A description of how school should function as an institution from a Swedish perspective. I understand Sweden is succeeding in the same learning standards NZ is often described as declining in. However that doesn't seem to imply they don't have institutional issues occurring.
Undoubtedly, we can learn a thing or two from Scandinavian countries (and vice versa). However, their demographics is quite different from NZ’s. They also have a different attitude to innovation and R&D with thriving industries producing high-value products unlike NZ’s economy that’s stuck in high-volume low-margin primary products. Scientists and journalists (https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018885345/mediawatch-turning-off-the-news), for example, have higher levels of trust & respect. As do teachers!
One of the main issues with NZ’s international comparisons & rankings in education was the so-called ‘long tail’ of school kids performing & achieving quite poorly compared to the mean/median. Since schooling (achievement) and socio-economic factors are correlated, this tail has been stubborn & resistant and is likely to get longer.
A lot of the proposals for education reform (often government driven) seem to be addressed towards all students, rather than targeting a long tail. Seems like that won't be fixed by another curriculum restructure anyway.
True that, and lifting all boats will still leave the long tail if indeed it lifts all boats. However, there is strong resistance from some quarters (not quartiles) to any (!) attempts at addressing the long tail.
I think the decision to continue the 7 day isolation period for covid will cause nothing but grief for the government. Not because I think it is a terrible idea, in priniciple. That is, I think it would be a good idea if it was stringently followed.
But more because many people I know simply don't bother testing now if they get sick. And others don't stick to the isolation period even if they know they have covid. So, given public attitudes now, the effect of continuing the measure is likely to have negligible effect on covid transmission. But, it will just remind people of the government control over their lives that they got sick of.
best we point out disruptions to society from spread of covid then. Might want to think about long covid and post-covid too, the elephant in the living room.
“best we point out disruptions to society from spread of covid then”
From what I can see from my limited perspective with people I know, including our employees etc, people have become conditioned to staying at home if they feel unwell.
So, for instance, our staff don't come to work even if they have a cold, and we discourage them to do so as well. That is because the disruption of having someone sick come to work and spread their bugs around is far worse if others get sick. We tend to be very generous with sick leave because we don't want people to feel under pressure to come to work unwell due to income pressures.
So, from what I have seen from my company, and other business people I know, is that people tend to operate a defacto isolation system anyway. So, the government goal is likely already being met. And people may be getting less sick generally from seasonal viruses due to their tendency to isolate as a matter of course.
So, that is why I think the effect of continuing the mandatory isolation will be negligible. But, the PR issues with an election coming up will be a lot more problematic for the government.
There are obvious problems with governments doing away with public health measures to win an election.
Being generous with sick leave was a pragmatic decision as much as anything else. We run a small team. So the consequence of mass sickness would have a major impact on us. We have good trust in our staff. So, it seemed like a no-brainer for us.
I am all for public health measures that actually achieve something. However, I don't think this will do much. Heck, there isn't even any penalties for people who breach the isolation period so far as I know. So, it seems like a pointless and ineffective measure, especially if people are doing that as a matter of course anyway.
The biggest pity for me is that the government has only just widened the immigration settings for health workers. That should have been done last year or earlier. It looks to me like we won't have our staffing issues resolved until next winter, rather than the winter coming.
One thing I agreed with the government was extending the sick leave provisions. I would be happy to see those extended further actually.
And I think the government should be encouraging people to stay home if they feel sick for whatever reason.
The thing is, that people end up in hospital from seasonal flu, and even from general cold bugs. So, if people stay home when they feel sick, there will be a lot less bugs circulating in the community, and a lot less people getting sick.
Setting a mandatory isolation period for Covid misses that point I think.
I think you are grossly underestimating compliance or rather the non-compliance of people receiving healthcare treatment. For example, why do people have to be specifically told to complete their antibiotics cure even when/though their symptoms may have disappeared? Compliance is a known problem and it doesn’t mean treating us like kids, Mr Seymour.
I think you are grossly underestimating compliance or rather the non-compliance of people receiving healthcare treatment.
Sure. But it is a lot easier for many to comply these days. Now many are able to work from home, so there often isn't the same pressure to get back to work when sick.
completely agree about staying home sick. They should extend the mandatory isolation to other contagious respiratory illness
But, don't you think it would be better for people to make those choices for themselves? The problem with any mandate is that if it doesn't have teeth (as in consequences for non-compliance) then people will likely just ignore them.
What is needed is a shift in culture, which I think is something that has largely happened due to Covid.
The other point is that some people may still be too sick to come back to work after seven days. But, there will be an expectation for them to do so if the mandatory period has expired.
Reducing or limiting reasons for non-compliance to economic or logistic factors is missing a large(r) part.
You are implying that Government is (too) prescriptive yet (too) soft. The irony is that healthcare professionals have no power and authority to force prescriptions and treatments (with a few very specific exceptions, of course) other than to give their professional advice. Generally speaking, people know what is good for them.
Covid-19 has definitely caused shifts in culture and attitudes. However, these shifts are not all going in the same directions, are they?
Covid-19 has definitely caused shifts in culture and attitudes. However, these shifts are not all going in the same directions, are they?
That is true. But for those who's attitudes are going in the wrong direction, mandated isolation periods are likely to cause more non-compliance than compliance.
Back to my original point that the mandated isolation periods are going to make negligible difference, I think it is easy to make that point.
Firstly, it is well known that people can be contagious with Covid before they feel unwell, or test positive. Hence, many will be spreading Covid to their workmates and contacts before they even know they have Covid.
Secondly, as far as I know, the isolation rules don't apply to household contacts until they become sick. Hence, they could be spreading Covid in the community as well.
Thirdly, people generally feel fairly crook with Covid, so will take time off work as a matter of necessity. When I had it, I certainly need seven days to feel well enough to go back to work. So, in that case, mandatory isolation will only have an effect for the day or two that people might decide to come back to work if they feel well enough.
Finally, if Covid is running rampant, then someone who avoids Covid due to person A isolating is likely to pick it up from person B who doesn't know they have it yet. So, there is a degree of inevitability about all this.
So, I really don't think the mandated isolation period is going to have any significant effect on the amount of Covid circulating in the community.
The Government made a judgement call that is crude in its simplicity of one-size-fits-all. IIRC, and as with all those pandemic measures, it is for 2 months and up for review. Which will likely take us into the flu season.
Clearly, not everybody would agree or necessarily object though:
Formalising a mandatory isolation period provides a buffer against unsavoury work-practices and unscrupulous employers.
Anything that can help to prevent an infectious repository disease becoming rampant is worthy of consideration.
We should stop pandering to people who act willingly & knowingly against their own best interests and that of others.
On balance, I think Government made the right call. The Opposition arguments are becoming old & tired and more partisan, i.e., they are politicking in their usual self-serving ways.
Clearly, not everybody would agree or necessarily object though:
And I guess that we don't disagree that much in terms of the impact of continuing the isolation requirements, in that I have said consistently that there will likely be neglibible effect not no effect.
And my opening premise was:
I think the decision to continue the 7 day isolation period for covid will cause nothing but grief for the government. Not because I think it is a terrible idea, in priniciple. That is, I think it would be a good idea if it was stringently followed.
I haven't really seen anything in the comments that followed that would dissaude me from that view. I guess upcoming opinion polls will confirm whether I am right or wrong on that.
We do disagree. I thought that much was clear [enough].
I admire your certainty that opinion polls will prove (i.e. “confirm”) you right (or wrong) on a single minor issue. I can see what’s most important for you here.
I had thought that at least at one stage the mandatory 7 days meant that workers could take that time and not be sacked for non-attendance, and in many cases paid for (extended if necessary) sick leave. I suspect many people did not realise how many Covid patients are needing hospital services, and of those how many are in critical care, and how many deaths there are each week still. Keeping the need for hospital services low during the worst of winter seems quite reasonable. Many workers get upset if other workers come to work while infected – the mandatory 7 days reduces workplace friction. All in all a good decision.
you receive full pay for your week off, or you don't. What ever government aid there is to self employed people, or small business owners chances are it is not enough to cover business expenses and living expenses. So those that have to make money to meat the end of the week will go to work. Simple as that.
Anyone working for govt, large business etc is relatively fine with 10 days paid sick leave, everyone else is shit outta luck.
@tsmithfield, and who would be the first to jump up and down and complain bitterly about the hospital system not coping with a rapid influx of covid (and probably influenza) cases if the 7 day isolation period was scrapped. Dr Shane Reti, Chris Luxon, David Seymour et al screeching that it's all the Government's fault.
slow chickens coming home to roost. The next few years are going to be challenging to many people, not just those with LC, but the people thinking we can still go back to the way things were.
This time last year my niece, her husband, and their newborn caught covid. From the midwife, they reckon. Fit, active, late twenties and despite a rocky fortnight, they all recovered well. And then it started. The past year has been a fucking nightmare. An almost continual round of you name it, they've caught it; coughs, colds, chest infections, etc, etc.
It's such a new weirdness. I don't understand why the government isn't talking about this, other than the MPs and staffers have the same cognitive dissonance as others.
Not because I think it is a terrible idea, in priniciple
It's a good idea in principle. So if you are right (you probably are), there's something that's stopping people behaving in a principled way. You have observed the phenomenon but not come up with any explanation other than implying it's just sort of natural and inevitable. That seems a bit incurious. I'd want to suggest something about the limits on social cooperation in a competitive economy characterised by imposed scarcity. But whatever – I'm not sure anyone cares.
My reply to Weka above probably gives some rationale to my comments. I think people generally are now behaving like adults in their decision making with respect to sickness. But, I think they will likely feel that the government is treating them like children.
The government is just watching to see if the take up of bivalent impacts on the spread rate.
And they have indicated, that even if it is continued beyond the next review, it will go by the end of winter.
And with the extra sick leave people will cope.
The sad thing is NACT first belabour the safety first focus and then out the other side of the mouth say the health system workforce are under a lot of stress (a rather obvious cognitive dissonance lapse – they said they would not have tried to limit impost on them resulting from greater spread).
The cavalier attitude to COVID is a problem. Yesterday I was told that one of my fellow bus drivers who had just come back to work after major surgery had driven a van load of apple pickers, some of whom, he found out later, had COVID. The orchard owner treated it as a bit of a joke when challenged about it later. I could be infected now. So National and ACT think it's a joke too, it seems.
Carrying on with the education theme, I think that most children from reasonably stable backgrounds will end up doing OK regardless of the education system.
The biggest challenge I see is how to deal with extreme dysfunction, and help children from those backgrounds engage with education. There is a large number of children from dysfunctional backgrounds that have basically switched off education altogether. A symptom of this is the ram-raids often involving preteens, and teenagers.
My concern is that we have a ticking time-bomb on our hands, and we have no way to defuse it.
I am on the board of Crossroads Youth with a Future. (A 3 minute video about the trust in the link). We operate in Aranui, and deal with the children that the children that schools can no longer handle. They are often referred to us by schools.
Our approach is showing total acceptance, and being totally non-judgemental so they feel free to open up about their situations. We aim to help them find better ways to think through their issues, and make better decisions.
One example the chairman of our board related some time ago, was that he was meeting with the manager of the trust at Hampshire street (one of the roughest streets in Christchurch). They noticed a six year old girl walking down the road, crying. They went to see what was going on. It turned out that the father was in prison, and that the mother had just been arrested for being drunk and disorderly in a pub, and she was left to wander.
When children have that sort of dysfunction in their lives, it is no surprise that we have the situation we do in society now.
The faces of the kids in the video are relaxed and smiling, and they don't appear to be performing for the camera.
In terms of access to specialised educational support, we had many families join home education because they were unable to access it through school. (Also cut off in Home Ed, but often had a child with less distress and contact with other families with similar issues if you were lucky).
I'm not sure what access to support is like at present.
A girl that came through the programme now works for us as a youth worker. She gained a Diploma in a related area, and was the first person in her family to ever achieve anything like that.
It is really encouraging to see those sorts of outcomes.
I was speaking to someone who works in Wellington at the Ministry of Education, and asked them if they were able to sum up the purpose of education. They went straight to the projected outcomes in terms of NCEA percentages and pass rates – which – fair enough – was their area of work.
So, I asked again – for a more generalised statement that covers the full spectrum of education delivered from ECE to university and they found it difficult.
I'd be interested in hearing what other Standardista's think is the value and/or purposes of education. Or what forms best deliver for individuals, communities and society.
A lot of words being expended here on what should be a pretty simple concept.
Clarence Beeby:
"Every person, whatever the level of his academic ability, whether he be rich or poor, whether he live in town or country, has the right, as a citizen, to a free education of a kind for which he is best suited and to the fullest extent of his powers."
"I stand strongly for the role of education in producing well-rounded, highly literate, well informed New Zealanders who are aware of the world around us, of history, of cultural heritage, and of the great ideas and philosophies that have driven mankind."
"Education can never be reduced to a mere economic output. It has the potential to transform the lives of individuals and whole communities."
"Its focus must be broad and empowering, not narrow and confining".
Formal education is one of those topics everyone has an opinion on, since they've all had one – to greater or lesser success. People feel it important to favour us with their view of the purpose of education even when they last experienced it forty years ago and were a shit/exceptional student. I am of a mind to leave the running of education to educationalists within the paramters of the high minded ideals of Mr. Beeby.
Personally, I had a rather old fashioned education even for the time. All Boys school, lots of languages, history and the classics, compulsory sport wihin the confines of the Corinthian spirit and all delivered within a culture of the ideal being the seemingly effortless achievements of the gentleman amateur.
I later surmised my education was primarily preparing me to go off and rule the Indians, alas for me that was something already in the distant rear view mirror of history.
However, being bright (though I say so myself) and advantaged with a good upbringing from prosperous, newly minted middle class parents who sent us to "good" schools despite their own rather jaundiced views of the hoity-toity parents of my peers I would say a classical, liberal education to become the skeptical socialist lefty of the kind that is nowadays more or less extinct is the ideal I would aim for.
"I would say a classical, liberal education to become the skeptical socialist lefty of the kind that is nowadays more or less extinct is the ideal I would aim for."
Progressive educationalists like Beeby were not short of lofty sounding rhetoric but in practice giving everyone an education is not what they achieved in practice. The catastrophic disaster we have in education this century with plummeting standards is directly related to the Beeby reforms with socialism being of more importance than academic achievement . Only about 2% of decile 1 school students reaching the literacy, numeracy and writing standards is certainly not good education. We need to to have a major reform of education and get traditional pedagogy back into our schools. This is direct instruction not all child centered constructivism,phonics,learning times tables, knowledge not just skills, discipline ,work ethic, individual work not all group work, one method of doing arithmetic manipulations not several methods testing of achievement …..etc. Our education is a mess. Thanks to Beeby and his followers over the decades.
The value/purpose of education clearly is becoming a highly-paid Moderator on The Standard. Best job I’ve ever had, all thanks to my qualifications. The hard work in school and uni is finally starting to pay dividend for me and about time too!
In case you wonder, I’m half-joking and half-serious – read between the lines.
I think the purpose of education should be firstly to empower people with the basic skills they need for success in life. But, more than that, it should be to generate a hunger for future learning that inspires people to seek to expand their knowledge and experience through their whole lives..
"To develop a life-long appreciation and love of learning so individuals can find their optimal place in their own lives and society, and contribute and participate accordingly."
Sounds good. I don't know how much you remember from school or university study. But I think I have learnt a lot more from following the spark that was ignited in me from that.
I reckon a prime essential of education is to have people realise that school is a small proportion of one's life. The huge majority of your life before you turn 18 is not spent at school and after that it's considerably less.
The massive majority of what is learned in life is not learned at school.
It is a triumph for a teacher to kindle, arouse or promote powerful learning experiences more numerous and consequential than the ones which young people will bump into outside school. Or will bump into them.
It's difficult dealing with the behaviour resulting from the dysfunction you talk of.
More difficult is dealing with the attitudes of those who see the only way to handle the young people who have problems is the 'chuck 'em in jail' punitive approach.
I suppose when National is in Mark Mitchell and the rednecks will get things sorted.
It occurs to me that many flourishing businesses and factories and human activity of all sorts over years across the world have produced marvellous things and done wonderful things. At the same time they have produced flotsam and jetsam, industrial waste something not wanted.
We have created the society, it's failures as much as its successes. Looking to store the failures in jails or Rotorua motels is a sign of abject our failure.
I think that governments of both stripes are unwilling to do what it would really take to make a difference. Really we could do with 1000 Crossroads, because we are only able to deal with small numbers.
I think there is some value to isolating dysfunctional youth from the influences that are affecting their lives. But, that needs to be done in a way that identifies their deficiencies in a variety of areas, and aims to bring about improvement in those areas.
But this would need to be combined with serious community psychology interventions to improve the environment that the kids return to.
The problem is that it is relatively easy to get change in kids when they are isolated from the influences in their lives. But if they return to the same environment, then it doesn't take long for them to return to their previous behaviour.
Hence the need for community intervention to improve the environment to accompany any such program.
But, I doubt that either party would be prepared for the cost that would involve.
"But this would need to be combined with serious community psychology interventions to improve the environment that the kids return to.
The problem is that it is relatively easy to get change in kids when they are isolated from the influences in their lives. But if they return to the same environment, then it doesn't take long for them to return to their previous behaviour."
I remember attending the graduation ceremony of a six week residential programme for teenagers, and talking to some of the others there. On the night, these young people looked revitalised and hopeful, but the concern was that they returned to environments that were abusive – physically, psychologically or both.
They really needed some permanent access of escape, and support to find independence from those influences if they wanted it. As you say, that is a difficult and expensive undertaking.
I think that is the problem with programs to "fix" people.
The guy who started the trust and ran it until he retired, always used to talk about going on a journey with people, and that was for as long as it took.
He knew a couple where the father of a baby girl had been sent to prison for a long time (several decades I think). He took the daughter in to see her father every week until she was a teenager.
There is perhaps an unintended cruelty in providing a short term hiatus from a terrible life, and returning people back to it without any further interactions.
Not only do they experience what it is to live without fear or degradation, they understand that others consider their normal lives to be wanting.
I agree. It is a incredibly difficult and complex problem to deal with. And one of the greatest challenges we face as a country, I believe.
At Crossroads, we often build long-term relationships with people that last well beyond the program that can usually lasts as long as they are at the school. And they are always welcome to come back and see us any time they feel the need.
Some forms of disruptive behaviours – are best responded to with strict boundaries and very regimented schedules, which does not evidence the universal response of military style boot camps, just a recognition that for some – this is the case.
For others, this kind of approach would be absolutely the worst possible thing to do. So, accurate individual assessment of needs and appropriate responses to meet those needs is what we should demand from our education system.
So, accurate individual assessment of needs and appropriate responses to meet those needs is what we should demand from our education system.
I absolutely agree with you on that.
I definitely don't like the image that the term "boot-camp" generates. My thoughts are more like what we do at Crossroads now. But, in a more intensive way. For a lot of these kids, the issues are far deeper than education. To start with, they need to learn how to respond in a better way to their problems, and gain a vision of hope that their situation can be different, and that they don't have to go through the same life-cycle as their parents.
For many of these people, their world is incredibly small. We had a few days away at Hamner recently a couple of years back for family and supporters of the trust from the community. For those of us who are reasonably well off, Hamner is a relatively boring destination, an hour or so out of Christchurch. We would see it as a day trip, or somewhere for a weekend away.
I was incredibly surpised to discover that a lot of those attending had never been there. For them, it was like we had shouted them a trip to Paris or something.
"I definitely don't like the image that the term "boot-camp" generates. "
Neither do I.
But I do recognise that for some what others would see as overly regimented and strict is the best approach. (Many with FASD for instance, thrive in environments where boundaries are stable and expectations and consequences are clear).
Others need a completely different type of support.
"For many of these people, their world is incredibly small. "
I remember reading a couple of good research studies many, many years ago – based on home education – where the academic benefits of home education for children were being looked at.
Surprisingly – or maybe not so surprisingly – it was the freedom to add multiple experiences to children's lives that seemed to have significant impact on their academic achievements, rather than the academic work that home educators provided.
Sinead Watson, is a well-known Scottish FtM detransitioner, who was treated at the Sandyford gender clinic under the affirming healthcare model.
Three hours ago she posted an offer on Twitter, that she would answer honestly any questions that were put forward about her experience. There’s been over 100 responses in that time, and the thread has seemed to be able to maintain a tone that is both respectful and matter-of-fact.
I'm posting here for a couple of reasons:
This is a first person account which needs no commentary;
Anyone here with a Twitter account can engage while the conversation is current.
Hipkins says his views on the internal culture at Parliament are only “half-formed thoughts”, but he does sometimes ponder what caused the change.
“I haven’t got my hands around exactly what it is that’s caused it, I’ve felt it but haven’t been able to reach a landing on what’s the reason for it.”
end of civ stuff I'm afraid. Neoliberal capitalism meets the pandemic. I've been thinking about strategies to make life easier but haven't gotten very far. Allowing days for things to happen rather than a phone call probably is reasonable at this point.
Thanks for your explanation. I'm an old fart 77 but I'm trying my best to keep up.
All the abbreviations and acronyms on this site, and every where else, to be frank,are a bit hard to get my pea brain around, to the degree that I've become a much more casual visitor.
I suspect time and motion (we've seen in health manning based on peak times, supermarkets stocked on the basis of daily transport of goods and just in time delivery) plus the pressure to reduce / not increase staffing.
Laziness in funding enough staff is all across the whole public service combined with laziness in paying enough tax to fund the services we want.
The crying from well-off insured people over not getting help from the government during recent CD emergencies is classic. Where are they they cry? What you mean the whole six local civil defence staff. My insurance company employs more people locally than civil defence.
Certainly in the businesses I'm familiar with, there is a move away from 'just in time' stocking (which is at the mercy of international shipping and supply delays), to warehousing a reasonable supply close to hand ('reasonable' varies, depending on the product and its critical impact on your workforce).
Of course, that costs. You have to pay up front, pay for storage, and don't get those costs back until you sell the product (hopefully as part of a value-add).
That's one factor (of many) in the increased prices you're seeing on the shelves or online portals.
The increases that we've seen in funding and staffing public service, is concentrated on managerial and marketing/PR – rather than extra bodies actually delivering front-line service. Combined with the push to outsource call-desks overseas – and the forced transition to online portals (no matter how much they're told these actively exclude some people from participation).
Making it really, really hard to access services and/or people – is a capacity management tool. And one, all too widely used by some public service departments.
I’ve been reading some rather odd notions here on TS about mathematics recently.
Some misguided souls seem to think that mathematics [is OR (can AND should be)] neutral (whatever that is supposed to mean) and culture-free. In other words:
When I see a black American* man and a white American* man, I see no B & W nor men because I see things only neutral and culture-free.
This is abstract, context-free, unrealistic, absolutist, purist, and thus impact-free and irrelevant. Still, they’re in good company (e.g. Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell).
"In other words: When I see a black American* man and a white American* man, I see no B & W nor men because I see things only neutral and culture-free."
I haven't seen anyone on TS saying this – or similar – can you link?
I guess that education thing for females is finding an end in Iran. Gas them long enough, hurt/kill enough of them and their parents will lock em up at home until the kingdom comes. Gosh, it is a great time to be a body with a cervix.
Data from the Disinformation Project from 2022. Bookmarking. Data people could help by explaining how this relates to the current issues instead of doing anti Edwards rants.
I don’t know what you mean by “the current issues”.
One issue that I can see is that some [here] seem to think that the scientists of The Disinformation Project fall short in the required level of (expert?) knowledge of the specific issue/topic that they’re studying and analysing. This appears to be an assumption based on a belief without supporting evidence.
Given that those figures carry no title nor legend, the only way to gather the meaning of the data depicted is to read the associated text (provided in the tweet) in the context of the article.
The charts are basically page view counts. The series are categorised by source, either main stream media or supposed dis-info associated with the protest. This is however categorised by author so the implication is that that author will have said something categorised as dis-info, not that the thing being viewed is itself dis-info. Of course dis-info is hardly a well defined category. Yesterday Plunkett highlighted a RNZ story where most of the story seems to have occurred between the reporters keyboard and their chair. At the same time he also withdrew a story where he fell for some unsourced claims online about Jacinda's new job.
The main question in terms of evidence would seem to be what are these page views going to actually cause people to do anyway.
Can you give a clear specific example of such political claims made by TDP?
Can you give a reason with these academic researchers of TDP would make political claims rather than use scientifically sound (i.e. justified and defensible) criteria?
Can you give a reason/explanation why Bryce Edwards, Sean Plunket, Martyn Bradbury, and a whole lot of other people, none of whom appears to be an information scientist, have become (so) critical of TDP?
Can you think of a common theme that connects those TDP critics, by any chance?
TDP is presently claiming that the online comments levelled after the PP rally reached 'genocidal' levels. Of course its going to be difficult to critique that claim of fact because none of the posts referenced are being presented in any form by TDP. Actually they didn't as far as I am aware even present any viewership analysis.
I would say their reasons for not presenting evidence of the factual basis for this however are more rudimentary. There isn't nearly enough you could track about a population to draw any causal relationship about discussion online and actual violence occurring. I know enough about how online advertising is connected with internet profiles to understand this kind of causal correlation analysis doesn't exist. At best TDP is an implementation of marketing science. On the other hand, fortunately the number of violent outcomes resulting will be so low that the correlation model is completely untestable. In actual practice I think its imaginary and there is no prediction of any number of violent events being correlated at all, just a narrative claim that such a relationship exists.
On the other hand I don't understand any obvious connection between those media figures, except that they all seem to agree about TDP. Probably you've got something in mind which you would claim they all obviously share as a motivation.
Thanks Nic. I am seeing a lot of articles about the Disinformation Project that are challenging them. It seems like they are witnessing a phenomenal amount of material but I have to wonder how they can classify them as disinformation given the sheer volumne.
I will post some of these articles tomorrow, because the DP claims seem to get more and more outlandish as one of the people writing about them says.
I thought the RNZ thing that Plunkett raise was interesting. A self generating/perpetuating story with no real evidence.
In fact I have not seen one example of disinformation, put out by the DP. Hmm. perhaps someone else has.
.
These graphs show the video views on Facebook for mis- and disinformation producers and the country’s mainstream media with official Pages on the platform studied by TDP, on 10 and 11 February, respectively. For the first time, mis- and disinformation producers gathered more video views than all of the country’s mainstream media Pages combined. On 11 February, video content by mainstream media was viewed less than the day before, while engagement with mis- and disinformation accounts remained about the same.
[…]
These wordclouds highlight the most commonly used phrases in posts to Instagram from 9 to 11 February. The wordcloud on the left is from the constellation of accounts studied by TDP on the platform promoting harmful mis- and disinformation. Those on the right are from mainstream media accounts on the platform. Wordclouds illuminate, through key phrases and what they mean, or (re)present, how a particular community, or ecology.
It is troubling that the Disinformation Project only concentrates on the misinformation and disinformation of fringe actors but never on that spread by authorities. A true disinformation project would also hold governments to account for when they have been caught out distributing or endorsing misinformation. As journalist Chris Lynch argued in the weekend, “the Disinformation Project’s efforts to combat misinformation seem to have fallen short when it comes to holding the government accountable for any inaccuracies or misleading information.”
I'm we used to have a word for people like whose job it was to hold governments to account. Jornok? Gibbingronk? Jubbinist?
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
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The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
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Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
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Purpose of a school.
A description of how school should function as an institution from a Swedish perspective. I understand Sweden is succeeding in the same learning standards NZ is often described as declining in. However that doesn't seem to imply they don't have institutional issues occurring.
Undoubtedly, we can learn a thing or two from Scandinavian countries (and vice versa). However, their demographics is quite different from NZ’s. They also have a different attitude to innovation and R&D with thriving industries producing high-value products unlike NZ’s economy that’s stuck in high-volume low-margin primary products. Scientists and journalists (https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018885345/mediawatch-turning-off-the-news), for example, have higher levels of trust & respect. As do teachers!
One of the main issues with NZ’s international comparisons & rankings in education was the so-called ‘long tail’ of school kids performing & achieving quite poorly compared to the mean/median. Since schooling (achievement) and socio-economic factors are correlated, this tail has been stubborn & resistant and is likely to get longer.
A lot of the proposals for education reform (often government driven) seem to be addressed towards all students, rather than targeting a long tail. Seems like that won't be fixed by another curriculum restructure anyway.
True that, and lifting all boats will still leave the long tail if indeed it lifts all boats. However, there is strong resistance from some quarters (not quartiles) to any (!) attempts at addressing the long tail.
I think the decision to continue the 7 day isolation period for covid will cause nothing but grief for the government. Not because I think it is a terrible idea, in priniciple. That is, I think it would be a good idea if it was stringently followed.
But more because many people I know simply don't bother testing now if they get sick. And others don't stick to the isolation period even if they know they have covid. So, given public attitudes now, the effect of continuing the measure is likely to have negligible effect on covid transmission. But, it will just remind people of the government control over their lives that they got sick of.
best we point out disruptions to society from spread of covid then. Might want to think about long covid and post-covid too, the elephant in the living room.
“best we point out disruptions to society from spread of covid then”
From what I can see from my limited perspective with people I know, including our employees etc, people have become conditioned to staying at home if they feel unwell.
So, for instance, our staff don't come to work even if they have a cold, and we discourage them to do so as well. That is because the disruption of having someone sick come to work and spread their bugs around is far worse if others get sick. We tend to be very generous with sick leave because we don't want people to feel under pressure to come to work unwell due to income pressures.
So, from what I have seen from my company, and other business people I know, is that people tend to operate a defacto isolation system anyway. So, the government goal is likely already being met. And people may be getting less sick generally from seasonal viruses due to their tendency to isolate as a matter of course.
So, that is why I think the effect of continuing the mandatory isolation will be negligible. But, the PR issues with an election coming up will be a lot more problematic for the government.
Good to hear your work place is doing this. I'm doubtful it's the norm though.
There are obvious problems with governments doing away with public health measures to win an election.
Being generous with sick leave was a pragmatic decision as much as anything else. We run a small team. So the consequence of mass sickness would have a major impact on us. We have good trust in our staff. So, it seemed like a no-brainer for us.
I am all for public health measures that actually achieve something. However, I don't think this will do much. Heck, there isn't even any penalties for people who breach the isolation period so far as I know. So, it seems like a pointless and ineffective measure, especially if people are doing that as a matter of course anyway.
The biggest pity for me is that the government has only just widened the immigration settings for health workers. That should have been done last year or earlier. It looks to me like we won't have our staffing issues resolved until next winter, rather than the winter coming.
But again, I doubt most workplaces are being generous like yours.
what would be the impact of telling NZ people with covid no longer need to self isolate to limit spread?
One thing I agreed with the government was extending the sick leave provisions. I would be happy to see those extended further actually.
And I think the government should be encouraging people to stay home if they feel sick for whatever reason.
The thing is, that people end up in hospital from seasonal flu, and even from general cold bugs. So, if people stay home when they feel sick, there will be a lot less bugs circulating in the community, and a lot less people getting sick.
Setting a mandatory isolation period for Covid misses that point I think.
I think you are grossly underestimating compliance or rather the non-compliance of people receiving healthcare treatment. For example, why do people have to be specifically told to complete their antibiotics cure even when/though their symptoms may have disappeared? Compliance is a known problem and it doesn’t mean treating us like kids, Mr Seymour.
completely agree about staying home sick. They should extend the mandatory isolation to other contagious respiratory illness 😈
Sure. But it is a lot easier for many to comply these days. Now many are able to work from home, so there often isn't the same pressure to get back to work when sick.
But, don't you think it would be better for people to make those choices for themselves? The problem with any mandate is that if it doesn't have teeth (as in consequences for non-compliance) then people will likely just ignore them.
What is needed is a shift in culture, which I think is something that has largely happened due to Covid.
The other point is that some people may still be too sick to come back to work after seven days. But, there will be an expectation for them to do so if the mandatory period has expired.
Reducing or limiting reasons for non-compliance to economic or logistic factors is missing a large(r) part.
You are implying that Government is (too) prescriptive yet (too) soft. The irony is that healthcare professionals have no power and authority to force prescriptions and treatments (with a few very specific exceptions, of course) other than to give their professional advice. Generally speaking, people know what is good for them.
Covid-19 has definitely caused shifts in culture and attitudes. However, these shifts are not all going in the same directions, are they?
That is true. But for those who's attitudes are going in the wrong direction, mandated isolation periods are likely to cause more non-compliance than compliance.
Back to my original point that the mandated isolation periods are going to make negligible difference, I think it is easy to make that point.
Firstly, it is well known that people can be contagious with Covid before they feel unwell, or test positive. Hence, many will be spreading Covid to their workmates and contacts before they even know they have Covid.
Secondly, as far as I know, the isolation rules don't apply to household contacts until they become sick. Hence, they could be spreading Covid in the community as well.
Thirdly, people generally feel fairly crook with Covid, so will take time off work as a matter of necessity. When I had it, I certainly need seven days to feel well enough to go back to work. So, in that case, mandatory isolation will only have an effect for the day or two that people might decide to come back to work if they feel well enough.
Finally, if Covid is running rampant, then someone who avoids Covid due to person A isolating is likely to pick it up from person B who doesn't know they have it yet. So, there is a degree of inevitability about all this.
So, I really don't think the mandated isolation period is going to have any significant effect on the amount of Covid circulating in the community.
The Government made a judgement call that is crude in its simplicity of one-size-fits-all. IIRC, and as with all those pandemic measures, it is for 2 months and up for review. Which will likely take us into the flu season.
Clearly, not everybody would agree or necessarily object though:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/487721/now-as-good-a-time-as-any-to-lift-covid-19-isolation-rules-expert
Asymptomatic people by definition fly under the radar.
There are specific rules & guidelines for household contacts:
https://covid19.govt.nz/testing-and-isolation/contact-tracing/household-contacts/
Formalising a mandatory isolation period provides a buffer against unsavoury work-practices and unscrupulous employers.
Anything that can help to prevent an infectious repository disease becoming rampant is worthy of consideration.
We should stop pandering to people who act willingly & knowingly against their own best interests and that of others.
On balance, I think Government made the right call. The Opposition arguments are becoming old & tired and more partisan, i.e., they are politicking in their usual self-serving ways.
And I guess that we don't disagree that much in terms of the impact of continuing the isolation requirements, in that I have said consistently that there will likely be neglibible effect not no effect.
And my opening premise was:
I haven't really seen anything in the comments that followed that would dissaude me from that view. I guess upcoming opinion polls will confirm whether I am right or wrong on that.
We do disagree. I thought that much was clear [enough].
I admire your certainty that opinion polls will prove (i.e. “confirm”) you right (or wrong) on a single minor issue. I can see what’s most important for you here.
Your semantic gymnastics are a sight to behold.
I had thought that at least at one stage the mandatory 7 days meant that workers could take that time and not be sacked for non-attendance, and in many cases paid for (extended if necessary) sick leave. I suspect many people did not realise how many Covid patients are needing hospital services, and of those how many are in critical care, and how many deaths there are each week still. Keeping the need for hospital services low during the worst of winter seems quite reasonable. Many workers get upset if other workers come to work while infected – the mandatory 7 days reduces workplace friction. All in all a good decision.
Well said. Perhaps people have turned a blind eye and need a kind reminder:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/450874/covid-19-data-visualisations-nz-in-numbers
i think it can be boiled down to
you receive full pay for your week off, or you don't. What ever government aid there is to self employed people, or small business owners chances are it is not enough to cover business expenses and living expenses. So those that have to make money to meat the end of the week will go to work. Simple as that.
Anyone working for govt, large business etc is relatively fine with 10 days paid sick leave, everyone else is shit outta luck.
@tsmithfield, and who would be the first to jump up and down and complain bitterly about the hospital system not coping with a rapid influx of covid (and probably influenza) cases if the 7 day isolation period was scrapped. Dr Shane Reti, Chris Luxon, David Seymour et al screeching that it's all the Government's fault.
Not least for touring musicians.
https://twitter.com/NateB_Panic/status/1634847581665918977
slow chickens coming home to roost. The next few years are going to be challenging to many people, not just those with LC, but the people thinking we can still go back to the way things were.
This time last year my niece, her husband, and their newborn caught covid. From the midwife, they reckon. Fit, active, late twenties and despite a rocky fortnight, they all recovered well. And then it started. The past year has been a fucking nightmare. An almost continual round of you name it, they've caught it; coughs, colds, chest infections, etc, etc.
The baby's been fine though.
sorry to hear that. Glad the baby is ok!
It's such a new weirdness. I don't understand why the government isn't talking about this, other than the MPs and staffers have the same cognitive dissonance as others.
Unlike the adults, the baby has a growing thymus.
It's a good idea in principle. So if you are right (you probably are), there's something that's stopping people behaving in a principled way. You have observed the phenomenon but not come up with any explanation other than implying it's just sort of natural and inevitable. That seems a bit incurious. I'd want to suggest something about the limits on social cooperation in a competitive economy characterised by imposed scarcity. But whatever – I'm not sure anyone cares.
My reply to Weka above probably gives some rationale to my comments. I think people generally are now behaving like adults in their decision making with respect to sickness. But, I think they will likely feel that the government is treating them like children.
I care
The government is just watching to see if the take up of bivalent impacts on the spread rate.
And they have indicated, that even if it is continued beyond the next review, it will go by the end of winter.
And with the extra sick leave people will cope.
The sad thing is NACT first belabour the safety first focus and then out the other side of the mouth say the health system workforce are under a lot of stress (a rather obvious cognitive dissonance lapse – they said they would not have tried to limit impost on them resulting from greater spread).
The cavalier attitude to COVID is a problem. Yesterday I was told that one of my fellow bus drivers who had just come back to work after major surgery had driven a van load of apple pickers, some of whom, he found out later, had COVID. The orchard owner treated it as a bit of a joke when challenged about it later. I could be infected now. So National and ACT think it's a joke too, it seems.
When the witterings of a fascist like Melanie Phillips are indistinguishable from the rants of Martyn Bradbury.
Pot, kettle, black.
??!? I don't think you understand Bradbury at all
https://twitter.com/PsionicPsittacc/status/1640146630417743873?s=20
Carrying on with the education theme, I think that most children from reasonably stable backgrounds will end up doing OK regardless of the education system.
The biggest challenge I see is how to deal with extreme dysfunction, and help children from those backgrounds engage with education. There is a large number of children from dysfunctional backgrounds that have basically switched off education altogether. A symptom of this is the ram-raids often involving preteens, and teenagers.
My concern is that we have a ticking time-bomb on our hands, and we have no way to defuse it.
I am on the board of Crossroads Youth with a Future. (A 3 minute video about the trust in the link). We operate in Aranui, and deal with the children that the children that schools can no longer handle. They are often referred to us by schools.
Our approach is showing total acceptance, and being totally non-judgemental so they feel free to open up about their situations. We aim to help them find better ways to think through their issues, and make better decisions.
One example the chairman of our board related some time ago, was that he was meeting with the manager of the trust at Hampshire street (one of the roughest streets in Christchurch). They noticed a six year old girl walking down the road, crying. They went to see what was going on. It turned out that the father was in prison, and that the mother had just been arrested for being drunk and disorderly in a pub, and she was left to wander.
When children have that sort of dysfunction in their lives, it is no surprise that we have the situation we do in society now.
That looks like a great programme.
The faces of the kids in the video are relaxed and smiling, and they don't appear to be performing for the camera.
In terms of access to specialised educational support, we had many families join home education because they were unable to access it through school. (Also cut off in Home Ed, but often had a child with less distress and contact with other families with similar issues if you were lucky).
I'm not sure what access to support is like at present.
A girl that came through the programme now works for us as a youth worker. She gained a Diploma in a related area, and was the first person in her family to ever achieve anything like that.
It is really encouraging to see those sorts of outcomes.
I was speaking to someone who works in Wellington at the Ministry of Education, and asked them if they were able to sum up the purpose of education. They went straight to the projected outcomes in terms of NCEA percentages and pass rates – which – fair enough – was their area of work.
So, I asked again – for a more generalised statement that covers the full spectrum of education delivered from ECE to university and they found it difficult.
I'd be interested in hearing what other Standardista's think is the value and/or purposes of education. Or what forms best deliver for individuals, communities and society.
A lot of words being expended here on what should be a pretty simple concept.
Clarence Beeby:
"Every person, whatever the level of his academic ability, whether he be rich or poor, whether he live in town or country, has the right, as a citizen, to a free education of a kind for which he is best suited and to the fullest extent of his powers."
"I stand strongly for the role of education in producing well-rounded, highly literate, well informed New Zealanders who are aware of the world around us, of history, of cultural heritage, and of the great ideas and philosophies that have driven mankind."
"Education can never be reduced to a mere economic output. It has the potential to transform the lives of individuals and whole communities."
"Its focus must be broad and empowering, not narrow and confining".
Mine included a preamble eg. "To develop a life-long appreciation and love of learning…." but pretty much agrees with the second paragraph.
I didn't want to pre-empt anyone else's thoughts though, by offering mine up.
Thanks for the Clarence Beeby quote.
Out of curiosity – what would yours be, Sanctuary?
Formal education is one of those topics everyone has an opinion on, since they've all had one – to greater or lesser success. People feel it important to favour us with their view of the purpose of education even when they last experienced it forty years ago and were a shit/exceptional student. I am of a mind to leave the running of education to educationalists within the paramters of the high minded ideals of Mr. Beeby.
Personally, I had a rather old fashioned education even for the time. All Boys school, lots of languages, history and the classics, compulsory sport wihin the confines of the Corinthian spirit and all delivered within a culture of the ideal being the seemingly effortless achievements of the gentleman amateur.
I later surmised my education was primarily preparing me to go off and rule the Indians, alas for me that was something already in the distant rear view mirror of history.
However, being bright (though I say so myself) and advantaged with a good upbringing from prosperous, newly minted middle class parents who sent us to "good" schools despite their own rather jaundiced views of the hoity-toity parents of my peers I would say a classical, liberal education to become the skeptical socialist lefty of the kind that is nowadays more or less extinct is the ideal I would aim for.
"I would say a classical, liberal education to become the skeptical socialist lefty of the kind that is nowadays more or less extinct is the ideal I would aim for."
Hear! Hear!
Progressive educationalists like Beeby were not short of lofty sounding rhetoric but in practice giving everyone an education is not what they achieved in practice. The catastrophic disaster we have in education this century with plummeting standards is directly related to the Beeby reforms with socialism being of more importance than academic achievement . Only about 2% of decile 1 school students reaching the literacy, numeracy and writing standards is certainly not good education. We need to to have a major reform of education and get traditional pedagogy back into our schools. This is direct instruction not all child centered constructivism,phonics,learning times tables, knowledge not just skills, discipline ,work ethic, individual work not all group work, one method of doing arithmetic manipulations not several methods testing of achievement …..etc. Our education is a mess. Thanks to Beeby and his followers over the decades.
The value/purpose of education clearly is becoming a highly-paid Moderator on The Standard. Best job I’ve ever had, all thanks to my qualifications. The hard work in school and uni is finally starting to pay dividend for me and about time too!
In case you wonder, I’m half-joking and half-serious – read between the lines.
I think the purpose of education should be firstly to empower people with the basic skills they need for success in life. But, more than that, it should be to generate a hunger for future learning that inspires people to seek to expand their knowledge and experience through their whole lives..
Mine was similar:
"To develop a life-long appreciation and love of learning so individuals can find their optimal place in their own lives and society, and contribute and participate accordingly."
Sounds good. I don't know how much you remember from school or university study. But I think I have learnt a lot more from following the spark that was ignited in me from that.
I reckon a prime essential of education is to have people realise that school is a small proportion of one's life. The huge majority of your life before you turn 18 is not spent at school and after that it's considerably less.
The massive majority of what is learned in life is not learned at school.
It is a triumph for a teacher to kindle, arouse or promote powerful learning experiences more numerous and consequential than the ones which young people will bump into outside school. Or will bump into them.
It's difficult dealing with the behaviour resulting from the dysfunction you talk of.
More difficult is dealing with the attitudes of those who see the only way to handle the young people who have problems is the 'chuck 'em in jail' punitive approach.
I suppose when National is in Mark Mitchell and the rednecks will get things sorted.
It occurs to me that many flourishing businesses and factories and human activity of all sorts over years across the world have produced marvellous things and done wonderful things. At the same time they have produced flotsam and jetsam, industrial waste something not wanted.
We have created the society, it's failures as much as its successes. Looking to store the failures in jails or Rotorua motels is a sign of abject our failure.
I think that governments of both stripes are unwilling to do what it would really take to make a difference. Really we could do with 1000 Crossroads, because we are only able to deal with small numbers.
I think there is some value to isolating dysfunctional youth from the influences that are affecting their lives. But, that needs to be done in a way that identifies their deficiencies in a variety of areas, and aims to bring about improvement in those areas.
But this would need to be combined with serious community psychology interventions to improve the environment that the kids return to.
The problem is that it is relatively easy to get change in kids when they are isolated from the influences in their lives. But if they return to the same environment, then it doesn't take long for them to return to their previous behaviour.
Hence the need for community intervention to improve the environment to accompany any such program.
But, I doubt that either party would be prepared for the cost that would involve.
I remember attending the graduation ceremony of a six week residential programme for teenagers, and talking to some of the others there. On the night, these young people looked revitalised and hopeful, but the concern was that they returned to environments that were abusive – physically, psychologically or both.
They really needed some permanent access of escape, and support to find independence from those influences if they wanted it. As you say, that is a difficult and expensive undertaking.
I think that is the problem with programs to "fix" people.
The guy who started the trust and ran it until he retired, always used to talk about going on a journey with people, and that was for as long as it took.
He knew a couple where the father of a baby girl had been sent to prison for a long time (several decades I think). He took the daughter in to see her father every week until she was a teenager.
There is perhaps an unintended cruelty in providing a short term hiatus from a terrible life, and returning people back to it without any further interactions.
Not only do they experience what it is to live without fear or degradation, they understand that others consider their normal lives to be wanting.
Yet they allow them to return.
I agree. It is a incredibly difficult and complex problem to deal with. And one of the greatest challenges we face as a country, I believe.
At Crossroads, we often build long-term relationships with people that last well beyond the program that can usually lasts as long as they are at the school. And they are always welcome to come back and see us any time they feel the need.
Some forms of disruptive behaviours – are best responded to with strict boundaries and very regimented schedules, which does not evidence the universal response of military style boot camps, just a recognition that for some – this is the case.
For others, this kind of approach would be absolutely the worst possible thing to do. So, accurate individual assessment of needs and appropriate responses to meet those needs is what we should demand from our education system.
I absolutely agree with you on that.
I definitely don't like the image that the term "boot-camp" generates. My thoughts are more like what we do at Crossroads now. But, in a more intensive way. For a lot of these kids, the issues are far deeper than education. To start with, they need to learn how to respond in a better way to their problems, and gain a vision of hope that their situation can be different, and that they don't have to go through the same life-cycle as their parents.
For many of these people, their world is incredibly small. We had a few days away at Hamner recently a couple of years back for family and supporters of the trust from the community. For those of us who are reasonably well off, Hamner is a relatively boring destination, an hour or so out of Christchurch. We would see it as a day trip, or somewhere for a weekend away.
I was incredibly surpised to discover that a lot of those attending had never been there. For them, it was like we had shouted them a trip to Paris or something.
"I definitely don't like the image that the term "boot-camp" generates. "
Neither do I.
But I do recognise that for some what others would see as overly regimented and strict is the best approach. (Many with FASD for instance, thrive in environments where boundaries are stable and expectations and consequences are clear).
Others need a completely different type of support.
"For many of these people, their world is incredibly small. "
I remember reading a couple of good research studies many, many years ago – based on home education – where the academic benefits of home education for children were being looked at.
Surprisingly – or maybe not so surprisingly – it was the freedom to add multiple experiences to children's lives that seemed to have significant impact on their academic achievements, rather than the academic work that home educators provided.
Hats off to you Tsmithfield for the work you do
Sinead Watson, is a well-known Scottish FtM detransitioner, who was treated at the Sandyford gender clinic under the affirming healthcare model.
Three hours ago she posted an offer on Twitter, that she would answer honestly any questions that were put forward about her experience. There’s been over 100 responses in that time, and the thread has seemed to be able to maintain a tone that is both respectful and matter-of-fact.
I'm posting here for a couple of reasons:
https://twitter.com/ImWatson91/status/1645870355968593920?s=20
In keeping with the medical issues delivered in a straightforward manner – a recent post from a parent of a MtF child:
https://pitt.substack.com/p/a-man-called-hank-parts-lll-and-iv?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pm-political-relationships-have-become-polarised
It is the Zeitgeist, Mr Hipkins.
he's very late to the zeitgeist.
Daylight Savings has only just finished
the big bang is only just beginning
I slept through it – there was a flash, I believe, but no thunder
thunder only happens when it's raining.
Oh, I thought that was only true for rainbows
…Incognito only loves you when he's playing…
We have a relationship expert in our midst or a marriage counsellor?
My cat only loves me when, not because, I feed him. I wish I could say it is mutual, but I don’t particularly like hot dogs for dinner every night.
… musical humour only…
https://youtu.be/mrZRURcb1cM?t=70
What is it with government departments not answering the phone any more?
Is all to much for the bureaucrats in wellington to actually have to deal with real kiwis anymore?
Or is it that they are just to bloody lazy?
Change your number
Right?? I spent three hours on hold waiting for an msd worker so I could act as an advocate for a friend.
Two hours on hold to study link
An hour on hold to acc
But strangely IRD picks up the phone immediately 😂😂
end of civ stuff I'm afraid. Neoliberal capitalism meets the pandemic. I've been thinking about strategies to make life easier but haven't gotten very far. Allowing days for things to happen rather than a phone call probably is reasonable at this point.
end of civ stuff I'm afraid.
civ ??
civilisation. The long decline, or the hard crash, or transitioning to a regenerative economy. We still have time to make the choice, but not forever.
Neoliberalism isn't equipped to deal with the kind of back to back and overlapping crises we now have.
Thanks for your explanation. I'm an old fart 77 but I'm trying my best to keep up.
All the abbreviations and acronyms on this site, and every where else, to be frank,are a bit hard to get my pea brain around, to the degree that I've become a much more casual visitor.
Travel well people
I suspect time and motion (we've seen in health manning based on peak times, supermarkets stocked on the basis of daily transport of goods and just in time delivery) plus the pressure to reduce / not increase staffing.
Laziness in funding enough staff is all across the whole public service combined with laziness in paying enough tax to fund the services we want.
The crying from well-off insured people over not getting help from the government during recent CD emergencies is classic. Where are they they cry? What you mean the whole six local civil defence staff. My insurance company employs more people locally than civil defence.
Certainly in the businesses I'm familiar with, there is a move away from 'just in time' stocking (which is at the mercy of international shipping and supply delays), to warehousing a reasonable supply close to hand ('reasonable' varies, depending on the product and its critical impact on your workforce).
Of course, that costs. You have to pay up front, pay for storage, and don't get those costs back until you sell the product (hopefully as part of a value-add).
That's one factor (of many) in the increased prices you're seeing on the shelves or online portals.
The increases that we've seen in funding and staffing public service, is concentrated on managerial and marketing/PR – rather than extra bodies actually delivering front-line service. Combined with the push to outsource call-desks overseas – and the forced transition to online portals (no matter how much they're told these actively exclude some people from participation).
Making it really, really hard to access services and/or people – is a capacity management tool. And one, all too widely used by some public service departments.
Too lightly regulated farming is killing us.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300851641/68-of-groundwater-failed-e-coli-standards-latest-freshwater-report-shows
It’s a shame no government is strong enough to take on Fonterra. Unless we give them the mandate.
I’ve been reading some rather odd notions here on TS about mathematics recently.
Some misguided souls seem to think that mathematics [is OR (can AND should be)] neutral (whatever that is supposed to mean) and culture-free. In other words:
When I see a black American* man and a white American* man, I see no B & W nor men because I see things only neutral and culture-free.
This is abstract, context-free, unrealistic, absolutist, purist, and thus impact-free and irrelevant. Still, they’re in good company (e.g. Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell).
For some much-needed context (aka reality check):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnomathematics
*any nation/nationality will do here, it is merely for illustration
" In other words: When I see a black American* man and a white American* man, I see no B & W nor men because I see things only neutral and culture-free."
I haven't seen anyone on TS saying this – or similar – can you link?
Yes, I can: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12-04-2023/#comment-1945299.![cheeky cheeky](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/tongue_smile.png?x42494)
Please read the footnote.
I've noted reports on Twitter of stories of the Iranian regime doing chemical attacks on school students (some sort of head covering policing).
https://twitter.com/emilykschrader/status/1645769983916490754
I guess that education thing for females is finding an end in Iran. Gas them long enough, hurt/kill enough of them and their parents will lock em up at home until the kingdom comes. Gosh, it is a great time to be a body with a cervix.
Data from the Disinformation Project from 2022. Bookmarking. Data people could help by explaining how this relates to the current issues instead of doing anti Edwards rants.
https://twitter.com/tzemingdynasty/status/1645963309143961605
I don’t know what you mean by “the current issues”.
One issue that I can see is that some [here] seem to think that the scientists of The Disinformation Project fall short in the required level of (expert?) knowledge of the specific issue/topic that they’re studying and analysing. This appears to be an assumption based on a belief without supporting evidence.
Given that those figures carry no title nor legend, the only way to gather the meaning of the data depicted is to read the associated text (provided in the tweet) in the context of the article.
She linked to a 2022 report. Current issues would be 2023 ones. u
She (?) linked to a 2022-report to show that Edward’s criticism of TDP is wrong.
What is your question exactly?
I haven't asked a question.
I took this as an implicit question. My bad.
The charts are basically page view counts. The series are categorised by source, either main stream media or supposed dis-info associated with the protest. This is however categorised by author so the implication is that that author will have said something categorised as dis-info, not that the thing being viewed is itself dis-info. Of course dis-info is hardly a well defined category. Yesterday Plunkett highlighted a RNZ story where most of the story seems to have occurred between the reporters keyboard and their chair. At the same time he also withdrew a story where he fell for some unsourced claims online about Jacinda's new job.
The main question in terms of evidence would seem to be what are these page views going to actually cause people to do anyway.
I’m not familiar with Plunket’s latest shenanigans and an RNZ story. I thought this was about Bryce Edwards criticising TDP.
This is the clip.
I'm just highlighting that claims of what is information and dis-information are clearly political in nature.
Can you give a clear specific example of such political claims made by TDP?
Can you give a reason with these academic researchers of TDP would make political claims rather than use scientifically sound (i.e. justified and defensible) criteria?
Can you give a reason/explanation why Bryce Edwards, Sean Plunket, Martyn Bradbury, and a whole lot of other people, none of whom appears to be an information scientist, have become (so) critical of TDP?
Can you think of a common theme that connects those TDP critics, by any chance?
TDP is presently claiming that the online comments levelled after the PP rally reached 'genocidal' levels. Of course its going to be difficult to critique that claim of fact because none of the posts referenced are being presented in any form by TDP. Actually they didn't as far as I am aware even present any viewership analysis.
I would say their reasons for not presenting evidence of the factual basis for this however are more rudimentary. There isn't nearly enough you could track about a population to draw any causal relationship about discussion online and actual violence occurring. I know enough about how online advertising is connected with internet profiles to understand this kind of causal correlation analysis doesn't exist. At best TDP is an implementation of marketing science. On the other hand, fortunately the number of violent outcomes resulting will be so low that the correlation model is completely untestable. In actual practice I think its imaginary and there is no prediction of any number of violent events being correlated at all, just a narrative claim that such a relationship exists.
On the other hand I don't understand any obvious connection between those media figures, except that they all seem to agree about TDP. Probably you've got something in mind which you would claim they all obviously share as a motivation.
Thanks Nic. I am seeing a lot of articles about the Disinformation Project that are challenging them. It seems like they are witnessing a phenomenal amount of material but I have to wonder how they can classify them as disinformation given the sheer volumne.
I will post some of these articles tomorrow, because the DP claims seem to get more and more outlandish as one of the people writing about them says.
I thought the RNZ thing that Plunkett raise was interesting. A self generating/perpetuating story with no real evidence.
In fact I have not seen one example of disinformation, put out by the DP. Hmm. perhaps someone else has.
Yes Weka I am at a loss to understand those charts.
Anyone able to translate?
From the report.
.
These graphs show the video views on Facebook for mis- and disinformation producers and the country’s mainstream media with official Pages on the platform studied by TDP, on 10 and 11 February, respectively. For the first time, mis- and disinformation producers gathered more video views than all of the country’s mainstream media Pages combined. On 11 February, video content by mainstream media was viewed less than the day before, while engagement with mis- and disinformation accounts remained about the same.
[…]
These wordclouds highlight the most commonly used phrases in posts to Instagram from 9 to 11 February. The wordcloud on the left is from the constellation of accounts studied by TDP on the platform promoting harmful mis- and disinformation. Those on the right are from mainstream media accounts on the platform. Wordclouds illuminate, through key phrases and what they mean, or (re)present, how a particular community, or ecology.
https://thedisinfoproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/The-murmuration-of-information-disorders-May-2022-Report-FULL-VERSION.pdf
Thanks Joe
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/04/12/political-roundup-the-need-to-take-disinformation-seriously/
this is excellent from the Daily Blog. Not sure who wrote (not Martyn’s style) but highly recommend it
It's a (unfortunately not credited) re-post of the article by Bryce Edwards.
https://democracyproject.nz/2023/04/12/bryce-edwards-the-need-to-take-disinformation-seriously/
From the linked article:
I'm we used to have a word for people like whose job it was to hold governments to account. Jornok? Gibbingronk? Jubbinist?
This is what happens to an actual journalist
https://twitter.com/jmcevoy_2/status/1645713340277112833?s=20
No time like the present to combat mis/disinformation. It's on the rise – apparently![wink wink](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png?x42494)
https://allianceforscience.org/blog/2023/03/science-misinformation-distorts-public-policy-priorities-erodes-trust-in-institutions-and-hurts-communities/