set 1978 : no. 2

Last year the Hamilton branch of the New Zealand Association for Gifted Children produced a radio programme, broadcast by 1YW Hamilton, on the gifted child and the school situation. The participants included a psychologist, a teacher, a community advisory officer (CAD), the mother of David, a gifted child, and Robert, a grown-up gifted child. A transcript of this programme was published in Gifted Children. Their Future -Our Challenge, magazine of the N.Z.A.G.C., April 1978, pp. 2-7. This… Read more

Enhancement in pupils' decision-making skills was chosen as one of the goals of an experimental project because, in 1974, when the project began, increasing interest was being shown in decision-making education but little was known about strategies or outcomes. The Drug Education Development and Evaluation (DEDE) Project was designed to clarify what decision-making skills might mean in relation to legal and illegal drugs, to develop new materials for teaching toward this goal, and to… Read more

Handling children's anger can be perplexing, draining and anger-provoking for adults.

Figures on the extent of violent and disruptive behaviour in schools tend to be unreliable, mainly because of the difficuities of definition that are involved. However, recent studies indicate that behaviour of this kind is more common in secondary than in primary schools, among boys rather than girls, in urban as compared to rural areas, and among low ability, disadvantaged pupils.

What do young people think of the urban environment and of the recreational facilities available to them? In order to get some insight into these questions a number of pupils in some Auckland intermediate and secondary schools were asked to write essays on their activities outside the school.

Parent involvement in pre-school education in New Zealand commonly takes three forms: parent helping, parent education and parent organization and administration.

Spina Bifida is a congenital abnormality in which the arches of one or more of the spinal vertebrae have failed to fuse together so that the spine is 'bifid' or split in two. The severity of the handicap varies with the site, extent and type of spinal defect, but may include paralysis and deformities of the lower limbs, skin insensitivity, bowel and urinary incontinence and kidney infections.

Listening improvement programmes appear to be rare in New Zealand schools, possibly because listening is something we tend to take for granted. A case of familiarity breeds neglect perhaps? Teachers will say: 'Oh yes, listening is terribly important as a means of learning,' but if you ask what they do to actively foster and develop listening skills they often say: 'Well, no, I don't really do too much about it.' Maybe that is why a recent report on educational standards… Read more

School leadership in New Zealand, both at primary and secondary levels, is dominated by men, despite the fact that women constitute half the combined teaching force.

Large numbers of children, sometimes very young children, are admitted to our hospitals each year. Many stay for only short periods and while they may show disturbed behaviour upon returning home particularly if they are under 5 years - it appears to be widely accepted that if the length of stay is under a week it is unlikely to have any lasting repercussions. Stacey, for example, found that the majority of children she studied recovered within 6 months.