This mixed-methods small-scale study focused on the nature of the vocabulary in classroom talk in two Year 13 religious education (RE) classes at a New Zealand Catholic school. The main aim was to inform support for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students who struggle with the linguistic demands ...

There is increasing recognition that the underachievement and disengagement of students, particularly Māori and Pasifika, in New Zealand schools is in large part a result of systematic factors that disadvantage these students. In response to the urgent need for change in our classrooms, the dialogic highway is a research-based approach ...

Teaching controversial issues is particularly challenging in today’s world of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. This article explores how critical thinking can be embedded in such discussions using the street smarts critical thinking model. The study focuses on the contentious use of the poison 1080 as a case study, systematically ...

Effective assessment is ako—a reciprocal relationship in which knowledge and wisdom are shared and mutual learning occurs. For this reason, NZAI (New Zealand Assessment Institute) was established in 2018. It brings together educators from schools, professional learning and development providers, educational agencies and researchers for collective learning through its annual ...

Issue 1 2025 offers a practical compendium to commence the journal’s year for Set: Research Information for Teachers. Each article provides a clear framework for teaching its specific topic with real examples from the classroom.

The presence of dogs in schools is increasing, yet there is little Aotearoa New Zealand-based research about the wellbeing and learning benefits of dogs for students. The study aims to provide insight into educators’ perspectives about the purpose, implementation, and impact of dogs in New Zealand schools. Participants in an ...

Teachers have responsibility and can assume agency for enhancing the education of Pacific students in Aotearoa New Zealand. Pacific education is an area which needs improvement and, consequently, Pacific communities seek actions - deliberate strategies - to enhance educational provision. Among the strategies available is the engagement of role models ...

There is a significant lack of te reo Māori resources, especially digital materials, for learning pāngarau/mathematics. Few studies have investigated how well digital resources for pāngarau align with kaupapa Māori principles. In this article, we examine a digital resource, Matific, from a kaupapa Māori perspective. We find the te reo ...

This qualitative study explored children’s opportunities to actively solve problems as they talked, wrote and read during their first few months at school. Participants were two teachers from two schools in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland and eight children, newcomers to their classes. The children’s writing records and actions during guided writing ...