This article documents endeavours to establish a higher education program for incarcerated learners in Aotearoa New Zealand. Presently, prisoners serving lengthy sentences in the country are precluded from obtaining a degree while in custody, which is in stark contrast to other jurisdictions with comparable penal systems. This study examines the…

In this article, we continue Martin Thrupp's critical work in education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand by examining the policies of the Sixth Labour-led Government (2017--2023) and the Sixth National-led Government (2023-present). We consider their attempts to mitigate social injustice via education policy and the social imaginaries that underpin…

The development of state/federal mandated curricula for schooling is a highly politicised process, and even more so for marginalised Indigenous groups who are simultaneously attempting to revitalise their traditional language and knowledge. An example of this is the ongoing struggles between the New Zealand State and Maori to develop curricula for…

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 book offers new ideas for thinking about how more equitable outcomes might be achieved in New Zealand so that all students are well-equipped to live and work in contemporary society. It addresses a social justice concern about access to the unique affordances of subject knowledge which comprises two forms of knowledge - propositional…

In this article I discuss how discourses of democratic early childhood education and care (ECEC) as a child's right, and enterprise discourses of ECEC as a commodity, have constructed teachers' work and professional identities in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past two decades. I illustrate two prevailing identity constructions of teachers emerging…

In 2015, the New Zealand Ministry of Education released a new curriculum policy document for sexuality education in all schools -- "Sexuality Education: A Guide for Boards of Trustees, Principals and Teachers". This policy is a rare international example of a curriculum document that explicitly values diversity, promotes inclusive school…

Sexuality education is a compulsory part of "The New Zealand Curriculum" for state-funded schools. In 2015, the Ministry of Education has published an updated revision of their official guidelines for schools on the teaching of sexuality education. This paper employs Foucauldian discourse analysis to argue that this policy document,…

Public education is not just a way to organise and fund education. It is also the expression of a particular ideal about education and of a particular way to conceive of the relationship between education and society. The ideal of public education sees education as an important dimension of the common good and as an important institution in…

In democracies such as Australia and New Zealand, education policy increasingly seeks to foster active citizens who are committed to social justice and change. Whilst many aspects of these initiatives are to be applauded for their commitment to empowering young people, in this paper we describe some of the ambiguities that attend young people's…

This study investigated the role of ITE in preparing beginner, secondary school teachers for including diverse groups of learners by capturing their experiences of ITE and their early career. An online questionnaire was completed by early career secondary school teachers. Follow-up interviews with four teachers explored salient findings from the…

Background: For over four decades, there have been calls for physical education (PE) and physical education teacher education (PETE) to address social inequality and foster social justice. Yet, as numerous studies demonstrate, attempts to educate for social justice in PETE are infrequent and rarely comprehensive. This raises the question why it…

Mary O'Sullivan writes that she spent part of her sabbatical leave interviewing teacher educators from nine countries across three continents exploring teacher education contexts both nationally and locally, and the nature of the 'teacher educators' work in these contexts. Three issues struck her: (1) The intensification of regulation and policy…

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of NZJES ["New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies"], this invited paper examines possible education policy and policy scholarship futures. It is argued that in order to predict the future, one needs to appreciate how socio-historical struggles of the past have contributed to present education policy…

This article examines the effects of edu-capitalism and neoliberal education policies across Australia, New Zealand and United States to disrupt hegemonic policy logic based on neutral human capital. Current frameworks, standards and assessment tools govern and control how early childhood educators see and assess children and in turn develop and…