Success for Boys

In June 2014 KIWA took part in a pilot with New Zealand’s Ministry of Education to develop innovative resources and a parallel enquiry process, with the goal of finding new ways to lift boys’ achievement and success.  The pilot used the proprietary programme created by KIWA, the 48HR SLAM. Five intensive two-day workshops for boys aged between 10 and 15 years were run at five New Zealand schools. The boys worked in groups of 4-5 students and with the help of facilitators created their own interactive digital books that are now published to the world through the global iTunes store. At the same time a comprehensive enquiry process was undertaken to ensure the learning was captured for sharing with other teachers and schools.

Key findings included:

  • Independent observations revealed students fully engaged in the learning task, embodying the five key competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum.
  • The programme provided them with behavioural, emotional and cognitive success in communicating orally, visually and in writing.
  • Their achievement was evident in making meaning and creating meaning, core strands of the New Zealand Curriculum.
  • 91% of students interviewed finished the workshop with high self-efficacy and belief that their skills had improved.

An Independent Research Report produced by Dr Jenny Poskitt, Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Education at Massey University, which describes what she observed, summarizes related research literature, and analyses the programme using observations, interviews and relevant literature is included on the Ministry of Education’s website.