Educational development – Teaching & Learning Research Initiative

Designing effective extended learning episodes: The Alfriston College Experience

1. Introduction This report documents the research activities and findings of the TLRI-funded project entitled A School for the 21st Century: Researching the impact of changing teaching practice on student learning. The project was a two-year long collaboration between key members of the teaching staff at Alfriston College and an experienced researcher from NZCER (collectively called the Professional Learning Group or PLG throughout this report). Together the PLG investigated ways teachers understood and responded to innovative approaches to scheduling time for teaching and learning, and sought evidence that the innovations had a significant effect on student learning. At the outset the PLG team hoped to be able to identify the best

The Art of the Matter: The development and extension of ways of knowing in the arts

1. Aims, objectives, and research questions There is very little documented research information about New Zealand teachers’ and children’s attitudes, knowledge, and values regarding the Arts. There has been a major change to the school curriculum (with the Arts becoming one essential learning area) and there are reported difficulties in the teaching and learning of the Arts within primary classrooms (Education Review Office, 1995, 1999). However, there is also evidence that a curriculum leadership model allowing teachers to selectively develop discipline knowledge according to needs works well in instances where schools have committed themselves to a climate that supports a learning culture (Beals, Hipkins, Cameron, & Watson, 2003). In the international