New Zealand Journal of Teachers' Work
Not a member yet
365 research outputs found
Sort by
Why Did Kath, Mary and Kim Get So Little Education (and Is There Hope for Their Children)?
Full text linkThis paper seeks to understand the reasons why there is such a strong relationship between poverty and poor child educational outcomes. It reports preliminary findings of in-depth interviews with three women who have spent most of the past five years on the DPB and live in the poorest part of Christchurch. The focus of this paper is on these wome
Exploring how Te Whāriki and the New Zealand Curriculum prepare children and students for an Art of Living
Full text linkThis qualitative study looked at Wilhelm Schmid’s concept of the Art of Living (AoL) in relation to the current New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and Te Whāriki. The methodology included a brief content analysis of both Te Whāriki and the NZC in relation to relevant knowledge areas and skills for the development of an AoL, as well as interviews of three participants to provide empirical data. From the participant data, four key themes emerged: support from parents; need for practical aspects within the curriculum(s); post-secondary school guidance; and positive working experiences. The overall findings suggest that Te Whāriki places a large emphasis on the relationships between kaiako, whānau and tamariki, relating to theme one. It was also found that the NZC could provide more opportunities for practical life skills to be included in the curriculum, as well as providing clearer instruction on how to implement effective careers education and other knowledge areas and thinking skills relevant for students to develop their own art of living
‘Whose Education Is It Anyway?’: Why It Is Important That Teachers Understand and Question the Broader Contexts Shaping the Curriculum
Full text linkTeachers need to understand the economic and global contexts that underpin the curriculum because they impact on the interpretation, definition and perception of their role. Grundy (1994) maintains that there is a “… taken for granted view of the curriculum as something that is given to, or provided for, students” (p.27). This view of curriculum fails to acknowledge the crucial, dynamic role that teachers and students bring to the active construction of knowledge. Teachers need to be prepared to understand the ideologies underpinning the curriculum that they interpret and deliver. They should be aware of the reconstruction of knowledge and the changing values that they impart through the delivery of the curriculum. The politicisation of education directly affects teachers. This new alternative concept of teaching is changing the role of teachers from professional contextualists to that of technocratic reductionists (Codd, 1998)
Signing Off the Standards, Making the Disciplines Mandatory
Full text linkThe place of the foundational disciplines in teacher education has long been an issue of on-going debate amongst programme developers, teacher educators and students. In 1951 a departmental report on the recruitment, education and training of teachers acknowledged that the work of practising teachers, academics and research students in a number of disciplinary areas had resulted in ‘an immense growth of knowledge relevant to the business of education’ (Campbell, 1951, p.2). Concerned educators, who have been aware of the limitations of our educational system in providing equitable outcomes for all students, have seized the opportunities such knowledges have provided to inform their practice. Others have remained sceptical and chosen to ignore the possibilities that attention to such insights may offer. However, with the introduction of the Graduating Teacher Standards (New Zealand Teachers Council [NZTC], 2008) and the imperative for students to demonstrate critical engagement with contextual factors, courses drawing on disciplinary perspectives have become mandatory. It is no longer possible for graduating teachers to accept the advice of less critical and more sceptical colleagues to forget the theory of education since they are about to go into the real world
Inaugural Editorial
No full textOur intention in launching this journal is to provide a virtual collegial forum in which teachers, researchers, policymakers and others with an interest in teaching can safely document and explore the complexity of teacher
Creative STEM Pathways - Supporting Pacific Learners through 3D Printing: Supporting Pacific Learners through 3D Printing
No full textThe low participation of Pacific students in tertiary STEM studies has implications for schools as they consider how best to engage these learners in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). This article reports on an innovative project that supports Pacific learners with STEM learning through 3D printing technology. Creative STEM Pathways is a university-led initiative which has successfully brought 3D technology to the classroom, providing culturally-sustaining, hands-on and relevant learning opportunities. We used an Appreciative Inquiry lens to help us explore how the programme could create positive learning experiences. In this article, we share experiences of its development and delivery. We highlight successes and challenges, offering practical insight to those considering similar innovation in the classroom
Learners and Outcomes: Where Did All the Children Go?
Full text linkIdeas about the nature and purpose of education shape the language that is used to talk about teaching. This influences teaching practice. Research on education policy shows a significant move in New Zealand toward the idea that education is a commodity to be traded in the market place. In this context a language of learners and of outcomes emphasises a production output role for teachers over wider concerns for children and their wellbeing. This paper considers the origins of market ideas and suggests that commercialising education has implications for how teachers relate to children
Enhancing Teachers’ Questioning Skills to Improve Children’s Learning and Thinking in Pacific Island Early Childhood Centres
Full text linkAs we move from a teacher-led mode of teaching and learning to more child-initiated approaches, questions rather than answers are imperative in shaping the socio-cognitive development of learners as they explore and make meaning in collaborative contexts. This paper outlines an action research study with 20 Pacific Island teachers held in 6 different Pacific Island early childhood centres. The participants of the study were trained on a modified model of ‘Questioning and Understanding Improves Learning and Thinking’ (QUILT) that focused on different teacher behaviours and skills in the process of questioning. Important changes in beliefs and practices were found after the intervention particularly in relation to the fostering of divergent thinking through the type of questions teachers asked and how they undertook the questioning episodes. This paper concludes that it is important to focus on promoting novice teachers’ knowledge and skills in questioning so that they can support children’s higher levels of thinking. This is especially relevant for teachers in Pacific Island early childhood centres
Negotiating Discourses: A Pākehā Teacher Educator’s Exploration of Bicultural Teaching Practice
Full text linkBicultural teaching practice in Aotearoa New Zealand is based on commitment to partnerships reflecting Te Tiriti o Waitangi/ The Treaty of Waitangi between Māori and non-Māori cultures, and is governed by professional standards and documents. I am a Pākehā (European ethnicity) early childhood teacher educator concerned about how effectively I engage in bicultural teaching practice. According to Michel Foucault’s theories, individuals’ self-understandings are shaped within discourses that frame their values and beliefs, and their thoughts and actions. This article reports on poststructural self-study research into my negotiations within three discourses of bicultural teacher education practice, as well as discourses of colonisation that continue to pervade Aotearoa New Zealand
The Alignment of Innovative Learning Environments and Inclusive Education: How Effective is the New Learning Environment in Meeting the Needs of Special Education Learners?
Full text linkThis article examines Innovative Learning Environments (ILE’s) in terms of its promise to deliver an inclusive environment. While ILE’s underpinning philosophy is to be inclusive for all, it appears that inclusion serves the needs of a wider mainstream audience. The article considers the research in this area critically, with a focus on the inclusive needs of students with disabilities and asks—whose inclusive needs are best served in an ILE context? This article argues that inclusion in an ILE which addresses the needs of students with disabilities has yet to be fully realised, and that an alternative inclusive education (IE) paradigm is required that aligns itself with the new ILE pedagogical environment