Teacher education reforms worldwide have reinforced a narrative that 'high-quality' teaching and teachers are the most significant contributors to raising education achievement, reducing societal inequities, and boosting economic development. Consequently, countries have put substantial efforts into regulating initial teacher education (ITE) to…

In 2020, two teachers and seven students participated in an action research project that sought to improve the teaching and learning of fractions in a New Zealand primary school. This research revealed that the collaborative creation of hypothetical learning trajectories was beneficial to the teachers' practice, content knowledge, and confidence,…

This paper reports on a small-scale research project that aimed to examine the impact of assessment changes to a second-year course called Tuhura Nga Toi Ahuatanga: Exploring the Role of the Expressive Arts in Education. This 30-credit course is part of a Bachelor of Education (Early childhood teaching) at a pre-service education provider in…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of the Curriculum Design Coherence Model (CDC Model -- Rata, 2019) on the design practice of two music teachers in a middle school music class in New Zealand. The CDC Model proposes that deep learning first requires deep design coherence. This coherence is generated by three interrelated design…

New Zealand primary school teachers are expected to regularly reflect on their teaching practice in order to consider the implications of past teaching on future planning. Aligned to teachers' ongoing reflection, the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) contains a section on effective pedagogy--teacher actions promoting student…

In Aotearoa New Zealand, technology education is a means for teachers to introduce students to future-focused contexts and innovative approaches to learning. When viewed from this lens, there are opportunities for pedagogical practice to be responsive to student interests by developing creative and critical thinking in a variety of technological…

This paper presents a heuristic tool that can be used to analyse and reflect on the inclusion of digital competences in Health and Physical Education Teacher Education (HPETE) programs. The tool is used to identify and compare how HPETE programs in three Southern Hemisphere countries address digital competency as an aspect of learning to teach…

The recruitment and retention of technology teachers in New Zealand is facing a potential crisis point. Worryingly, there are continuing misconceptions about the purpose and nature of technology education, and an ageing demographic in this sector of the teaching community. It is becoming increasingly difficult for schools to attract and appoint…

Building capability in assessment for learning is a goal of education systems internationally, though difficult for nations to successfully implement and sustain over time. Evidence about the positive effects of assessment for learning practices on students' learning and achievement is convincing, but implementation is made difficult by the…

The "new" of new literacies are multifaceted social practices to make and share meanings with new communication tools and technology. Despite gaining considerable research focus in recent times, there is scarce evidence of new literacies as instances of practice in secondary science classrooms. In this article students' engagement in…

New Zealand schools are increasingly digitally infused with computer applications and tools underpinning education and influencing teachers' work. Teachers entering the profession need to develop professional digital competence and while existing frameworks can guide initial teacher education (ITE), they might not be appropriate because student…

The possibility for enacting transformative practices in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) is shaped by the social, political, and material landscape. However, it is vital we acknowledge our contributing role as PETE lecturers in this shaping process. This paper presents the authors study of their critical friendship aimed at making…

Institutionally implemented learning technologies are often not adopted or are underused by academic staff. We aimed to better understand this problem by drawing on the notion of professional identity to explore the challenges academic staff experienced when they were to adopt a replacement learning management system (LMS). We describe a single…

The complex and fluid nature of knowledge is a key dimension of the early childhood curriculum and of early childhood teaching and learning. Such complexity adds to the already complex and dynamic work of an early childhood teacher. With a dynamic view of knowledge in mind, this article reports on research with a team of early childhood teachers…

Both in New Zealand and internationally, there has been a focus on the use of differentiation in mathematics instruction to raise achievement levels and provide equitable outcomes. New Zealand has a long history of the use of ability grouping to provide differentiation. Recently, this practice has been challenged in a large scale professional…