title: Discourses of economic investment and child vulnerability in early childhood education

authors: Mitchell, Linda

subjects: Early Childhood Education

abstract: This article explores discourses of economic investment and child vulnerability that have become dominant under New Zealand’s National-led Government as a rationale for policy directions in early childhood education. It highlights the need for explicit values about children and childhood to be a basis for early childhood policy development, with a commitment to equity and democratic citizenship being a good place to start. The article draws on policy document analysis, policy evaluations and research to argue that current policies have run counter to a democratic view of citizenship, and led to a swing away from universal approaches to education for all towards targeted interventions for priority children. At the same time, a drive for measurable outcomes is in danger of funnelling early childhood education into narrow goals that bypass a broad view of what education might possibly be. Ideas for future policy directions are discussed.

text: Discourses of economic investment and child vulnerability in early childhood education This article explores discourses of economic investment and child vulnerability that have become dominant under New Zealand’s National-led Government as a rationale for policy directions in early childhood education. It highlights the need for explicit values about children and childhood to be a basis for early childhood policy development, with a commitment to equity and democratic citizenship being a good place to start. The article draws on policy document analysis, policy evaluations and research to argue that current policies have run counter to a democratic view of citizenship, and led to a swing away from universal approaches to education for all towards targeted interventions for priority children. At the same time, a drive for measurable outcomes is in danger of funnelling early childhood education into narrow goals that bypass a broad view of what education might possibly be. Ideas for future policy directions are discussed.

year: 2017

title: A socially contextualised approach to professional learning for school leaders

authors: Thrupp, Martin

abstract: Distinctive school contexts pose a challenge for professional learning for school leaders but this distinctiveness does not mean professional learning has to become entirely individualised. Schools with clusters of common contextual characteristics can provide a middle ground for professional learning between wholly generic versions of ‘good practice’ and wholly individualised ones. Yet because professional learning for school leadership has often been generic in its approach, these contextualised examples are generally not to the fore. It is often hard to work out which practices would be most appropriate for schools in particular social settings. This article describes the ‘School leadership in context’ courses, a New Zealand initiative that approached this problem by providing relatively targeted professional learning. The courses collected together the principals of small rural schools in particular geographic areas with the intention to provide a forum for discussion centred on the needs of ‘like’ schools facing a number of similar issues and problems, getting away from the one-size-fits-all approach that so often dominates professional learning offerings in New Zealand and elsewhere. The article discusses the political background to this professional learning and goes into considerations in providing the courses such as which groupings of school leaders to invite, and what the courses covered. The article also discusses some enduring challenges in providing professional learning centred on school context highlighted by the courses.

text: A socially contextualised approach to professional learning for school leaders Distinctive school contexts pose a challenge for professional learning for school leaders but this distinctiveness does not mean professional learning has to become entirely individualised. Schools with clusters of common contextual characteristics can provide a middle ground for professional learning between wholly generic versions of ‘good practice’ and wholly individualised ones. Yet because professional learning for school leadership has often been generic in its approach, these contextualised examples are generally not to the fore. It is often hard to work out which practices would be most appropriate for schools in particular social settings. This article describes the ‘School leadership in context’ courses, a New Zealand initiative that approached this problem by providing relatively targeted professional learning. The courses collected together the principals of small rural schools in particular geographic areas with the intention to provide a forum for discussion centred on the needs of ‘like’ schools facing a number of similar issues and problems, getting away from the one-size-fits-all approach that so often dominates professional learning offerings in New Zealand and elsewhere. The article discusses the political background to this professional learning and goes into considerations in providing the courses such as which groupings of school leaders to invite, and what the courses covered. The article also discusses some enduring challenges in providing professional learning centred on school context highlighted by the courses.

year: 2018

title: Looking at relationships between propositions in Maori language

authors: Houia, Waldo

subjects: Te reo Māori

abstract: This paper reports on an investigation into the various ways in which relationships of meaning, such as reason-result and temporal overlap, are encoded as clauses, sentences and groups of sentences in Māori. It also provides an indication of the relevance of this type of research to teachers and learners of Māori.

text: Looking at relationships between propositions in Maori language This paper reports on an investigation into the various ways in which relationships of meaning, such as reason-result and temporal overlap, are encoded as clauses, sentences and groups of sentences in Māori. It also provides an indication of the relevance of this type of research to teachers and learners of Māori.

year: 2001