Editorial
E te whānau o Set: Research Information for Teachers, tēnā koutou. Nau mai haere mai ki te whakaputanga tuatahi mō te tau 2022. E ngā kaituhi, he mihi nui ki a koutou mō ō koutou rangahau hou. He mihi maioha ki te rangatira, Te Hurinui Karaka-Clarke, me te whānau i Te Kura Whakangungu Kaiako o te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha, mō te tuhituhinga hira, “Ko Ngā Kete o te Wānanga: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Mātauranga Māori”.
The opening article by Te Hurinui Karaka-Clarke and co-authors makes a significant contribution to education in Aotearoa. Insights from kaumātua, tohunga and Māori academics are woven with those of the authors to explore the concepts of mātauranga Māori and mana ōrite. They share what it means to bring the words together—mana ōrite me mātauranga Māori—both conceptually and practically. Exemplary lesson plans are outlined for several curriculum areas. Teachers are encouraged to progress further, overcoming challenges along the journey, like Tāne Nui a Rangi.
Another steer for understanding mana ōrite can be found in an earlier He Whakaaro Anō entry by Mere Berryman and colleagues (2018), there with a focus on relational pedagogy. Both Matua Te Hurinui’s and Whaea Mere’s articles relate mana ōrite to the intentions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The current issue’s teaching and learning article considers the transition from early childhood education to school. The teacher–researcher authorship team supported by academic Jane McChesney, examines mathematical learning across educational settings. They give examples of how teachers can enable continuity between the sorts of conversation, resources, and routines embedded within each learning environment.
Our focus section covers student literacy learning with several articles on offer from leaders in the field. Murray Gadd and Judy Parr, both experts in raising achievement in literacy, present their findings from a 2-year project about writing instruction for priority learners. They outline a clear set of teacher practices that are evidenced to accelerate writing performance, with knowing your students and their cultural identities being number one. Writing is also the topic of the article by Jan Eyre, who presents findings from the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA). Results demonstrate a relationship between effective planning and students’ writing achievement and confidence. Jan shares a range of planning strategies and stages that teachers can foster in their classrooms, including instructional tips from Murray and Judy.
Literacy NMSSA results also inform the article by Sue McDowall, this time with attention to reading. Just as planning skills are crucial to writing, so too is interpretive capability essential to reading. Sue shows how interpretive skills go beyond processing and comprehension skills, instead voyaging into the territory of conjecture, imagination, and emotional intelligence. Several teaching strategies are provided, including how to work with students as an interpretive literary community.
Literary interpretation can be encouraged in written or oral form, in-person or online. The potential for online literary dialogue is explored by Belinda Whyte, Maree Davies, and Aaron Wilson. Their study involved groups of students and teachers discussing read-aloud texts via posting thoughts and engaging with opinions on Edmodo, a platform similar to Facebook. The researchers found that establishing a dialogic or exploratory stance face-to-face improved the frequency of interaction and depth of interpretation online.
Last up, Assessment News features an update on the New Zealand Assessment Institute. Committee members Jenny Poskitt and Esther Smaill report back on its national conference. The online format led to increased participation from teachers around Aotearoa. Jenny and Esther share key messages from the keynote presentations and workshops.
With mātauranga Māori vested equal status in English-medium education policy and equal value through NCEA achievement standards, there is exciting learning for teachers as well as their students. Establishing learning environments where all students feel at home with their cultural knowledge systems welcomed is a start.
He mihi nui ki ngā kaipanui me ngā kaituhi o tēnei hautaka. No reira, tēnā koutou kātoa.
Josie Roberts
Editor
Reference
Berryman, M., Lawrence, D., & Lamont, R. (2018). Cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy: A bicultural mana ōrite perspective. Set: Research Information for Teachers, (1), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.18296/set.0096