Journal article

Handwriting is a skill very similar to playing tennis or Space Invaders. It is complex and strategies need to be learnt if you want to do it well. But for fun, learning handwriting the conventional way, with sitting-up-straight and copying-tasks, comes nowhere near a game of tennis or a dollar's worth of zapping electronic aliens. These games need the same skills of prediction, hand-eye co-ordination, and the working up of automatic responses

Essays written in a 'good hand' get better marks than those written in a 'poor' hand. That was discovered over 50 years ago. Perhaps the computer will eradicate the influence of handwriting on the marks awarded to written work, once we can all type and all have the hardware. Then the frantic scribblings of the examinee will be replaced by the pristine uniformity of machine type, or perhaps by 'vocalised' expressionless 'darlek' speech. In the meantime, however, each child produces his or her unique, and frequently baffling squiggles, and we still have to decode them.

Several years ago I compiled a 'starter' list of books that I had read to children and we had enjoyed together. This year, conscious that many exciting childrens' books have been published recently, I surveyed teachers in ten schools to see which books they chose to read aloud to their classes and which books children read for themselves. The list was compiled in New Zealand but I am sure it will be a 'starter' list for Australian teachers too.

The launch of The New Zealand Curriculum for English-medium Teaching and Learning in Years 1–13 (2007) provides the opportunity for us to reflect on the way in which we design and deliver learning for the future. The new document actively supports the development of a school curriculum and provides the opportunity to think about personalising learning to meet individual and community needs.

The young people who are the subject of the National Child Development Study are now aged 25. For most of their lives they have been monitored by the National Children's Bureau and described in 19 books and 200 chapters and journal articles. Many of the books have dealt with very specific issues or examined the circumstances and development of particular subgroups of young people.

Alison is shy and finds it difficult to meet new people. She habitually stands back a little when approached, seldom looks people in the eye for long, and masks many of her emotional expressions. Her new classmates misread her nonverbal cues as lack of interest in their friendly overtures. Margaret also finds meeting new people difficuIt. When approached by strangers, she tends to talk louder and more often, stands too close, and she frowns or giggles at inappropriate times. She is often 'pushy' or aggressive.

Most teachers use television incidentally in their lessons, if only to reinforce or illustrate some point. Many will have noticed a reluctance, almost an hostility, by the children towards discussing their favourite shows. Children learn quickly that too much discussion and analysis destroys the pleasure they get from television-while teachers learn that by the middle of secondary school, children regard television and school as radically different activities.

To read well and widely is a central objective of formal education. People who cannot read are seen to be at a crippling disadvantage, personally, educationally, and vocationally. Public concern is often expressed about standards of reading attainment.