Disrupting the paradigm: “Children need to learn how to learn”

The views that early childhood teachers have of children and childhood are informed by the rhetoric and theories of early childhood, their cultures, life stories, philosophies, and ongoing practices as teachers. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Whāriki, the legislated national curriculum for early childhood education, further guides early childhood teachers’ practice and frames teachers’ image of the young child. This article confronts and critiques a short phrase that is an addition to the revised Te Whāriki curriculum document, specifically the phrase that children “need to learn how to learn”. This phrase implies that young children do not know how to learn. The implication in this utterance belies the intense drive that children have to learn, to play, to explore, and to understand as they grow in strength in their sense of self within their whānau and communities. We care about the image that this presents to student teachers, to teachers. We challenge whether the notion that children need to learn how to learn is the image that early childhood teachers hold, or want to hold, of children. We argue that this phrase and image of the child as needing to learn how to learn is a loose thread in the whāriki that potentially undermines and is counter to the more dominant concept within Te Whāriki of the competent child.

Identifying the missing link between shadow education and academic success: Features of private supplementary tutoring in South Korea

Shadow education or private supplementary tutoring has become an international phenomenon as increasing numbers of students seek help beyond traditional schooling for academic achievement. The positive relationship between students’ academic achievement and participation in shadow education has been previously reported. However, the manner in which shadow education practices can help students to gain and maintain higher academic achievement remains understudied. In response, this study explored the features of shadow education practices that may benefit the academic achievement of students, particularly those in South Korea but with relevance beyond the South Korean context. Using qualitative research methods, this study revealed that preview learning from/with private supplementary tutors, academic mastery learning of subject knowledge and skills, training skills for school exams, and solving students’ individual learning difficulties through intensive coaching are contributing factors to improving academic achievement.

The English Language Learning Progressions (ELLP): Challenge or opportunity?

This article provides an overview and critical analysis of The English Language Learning Progressions (ELLP) (Ministry of Education, 2008). Identifying main themes through critical policy analysis, this review seeks to place ELLP in context through a comparison with The English Language Learning Framework: Draft (Ministry of Education, 2005) and English Language Learning Progressions (ELLP ) Pathway Years 1–8 (Ministry of Education, 2020a). Within this review, the structure of ELLP is explored along with key ideas and claims. It is argued that there are both challenges and opportunities in ELLP. Finally, the key issues are summarised and suggestions are made for future research.

Editorial - Curriculum matters in an extraordinary year

This year, 2020, has been an extraordinary year. It has seen the escalation of COVID-19 to global pandemic status, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Aotearoa New Zealand election in October (delayed by a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and the US Presidential election in November. These events highlight a range of issues that are of potential interest to curriculum researchers and scholars and provide fruitful areas for ongoing curriculum research and exploration.