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Like so much of value in life, education is oblique. Unfortunately, NCEA’s reviewers have yet to appreciate this. Read more
The following article was sent to us by retired English teacher Peter Joyce, who wrote it some 20 years ago for the NZ Education Review. The article illustrates effectively many of the problems that still grip education today. Read more
In this week’s long-form podcast interview, our chief editor Nathan Smith sat down with research fellow Briar Lipson to discuss why New Zealand’s education standards are slipping and how the progressive or “romantic” notions of schooling gained such tight traction in this country. If you would like to listen to our latest podcasts, please subscribe to The New Zealand Initiative podcast on iTunes, Spotify or The Podcast App. Read more
After 12 years of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC), most Kiwi primary schools continue to ignore its main message: they do not weave ‘Key Competencies’ into what or how they teach. The Education Review Office (ERO) confirmed this in recent research. Read more
Imagine if a friend believed cake was more nutritious for children than vegetables, and any time you tried to explain otherwise they closed down the discussion saying the two were a false dichotomy: children should just eat both. This is what happens when the overwhelming evidence in favour of teacher-directed, rather than student-oriented learning achieves air-time in New Zealand. Read more
Last week, an educational resource unveiled by Ministers Shaw and Hipkins was praised by The Guardian newspaper for putting New Zealand “at the forefront of climate change education worldwide”. ACT MP David Seymour judged differently, describing the same resource as “state-organised bullying”. Read more
Standard organisational theory explains the differences between an organisation’s objective (or its goal) and the strategies and tactics it adopts to achieve its objective. If an organisation confuses these concepts, it risks jeopardising its goal. Read more
It can take courage to champion what you believe in. Especially when your views are at odds with those of the crowd. Read more
One of the underappreciated joys of parenthood is lying to your children. Children are full of questions. Read more
Confirmation came this week that New Zealand’s once world-leading school system continues its steady decline. Ever since the OECD began testing the educational performance of 15-year olds in the early 2000s, New Zealand students have performed progressively worse in all three assessed areas of reading, maths and science. Read more