This conference proceedings contains 65 presentations and 3 colloquiums from a conference that dealt with knowledge at work and knowledge that works and with how education can be successfully integrated into work and work into education. The papers are "Reading the Contexts of Complex Incidents of Adult Education Practice" (Apte);…

Eleven papers from an Australian Technical and Further Education (TAFE) conference are included: "The TAFE System and the Training Reform Agenda" (Gregor Ramsey) raises issues to keep the impetus going for national system improvement and development. "Towards the Best of Both Worlds: Models for Governance of TAFE Colleges" (Ian…

"Te Whaariki," the "draft guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice in [New Zealand] early childhood services," constitutes a set of principles which can guide practice, rather than a structure for curriculum planning. The guidelines have the potential to provide a theoretical rationale for the application of the…

Most studies on the history of educational ideas have focused on what influential educational theorists and policy-makers have said and written at particular times, constructing a "view from the top." The project from which this article is derived focused on the ways theoretical debates have been "lived" by teachers in New…

Skill New Zealand is a strategy to raise the skill levels of all New Zealanders, an industry-led approach to skills development that will increase the quantity, quality, and diversity of training in that country. The booklet contains four sections. The first section explains what Skill New Zealand is and why employers should become involved it.…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The inquiry reported focuses on problems/difficulties of learning about the concept of "force" through…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The investigation reported focuses on primary, intermediate, and secondary students' (N=41) ideas about selected…

When children start school it is not just a transition to a new physical context, but also an entry point to a new "culture" where aspects of teaching, learning and assessment are different, and hence what it means to be a learner is constructed differently. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in making links between…

This is the report of a working group formed by the Government of New Zealand to assist in establishing a more equitable system of early childhood care and education (ECCE) than presently exists. The working group was asked to investigate all state and independent arrangements for the care and education of infants and children up to the age of 6…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The investigation reported focuses on students' (N=37) views of chemical change. Data were obtained using the…

Observational techniques were employed to gain insights into students' experiences from three perspectives (learner, teacher, and observer) as related to four aspects of a set task (nature of the task, including its purpose; how the task was carried out; perceived significance of outcomes achieved; and significance of outcomes in terms of science…

The Science Activities Action Research Group considered problems related to using science activities in teaching/learning of science ideas, problems previously identified and described during exploratory/in-depth phases of the Learning in Science Project. Three specific tasks were formulated by the group, including: investigating wording of…

The Learning in Science Project (Primary--LISP(P)--designed to investigate the teaching and learning of science in New Zealand primary schools, arises from the work of the original Learning in Science Project (LISP). This paper is an attempt to clarify the direction of LISP(P) as it moves toward the central phase of the research. The ideas…

The stand taken in the Learning in Science Project (Primary)--LISP(P)--is that primary school science should be centrally concerned with children's present interaction with their world rather than their future science education. Further, it has been decided that one of the LISP(P) foci should be on questions that children ask and how these…

One area explored in the Learning in Science Project (Primary--LISP(P)--was children's questions about and explanations of phenomena. Data were obtained from work with classes of children, interviews with children, informal discussions with teachers, and observations of two teachers using an alternative teaching model (outlined in an appendix)…