Creating system change to improve schooling outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Recent history of schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand has seen ongoing efforts to achieve improvement in learning outcomes, and particularly reduction in the inequity of outcomes between different groups of learners, without significant sustained progress. Over recent decades the literature on schooling system improvement has increasingly identified key factors that have contributed to improved learning outcomes in systems where this has been achieved. An assessment of Aotearoa New Zealand’s experience against both the “what” and the “how” of effective system improvement suggests that the Aotearoa New Zealand experience aligns with some, but not all, of the identified aspects of successful change. This points to areas for greater focus and new approaches to change management in order to achieve sustained improvement in learning outcomes in the future.