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Engaging Learning
Voices
Light up the dark
A word from the authors...
Observations and wonderings from Steve and Rebecca - creators of Engaging Learning Voices.
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Who is Tom Bennett? A Cautionary Tale for Teachers
by Rebecca Thomas When a child curls under the table in fear, is that behaviour? Or is that pain? When a kaiako weeps in the staffroom,...
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Jul 26, 20255 min read
“Chaotic and Imploding” — That Couldn’t Be Closer to Our Truth
By Rebecca Thomas "‘Science of learning’ and ‘knowledge-rich’ are mentioned everywhere, defined nowhere,” said NZ Principals’ Federation...
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Jul 23, 20254 min read
Public Education for Sale: The Government’s Real Plan for NCEA
by Rebecca Thomas Epsom Girls Grammar is adding Cambridge exams in 2026. Mount Albert Grammar is under pressure to do the same. More than...
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Jul 20, 20254 min read
Education Was Never Meant to Be a 'Portfolio'
by Rebecca Thomas The Educational 'Portfolio' Across the motu, something’s shifting — and not in the direction of trust. Maybe you’ve...
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Jul 15, 20254 min read
Meet them where they are — because kids do well if they can, and you make a difference
by Rebecca Thomas Equity and Inclusion in Education Dedicated to Chrissy and every school with a Chrissy in it, every leader like...
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Jul 9, 20255 min read
Still We Stay
by Rebecca Thomas Image ChatGPT A reflection at the cusp of Term 3 I looked back over the titles Steve and I have written since January....
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Jul 5, 20254 min read
Increased Teacher Stress = Decreased Co-Regulation
by Rebecca Thomas Covid: Banksy painting for NHS charity It’s easy to look at the rising dysregulation in classrooms and wonder: Are...
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Jul 1, 20255 min read
Promises Mean Nothing if the Ministry Won’t Keep Them
by Rebecca Thomas In May, the Ministry of Education told Kāhui Ako educators and boards that their collective agreements would be...
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Jun 26, 20253 min read
The recent debate, it is all about context
By Steve Saville The recent debate, it is all about context. I’m sure that I am not alone in voicing my frustration that, all too often,...
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Jun 25, 20257 min read
What I’ve Learned From Writing About the Realities of Our Classrooms
by Rebecca Thomas When I wrote “ Teaching Structured Literacy and Maths to Students Who Can't Regulate ”, I wasn’t expecting over 3,500...
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Jun 21, 20254 min read
Teaching Structured Literacy and Maths to Students Who Can't Regulate
by Rebecca Thomas Let the angles open — not close — around the child. (Image ChatGPT) "Can we teach our kids self-regulation before...
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Jun 20, 20254 min read
A Salute to NZEI: Finally, A Line in the Sand
By Rebecca Thomas ChatGPT At last—a crack of light in the storm. NZEI’s move to explore legal action over the government’s abrupt...
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Jun 14, 20254 min read
What the science doesn't always show us
By Rebecca Thomas Chat GPT image They say silence speaks volumes. But in education, it’s the noise—the slogans, the soundbites, the...
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Jun 6, 20256 min read
A Reflection on the $67 Million Dollar Structured Literacy PLD
by Rebecca Thomas ChatGPT I’ve just sat through two days of Ministry of Education-funded Structured Literacy PLD. I went in with an open...
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May 27, 20257 min read
A Budget on Paper. A Crisis in the Classroom.
By Rebecca Thomas Our Top Heavy Fraction When I told people where I was moving for my new role, their faces shifted—eyebrows raised,...
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May 22, 20254 min read
How Co-requisites and Surveillance Will Push Our Kids Out of Education
by Rebecca Thomas The student has already left Rocked. Saddened. Frustrated. That’s the trio of emotion that sits heavy in the chest when...
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May 17, 20253 min read
Our Inconvenient Truth
by Rebecca Thomas Image by ChatGPT In 2006, An Inconvenient Truth shook the world awake. I remember exactly where I was when I first...
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May 14, 20253 min read
Banning Social Media Platforms for Under 16s?
by Rebecca Thomas 🙈👍🚫 The solution a boy gave his friend when dumping his girlfriend on social media. I have NO IDEA the connotation...
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May 7, 20254 min read
What Kāhui Ako Taught Us: The kōrero our sector deserved from the government
by Rebecca Thomas We’ve spent more than a decade living alongside Kāhui Ako—arguing over their function, dissecting their structure, and...
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May 2, 20254 min read
When Gifts Come Early
by Rebecca Thomas *Unicorn Train: by Steve Saville I apologise in advance, but Erica just keeps giving me reasons to type... This week’s...
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Apr 28, 20253 min read
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