The purpose of this study has been to provide a rich description of the role of the literacy leader in two primary schools. Through this study I was seeking to identify what the role of the literacy leader is and how this role is enacted. The role has been described from the perspectives of the literacy leader, a principal and five members of two school’s teaching staff. The desire to better understand the role of the literacy leader is important to those in the role and those they interact with. This is particularly so for those in my position as a professional developer, working alongside both a school and its literacy leader as they undertake in-depth literacy professional development. Literacy leaders have assumed greater responsibilities within schools since the 1999 Literacy Taskforce report which suggested a range of initiatives to better support literacy learners in New Zealand. Since this report there has been a governmental priority on literacy as a foundation learning area. Interest in literacy success for all stems from both international and national assessment knowledge. This information highlights the strength of New Zealand students in literacy but also identifies a group of students who do not perform well and continue to underachieve in literacy into adulthood. This underachievement limits the opportunities they have as adults for employment and participation in society. There has been no formalised role description for literacy leaders or how they might enact this role. The purpose of this study therefore has been to identify the role and how it is enacted. The literacy leader role has been analysed from multiple perspectives. Participant observation and in-depth interviewing have provided a rich picture of the role and how it is enacted. It is from these insights that some clarity has been gained about the characteristics of the role, how it is interpreted by the participants and then enacted by the two leaders. The findings indicate the role identified by those participating in this study and the reality of how it is enacted, are closely matched. The tasks of a literacy leader are complex and their dual role of classroom teacher and literacy leader adds to this complexity as they manage both positions simultaneously. This study identified that being a literacy leader requires a central focus on improved student achievement. It requires literacy leaders to provide strong leadership in literacy professional development/learning. This study also suggests that literacy leaders are seen as learning partners during the in-depth literacy professional development/learning focus where all involved are learners. The final role they play is in supporting the development of a collaborative professional learning community where all of the learning occurs. It raises issues and questions for those who interact with the literacy leader both within the school and those outside the school in how they can support them in this role. It also surfaces the need for schools and professional developers to address how the structures they are operating within can be reorganised to afford the time needed to be effective in this role. Finally when schools, advisers and Ministry of Education enter into a partnership of learning openly demonstrating that each will learn from the other, then capacity is built across all levels of the education system in meeting the goals of improved student outcomes.

The New Zealand Government recognises the importance of supporting all students in their learning to assist them to reach their full potential. This recognition is inclusive of gifted and talented students. Furthermore, boards of trustees, through their principal and staff, are required under the National Administration Guidelines, to demonstrate how they are catering for gifted and talented students. Notwithstanding this requirement, The Education Review Office (2008) report entitled Schools’ Provision for Gifted and Talented Students, confirms that a major challenge for school leadership is sustaining momentum of gifted and talented provisions and programmes. Despite this mandated intent, what happens in practice at the school level remains problematic. Teachers and schools welcomed the Talent Development Initiative (TDI), a Ministry of Education (MOE) Initiative, as it held some promise for developments in gifted and talented education. The first round of the initiative ran between 2003 and 2005 and the second from 2006 to 2008. Funding to support innovation and special developments in gifted education has been provided to 38 programmes nationwide. This initiative serviced some schools and educational bodies but a large number of others were left without an extra layer of support beyond their schools’ leadership actions. This study focuses on the school level, in particular teachers who are given additional responsibility, namely those with a coordination role. Moreover, my thesis is about how work to meet the needs of gifted and talented students can be sustained in schools to ensure the gifted and talented ‘torch’ can continue to ‘burn brightly’ over time. To gain an understanding of coordinators’ insights on what it takes to overcome the problem of sustaining provisions and programmes, this study adopts a qualitative, case study approach. I selected a purposive sample of six teachers with experience working in a gifted and talented coordinator role. The main source of data collection was individual semi-structured interviews (refer to Appendix A). I asked them questions about their role and how provisions were made for gifted and talented students at their schools. Further questions were asked about the support they received for their roles, particularly professional learning and development to enhance their practice. My findings show the responses from participants highlighted the important connection between leadership and learning. Knowledge and passion to do their best for gifted and talented students, although important, was not sufficient. The leadership actions and support provided by others in their setting and beyond their setting were likewise needed. My analysis revealed a range of strategies was deemed necessary to support the leadership of learning in classrooms, specifically the need for dialogue amongst teachers about identification, planning and evaluating provisions and programmes. All too often these gifted and talented coordinators worked alone in their roles, in isolation from others, and at times without the support they needed. Thus the success or failure of provisions and programmes for gifted and talented students rested on their ongoing commitment and drive. My study includes recommendations for practice. These recommendations suggest that provisions for gifted and talented students must be integrated into curriculum delivery and learning areas and be part of schools’ cultures in order for them to take hold and be sustained over time. Furthermore, there is a need to develop clarity of these provisions through job descriptions and for schools to undertake regular if not annual reviews of written documentation to guide ongoing work in gifted and talented education.

The purpose of this study was twofold: to find out how teachers of English as an Additional Language (EAL) conceived curriculum, teaching and learning and to examine how professional learning and development (PLD) might impact on changes in the teachers’ thinking and approaches. The research was spurred by my own involvement in the revision of the national New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and interest in the contested nature of curriculum related to English language learning. EAL teachers face challenges addressing the cross-Learning Area positioning of EAL and, at the same time, are afforded significant autonomy. PLD is needed to support teachers to make curriculum decisions that support English language learners’ (ELLs) to develop competency in English language with urgency. This is because ELLs need to manage the English language demands as they engage in the complex learning that is articulated in the NZC, along with their peers. I adopted an action research methodology to explore both how EAL teachers conceived curriculum and how PLD about EAL teaching and learning might impact on shifts in teachers’ understanding. I was a practitioner-researcher as I carried out PLD for two teachers over a period of six months. Those teacher-participants were teachers of EAL from different secondary schools with different professional contexts. Teaching-as-inquiry was the predominant approach of the PLD. This approach was consistent with my action research. The PLD comprised of a range of interruptions to teachers’ everyday work that assisted them to explore their own practice. The research drew on records of these interruptions to provide evidence of changes in teacher-participants’ thinking. The recorded conversations were captured through semi-structured interviews, video-stimulated recall and ‘learning conversations’. This qualitative data was analysed in one cycle which explored teachers’ thinking and actions about EAL curriculum. A second cycle focused my recorded reflections about my practice and on the impact of particular forms of PLD facilitation on shifts in the teachers’ thinking and actions. I created a review of literature for each cycle. This recursive process allowed me to reflect on my role as a PLD facilitator in action. Several themes emerged as the cycles were drawn together to examine how PLD impacted on shifts in teachers’ understanding of curriculum for EAL. One theme that emerged was the value of a culture of inquiry, where my action research was linked with the participants’ teaching-as-inquiry cycles. Another theme related to how PLD could influence teachers’ reconceptualising of curriculum for teaching multilingual English language learners. A third theme was how my PLD facilitation could impact on effective teaching and learning for Pasifika learners. Findings can be drawn from my study for both teacher practice and for PLD facilitation. This research adds to New Zealand research about teaching ELLs, and Pasifika students in particular. It shows how giving attention to both students’ home language strengths and academic English language learning needs can change the way teachers see pathways and work towards improved outcomes for students. The value of inquiry for teachers was confirmed in this action research, as a useful approach for bring about change in teachers’ thinking and approaches to teaching. The PLD interruption process, which included analysis of rich information about students, challenging conversations and the maintenance of respectful relationships was confirmed as an effective combination for engaging teachers in shifting their foci. Self-reflections on my PLD facilitation role, using an inquiry approach, assessed through adult learning principles, provided a useful stocktake which I would recommend for other PLD facilitators.

This case study reports the use of action research to improve teachers’ understanding of critical evaluation. The project involved nine physical educators in a year-long study, designing and conducting workshops for Year 13 Scholarship physical education students in Auckland, New Zealand. The focus of the workshops was on critical evaluation as interpreted within Scholarship physical education. The inquiry-based educational action research incorporated a focus on the concepts of Productive Pedagogies (Hayes, Mills, Christie & Lingard, 2006) to This case study reports the use of action research to improve teachers’ understanding of critical evaluation. The project involved nine physical educators in a year-long study, designing and conducting workshops for Year 13 Scholarship physical education students in Auckland, New Zealand. The focus of the workshops was on critical evaluation as interpreted within Scholarship physical education. The inquiry-based educational action research incorporated a focus on the concepts of Productive Pedagogies (Hayes, Mills, Christie & Lingard, 2006) to improve teachers’ understanding of critical evaluation. Data were collected by interview, observation and written reflections. Teachers began the project with confused understandings of the term critical evaluation. Through their participation in the action research process with a focus on Productive Pedagogies (Hayes et al., 2006) teachers reported an enhanced level of understanding and an improvement in their teaching of critical evaluation.