Open AccessTeachers and Schools Succeeding Against the Odds: An Exploratory Case Study
Author(s) -
Keith Sullivan
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
new zealand annual review of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1178-3311
pISSN - 1171-3283
DOI - 10.26686/nzaroe.v0i10.1397
Subject(s) - odds , context (archaeology) , christian ministry , hero , cultural capital , capital (architecture) , exploratory research , pedagogy , sociology , political science , psychology , social science , geography , medicine , law , logistic regression , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science
This article examines how one low-decile New Zealand secondary school has managed to succeed against the odds. After examining Education Review Office and Ministry of Education responses to school failure, the paper looks at the influence of recent educational reform upon teaching, and at what the teachers in the case study school have done within their professional practice to create a culture of success. It argues that the teachers of the school have been professional in defending themselves against governmental attacks, and in their innovative approaches to a difficult teaching context. As a means of generating more understanding, the article finishes by exploring first of all the role of “teacher as hero” as portrayed in film, and secondly the relationship between schooling and cultural capital.