Mainstream thought on Pacific education tends to highlight the relatively poor educational achievement and sub-optimal experiences of Pacific learners in Aotearoa New Zealand. This article explores further understandings of the links between Pacific learners, their environments, and relational learning experiences. The argument is supported by…

This article details aspects of between-school transitional processes experienced by children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), taken from the perspective of five New Zealand parents who have assisted their family members' transition in this area within the last five years. To begin the rationale for undertaking the study, including a brief…

The emerging adolescents of today are required to navigate challenges and risks quite different from those faced by their parents and teachers. The usual trials of adolescence have been magnified and transformed, in large part due to the development of information and communication technology, and the rapid rise of online social networking. The…

Teachers understand the importance of whanau (family) involvement for children's learning. This understanding comes from their own experience as teachers, from an extensive published research base, and, in Aotearoa New Zealand from the national early childhood education curriculum, "Te Whariki." Early childhood teachers also know that…

Over a two-year teacher-researcher project in New Zealand we used a mosaic of research methods (Clark, 2010) to capture the perspectives of staff, parents and children. As a team of teachers and academic researchers, we recorded and documented reconceptualised pedagogical practices that included active adult participation in a cluster of early…

Innovation is essential for the education sector. The ways in which curriculum decision making is organised reflects different implicit approaches on how educational systems pertain to promote innovation in education. Curriculum holds an outstanding place when seeking to promote innovation in education, as it reflects the vision for education by…

New Zealand schools increasingly use inquiry to understand and address complex and persistent issues. This requires schools to have committed Lead Teachers with deep knowledge about inquiry. The collection of studies in this book have been compiled by the research team at the Woolf Fisher Research Centre, University of Auckland, to illustrate the…

What assumptions about children and childhood are held by government officials and organisation representatives who are influential in policy formation in early childhood education (ECE) in New Zealand? How are assumptions manifested in policy? This article draws on a study carried out from 2001 to 2003, a time of radical ECE policy change in New…

Children's perceptions of the roles of mother, father, and teacher were examined in a sample of 31 boys and 28 girls attending full-time day care, half-day kindergarten, or some combination of child care arrangements. Interview data were coded into four main role categories under the headings of Domestic, Child Care, Paid Work, and Personal. The…

Children's perceptions of the roles of mother, father, and teacher were examined in a sample of 98 children of 7 to 9 years. Children of working mothers numbered 54. Interview data were coded into five main role categories: Domestic, Child Care, Paid Work, Biological, and Personal. Results showed no effect of age or maternal work status on…

This collection of papers delivered at a conference on accountability held at Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education in Australia examines the meaning of accountability in education for teachers, lecturers, government, parents, administrators, education authorities, and the society at large. In Part 1, W. G. Walker attempts to answer the…

Examines transition of children from home or preschool to school in Australia and New Zealand. Almost all Australian states have a "reception" or kindergarten full-day year in school prior to Year 1, few have common entry ages, and most use a variety of enrollment procedures. Emphasizes need for continuity to smooth transitions and…