Real improvement cannot come from anywhere other than within schools themselves. “Within” is a complex web of values and beliefs, norms, social and power relationships and emotions. Changing schools is not just about changing curricula, teaching and learning strategies, assessment, structures, roles and responsibilities. It requires an understanding of and ...

A recent NZCER research project focused on computer use in the home and school or ECE centre by children with special needs. It provided information about how the use of computers can benefit children with special needs, the role of the family in the learning process, the importance of professional ...

Curriculum integration is much misunderstood. As a curriculum design and a pedagogy, it requires a commitment to power sharing when making curriculum decisions with students. When teachers negotiate curriculum with students, the learning and teaching is of direct relevance to the world of young people in diverse settings. In the ...

The impressive research base on co-operative learning shows that it helps teachers to raise the academic achievement of all students, as well as helping students with healthy social, psychological and cognitive development. However, many of the benefits of co-operative learning strategies are not realised because of poor or partial implementation ...

The Hikairo Rationale is an approach to behaviour management which encapsulates an amalgam of contemporary theory and traditional Maori discipline. It provides a conceptual framework for understanding the nature of classroom management, and locates culture at the centre of this framework. The rationale has its roots in a study of ...

Kaupapa Māori principles have the power to transform the educational experience of Māori students in mainstream classrooms. For example, tino rangatiratanga requires both children and parents to be involved in school decision-making. Taonga tuku iho requires schools and teachers to create contexts where to be Māori is to be normal and where ...

Interviews with nine families about the transition to school for their special needs children showed that parents faced rejection and a multitude of dilemmas over access to resources, specialist support, and the amount of time their child was able to have at school. Sue Wartmann offers a set of principles ...

What approach might be helpful in identifying culturally appropriate means of catering for Māori learners with special needs? This article reports ongoing research to develop and trial a cultural audit process. Reprinted from Special Education, set special, 1999.

Research into primary teachers’ assessment and recording practices highlights three approaches to classroom assessment. These are analysed to show how they contribute to both formative and summative assessment. The findings suggest that accountability demands in self-managing schools, along with school policies, have directed teachers towards more summative practices at the ...

Analysing the pattern of incorrect answers to Assessment Resource Bank items is providing valuable diagnostic information. This can enable teachers to identify roadblocks to student understanding and learning, and develop appropriate strategies to remedy them. ARB data also enables a broad range of curriculum outcomes to be assessed.