How do we support learning and teaching about complex issues? Researchers from the University of Auckland worked with 54 students and teachers from three Auckland secondary schools to evaluate health-science learning designed to investigate this question. The instructional strategies based on context familiarity, systems thinking, and narrative…

This article explores the concept of historical empathy and how it can foster a greater understanding of a significant episode in New Zealand and Australian history, the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign. It also highlights the potential that the concept holds for encouraging students to participate in civic society. It does this by drawing upon the…

In July 2015 Alfriston College--a Year 9-13 secondary school--was successful in winning funding from the Teacher Led Innovation Fund. Karyn White led the school's inquiry and Rosemary Hipkins supported the in-school team with advice about research processes as needed. In this short article Karyn describes one aspect of what the team did and found…

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning…

While international literature asserts that research interest in the formal exclusion of students from school is increasing, studies that give voice to parents' views are few. This study explores the experiences of New Zealand families affected by exclusion. Eight individuals or couples, all of whom had had a teenager for whom they were…