Early childhood scholars in New Zealand have long lamented a rising dominance of neoliberalism. Correspondingly they suggest that there has been a lessening of socialist ideals and principles of Te Ao Maori after years of a right-wing government. With the 'refresh' of New Zealand's national early childhood curriculum, "Te Whariki" under…

The current study is a brief report building on previous research in which first-year university students in early 2018 reported the extent to which the New Zealand Fees-Free Policy had influenced their decisions to enrol in university and subsequent academic experiences (Sotardi et al. 2019). In the current work, we extend this research by…

This brief examines Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) science achievement of the 20% highest and the 20% lowest performing fourth and eighth graders in 11 countries. To do so, the authors compare achievement distributions across countries, using measures of relative equality within countries. Such an examination…

Educational psychologists face challenging decisions around ethical dilemmas to uphold the rights of all children. Due to finite government resources for supporting all learners, one of the roles of educational psychologists is to apply for this funding on behalf of schools and children. Tensions can emerge when unintended ethical dilemmas arise…

From their inception in New Zealand in 1816, until the end of the century in some cases, most mission schools in the colony maintained instruction solely in the Maori language. However, from the 1840s, successive colonial governments promoted a secular schooling system in which English would be the language in which students were taught,…

This article shares insights from a survey of primary school teachers across the Manawatu-Whanganui region about history teaching at Years 1 to 6. By focusing on the voices of primary teachers, the article aims to fill a gap in public debates about the new Aotearoa New Zealand's histories curriculum so far outweighed by the viewpoints of policy…

The study on which this article reports investigated the internationalisation of higher education studies by examining collaborations in the form of international co-authorships. We analyse how network-based mechanisms, related to structural relationship between authors (preferential attachment, i.e., higher tendency to collaborate among the most…

The early phases of teachers' professional careers are multi-layered and informed by many factors, including teachers' values, their own experiences in schools, and the nested contexts of their professional employment. While in teachers' everyday lives government policies sometimes operate beneath the surface rather than overtly, these policies…

This paper examines the vision and intent of New Zealand's Maori education policy, Ka Hikitia, and its implications on the daily lives of Maori students in New Zealand's education system. Extensive information on the secondary school experiences of "rangatahi" Maori (youth) have been gathered--originally in 2001 and at the end of 2015,…

Strong teacher-family partnerships are vital for children's educational success. Educational policies influence how teachers perceive and engage in these significant relationships. Critical policy analysis focuses on the language, and underlying meanings and beliefs that reify certain understandings and positions in policy. We trace changes in…

The early learning action plan 2019-2029, "He Taonga te Tamaiti"/"Every Child a Taonga", ushers in a new era of thinking about the governance of early childhood education (ECE). The policy language has changed, with a shift from "early childhood education" to the "early learning system". This article starts…

This article explores the values that bridge democracy and community dance. Policymakers show an interest in promoting democracy, including the very values shared between community dance and democracy. Observing this, we propose that policy may benefit from examining the pedagogy and practices of community dance, and incorporate relevant aspects…

Crises affect international students' overseas experiences, but crisis theory is rarely considered in international education studies. This article provides a comparative study of two countries, using a 'most similar cases' research design, to analyse host-nation government responses to crisis situations. The two countries are Australia and New…

Evidence-informed policy and practice has been a trend as part of an effort to increase the use of research to improve education at all levels. In many countries, knowledge-brokering initiatives were established to stimulate links between research, policy, and practice. Drawing on a mapping of initiatives in seven countries, this article describes…

Many governments have launched the top-down early childhood curriculum (ECC) reforms to enhance the accountability of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. The present discourse analysis of latest ECC policies across four diverse but representative countries -- Australia, China, New Zealand, and Singapore -- aims to examine the…