Implementing New Zealand Curriculum

The current schooling system finds it difficult to truly engage Pasifika learners and bring out their inner giftedness. While Pasifika giftedness is recognised by Pasifika parents, families, and communities, it is not overtly visible in schools. This article supports teachers and schools to explore the notion of Pasifika giftedness. Pasifika learners are gifted when aspects of their cultures are highlighted.

Gifted students are often grouped by ability, across a continuum of inclusive education provisions, in order to facilitate learning with like-minded peers. The literature on like-mindedness is limited; research investigating preferences for how students and teachers perceive like-minded groupings is also limited. This article reports the results of interviews with four gifted students, their parents and teachers, specifically seeking to understand grouping preferences. The students’ preferences for working in groups were context, activity, and membership dependent.

This article is written for primary teachers who are not fluent in the Māori language (te reo Māori), about how and why te reo Māori can and should be used in the classroom. This article aims to help teachers understand the relevance of current policy documents, and to present useful guidelines on ways classroom practice can support the larger goals of the Ministry of Education, the government, and the nation as a whole, for ensuring a bright future for this beautiful indigenous language with which we have been entrusted.