This is an important statement that highlights the differentiation between left and right wing educational policy. This weekend the Labour Party has been meeting in Wellington for its Election Year Congress. Whilst there were a number of big announcements over the week for Labour, the area I am most interested in and the one that…
Author: Principally Mused
It Is Not Truth That Wins, But Perception
In the world of politics, it is seldom the truth that wins out, but the perception of truth. How painfully true that statement is right now. It would be fair to say that it has been a tough old week for some in the world of kiwi politics. The main party on the left has…
Teflon Politics
Have you ever thought about Teflon and Politics, and how they relate to each other? Stay with me – its not as strange as you may think. In this particular context, I am referring to specific politicians and how they have qualities similar to Teflon. It seems that no matter what they do, what the…
IES – Insane Educational Shambles
$359 million dollars!! Let me type that in for you again – slowly – so you understand just how much money we are talking about. Three hundred and fifty nine million dollars. In words or in numbers it is a lot of money. A LOT. It is money that has been magically found for the…
Busting out of the Classroom – Time to Break Free
Has the world gone mad? I appreciate this is a bit of a loaded question but stay with me. This morning, whilst idly scrolling through my twitter feed I saw a tweet by Pasi Sahlberg (an educationalist that I hold in great esteem and who, incidentally, is fabulous to listen to if you get the…
The Left Can Do This
Last week I posted on the new introduction to politics on the left, the alliance between Mana and The Internet Party. In that post I outlined my wonderings about this new player on the field of political footy, promising to lay out my wonderings around why I think the left is a serious contender in…
Politics Just Got Interesting
It has been an interesting time in politics lately. All kinds of political machinations have been at play with intrigue, drama, the odd ear picking and just a sniff of scandal to make the TV news interesting. Who says the New Zealand political landscape is boring. Not lately. If ever there was a time…
What Counts in Education?
NZ is four months out from an election. Vote Education is a big ticket item, and currently, we spend mega bucks on it. We waste mega bucks on it as well – but thats another post for another day. Getting the best ‘bang for our education bucks’ is critical. Education, like Health, is one of…
What Teacher Trainees Should Know…15 Things You Don’t Always Hear
What should teacher trainees know? Every time we get a new batch of trainee teachers in, I let them to know I want to have a chat with the and give them my ‘state of the nation’ talk. I warn them that what they will hear from me is not what they will necessarily hear…
Confessions Of A Procrastinator!
Confessions of a procrastinator “Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending tasks to a later time, sometimes to the “last minute” before the deadline.” I have just been on ‘holiday’….