Literature shows cooperative learning has positive benefits for students’ learning and social outcomes. Even though cooperative learning studies have been conducted in all areas of the curriculum, few studies have investigated whether there are similar effects for students across several curriculum areas or age groups. Moreover, less attention has been given to how professional learning and development (PLD) opportunities can contribute to changes in instructional practice. We illustrate how research on cooperative learning can be translated into practice, through a one-year University-School partnership. The current study is focused on our PLD work in one large private school based in New Zealand. Analysis of school data (quantitative student data and qualitative teacher data) indicated that, by the end of the school year, students reported experiencing more cooperative learning opportunities in their classes. Teachers believed that the PLD supported change in their practice and noted positive changes in student engagement. Analysis of student data also revealed differential outcomes by subject and age group. Overall, our study showed that PLD opportunities can contribute to the successful implementation of cooperative learning.

The COMPASS project is part of NZCER’s Te Pae Tawhiti Government Grant programme of research. It is also aligned to the broad goals and aspirations of NZCER, in that its overarching purpose is to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the notion of Whakatere Tōmua—Wayfinding. The COMPASS project has examined the ways kaiako, ākonga, and whānau navigate educational experiences and contexts. Using quantitative and qualitative data, the report focuses on examining the social-psychological conditions for school success from the perspectives of Māori and Pasifika students (n = 5,843), Pasifika whānau members (n = 362), and Māori kaiako (n = 311) from 102 schools across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Using a series of poetry conversations, the authors give voice to their experiences of the doctoral process to illuminate the emotional and affective-political experience, and engage with the neo-liberal powers of the doctoral journey. They write poems to remember the body, and bring justice to the many bodies that have experienced the chill inside the “ivory tower.”