As a learning model, apprenticeship is well known for its capacity to develop skills and vocational identities. It is also increasingly appealing for its potential to develop soft skills and enhance dispositions. This article focuses on the nature and role of apprenticeship and employers in developing dispositions and soft skills. It draws on a two-year New Zealand study of 41 apprentices in general practice medicine, carpentry, and engineering technician work, and their workplace mentors and teachers.
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Research publications
Research publications from our research teams.
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Publication type: Journal article
12 May 2017
Publication type: Research report
This project focuses on capability-building through a new apprenticeship for support workers.
12 May 2017
Publication type: Research report
This report details the results of an investigation into the school-based assessment, PAT: Reading Comprehension, which has recently gone online. We wanted to know whether the test items behaved in similar ways in the online and paper-based modes, and whether there was any difference in student scores.
There were two main findings:
26 January 2017
Publication type: Research report
This report describes sampling and analysis details for the NZCER national survey of primary and intermediate schools 2016, as well as respondent characteristics and characteristics of the schools with which respondents are associated. It supports the individual thematic reports that use the 2016 National Survey data.
19 January 2017
Publication type: Research report
This report sought to understand how the Principal Recruitment Allowance programme was operating, and provide information to the Ministry of Education to help inform their decision making aimed at improvement around the programme.
11 January 2017
Publication type: Journal article
This article is based on the talk Rose Hipkins gave at the NZATE conference in Christchurch in July 2016. The talk drew together many threads from almost a decade of research on the implementation of NZC, with a specific focus on how the key competencies have been understood and enacted. This set the scene to discuss a different way to think about weaving key competencies into the curriculum—by introducing "capabilities" as weaving tools. This idea idea is illustrated with two examples set at different levels of the English learning area.
21 December 2018
Publication type: Research report
The Teacher-led Innovation Fund (TLIF) is a government fund intended to help groups of teachers develop innovative practice. The Ministry of Education had shared four themes that had already emerged from TLIF Monitor meetings as being important in teacher-led inquiry. The themes related to the way that TLIF teams:
16 January 2017
Publication type: Research report
This is an evaluation of the Check and Connect programme, which was part of the Ministry of Education's Positive Behaviour for Learning strategy.
Check and Connect orginated in the United States, where it had good evidence of success. This report provides the findings from an evaluation of the trial of the programme in New Zealand, focusing on the changes made by students with at least one year's experience on Check and Connect, at the main three trial sites, by the end of 2015. It shows that most participating students and their mentors noted positive gains from the programme.
20 December 2016
Publication type: Research report
This is an evaluation of the MY FRIENDS Youth programme in New Zealand trial schools. The evaluation focused on whether the programme was implemented as intended, the progress made towards short-term outcomes, and whether the programme was a fit with the New Zealand educational and cultural context. It is available here or below.
20 December 2016
Publication type: Research report
This is a series of three reports that draw on data from NZCER's PATs to explore student achievement and progress in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Two of the reports use PAT: Mathematics data. One explores the consistency of teacher judgements against National Standards, the other simulates patterns of student progress in National Stanards.
15 December 2016