Educational systems worldwide promote the use of collaborative networks to foster teacher learning and improve practice in the pursuit of educational change to address longstanding equity and achievement issues. New Zealand is no exception, with its Communities of Learning/Kahui Ako policy mandating collaboration spanning across schools--a mandate…

This article takes up an ANTian sensibility to explore the enactment of a policy for educational collaboration in one region in the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand (New Zealand). The case offers potential for considering the benefits of a sociology of associations (Latour 2005/2007): a Treaty-based bicultural nation, school atomisation…

In an effort to understand the impact of the international education network, Teach for All, this paper focuses on one Teach For All affiliate program, Ako Matatupu/TFNZ (AM/TFNZ), to consider how Teach For All and its affiliates are reshaping notions of teacher expertise and professionalism as it defines itself in contrast to university-based…

Use of mobile technology in the classroom (m-learning) is a recent educational practice. This study reports on the insights of teachers in New Zealand classrooms about their m-learning practice. It targets the early adopter teachers of school classes where each student has a mobile device. The teachers were asked about the pedagogical changes in…

The past 20 years or so have seen increasing concern that our schooling system, set up for a different age, is not able to prepare today's learners for the fast-changing world they will live and work in. Strong arguments for radical change--not gradual improvement--have been made, from a number of quarters. There is some consensus about the broad…

This article outlines a research study into the perceptions of a small sample of New Zealand school leaders about the nature of leading in a high-needs school environment. Reflective data collected from leaders indicated that a broad-based concept of high needs centred on the socially disadvantaged world of families, student-related factors both…

This think piece by Carolyn Alexander-Bennett is a reflection of her keynote speech at DEANZ2016 conference, which was held from 17-20th April at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. In her speech Carolyn revisits the issues, developments, and technology trends that led to the birth of FarNet (an online cluster of schools catering for the…

The Learning and Change Network Strategy (LCN) was developed to raise students' achievement by appreciating, extending and enriching their learning environments. Throughout New Zealand there are 53 voluntary, networked communities of practice. They involve the active participation of students, teachers, parents, school leaders and community…

Increasingly school change processes are being facilitated through the formation and operation of groups of teachers working together for improved student outcomes. These groupings are variously referred to as networks, networked learning communities, communities of practice, professional learning communities, learning circles or clusters. The…

This article analyses key events in the history of adult and community education in Aotearoa New Zealand. It draws on historical sources to examine the role of grassroots community activism and local and national networking in upholding a broad vision of adult and community-based education, in the face of a hostile policy climate. The authors…

The New Media Consortium's Horizon Project is an ongoing research project that aims to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative inquiry within education around the globe over a five-year time period. The project's central products are the "Horizon Reports", an annual…

What assumptions about children and childhood are held by government officials and organisation representatives who are influential in policy formation in early childhood education (ECE) in New Zealand? How are assumptions manifested in policy? This article draws on a study carried out from 2001 to 2003, a time of radical ECE policy change in New…

The article draws on interpretive frameworks from diffusion research and social network analysis to explore one particular "travelling reform"--outcomes-based education--that went global. The argument is made that by virtue of studying late adopters of a travelling reform one is examining globalisation. The cases in point for late…

The International Handbook of Teacher and School Development brings together a collection of research and evidence-based authoritative writings which focus on international teacher and school development. Drawing on research from 18 countries across 7 continents, the 40 chapters are grouped into 10 themes which represent key aspects of teacher and…

Educational reformers in New Zealand and England have turned their attention towards network creation as a way of facilitating school improvement. The idea is that greater collaboration can drive school improvement through building professional learning communities, spreading best practice, and driving innovation in education. It is based on a…