Cluster meetings are are informal gatherings, usually over afternoon tea, where teachers with an interest in Dramatic Inquiry share stories of success and challenge, develop plans and resources, and take away practical ideas to try in their classroom. From humble beginnings in 2009, these meetings have now expanded and are hosted by experienced kaiako face […]
Now we’re finally coming out Covid restrictions, it’s great to be experiencing face-to-face workshops again. There’s nothing like the buzz of spending time with colleagues at a really practical, fun workshop, and knowing you’ll go away with new ideas and inspiration for teaching. The 2022 series of four Maker Day workshops from the DI Aotearoa […]
I really enjoyed co-presenting with Claire Edwards at the Puketāpapa Kahui Ako gathering at Dominion Road school in Auckland recently. The focus of the day was on the new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum, and Claire and I took the opportunity to model how frame distance could be used to explore a story from local […]
2022 sees the first official celebration of Matariki as a public holiday. Here are two teaching resources to support you to explore the meaning of this special festival with your class. First, a lovely playful learning adventure for younger children, created by Whakarongo Tauranga. This one is loosely based on the book Tirama Tirama Matariki. […]
https://sites.google.com/view/dramaticinquirynetworkaotearoa/home I’m delighted to share the link to the new site for The Dramatic Inquiry Aotearoa Network Trust (DI Trust). It’s great for the DI community in Aotearoa to have this new ‘landing space’ and expression of our identity as a Network of Expertise (NEX) Right now the site has information about DI as well […]
I am really enjoying this new book by Rosemary Hipkins from NZCER, which explores the kind of complex systems thinking students need for success in the twenty-first century. Many will be familiar with Hipkins’ scholarly work on key competencies, science education, assessment, and curriculum integration. She’s a super smart thinker herself (and yes, she’s also […]
In August 2021, Amanda Denston from the University of Canterbury published a literature review for the NZ Ministry of Education. It was based on this research question: What does the literature show to be the most effective, engaging, and equitablespeaking and listening approaches that effectively support learning and speaking andlistening demands across the curriculum along […]
This significant new textbook on drama education research includes several chapters about Mantle of the Expert (and other Dramatic Inquiry approaches) written by teachers and academics from Aotearoa. Great to get this kind of international recognition for our local mahi. Check out the contents page at this link. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Drama-in-Education/McAvoy-OConnor/p/book/9780367430450 Scholarly texts like this tend to […]
Very excited to share information about this year’s Winter School in Mantle of the Expert to be held in July in Hamilton. This year, for the first time, there will be TWO courses available to choose from – one on the foundations of Mantle of the Expert, with an introduction to planning and the other […]
The DI Network Aotearoa has used some of its Networks of Expertise (NEX) funding to set up a new website, to be launched soon. Here’s a glimpse of the cover page (still in development). The new site will be dedicated to the work of the DI Trust including NEX funded projects. It will include: information […]