What New Zealand's 19th-century teachers knew but progressive educators forgot

In this episode, Michael speaks with Professor Elizabeth Rata about the history of New Zealand's school system. The conversation challenges the contemporary narrative of 19th-century schools as authoritarian and oppressive. They discuss ways in which teaching was knowledge-rich and aligned with what we now understand from the science of learning before late 20th-century ideological shifts reshaped education, sidelining knowledge and teacher expertise.

You can listen to What New Zealand's 19th-century teachers knew but progressive educators forgot online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

What New Zealand's 19th-century teachers knew but progressive educators forgot is an episode from The New Zealand Initiative by The New Zealand Initiative.

This episode is 00:41:00 long.

This episode was published on Apr 22, 2026.

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