Introducing NZ Educational Publishers – Catriona Fergusion, Association Director
Publishers Association of NZ – Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ)
New Zealand is a small country that has had a large impact on educational developments worldwide. We are famous for the quality of our teachers, the progressive nature of our education system, and the innovative approach of our publishing sector.
Image courtesy of the New Zealand Story
A proud history of exporting educational success
New Zealand-designed educational resources have been used in schools around the world for over 40 years. Our curriculum, from early childhood right through to tertiary and vocational study, is valued and often adapted by other countries.
Dame Marie Clay’s leadership of the Reading Recovery approach led to a movement that spread to other English-speaking countries, notably the USA.
With New Zealand publishers and educators in such demand, a highly skilled publishing industry began led by pioneers Dame Wendy Pye and Dame Joy Cowley.
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Strong gains for Indigenous education
Māori advocacy for the retention of their language in the 1980s birthed a new movement in education, the Kōhanga Reo movement. This early success in culturally responsive education brought together elders who were fluent speakers together with their grandchildren and parents, providing a uniquely supportive form of language revitalisation.
Since then, significant changes have led to te reo Māori full-immersion schooling and a national curriculum. Today, a small number of dedicated New Zealand educational publishers work closely with the Ministry of Education and with community groups to publish quality Māori resources and to tell unique regional stories, not only in New Zealand but also for indigenous groups and governments of the wider Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa (Pacific Ocean).
At the tertiary level, educational researchers like Linda Tuhiwai Smith CNZM are leading figures in the movement for decolonised education, and have been instrumental in creating mutually supportive spaces of research and practice with other indigenous educators worldwide.
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Serving more than 60 countries
Today, a large group of New Zealand publishers offers a wide range of topics across early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary, and educational research. Our reputation for creating quality resources and supporting teachers with interesting, relevant, and engaging material has seen the New Zealand educational publishing industry grow to serve more than 60 countries, across many languages. What makes our publishing unique?
Global perspective
Strong international networks and a culture of innovation drives New Zealand publishers to identify best practices and emerging trends, and bring these to new readers.
Responsive education
New Zealand educational publishers produce thoughtful resources that help children grow emotionally and socially in a multicultural society, while also nurturing their academic competence.
A culture of trust
A culture of collaboration and trust between teachers and publishers enables New Zealand publishers to be flexible and responsive to the needs of teachers, producing the right materials at the right time.
Putting education in context
Each year New Zealand educational publishers produce a diverse range of learning resources based in authentic real-life contexts, helping students to understand and navigate the world they live in.
A snapshot of New Zealand educational publishing
- Pioneering the design of effective educational resources
- Major provider of literacy materials to Australia, the USA, the UK, China, and others
- Many years of developing educational content for major multinationals, Pearson, McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, etc
- Strong Indigenous and bilingual publishing for a bicultural nation
Landmark movements from New Zealand
- The Big Book used for shared reading
- The small book (8 and 16-page) used for small group reading
- Reading Recovery, developed by Dame Marie Clay and her team
- The Kōhanga Reo movement developed for the revitalisation of New Zealand’s Indigenous language and culture
- Award-winning digital resources
Image: Dave Gunson, from Puna Kauariki (Hana Limited)
