Improving learning opportunities: Why schools can’t do it on their own

In this article Cathy Wylie, a chief researcher at the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, provides an account of New Zealand’s education system from the introduction of self-managing schools under Tomorrow’s Schools through to the present day. Dr Wylie draws on her recent book Vital Connections to critically examine the assumptions and structures that have underpinned self-managing schools. Her book describes the many ways in which schools are disconnected from the Ministry of Education and from one another. She suggests that much stronger connections and relationships are needed, locally and centrally, to address the fundamental challenges that schools face today, especially with regard to improving the educational futures of “priority learner groups”.