This companion article reports initial findings of a case study of longer learning periods in one school. It examines whether teachers perceive longer lessons to make a difference to teaching practice and whether students perceive them to improve learning opportunities

• Are the tests normed?
• Why aren't the reading ages given in the new tests?
• How can we report to parents?
• Is there a specific test for each year group?
• How can we use the test results to group students for reading?
• Can we put results into our data management system ...

The New Zealand Curriculum highlights the importance of learning to learn. This presents practical challenges to schools, in relation to shifts in teaching and learning practices. This article summarises a research synthesis on longer learning periods and considers whether they lead to improved student learning.

We are pleased to bring you the first issue of what we hope will be another source of stimulating research reading during 2008. Wherever there’s good research we’ll find it (with apologies to TVNZ) and bring it to you. Our aim is to keep at the leading edge of developments ...

Te Whāriki has two indicative learning outcomes: dispositions and working theories. The notion of dispositions has been explored extensively over the past few years, but the concept of working theories has remained obscure. This article begins to redress this situation. It looks at how children develop and refine their working theories about the ...

How can early childhood centres develop environmental competency? This case study shows how, as children, teachers, and families interact to establish and maintain environmentally friendly systems, such as recycling, they support and encourage each other to extend and improve their practices. This ripples out to influence what families do at home and in ...

Cameras, personal computers, the Internet, educational software. Information and communication technology is everywhere in modern life. How should early childhood teachers respond to the challenges of ICT? This article explores the idea of developing a philosophy of technology as a way to empower teachers to think critically about the role of ICT in ...

What happens when teachers exclude an aspect of children’s home culture—popular media—from early childhood centres? This case study documents how teacher rules (“no guns”, “no toys from home”) impacted more on boys than girls, and how boys subverted the rules to act out their media-inspired war, weapon, and superhero play.

Lesbian parents live in a world that often assumes that all families consist of mum, dad, and the kids. This can complicate their families’ participation in early childhood education. Through interviews with gay mothers, this article draws out the tensions underlying their experiences at early childhood centres. These mothers negotiate between achieving visibility ...

A solid mathematical vocabulary is a crucial basis for later mathematical learning. This article follows the development of mathematical language in a two-year-old. It examines when preschoolers learn basic terms—for colour, position, shape, and number—and documents the order in which they become part of this child’s meaningful vocabulary.