And if you knew what the ‘usual’ process of refining public policy looks like, you’d be more horrified. Rimmer’s taken the whole ‘reflect, refine, revise’ section out of the cycle. Now it’s just Minister says thing -> becomes policy Hence upswing in submitting against bad legislation.

David Seymour is quicker to defend Elizabeth Rata from accusations of racism than he is to defend Samuel Leason, Youssef Sammour and Rana Hamida.

Watching our lamb grow and seeing how interactive she is has made me curious to learn about sheep cognition. So I’ve been diving into the research and — holy sheep! She’s a highly complex, intelligent being with emotions and desires who recognises these in others. I knew she rocked.

Setting the table for vibe paychecks www.theverge.com/news/787076/...

Tell me Stanford is acting in a way you expect a Minister to act. Go on. Tell me. Tell me Stanford, with no education experience, is acting in a way that leads to the creation of good education policy. Go on. Tell me.

Curriculum progress in Aotearoa explained in 176 words. #nzpol

OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this

In conversation with AFT-Wisconsin Pres. Jon Shelton, we discussed why teachers are so often targeted: 📚 We give young people the skills to think critically. 🤝 Public schools bring diverse communities together. Both are essential for democracy. #AFTBookClub

This needs to be investigated.

Based on an excellent arctic;e by Bail Haque thedailyblog.co.nz/2025/09/30/q...

So the Wellington and Auckland Regional Principals Associations have decided to partner with the Ministry on Erica’s Curriculum Roadshow. Weak move, hanging out to dry any principal who is boycotting the sham propaganda event.

They sat stone-faced and silent as the president called for them to use US cities as training grounds and to fight “the enemy within,” and the secretary of defense told them to ignore “stupid rules of engagement “ and “woke garbage.” Then they were threatened with dismissal if they didn't obey. 1/

Screaming *this is not how copyright works*! These people are criminals and I genuinely think we shouldn't be legitimising their criminality by using this stuff.

I’ll be a guest speaker at the Affordable Healthcare for All talk, speaking about the dire state of public healthcare in NZ (and how it must be re-built) on October 20, 6pm, in Whangarei. It's a labour event, but open to any and all progressive people. Register: events.humanitix.com/affordable-h...

My best guess is that Shakespeare and 19th century texts were added and made compulsory, and Māori and Pacific authors removed, is because it made the senior English curriculum more aligned with Elizabeth Rata's vision. Remember: she started as its lead writer. It's a long read, but here's why.

If you’re rich and you reckon the world will be better off with less racism, misogyny, antisemitism, and general anti-democratic moves, there’s a bunch of us over here who would gladly receive some of the cash you’d otherwise use to make yourself richer and use it to do some good work.

There’s a mountain of education research that shows seeing yourself reflected in the learning supports engagement and achievement. That’s likely why the senior English curriculum writing team had Māori and Pacific authors as ‘must includes’ in teaching programs So why was that instruction erased?

Why does this weakling get mainstreamed and monetised and not me?

Here are a couple of suggested polls for Stuff. Should our curriculum change process be guided by a small group of ideologically-aligned individuals who aren’t employed by the Ministry of Education? Should our curriculum be written overseas? Should we care if democratic process is violated?

Oh look. We’re swimming in the other direction.

If this is the thinking that is guiding decisions, Luxon, and this government, have completely lost any moral basis for governing us.

Whether intentionally or not, elected officials around the world are subverting democracy from within by using polarizing political strategies in their bids to gain or retain power. muse.jhu.edu/article...

A few small, yet significant, last minute changes meant the curriculum the sector saw was one that Rata was moved to congratulate the Minister on: It “is the knowledge-rich curriculum you promised … Your leadership in driving this herculean task deserves to be recognised”. Both curricula attached.

Just think, English teachers of Aotearoa New Zealand: there was a March 2025 version of the rewritten senior English curriculum that didn't fully embrace Rata's determination to "end decolonisation's success". But we got the version that literally erased Māori and Pacific authors.

What?!? In all those education reforms over the past decade that sought to address the decline in literacy achievement, they allowed this to persist? Turn your back, teachers in NZ. The man who was cool with that is one of our Minister’s heroes.

Right. A bit more about what we’re up to. Would love feedback, do stick a comment at the end. And do please consider signing up to find out more www.thenerve.news open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

Doctorow on the impending economic collapse when the AI bubble bursts. pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...

Who changed the senior English curriculum just before it went out for consultation? Why did they erase Māori and Pacific authors and replace them with Shakespeare and 19th century texts?

*This is what happens when you demand that we only ever give children books with words that they can already decode.* They think that reading = sounding out. We used to call it 'barking at print' and this is the exact same thing.

Let’s call this what it is: meddling with a legislative document once everyone’s gone home. That meddling reinstated Shakespeare and 19th century literature and erased Māori and Pacific authors.

The government’s stance on Palestine echoes Arendt’s “banality of evil”: officials turning genocide into paperwork and an administrative task; treating a moral abyss as mere policy risk.

Let’s call this what it is: meddling with a legislative document once everyone’s gone home. That meddling reinstated Shakespeare and 19th century literature and erased Māori and Pacific authors.

You may not find it on the front pages - or even sports pages - of the four big local media companies, but Niamh Fisher-Black won the silver medal in last night’s women’s road race at the world champs in Rwanda. And yes, that’s a big deal.

Two draft English curricula dated March 2024 exist. One, approved by the Curriculum Coherence Group, contained no Shakespeare and stipulated the inclusion of Māori and Pacifica authors. The other, the version out for consultation, included Shakespeare and Māori and Pacifica authors had been removed.

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." - Desmond Tutu

Edits complete. Report ready to drop tomorrow morning. Did Stanford know? Was she involved? Or did she lose control?

A look at who Stanford is listening to.

Every accusation is an admission.

In a major violation of process, someone changed the senior English curriculum just before it went out for consultation. Who? Watch for my report, ready in a couple of days.

Hey team. What’s a “historical time perception expert” in relation to curriculum design? Rata is using that phrase a bit. Also, our History curriculum is being written overseas.

The junior maths curriculum is being rewritten in England.

Not only is it disgraceful that in a democracy people were made to sign an NDA in order to participate in a government consultation, but the OIA response has information withheld to protect *ministers* from harassment.

Democracy isn’t elections. It’s elections plus institutions and processes and guidelines that support participation and inclusion.

The fact the Public Service Commissioner is using his words to constantly have a crack at teachers & doctors & nurses, & his silence to not see Ministers like Stanford who constantly act unilaterally, overriding & against the advice of their ministries, tells you how seriously we should take him.

Today I’m digging real holes instead of metaphorical ones.

In lieu of Stanford being absent from the PPTA conference, here’s a taste of one conference she has been able to make this year. A pattern is emerging where she has no problem finding time to get overseas to appear on stage for similar orgs. The 2024 Consilium conference is another example.

Reading this, and a recurring motif seems to be the huge number of missed opportunities to punch back taught Putin what he could do.

Crazy that Stanford won’t stand on the stage at the PPTA conference, but will share a stage with people from the American Enterprise Institute, who have a history of welcoming the likes of Paul Manafort and his cast of anti-democratic crooks.

It’s time to face the facts: the experiment with politician-centred education systems has been a total failure.