Otahuhu College wanted to know how its teachers were coping with the inclusion of students with disabilities in their classrooms, and more specifically, how teachers interacted with such students. Results revealed that the practical demands of the classroom made it difficult for teachers to spend time with the mainstreamed students ...

East Tamaki School worked with researchers to learn about how teachers viewed the requirements on reporting to parents, and how parents understood what was written. Teachers experienced the same technical, ethical, and practical dilemmas as their local and international counterparts. They resolved these in ways that inadvertently sent mixed messages ...

The first issue of set: Research Information for Teachers heralds another year of stimulating professional reading. In this issue we examine some of the emerging developments in New Zealand education and discuss some of the key issues – the “breaking news” of education.

From Alan Duff’s original vision in 1992, the Books in Homes programme grew to reach 397 low-decile schools and 78,000 students by 2001, with well over a million books distributed. The evaluation was based on questionnaire responses from Year 5 students, teachers and principals. The results showed that Books in ...

The author describes a study in which videotaped interviews from the NEMP project were analysed to see how children explained their answers to questions involving the commutative (“changing the order”) properties of addition, subtraction and multiplication. Many of the children, having grasped that “turn-arounds” worked in addition, incorrectly applied that ...

Earlier this year 225 primary, intermediate and secondary schools took part in a national consultation on the draft national exemplars. Schools effectively trialled the exemplars and provided feedback on their quality and usefulness. The results, though mixed, were generally positive, and have influenced the ongoing development of national exemplars. They ...

This article draws on a study of three New Zealand primary co-principalships to discuss some alternatives for re-ordering school organisational structures and power relationships. Some recommendations are made for teachers and boards considering this approach for their own schools.

This paper explores differences between scientists’ experiences of science and the investigations that are a common type of learning activity in school science. The first half of the paper makes a case for distinguishing between investigative processes that build new knowledge and those that help students learn knowledge that is ...

Spelling is an important aspect of literacy – but not something that children can “pick up” during reading or writing. Here are some practical suggestions for combining spelling with writing in the primary classroom.

Harvey McQueen reflects on the media’s lack of interest in good news in education, in light of the imminent election of four teachers to the Teachers Council. Looking at the bigger picture, he notes the widening of the learning gap at a time of rapid technological advances in education; the ...