Institute of Education | Massey University

Private Bag 102 904 | North Shore Mail Centre

Auckland 0745 | New Zealand


New Zealand Primary School Teachers Preparedness to Teach Children
with Chronic Illnesses

QUESTIONNAIRE INFORMATION SHEET

Kia ora koutou ng kaiako | Dear teachers,

My name is Nicola Adams and I am a student at Massey University studying toward a
Master of Educational Psychology. I am conducting research investigating New Zealand
primary school teachers experiences and perceived preparedness with respect to
teaching children with chronic illnesses. I would like to invite you to share your insights
and experiences.

About the research
In Aotearoa New Zealand, a significant proportion of the school-aged population suffers
from a chronic illness. Advanced medicines and assistive technologies enable most
children with chronic illnesses to participate in mainstream schooling. However, their
medical conditions can disrupt their learning journey, and they may be at risk of social,
emotional, and behavioural maladjustment and academic under-achievement. It is
important to understand what training and support you need, as teachers, to ensure a
positive school experience for chronically ill children.

What is a chronic illness?
For the purpose of this study, a chronic illness is defined as any medical condition that
persists or recurs over a long period of time, disrupts daily functioning, and necessitates
ongoing medical intervention. Examples of childhood chronic illnesses include arthritis,
asthma, cancer, diabetes, eczema, epilepsy, heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease,
and kidney disease.

Given the specific focus of this study, the following are NOT considered chronic illnesses:
o Behavioural concerns (e.g., attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder, autism
spectrum disorder);
o Mental health concerns (e.g., depression, obsessive compulsive disorder);
o Physical disabilities (e.g., blindness, deafness);
o Intellectual disabilities.

Why am I receiving this invitation?
This is a nationwide survey. The invitation to participate is extended to all New Zealand
registered or provisionally registered teachers working in the primary school sector (i.e.,
teachers of Year 1 to 6 students). You are receiving this invitation because your schools
email address was obtained from the Education Counts directory or because of your
readership of the Education Gazette.


Why should I participate?
It is intended that the results of this study will highlight pre- and in-service training
priorities for our teaching workforce and will provide insight into how best to prepare
teachers to support the learning needs of these children. It is also hoped that this study
will stimulate further local and international inquiry into the educational impact of
chronic illness and how to ensure chronically ill children have access to a positive
educational experience. Your frontline insights would be invaluable.

What does this study involve?
This study will be conducted in two phases:

1. Online Questionnaire
Phase one involves an online questionnaire that is expected to take about 20 minutes to
complete. Respondents will answer up to a total of 28 questions, which are a range of
multiple choice, rating scale, ranking, and open-ended items. The questionnaire will be
accessible online, via Survey Monkey, until 17th September 2017. At the end of the
questionnaire, participants will be asked to indicate whether they would be willing to be
contacted about the second phase of the study.

2. Phone-Interview
The second phase of the study will involve semi-structured phone interviews with a
small number of the questionnaire participants. The intention of these interviews will be
to follow up on general trends or ambiguities in the questionnaire data and to gain a
more in-depth understanding of teachers experiences and recommendations with
regard to teaching chronically ill children.

Will questionnaire responses be anonymous?
Unless a participant indicates that they are willing to be contacted for a follow-up
interview, they will not be asked to provide information that could identify them, their
school, or their student(s). Any such information that is provided inadvertently, will be
removed from the data. The risk of unwittingly identifying a participant or their school
will be minimised by including a wide range of participants and schools.

Participants who indicate that they are willing to be contacted about the second phase
of the study will be asked to provide an email address. This will mean that their
questionnaire responses are identifiable to the researcher and the research supervisors.
All reasonable measures will be taken to ensure that their responses remain
confidential, and their email addresses will be removed from the data prior to data
analysis. No participant will be identifiable in the report. At no point in the study will a
participant be asked to provide information that could identify any student.

What will happen to questionnaire responses?
Responses to this questionnaire will be stored on Survey Monkey and will only be
accessible by the researcher and her supervisors. The research findings will be
presented in a written thesis and may be published in journals or conference
proceedings. The data will be stored for two years before being disposed of by the
first supervisor.


If you would like to receive a summary of the research findings at the completion of this
project, please contact the primary researcher (nicola.adams.8@uni.massey.ac.nz) with
the subject line: Request for Summary of Findings.

Participants rights
You are under no obligation to accept this invitation. If you choose to participate, you
have the right to decline to answer any particular question and to withdraw from the
questionnaire up until the point of submission. Submitting your responses at the end of
the questionnaire will imply consent.

Participant care
Given the subject matter, completing this questionnaire may cause you to view your
teaching practices from a new perspective and you may find it valuable to debrief with a
colleague. You are encouraged to seek professional advice and support in the event that
your participation in this questionnaire evokes feelings of discomfort, stress, or grief.

Questionnaire link
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2KZBD6F

Ethics
This project has been reviewed and approved by the Massey University Human Ethics
Committee: Southern B, Application 17/21. If you have any concerns about the conduct
of this research, please contact Dr Rochelle Stewart-Withers, Chair, Massey University
Human Ethics Committee: Southern B, telephone 06 356 9099 x 83657, email
humanethicsouthb@massey.ac.nz

Project contacts
If you have any questions regarding your participation in this questionnaire then please
feel free to contact the researcher or one of the research supervisors:

Nicola Adams - Primary Researcher
Massey University Student
nicola.adams.8@uni.massey.ac.nz

Roseanna Bourke - First Supervisor
Associate Professor in Learning and Assessment
Massey University
r.bourke@massey.ac.nz

Terence Edwards Second Supervisor

Senior Professional Clinician
Massey University
t.edwards@massey.ac.nz