by Rebecca Thomas Paul Henry echoes what Tom Bennett has championed for years It is easy to understand that the status quo believes if children misbehave we should punish them. They share the idea that if behaviour gets worse we should increase the consequences, and if that doesn't work, remove them. Stand them down. Suspend them. Give teachers more power. The problem is that education has spent the last fifty years discovering that children are far more complex than our comm

by Rebecca Thomas This week was a strange week. My wairua was bruised, stretched and, at times, left wondering whether it had anything left to give. Adults frustrated me. Systems exhausted me. I can't help it. I take this job seriously. I know I can become frosty with adults who still don't understand neurodiversity or trauma. Admittedly, I lose patience with people who would rather defend the status quo than ask, "What if there was a better way?" Quite often, my passion spil

by Rebecca Thomas Politicians keep high-profile friends. Friends with benefits. The kind that help win elections, shape policy and, once in government, quietly occupy positions of influence. Politics has always traded in loyalty. Trusted allies are less likely to leak, less likely to challenge and more likely to carry the agenda exactly as intended. You only have to look at the recent line-up across education to see the final row of the chessboard coming into play. Sarah Brow

by Rebecca Thomas A pin that used to stand for protecting future generations and shared purpose. Every morning I unlock the door to a school in Te Tai Tokerau where around ninety-five percent of the children are Māori. I see mokopuna and I hear laughter that survives hardship. I see generations of promise that have the potential to make us all be better humans. But, I also see the scars left behind by an education system that, for decades, has too often measured them against