Early mathematical thinking is often missed when assessment focuses only on numbers and symbols. This article explores how young children express mathematical ideas through multiple modes in play-based contexts, including gesture, drawing, construction, movement, and interaction with materials. Drawing on social semiotics, embodied learning, and play-based pedagogy, this article highlights ...

Persistent concerns about arithmetic fluency in primary classrooms often focus on whether students can produce correct answers, rather than how those answers are generated. Drawing on research in mental computation and formative assessment, and on large-scale professional learning work across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, this article introduces the one-question ...

Meeting the NCEA numeracy co-requisite requires students to do more than perform calculations correctly. The common assessment activity administered by NZQA assesses students’ ability to apply mathematics and statistics in everyday contexts, interpret information, and justify conclusions. This article draws on the numeracy task complexity schema to analyse the demands ...

This article unpacks what a knowledge-rich curriculum means and how this concept has shaped the refreshed Aotearoa New Zealand curriculum. It looks at the whakapapa of the idea and how it connects with the science of learning. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of fact-based curricula and considers the essential ...

When Aotearoa New Zealand shifted from in-class to online learning in 2020 because of COVID-19 mitigation measures, 319 of our incoming university students ended up taking the same test in two different ways: pen/paper first and then keyboard/screen second. Five years later, we have correlated those students’ text-production capabilities at ...

Under the Wharf is a marine science outreach programme designed to engage school-aged students with the impacts of ocean warming through visual storytelling as well as hands-on, inquiry-based learning. Developed at the New Zealand Marine Science Centre, the programme integrates field, laboratory, and classroom activities to educate students about marine ...

The National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) were introduced to create a fairer and more flexible assessment system for all learners in Aotearoa New Zealand. Yet recent political debates and government announcements have signalled significant structural reform. These announcements have moved the reforms beyond the proposal stage and into confirmed ...

This article focuses on exploring the development of a succinct resource package to support professional conversations about social studies resources. The package, designed through research conducted by the Aotearoa Social Studies Educators’ Network (ASSEN), is intended as guidance for Aotearoa New Zealand primary-school teachers when selecting, adapting, and using resources ...

Through her postgraduate study, Julia had realised that she needed, in teaching curriculum content, to plan language objectives for the English language learners in her classroom. Rosemary, one of her former lecturers, observed how she incorporated the same specific language focus into English and maths lessons for her Year 2 ...