Section
Commentary, critique, and advocacy from voices across the New Zealand education sector.
This section publishes opinion pieces on curriculum reform, education policy, equity, standardisation, political change, and the lived realities of school leadership. Contributors include principals, academics, sector commentators, and federation leadership writing in their own voice — not necessarily reflecting NZPF policy. Topics range from the Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill to school culture, staff wellbeing, and the place of equity in curriculum design. Use this section to engage with the debates shaping education in Aotearoa, sharpen your own thinking on contested issues, and hear how colleagues are responding to the political and curricular pressures on schools.
As parents we endeavour to give our children a better start in life than we remember having. The danger is, that when we feel we have achieved this, we constantly berate our children with tales of our own hard upbringing. In my house this goes along the lines of . . . Whilst there is […]
feedback, feedforward, Feedup, feeddown lester.flockton@otago.ac.nz Systemness – Collaboration – Communities of Schools – Teaching as Inquiry – Raising Achievement Has it ever struck you, dear reader, that education and those who work in education are victims of relentlessly robotic rounds of new jargon, new panaceas, new fix-its, new initiatives, new spinoramas, new “love words”? And […]
IES, a research perspective Dr Patty Towl PhD I was relieved to hear the concern raised by the primary its home environment. Finally there is no obvious, rigorous school sector about the proposed Investing in Education Success research evidence that IES actually raises student achievement; Initiative. I am a retired high school principal and special not […]
What Matters in the Future? Kelvin Squire Retired Principal I’m not sure how to define future; what I’ve just said is the past, what I’m about to say is in the future so for me the future is now! There is unequivocal worldwide evidence that a child’s future pathway is to a large degree determined by […]
Take a deep breath: integrating into a new school culture . . . Helen Kinsey-Wightman I once went waterskiing in Lake Taupo – I say once because chose to assume he did this to allow him to focus fully on the despite the fact I am reasonably good at waterskiing and it was an quality […]
feedback, feedforward, Feedup, feeddown lester.flockton@otago.ac.nz Tomorrow’s Schools was yesterday’s schools, not today’s schools, and certainly not tomorrow’s schools! Yet, somehow, we constantly hear the baying, “We’ve had Tomorrow’s Schools for 25 years. Surely it’s time for change.” A known Auckland school leadership academic pronounces, “The self-managing school model should not be treated like a sacred […]
OPINION: Growing ourselves through growing others . . . Helen Kinsey-Wightman We have an advantage as educational leaders in that, as teachers, our success is derived from how well we grow our students as learners. In becoming leaders of other teachers we merely need to make the transition from growing children to growing adults. Simple! […]
School Lines Upbeats and Downbeats – Moot Points! Lester Flockton feedback, feedforward, Feedup, feeddown lester.flockton@otago.ac.nz We were told that the mood of this year’s NZPF Moot in Wellington (a meeting of branch presidents) was upbeat. We are upbeat when we feel confident, bouyed, energised and optimistic. The state of up-beatedness can be short-lived and euphoric […]
In the last week of term I was invited to take a group of students to present to a Conference at Ohakea Airbase entitled “Realising women’s potential.” The focus of the conference was on identifying and enhancing the factors that contribute to the recruitment and retention of women in the armed forces. They invited our […]
feedback, feedforward, Feedup, feeddown lester.flockton@otago.ac.nz It is the fashion in our now highly politicised and bureacratised education system to regularly and repeatedly instil buzz words into the oft ill-informed minds of the public and practitioner alike. These words resound like penetrating gongs in a hollow can emptied of educational depth, wisdom, experience and a bright-minded […]
Religious Instruction in New Zealand State Primary Schools: Some Issues, Dilemmas, and Resolutions Gregory Lee and Howard Lee Throughout this year several public discussions have taken place regarding the delivery of religious instruction within state primary schools. Readers of the daily press—especially in the North Island, earlier in 2014—have been alerted to a debate concerning […]
Unsurprisingly, I have always been a passionate supporter of women’s right to be educated. Since I began working in a girls’ school I have begun to share this passion with my students more overtly. This week – with the goal of relationship building – I shared a short presentation about myself, my education and achievements, […]
