This Q&A is based on a conversation with primary school teacher Dianne Christenson about her use of place-based learning in science. The idea for the column took shape as Rose Hipkins listened to Di report back to her co-researchers in a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) project team meeting ...

When children and young people participate in education visits to green spaces such as parks, zoos, and nature reserves, little is known about the connections they make to sustainability issues or how they conceptualise sustainable futures. This article uses insights from interviews with children and young people who visited Zealandia ...

COVID-19 relevance: Post-crisis / school closures

Christchurch-based science advisers Sabina Cleary and Carmen Kenton, from Kaha Education, talk about their experiences of supporting teachers during the COVID-19 lockdown. Insights from their eperiences during a previous crisis guided them during COVID-19. They share their thoughts about useful learning to take forward ...

COVID-19 relevance: Engaging learning at home / cultural setting

As a result of COVID-19 and the government’s measures to control it, Term 2, 2020 began with New Zealand school students learning from home rather than at school. This article reports on the results of a survey that explored the experiences ...

COVID-19 relevance: Post-crisis / school closures

A summary of Carol Mutch’s research into the role of schools in disaster response and recovery highlights the expectations that are placed on schools following a crisis. Her research shows that school staff undertake these extra demands willingly and conscientiously, despite the toll that ...

COVID-19 relevance: Post-crisis / school closures

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted some traditional assessment practices and drawn attention to the range of evidence students produce in their day-to-day learning. In this edition of Assessment News, Charles Darr and Rosemary Hipkins argue that using this evidence to make sound summative judgements ...

Over recent years, innovative learning environments (ILEs) have become the default style of new-build educational architecture in New Zealand. While offering potential benefits, the implementation of ILEs represents a departure from established practice in most schools and therefore requires significant change leadership support in order to succeed. Prototyping ILE practices ...