School Briefs - The AECNZ Podcast

Thanks to those who were able to attend the launch, and thank you for the huge amount of positive feedback that people have sent in about the report since its release.

Here is a video of the launch. We want to acknowledge the voices of parents that were shared.

What Accountability Looks Like

The 2025 Budget set out a timeline. The Aotearoa Educators’ Collective intends to hold that timeline, returning at each milestone to ask the same question with the same honesty.

The commitments are on record. The full LSC rollout is due to complete in 2027. The 2 million additional teacher aide hours are committed by 2028. The sector will be watching and will continue to report what it finds.

What the contributors to this report would change, given the chance, is consistent across every response.

* Fix the teacher aide funding model.

* Fund the missing middle.

* Create a national plan with real targets and real accountability.

* Measure success by what children experience rather than by what is announced.

These are the same answers given last year. The urgency behind them has only grown.

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

In this AEC School Briefs pre-budget special edition, Claire chats to Business and Economic Research Limited’s (BERL), Deputy Chief Economist, Killian Destremau about the research they have done on per student spending in the tertiary and compulsory education sector in Aotearoa. He also shares some interesting insights into the processes for determining our Annual Budget.

You can read the report we discussed here.

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you for tuning in!

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you for tuning in!

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

It was great to be able to catch up with Bruce Jepsen and Dr Therese Ford of Te Akatea.

In a wide ranging discussion they spoke about the the pattern of remove Te Maori and the voices of Maori from the curriculum and its development process.

Bruce offered the change for people to request the MOE funded equity report. You can contact him via email: [email protected]

The full submission can be found here.

We also referenced Te Akatea’s paper: The Recolonisation of the Aotearoa New Zealand Curriculum in 2025. This can be found here.

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you for tuning in!

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

This conversation with Guy Claxton looked to dive into the issues around the direction of curriculum in Aotearoa and why embodiment science is better placed to connect curriculum with the type of citizens we want to create.

Guy Claxton is Emeritus Professor of the Learning Sciences at the University of Winchester Centre for Real-World Learning, UK, and author of The Future of Teaching and Intelligence in the Flesh: Why Your Mind Needs Your Body Much More Than It Thinks.

For those interested in Guy’s latest book. You can find it here. Bodies of Learning How Embodiment Science Transforms Education, By Guy Claxton, Emily Poel

Bodies of Learning is a bold reimagining of education through the lens of embodiment science. Claxton and Poel challenge outdated assumptions that separate mind and body, revealing the interconnectedness of the ‘bodymind’. Drawing on cutting-edge research in embodied cognition, this book offers a transformative vision for education that integrates heart, gut, brain, feeling and action into the learning process, reshaping how we think about intelligence, learning and teaching.

For decades, educational reform has stalled due to fixed beliefs that prioritise intellectual understanding over physical and emotional intelligence. Bodies of Learning dismantles these barriers, showing how learning is deeply intuitive, emotional and physical. The authors present practical strategies to create classrooms that work with, rather than against, human nature, while advocating for structural changes to reimagine schools as spaces for mastering the crafts of thinking, problem-solving and real-world learning.

This accessible and inspiring book goes beyond advocating for better nutrition and exercise in schools. It calls for a fundamental shift in how we teach, recognising intelligence as a dynamic blend of memory, bodily awareness, intuition and emotion. Packed with actionable ideas and reflective exercises, Bodies of Learning is essential reading for educators, as well as anyone passionate about creating a truly holistic and effective education system for the future.

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

It was great to be able to catch up with Alicia Poroa, a teacher from an Area School and member of Aotearoa Social Studies Educators’ Network ASSEN.

Liam and Claire discussed Alicia’s submission to the Waitangi Tribunal’s urgent hearing into the removal of Te Tiriti from section 127 of the Education and Training Act.

Alicia’s submission can be found here.

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you for tuning in!

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe

It was great to be able to catch up with Richard Manning, Associate Professor from the University of Canterbury.

Liam and Claire discussed Richard’s submission to the Waitangi Tribunal’s urgent hearing into the removal of Te Tiriti from section 127 of the Education and Training Act.

Richard’s submission can be found here.

Get full access to Aotearoa Educators Collective's Substack at aecnz.substack.com/subscribe