Schools and teachers are expected to respond appropriately when they encounter children acting sexually. This article describes the literature on child sexual development and behaviour and the responses of Waikato primary school principals to a questionnaire. Specific issues for New Zealand primary schools and teachers are investigated, with suggestions for ...

Several years ago I was awestruck by the bold vision of Wellington’s Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. Their strategic plan has a 500-year time frame. This is, of course, entirely appropriate when you’re seeking to restore a landlocked “island” to its natural state. Setting an inspirational vision—and in time achieving it—requires a ...

When a teacher let her Years 4 and 5 class chose their own science topic to study, they settled on—what else?—farting. This article shows how letting students pursue their own interests led them to real science learning.

This article makes connections between the findings from an evaluation of the Ministry of Health’s Fruit in Schools (FiS) initiative and recent changes in the New Zealand curriculum, in particular in the Health and Physical Education (PE) learning area. It explores the rationale for actively involving students in health promotion ...

This companion article to “Enabling students to lead the way” explores the rationale for using a whole-school approach to health and wellbeing, and the connection between this approach and the revised curriculum. Some possible changes that could occur to school actions in regard to health and wellbeing are discussed. The ...

This article explores what a group of Years 11 and 13 students think about history, how they talk about it and what they are interested in studying. It suggests that being aware of student interests and considering how the key competencies relate to history as a subject could open the ...

One of the hot topics at a small science education conference I recently attended was the Nature of Science strand of the new curriculum. There was considerable discussion about the kind of support that would assist teachers both to understand what Nature of Science is about and to change their ...

We are at the end of another year and this brings the final issue of set: Research Information for Teachers for 2009.

The topics covered during the year have been wide ranging and varied, reflecting the depth of educational research that is happening in New Zealand. Research has kept pace ...

A conversation with John Hattie quickly dives into the big questions—what is effective teaching? What are the limitations of the Tomorrow’s Schools model, the potential pitfalls of national standards, the shortcomings of the teaching career structure, the best way to communicate with parents?

Sweden has a strong culture of gender equity and challenging gender stereotypes. The Swedish male teachers interviewed for this study were hard pushed to see gender differences in learning or teaching styles. Instead, they saw individuals as being different. They also had no concerns about physical contact—it’s normal there for ...