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Shameful legacy: NZ’s ‘open society’ takes well-deserved beating

In September 1969, hippies thronged to Auckland’s Albert Park to stand up for free speech, protest the Vietnam War, and enjoy the grass. It was part of a movement for free love and free minds that was sweeping the English-speaking world at the time. Read more

Dr Michael Johnston
Dr James Kierstead
The Australian
28 March, 2023
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Critical failure

For a brief moment last year, it looked as if the Ministry of Education was finally going to embrace methods of teaching literacy and numeracy supported by scientific evidence. They published a new literacy and numeracy strategy that made reference to structured teaching methods. Read more

Dr Michael Johnston
Insights Newsletter
24 March, 2023
kerre woodham newstalkzb

Kerre Woodham talks about Working For Families

More families could receive a $72.50 a week tax credit, as part of a massive and fundamental change to the system, after a review of the $3 billion Working for Families tax credit system that ended last year. A review of the scheme, which currently supports just under 350,000 families with children, is before Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni, and has found serious design issues in the way some of the tax credits are applied. Read more

Dr Eric Crampton
Newstalk ZB
21 March, 2023
EPS 149 Paul Kilmartin

Podcast: Mātauranga Māori & Science

Recent Ministry of Education publications bring mātauranga Māori concepts into the school curriculum. While concepts like mauri, a Māori term meaning “vital essence” or “life force”, may have something to offer science as a reflection of ecosystem health or the “life-supporting capacity” of rivers, any interpretation that equated mauri with chemical properties, or as “the binding force between the physical and the spiritual”, had no place in the chemistry curriculum and proposals to incorporate traditional knowledge in science curricula need a lot more reflection, with nobody excluded from the conversation. Read more

Dr James Kierstead
Prof Paul Kilmartin
Podcast
20 March, 2023

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