In 1994, Childspace founders Toni and Robin Christie were working in early childhood education in Christchurch, but they weren’t as happy as they thought they should be. “We were young, fresh and idealistic,” Toni admits. “The standard of early childhood education was really appalling at the time. I used to come home so upset.” Having saved […]
“We had this kid who was in Year 4 last year, and got really into Adobe Photoshop. He started to do some quite interesting stuff, and his auntie said, ‘I can’t believe the difference in my boy. I now know what he’s going to be — he’s not going to be a painter like his […]
All children are naturally curious, with broad imaginations and an inherent ability to drive anyone within earshot slightly doolally through repetitive questioning. However, if you’ve ever been around a child whose curiosity levels are through the roof, or whose outlandish imaginings leave you wondering if there was something extra in your tea, you may like […]
Just after the release of the 2014 National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results, I was contacted by a journalist writing an article on our national qualification and alternative credentials — the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma in this case — offered in New Zealand schools. My caller wanted to know the difference between the two […]
It has been a rite of passage for young New Zealanders, living in a small island nation at the bottom of the world, to travel overseas. It is my experience that wherever you travel overseas, you will find a Kiwi. This is quite remarkable as, like our feathered emblem, we are a rare breed with […]
In 1950s New Zealand it was unusual for mothers with pre-school children to be in paid work. My mother was an exception, supplementing the family income by working night shifts as a nurse and, during the day, looking after me, the youngest, while my brother and sister were at school. One of my earliest memories […]
The past three years have flashed by and once again we have faced a national election during which, inevitably, education was under the spotlight, with a raft of ideas bandied about to lift outcomes. Education, it seems, is the answer to all of our problems. Whether we have children at school or not is irrelevant: […]
In a discussion with a parent about the wide range of international trips and exchanges available to students these days, he regretfully commented, “In my day a tour of a dairy farm with my geography class was all that was on offer.” With cheaper airfares today, times have changed: so many students are travelling within […]
Education discourse, like many professions, is littered with acronyms like NZQA, NCEA, RTLBs and ESOL. One acronym that I especially dislike is the abbreviation for gifted and talented education: GATE. Supposedly, this acronym should conjure up an image of a welcoming entrance leading to further enriched or accelerated educational programmes, but to me, I am […]
The most effective way to learn is by ‘doing’. In the digital world in which we live, technology now enables students to reach beyond the classroom and their immediate environment and engage in authentic virtual learning experiences. But even better still is learning through active engagement in your community, and in this respect, Wellington continually […]
