NCEA

Shared learning underpins learning communities and partnerships. This article draws on case study data generated from shared perceptions of the use of inquiry pedagogy, Mantle of the Expert, applied to a drama-devising process at NCEA Level 2. Students, teacher, and researcher were positioned together as members of THEATRON, a fictional professional theatre company commissioned to develop original, devised drama for festival audiences.

An early warning system can draw the attention of teachers to students’ learning needs early in the course of study, allow monitoring of progress in student learning, and guide the implementation of instructional interventions. In this article we report on a study in which we examined teachers’ views on using early warning systems to identify students who are “at risk” of failing to complete their NCEA qualifications, and we describe the measures that can be put in place to better support such students to achieve their learning goals.

NCEA has potential for the development of assessment frameworks that enable all students to demonstrate success in learning. However, research shows that this potential is not being realised. This article illustrates the way that two teachers developed a course in education for sustainability designed for those students who were not succeeding in more traditional subjects. The course opened a new pathway for learning and involved studying relevant issues using different learning areas.

In recent years Learning Languages has become a learning area in its own right in the New Zealand curriculum, and there have been initiatives to facilitate more language learning in primary and intermediate schools. Less has been done to increase the number of students in senior secondary classes. This article outlines the findings of a study into the number of students studying international languages at National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 3, both nationally and in individual schools, and examines contributing policies and practices.

This article draws on a recent New Zealand study of how young people learn to think critically about the past when they conduct internally assessed course work. The research demonstrated that, although students can develop advanced understandings of historical thinking when they conduct research projects, this development is largely dependent on how well teachers understand the conceptual nature of historical thinking.