A global concern in recent years has been the formal incorporation of computing and digital technology subjects into high school curricula. Despite many initiatives to make these subjects accessible to students, significant barriers to uptake remain in many countries. In this study we convened a panel of 32 academic, research, and other experts…

Digital technologies have fast become integral within literacy learning and teaching across contexts as students engage with a variety of digital and multimodal texts. While teachers in New Zealand schools have a high degree of autonomy in the design and planning of literacy programs, little is currently known about how they understand and enact…

This article reports on a case study from a larger project exploring ways in which online citizen science projects can enhance students' learning in science and in digital technology. In this case, two teachers integrated the digital technology curriculum with the science capability "interpreting representations" using the engaging…

Education within Aotearoa has not effectively engaged Pasifika students (Ministry of Education, 2023a), and has led to Pasifika students being less likely to continue to tertiary level education (Ministry of Education, 2023b). This review focuses on the published literature about factors that improve the conditions of schooling in Aotearoa to…

International and national studies have revealed a sharp decline in student science engagement during the middle years of schooling. In Aotearoa New Zealand, over 20 years of cross-sectional evidence has repeatedly shown high levels of student engagement with science in primary school and lower levels in high school, but very little evidence…

In this paper, we present research on New Zealand secondary teachers' perspectives of teaching and learning mathematics during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020--2023. We use narrative analyses of interviews to explore the perspectives of eight participant teachers. COVID-19, and its resulting restrictions, were found to impact student-teacher…

The ability to understand science is important for productive participation in societies that rely on scientific knowledge to guide decision-making. A challenge is how to motivate and engage all learners in science, and not just those destined for science-related careers. This challenge becomes more acute in senior secondary high-stakes assessment…

This book presents the findings of two case studies in the 'Making Connections' two-year project funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. It shows how science literacy was improved in a state coeducational school with Pacific Island students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. This book details ideas and strategies relevant to schools…

This paper examines the self-reported culturally responsive practices of curriculum leaders (n = 53) and teachers (n = 105) from six state funded secondary schools in New Zealand. Participants were surveyed to examine the relationship between middle leader self-reporting of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) for improving Maori student…

The term "school discipline" includes student self-management, classroom management, behaviour management, and school exclusion practices. This article is based on the perspectives of rangatahi on disciplinary practices from two different high schools. Ten Years 9-11 students from one school who had experienced exclusion, and 10 fully…

Although it is assumed that parents influence their children's lives, little is known about how students navigate between their own expectations and their parents' views of mathematics and how this navigation affects mathematical learning. Using an exemplary case of Philip, we illustrate how he made sense of his father's high expectations related…

In this article I interact with the narratives of five Pakeha (European) secondary school teachers, who choose to teach Aotearoa New Zealand histories including about Te Tiriti o Waitangi at senior level (years 11-13). I highlight characteristics of the active stance adopted by participants towards teaching and learning the difficult histories of…

The "new" of new literacies are multifaceted social practices to make and share meanings with new communication tools and technology. Despite gaining considerable research focus in recent times, there is scarce evidence of new literacies as instances of practice in secondary science classrooms. In this article students' engagement in…

Truancy, a complex, unresolved educational issue in countries with compulsory attendance policies, has the potential to cause further educational inequity in times of a global COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of this study, there was a paucity of research regarding youth perspectives of truancy compared to adult perspectives. To address this gap in…

By engaging students in everyday issues and events, STEM education can contribute to the development of citizens who are equipped to make the world a better place. However, students' STEM learning with this focus requires teachers to identify age and context appropriate issues. Student investigation of local issues and events can be motivating for…