This article presents narratives from 13 Indigenous early career academics (ECAs) at one university in Auckland, New Zealand. These experiences are likely to represent those of Indigenous Maori and Pasifika ECAs nationally, given the small, centralised nature of the national academy of Aotearoa New Zealand. The narratives contain testimony,…

The need to include indigenous perspectives in curricula is a challenge facing education internationally. In the context of higher education, decolonising practices and processes are the responsibility not just of institutions but also individual academics. Despite individual aspirations to decolonise teaching, it can be difficult to know where to…

Even though natural disasters are becoming increasingly prevalent, research investigating and offering practical advice to teachers around caring for children during and after an earthquake event is limited. This article aims to provide unique insight from early childhood teachers into a real-life experience of caring for children at their early…

In April 2019, educators from around Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Australia came together to share their experiences of teaching Indigenous public health. The inaugural International Indigenous Public Health Education Leadership Symposium provided an opportunity to (i) discuss the range of challenges of this work, and (ii) to affirm a collective…

Christchurch-based science advisers Sabina Cleary and Carmen Kenton, from Kaha Education, talk about their experiences of supporting teachers during the COVID-19 lockdown. Insights from their experiences during a previous crisis guided them during COVID-19. They share their thoughts about useful learning to take forward as school life resumes.…

Summative assessment and explicit teaching are on the increase in New Zealand primary and intermediate learning spaces; either, or both, frequently used by teachers to assist with requirements for National Standards. Combined use means learning destinations are set by teachers within convergent practice, allowing little room for student…

This paper is a reflection on culturally relevant pedagogies of care to achieve more equitable outcomes for diverse cultures within early childhood. The authors are academics at a tertiary institute in Auckland, New Zealand. Our aim is to share our experiences as teachers in a diverse and multi-ethnic city in New Zealand. Authors draw on narrative…

As neoliberal ideology has come to dominate higher education, the roles and relationships of managers, academics and students have changed radically. This article outlines ways in which neoliberalism and its companion ideology, neoconservatism, have impacted on higher education through a move to individualism, managerialism, measurement and…

The school curriculum and teacher professional standards in Aotearoa New Zealand emphasise culturally responsive pedagogies for Maori learners. However, there is a gap between rhetoric and practice. Drawing on expert-interview methodology, and based on an interview with Tamsin Hanly about complex curriculum issues, this interview article seeks to…

Teaching can be viewed as a cultural practice in which teaching is embedded in the culture of the teacher and informed by the culture of the students (Bell, 2011). In this paper, a narrative is presented detailing an authentic example of teaching in New Zealand in which culture is prioritised. It describes the challenges faced by a young female…

This is one teacher's story about teaching writing. It describes and explains how Mickey (the second author) encouraged her young writers (6-7-year-olds) to collaborate with their peers "to make their writing even better". The article describes how the teacher, Mickey, redesigned her writing lessons to further scaffold beginner writers.…

The author has worked as a language teacher, teacher educator, and second language acquisition (SLA) researcher for over forty years. During this time grammar has figured largely in his thinking, in part because it has traditionally been so central to language pedagogy and in part because he became fascinated with how the human mind grapples with…

Issues surrounding what works best in balancing autonomous exploration of dance making with provision of learning about choreographic process for university dance students are explored in this paper. Two personal narrative perspectives are provided. A lecturer reflects on what works best in structuring learning that encourages students to explore…

Teaching can be an exhilarating and exciting career despite, or perhaps because of, a never-ending round of challenges, difficulties and problems to solve. Beginning teachers face new challenges every day. This book points the way for school leaders to help them meet these challenges and encourage them to stay in teaching. New Zealand is no better…

Traditionally, assessing student writing ability has often been product-focused. Advocates of child-centered process-oriented classrooms, however, suggest that teachers should also focus on understanding children's writing behaviors in the context of meaningful communicative tasks. In such an approach, writing conferences are one way in which…