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
Everyone knows the expression, ‘you have to be cruel to be kind’. A suggestion to shorten the school holidays might well be perceived as cruel. Read more
The world is in a mess. According to psychoanalyst Carl Jung, that’s because human psychology is messy. Read more
Michael Johnston discusses improving our childrens' reading and writing with Belinda Blick-Duggan and Dr Helen Walls. Click here to view a range of content that teachers and parents can use to improve childrens' handwriting. Read more
Our young adults are having a rough time of it at the moment. They have, perhaps more than any other age demographic, been impacted by COVID lockdowns. Read more
Elizabeth Rata is a professor in the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. We talked to her about the nature of science; her theory of 'neo-tribal capitalism'; and why 'partial loyalty' might be crucial to liberal democracy. Read more
There are many pressing problems facing New Zealand, but none more urgent than the decay of our once great education system. Every time a young person leaves school without basic literacy and numeracy, it is a travesty. Read more
The chickens of negligence have come home to roost – but they’re not welcome in the Henhouse of Education. As we wrote in Insights last week, in a pilot of new literacy and numeracy assessments for NCEA, only two thirds of assessed students met a basic standard of adult numeracy and reading ability. Read more
The New Zealand Initiative recently commented on a pilot of new reading, writing and numeracy assessments for NCEA. Just a third of students participating in the pilot met the standard for writing. Read more
Just one third of the students participating in a pilot of new literacy and numeracy assessments for NCEA passed the writing assessment, and only two thirds passed each of the reading and numeracy assessments. Michael Johnston talks to Michael Laws, The Platform about the alarming results. Read more
Alarming results have come from a pilot of new literacy and numeracy assessments for NCEA. The new assessments are scheduled to be introduced as part of the Ministry of Education’s review of the NCEA system. Read more
Just one third of the students participating in a pilot of new literacy and numeracy assessments for NCEA passed the writing assessment, and only two thirds passed each of the reading and numeracy assessments. Michael Johnston talks to Andrew Dickens, Newstalk ZB about the these alarming results and what needs to be done about it. Read more
Declining literacy is a contributor to low productivity and New Zealand's students have been let down by the education system. In this podcast Dr Michael Johnston and Amanda Boyd discuss the Ministry of Education's plan to introduce new NCEA requirements and what this means for students, schools and businesses. Read more
It's no secret that low productivity is a major issue for the New Zealand economy. There are many factors contributing to that. Read more
Question: How many electricians does it take to change a lightbulb? Answer: Just one, as long as they’ve completed a Job Safety, Environmental Analysis and Risk Assessment, a COVID-19 Workplace Safety SmartForm and an Electrical Safety Certificate. Read more
In an article in the June 11-17 edition of the New Zealand Listener, speech-language therapist Karena Shannon argued that our education system over-values literacy and under-values oral language. Shannon correctly noted that oral language is “innate” in human beings, whereas literacy is “constructed”. Read more