Performing arts teachers, in diverse regions of the world, recognise that globalisation has indelibly influenced how the arts are valued, practiced and taught (Rowe, Martin, Buck, et al., 2018). As illustrated by three key United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) policies on arts and culture in the 21st century (UNESCO,…

Culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy is an asset-based approach to teaching and learning. In this way, students' identities, languages, and cultures are centered in the learning experience, creating a sense of belonging. The authors observed culturally relevant and sustaining approaches to teaching and learning while visiting schools in New…

The impact of the implementation of National Standards and the continuing focus on the functional aspects of literacy and numeracy in the New Zealand curriculum can be viewed as part of a global neoliberal reform agenda that deliberately constricts and narrows curriculum and pedagogy. Building on a review of the impacts on curriculum by national…

As educators we are haunted. This haunting takes place on several levels, through our personal histories, through key theoretical ideas we have encountered on our journeys, and by those significant educators who have gone before. This paper highlights how Elwyn S. Richardson continues to haunt education in New Zealand. Also how Elwyn, in turn, was…

Time is an important driver of pedagogy which is often overlooked in the busy atmosphere of an early childhood centre. Engaging philosophically with three different concepts of time, and drawing examples from literature and art to focus attention on how time is constituted in early childhood centres, this article argues that we inhabit the…

In this paper, I advocate that culture matters in music education and should be a measure we consider when we assess the quality of music-making in the community. Community arts education can address a multitude of social issues that impact marginalized communities if viewed through an appropriate lens. I propose historical trauma as an…

Elwyn Richardson's work at Oruaiti School from 1949 to 1962 has been almost exclusively interpreted as a unique experiment in art and craft education, partially as a result of impact of his book, "In The Early World." The book is viewed as evidence of innovative departmental policies that allowed teachers wide latitude for…

This article reflects on issues of Indigenous creativity in Maori arts education, along with what we see as problematic tensions of the assessment of intangible elements. Our writing is motivated by a desire to start a global dialogue on Indigenous/Maori epistemologies, pedagogies and ontologies, and the contradictions and tensions that threaten…

This article examines the special nature of "Te Whariki," Aotearoa New Zealand's early childhood national curriculum, as a dynamic social, cultural document through an exploration of two art-inspired imaginary case studies. Thinking with "Te Whariki" retains the potential to ignite thinking post-developmentally about art,…

In this paper, preliminary comments are made about "The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum" document questioning its framing of the arts "disciplines". The notion of the "the arts", which appears to take its meaning from the generic term "art" that directs us to class together music, painting, visual art,…