
Free Kiwis! podcast: Democracy, online content regulation, smoking and pirates
This week's podcast is a Free Kiwis episode. Drs Michael Johnston and James Kierstead discussed a range of issues with Dr Eric Crampton. Read more
Michael is a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. He leads the Initiative’s work on education. He is a cognitive psychologist with a background in literacy research, educational assessment and psychometrics.
Prior to his time at the Initiative, he was the Associate Dean (Academic) of the Faculty of Education at Victoria University of Wellington. Between 2005 and 2011, he worked at the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), where he developed a new, more reliable, marking system for NCEA examinations. In 2024, Michael chaired a Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) for Education Minister Erica Stanford. The MAG advised on the development of a knowledge-rich curriculum for English and mathematics. Following that work, Michael is currently a member of the Curriculum Coherence group, which advises on the development of knowledge-rich curricula across all school subjects. Michael is also a member of a technical advisory group to NZQA on assessment for NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship.
In his time at The New Zealand Initiative, Michael has published reports on Modern Learning Environments, systems reform in education, teacher education, the use of AI in education, and pathways for industry training and apprenticeships.
Phone: 044990790
This week's podcast is a Free Kiwis episode. Drs Michael Johnston and James Kierstead discussed a range of issues with Dr Eric Crampton. Read more
Holly Gooch is part of the KiwiNet Emerging Innovator programme to progress a project to help twice-exceptional secondary students. Michael Johnston sat down with Holly to talk about her PhD research project. Read more
History is replete with war motivated by religious disagreement. One example is the centuries-long clash between the Catholic and Protestant variants of Christianity. Read more
Michael Johnston sat down with Emma Chatterton, Strategic Project Lead at ImpactLab, to discuss her experience gaining registration and certification as an overseas-trained teacher. In addition, they discuss how New Zealand might improve teacher supply through immigration, and the country's growing truancy rate. Read more
Spending money does not, on its own, fix problems. It matters how that money is spent. Perhaps you think that is obvious. Read more
The debate over free speech at universities continues to rage across the English-speaking world, including in this country. But what does the data show? Read more
Hailed as the “first freedom,” free speech is the bedrock of democracy. But it is a challenging principle, subject to erosion in times of upheaval. Read more
One of the few things more irritating than someone saying, “I told you so”, is someone sticking their fingers in their ears when you’re trying to tell them something important. In July of this year, the New Zealand Initiative published a Policy Note titled, A Way Ahead for Literacy and Numeracy. Read more
James Kierstead and Michael Johnston discuss the results of a second pilot for literacy and numeracy assessments, as well as an upcoming survey on the extent to which university students are willing to express their ideas. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
I’ve always thought of Wellington as being a bit like Tolkien’s Hobbiton. It’s peaceful, comfortable, and largely ignored by the dark forces of the world. Read more
The Prime Minister has announced a new strategy for tackling inflation. The announcement follows recent legislation transferring responsibility for fiscal management from the Reserve Bank to the Ministry for the Environment. Read more
In this episode Michael Johnston hosts Oliver Hartwich and Eric Crampton to discuss various European crises and how New Zealand should be learning from, and not repeating, the European mistakes. To listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
Imagine that you are given a new project at work. It is similar to things you’ve done before, but more complex. Read more
In 2011 the Ministry of Education initiated a new school property strategy. Its aim was to replace New Zealand’s classrooms with ‘Modern Learning Environments’ (MLEs). Read more
Wellington (Tuesday, 20 September 2022) – Ideology rather than evidence is the basis for the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) ‘Modern Leaning Environments’, research by think tank The New Zealand Initiative reveals. The fact that a government ministry could not produce data to support its policy for mass conversion of New Zealand’s classrooms to Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs), is the main finding of the Initiative’s new report, No Evidence, No Evaluation, No Exit – Lessons from the 'Modern Learning Environments' experiment. Read more