
  

• Louise Miller

  Cognition Education

  Title: Te Atakura – a culturally responsive teaching approach in tertiary education based on Relationships First teaching and learning practices.

  Abstract

  Effective relationships are at the heart of learning. Understanding students’ experiences and the context of your community helps to address key cultural and pedagogical practices required to create equitable outcomes for Māori and minoritised groups.

  Over the last eight years UCoL continue to embed such practices and as a result have seen a significant reduction in the disparity of achievement between Māori and non-Māori students.

  UCoL were the first tertiary institution globally to implement and eventually embed the research and development work of Emeritus Professor Russell Bishop. This work started in 2013 in partnership with Cognition Education.

  Te Atakura, a culturally responsive model based on Relationships First teaching and learning practices is now the foundation of educational success within their institution.

  This approach created systemic change, where all educators were and continue to be supported to interact in ways to promote students as culturally located and engaged learners.

  Bishop’s work responds in ways that lead to significant lifts in learning and achievement by creating a family like context for learning, implementing both relational and pedagogical practices known to make a difference for Māori learners.

  This round table will provide an opportunity to discuss and ask questions of these fundamental approaches of Relationships First/Te Atakura presented by Emeritus Professor Russell Bishop.

  Bishop, R. (2019). Teaching to the North East. Relationship-based Learning in Practice. NZCER Press, Wellington.

  
  

• Jill Morgan and Reina Daji.

  Wrap around student support: Our level 4 Foundation has experienced excellent pastoral support over the last 2 years because of changes to the way student advisors are holistically embedded in the programme. Based on manaakitanga, student advisors work alongside tutors to ensure every student is looked after and support for non-academic issues is provided. This means students are no longer falling between the cracks and even in a large programme of 180+ students receive timely assistance and a range of flexible options
  
  

• Dr ‘Elisapesi Havea (Waikato Institute of Technology)

  Talanoa is an oral form of communication which enables people in the Pacific to learn and relate to each other through narration and storytelling (Morrison et al., 2002; Tavola, 1991), thus talanoa is used for creating and transferring knowledge (Vaioleti, 2013). In my research, talanoa was employed as a teaching and learning approach using ideas of talanoa fakatoka, talanoa felāfoaki, and talanoa kavekavehoko. Talanoa with its dialogic and interactive nature was considered as an appropriate teaching and learning approach because it may help elevating the effectiveness of teaching and communicating climate change in the Tongan classroom. The three ideas of talanoa were used to conduct the Professional Learning Development (PLD) with teachers and later used during the classroom teaching.
  
  

• Robyn Gandall and Jess Costall

  Numeracy, mathematics, science and statistics in a bright new world

  The TES NELP strategy mentions numeracy as an essential foundational skill under Objective 2, further explaining akonga need opportunities to develop these skills and access to quality provision. In addition, the new certificates for foundation and bridging education specify integration of numeracy within all certificate programmes. With the recent NZQA curriculum review documents blurring of numeracy, mathematics and statistics, questions begin to arise about what quality integrated numeracy teaching and learning looks like. and how we might teach this. In this roundtable we will question, amongst other issues, what does numeracy mean, how does integration in certificate programmes link to developing skills and quality provision, how do we determine essential numeracy (and mathematics and statistics) skills, and what can we do to ensure quality delivery of these essential skills?

  References

  https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/NELP-TES-documents/FULL-TES-2020.pdf

  The New Zealand Certificates in Study and Career Preparation (to be replaced by the NZ Certificates in Study and Employment Pathways) Levels 3 and 4 are currently delivered at 36 organisations throughout New Zealand. As part of Te Pūkenga we will need to develop unified programmes. This round table discussion will be an opportunity for educators to meet, build collaborative relationships and start to familiarise themselves with each others’ programme structures and content, ahead of the formalised programme unification process.

  This discussion will focus on:
  1. Whanaungatanga – building relationships
     • Introductions
     • Discussing how we would like to communicate as a group going forward
  2. Mahi Ngātahi – collaboration
     • Sharing details of our programmes with each other. A summary of the varying programme structures that exist around the country will be provided. Participants can then discuss programme structure and content at their subsidiaries in more detail, including what qualifications they pathway into, and the particular strengths of their programmes. This will allow us to build a picture of the similarities and differences that currently exist, and start to generate ideas about what unified programmes could look like.
  
  

• Kia Ora Koutou,

  Ko Dassia Matavalea ahau.

  I am of a multicultural background whereby I am bilingual in Bahasa Indonesia, of Australian Indigenous heritage, and from a multicultural family of Pakeha, Korean, Indonesian, Thai, and Tongan mix. I am undertaking doctoral study in the area of foundation education, where I have taught for some 20 years. Utilising Pacific research methodologies, my primary focus is to explore student experiences of the development of critical thinking skills and their application to the areas of intercultural communication, cultural concepts of wellbeing, and colonisation. At this conference, I will share my research journey from the perspective of a foundation educator teaching diverse groups of learners. A significant area of interest for me is the intersection of culture and education, and the implications of this for those of us whose mission is to prepare learners for further study. I am excited about the opportunity to engage in this korero-talanoa with fellow bridging educators.

  
  

• Graeme Smith and Annette Tofaeono – Ako Aotearoa

  The Tapatoru Ako Professional Practice Award

  This interactive session will provide insight into an exciting new initiative, the Tapatoru Ako Professional Practice Award. Commissioned by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and developed by Ako Aotearoa, the Tapatoru will launch in early 2022.

  The Tapatoru is designed to support sustainable professional development capability in organisations and is a learner-centred framework that results in professional awards for education and training practitioners. Awardees will demonstrate that fundamental values underpin their teaching and learning knowledge and practices.

  The Tapatoru is grounded in mātauranga Māori, which shapes the process and is reflective of both Māori and Pacific values promoting an approach conducive to supporting ākonga in tertiary education settings in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

  This professional practice award will provide a key mechanism for creating a culture of support for ongoing Professional Learning and Development (PLD) within organisations that is relevant and fit-for-purpose for the years ahead within a rapidly evolving inclusive and diverse tertiary landscape.

  A successful pilot and continuous improvements to the programme design have resulted in an enhanced iteration to building capability and offering the award at both an organisational and individual level.

  We will share the whakapapa of this work, the lessons learned throughout the journey and the difference it could make to any tertiary education organisation.

  Join us as we present to you the Tapatoru Ako Professional Practice Award, a powerful reflective practice tool complemented by resources and services managed by Ako Aotearoa for leading system-wide educator capability building in organisations across the tertiary education sector. 

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP SESSIONS

• Māori Learners

  Coordinated by Te Awatea Ward, Huhana Watene

  The Māori focus special interest group will be looking to encourage best practice under Te Tiriti ō Waitangi for our Māori tauira and all staff within our sector. We aim to also collate a repository of research, resources and narratives that will support this practice which can be accessed through the FABENZ website.
  
  

• Pacific Learners

  Coordinated by Aiono Manu Fa’aea

  Engagement and achievement strategies that focus on pedagogical and andragogical approaches that work for Pacific learners.

  
  

• Programme development for the revised Levels 1-4 NZ Certificates in Foundation & Bridging Education

  Coordinated by Rae Trewartha within the keynote workshop on programme unification.

  Working on collaboration around the development of the revised Level 1-4 NZ Certificates in Foundation and Bridging Education programmes.

  It appears that Te Pukenga (New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology) is expecting the content for the new programmes to be 80% mandated and 20% the responsibility of the delivery sites.

  Our collaborative voices thus need to be an integral component of this programme development.

  
  

• Online Learning

  Coordinated by Dr Lesley Collins

  UCOL (Universal College of Learning)

  The Online Learning SIG is dedicated to supporting collaboration and communication among online educators.

  It is to encourage an active interest in online in bridging education, and aims to engage in meaningful discussions around areas including (but not limited to):

  • online enabling pedagogy
  • educational resources available for online learning
  • the limitations and possibilities of educational technologies
  • supporting online learning for bridging education learners.
  
  

• Research

  Coordinated by Helen Anderson

  We are working on a project that will scope current Foundation and Bridging Education, its role and impact, using the 2001 Benseman and Russ survey as a starting point.

  I believe we need to be evidencing the ongoing importance of Foundation and Bridging to the life chances of people not otherwise served by the education system.

  The SIG session at conference will provide an update on the Ethics approval and trial of the survey and get ready for distribution.

Call for Contributions has now closed

There are opportunities to facilitate Round Tables (practices, policy, research in progress) or to present on your research.

Round Tables will be “sit-down” discussions. Materials and artefacts may be shared at the table (but no powerpoint). The role of the facilitator is to draw participants into conversations on their topic.

Presentations of research may be more formal but you are encouraged to plan for productive participant engagement and minimal use of ppt.

The conference schedule will include 50-min slots for parallel sessions as above.

You are invited to submit a 300-word abstract outlining the session you wish to facilitate by Friday 14 January 2022. We will respond to your submission by Monday 24 January 2022.

Submit an abstract

Scholarship applications have now closed

The purpose of these scholarships is to support attendance at the 2021 FABENZ conference. We have ten $200 scholarships on offer to help cover travel, accommodation and/or registration.

Anyone may apply for the scholarship by submitting a short application covering the following:

1. Positioning yourself with respect to FABENZ (if you’re new, we would like to hear about how you know about us).
2. Your reason(s) for wanting to attend the conference and what you are hoping to gain by attending.
3. Reasons the scholarship is useful for you.

Submissions should be no longer than 600 words please. Applications will close Friday 14 January 2022 and we will let you of the outcomes by Monday 24 January 2022.

application form