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 ...

Fractions are known to be difficult. Jonathan Fisher explores why this is so, looking in particular at the crucial foundation concepts of part-whole relationships and partitioning. He outlines common student errors uncovered in piloting ARB assessment items about fractions, and suggests some ways to help students gain a fuller understanding.

Practical Research for Education, 39, May 2008, pp. 57–62 (reprinted with permission)

Fires in schools can be emotionally devastating for students and staff and highly disruptive to school functioning and student learning. This small-scale British study looks at the impacts of school fires and the lessons to be learnt.

Science and technology are so central to our 21st century lives that few would dispute their importance in the school curriculum. They underpin many jobs, inform challenging issues facing us as a society and are a source of fascination and entertainment.

So what is the implication of this for science ...

Te Kotahitanga is a project that seeks to improve the educational achievement of Māori students in mainstream schools. Through interviews with Māori students, their teachers and whānau, the authors learnt about the characteristics of teachers that made a difference. They have drawn these together into the Effective Teaching Profile.

This is one teacher’s story of how connecting her science teaching to the cultural background of her Māori students increased their motivation and enthusiasm. By linking a topic on forest ecology with the students’ existing interest in the school’s new tuata (carved ceremonial post), she was able to develop a ...