Set 2021: no. 2

Pasifika students bring to school rich cultural resources that offer a strong foundation on which to build creative practice. Bringing cultural awareness to visual arts education provides a powerful platform for Pasifika students to embrace success as Pasifika. The recent introduction of Tapasā—Cultural Competencies Framework for Teachers of Pacific Learners (Ministry of Education, 2018) provides an opportunity to inquire into how visual arts education can authentically reflect… Read more

Over recent years, innovative learning environments (ILEs) have become the default style of new-build educational architecture in New Zealand. While offering potential benefits, the implementation of ILEs represents a departure from established practice in most schools and therefore requires significant change leadership support in order to succeed. Prototyping ILE practices can help schools transition into new physical spaces by decreasing status quo bias while increasing individual and… Read more

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) is a flexible framework that can be localised to ensure it is a culturally responsive approach to protect and promote student wellbeing and positive behaviour. One of the downsides is that it requires much paperwork. Teachers need to record behaviour, reward positive and report negative behaviour, and file incident reports. We designed and developed Ka Pai, a gamified mobile application prototype to help. It was evaluated with 10 teachers at an… Read more

Interested in exploring a form of learner agency that moves beyond a focus on using it to get better results? This article explores what happened when Year 11 students in a cross-curricular course were granted full control of their learning, and offers three strategies for starting out on a creative-agency path.

The government of Aotearoa New Zealand has recognised the gravity of climate change by adopting a Climate Emergency declaration, passing the Zero Carbon Act (2019), and asking the Climate Change Commission to chart a pathway towards a carbon-zero future. The climate emergency necessitates transformation of the practices and visions of individuals and society towards a sustainable future. We argue that education must be recognised as a key enabler for this transformational process. In this… Read more