set 1985 : no. 2

One of the disturbing things about 'common sense' is that just about every situation has a bit of folklore to back it up. On the subject of internal assessment you can choose between 'learning from history' or 'history is bound to repeat itself',
select your evidence accordingly, and 'prove' your case. This seems very true about debates on internal assessment. Of course, it is not a new debate in New Zealand educational circles. Hands up those who can remember the publication of the… Read more

This article is based on a paper given at a special seminar on multicultural teaching at Auckland Teachers' College in 1984. The paper gave rise to several strong responses, one of which could be summed up in the accusation - 'You are proposing the end of civilisation!' In the 'Afterword' the reason for the outburst is spelled out and Don Hunkin replies.

Hamilton Teachers College. involved in extending the qualifications courses it offers. conducted a survey to find out what qualifications teachers actually aspired to. which subjects they wanted to learn. and whether they preferred to do it in the classroom or by correspondence. A written questionnaire was sent to all 1440 primary teachers in seven sample areas of the Hamilton Education Board. and 1183 completed forms were r.eturned (82%). This high response rate indicates a representative… Read more

Blocks are blocks - the units of wood found in every good pre-school. They fit together in exact multiples; they are fun to play with but they also introduce without fuss and direct teaching mathematical concepts such as addition and subtraction, and spatial concepts such as area, volume and balance. With blocks children can manipulate space as well as their imaginations. Car cases are like blocks you can live in. In well equipped preschools you will find car cases or large boxes specially… Read more

Aggressive and unmanageable children pose one of the more difficult of the problems faced by the classroom teacher. Overseas research suggests that there are two factors which more than anything else predict the development of behaviour problems in children. These factors are (a) high levels of discord between parents, and (b) harsh and punitive treatment of the child by its parents.

Once a day I try to state in short words what I think. The words I use are words of one pulse. The rest of the day I use words that are two~, three~, or six-pulse words ~ just the way school folks ought to talk. But each day for a short time I work at plain speech. My aim is to clear my head. I learned this mode of speech a few years back. Dave Blum wrote of the Club for One~Pulse Words, a group of friends who write and speak this way as much as three hours a day. The group lives by these… Read more

Nowadays it is widely assumed that professionals have a good deal to teach parents about how to educate and bring up children. Nursery school, for example, is seen, not just as a secure and enjoyable environment for children, but as a place where their language and intellectual development will be fostered by professional attention. This is especially claimed in the case of working class children, whose parents are believed not to develop their language adequately.

In this article the authors describe 5 barriers to learning faced by apprentices. They then outline a number of practical ideas that teachers and tutors can use to overcome these barriers.

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (lEA) Written Composition Study is a survey of essay writing in 15 countries; Australia, Chile, England, Germany (Hamburg), Finland, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Sweden, Thailand, the USA, and Wales. Since many aspects of practice and philosophy vary from culture to culture, one aim of the project is to provide a national portrait of each country's curriculum and teaching methods.… Read more

Children of around six have rather different perceptions of people's roles than do older children and adults. They tend to focus on one aspect or characteristic of a situation instead of scanning all the information available. They have a strong tendency to see other people through their own reactions and how they are affected by them. (This is called centration.) Six- to sevenyear- olds have particular difficulty in understanding psychological qualities or complex motives and instead focus… Read more