Podcast: Getting New Zealand's primary literacy reforms right
Dr Michael Johnston
30 July, 2026
In this episode, Michael talks with Dr Helen Walls, who served on the ministerial advisory group on literacy and numeracy. Helen is generally supportive of New Zealand's primary literacy reforms but warns that pre-planned programmes, overuse of decodable books, slideshow-led lessons and pedantic grammar teaching can crowd out meaningful reading and writing. She argues that handwriting and knowledge-rich teaching will do most to narrow the educational gap between richer and poorer children.