https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/massey/oai:mro.massey.ac.nz:10179/6304
type: CreativeWork
name: Conceptualisations of teaching and learning in the policies of the NZQA : critique and case studies : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Administration at Massey University
description: The study originated from a concern that the nature of teaching in polytechnics was undergoing a fundamental change. Increasingly, it seemed, teaching and learning were being seen as the means for achieving measurable outcomes, rather than as processes, valuable in their own right, encompassing outcomes that are difficult to define and measure. The research aimed to discover whether, in the context of changes associated with the educational reforms, which began impacting upon teaching in New Zealand polytechnics in the late 1980s and continued into the 1990s, polytechnic lecturers were conceptualising teaching and learning in a similar way to the conceptualisation implied by the reforms. A major part of the study involved exploratory case studies of six polytechnic lecturers, aimed at discovering how the lecturers conceptualised teaching and learning. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. Attention was given to not only the surface meanings clearly expressed by the lecturers, but also to deeper meanings and influences that may not have been clear to the individual lecturers, and, thus, not accessible by direct questioning. Three automotive engineering and three nursing lecturers were chosen for the case studies. Documents and legislation relating to teaching and learning in polytechnics were analysed to find how teaching and learning were conceptualised. The conceptualisation inferred from the document analysis was attributed to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) which , in effect, is the government's "arm" developing and implementing policies and changes affecting teaching and learning in polytechnics, including changes related to the National Qualifications Framework. The findings reveal a marked contrast between the lecturers' and the NZQA's conceptualisations. The NZQA is inferred to conceive that the means are separated from the ends of teaching and learning; learning and knowledge are capable of precise description, pre-speci…
abstract: The study originated from a concern that the nature of teaching in polytechnics was undergoing a fundamental change. Increasingly, it seemed, teaching and learning were being seen as the means for achieving measurable outcomes, rather than as processes, valuable in their own right, encompassing outcomes that are difficult to define and measure. The research aimed to discover whether, in the context of changes associated with the educational reforms, which began impacting upon teaching in New Zealand polytechnics in the late 1980s and continued into the 1990s, polytechnic lecturers were conceptualising teaching and learning in a similar way to the conceptualisation implied by the reforms. A major part of the study involved exploratory case studies of six polytechnic lecturers, aimed at discovering how the lecturers conceptualised teaching and learning. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. Attention was given to not only the surface meanings clearly expressed by the lecturers, but also to deeper meanings and influences that may not have been clear to the individual lecturers, and, thus, not accessible by direct questioning. Three automotive engineering and three nursing lecturers were chosen for the case studies. Documents and legislation relating to teaching and learning in polytechnics were analysed to find how teaching and learning were conceptualised. The conceptualisation inferred from the document analysis was attributed to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) which , in effect, is the government's "arm" developing and implementing policies and changes affecting teaching and learning in polytechnics, including changes related to the National Qualifications Framework. The findings reveal a marked contrast between the lecturers' and the NZQA's conceptualisations. The NZQA is inferred to conceive that the means are separated from the ends of teaching and learning; learning and knowledge are capable of precise description, pre-speci…
author: Perry, John
keywords: Technical education teachers, New Zealand, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Teaching, Learning
date published: 2000
date modified: 2026-07-27T20:17:14Z
provider: Massey University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Massey University