Student engagement

In 1973 the Department of University Extension, Massey University, commenced a 2 year part-time correspondence course leading to  the award of certificates in early childhood education or early child development.

Pupils with IQs in the range 70- 90 are usually in regular secondary school classes. They make up some 5% to 10% of the average first year high school intake. Such pupils are frequently reported to have difficulty with the traditional secondary school curricula, but their teachers seldom have any special training in the teaching of low ability pupils.

In order to convey information and notions about time adults use a complex set of conventions. Of interest is children's ability to grasp and use these conventions.

In Christchurch the number of Pacific Island children is small, they live in every area of the city, from 'working class industrial' to 'middle-class suburban', and most are New Zealand-born Samoans. The families rarely shift and their children rarely change schools, at least between the ages of five and eight. Under such conditions it seems likely that any differences between their spoken English and that of native-English-speaking children will highlight difficulties, and might even provide some clues to the reasons for the difficulties.

An American programme, based on the trial of manhood concept, that empowers sixth-graders educationally and gives them opportunities for growth.