Michael is a Senior Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. He leads the Initiative’s work on education. He is a cognitive psychologist with a background in literacy research, educational assessment and psychometrics.
Prior to his time at the Initiative, he was the Associate Dean (Academic) of the Faculty of Education at Victoria University of Wellington. Between 2005 and 2011, he worked at the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), where he developed a new, more reliable, marking system for NCEA examinations. In 2024, Michael chaired a Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) for Education Minister Erica Stanford. The MAG advised on the development of a knowledge-rich curriculum for English and mathematics. Following that work, Michael is currently a member of the Curriculum Coherence group, which advises on the development of knowledge-rich curricula across all school subjects. Michael is also a member of a technical advisory group to NZQA on assessment for NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship.
In his time at The New Zealand Initiative, Michael has published reports on Modern Learning Environments, systems reform in education, teacher education, the use of AI in education, and pathways for industry training and apprenticeships.
Phone: 044990790
NZQA would like help deciding what excellence means. The trouble is, too many students have been achieving it. Read more
Sometimes, a debate over the school curriculum gets so heated, it is dubbed a ‘curriculum war’. A new draft science curriculum has been the subject of a national conversation over the past week or so. Read more
Michael Laws talks to the NZ Initiative’s Michael Johnston about the controversial new science curriculum.
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Michael Johnston was interviewed by Rodney Hide on Reality Check Radio to discuss the leaked 'fast draft' science curriculum.
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Newshub has obtained the document, which was sent to a few teachers for their feedback. It has raised major concerns students could leave school without knowing the basics of science if the proposed curriculum is introduced. Read more
Advance draft copies of the new science curriculum for schools have shocked some science teachers. The so-called fast draft contains no mention of the core science subjects physics, chemistry and biology. Read more
The Ministry of Education is being criticised for its new draft of the science curriculum. The proposal doesn't appear to list physics and chemistry, but instead focuses on climate change, biodiversity, the food-energy-water nexus, and infectious diseases. Read more
For most of the 2010s, if schools wanted funding for new classrooms, the Ministry of Education insisted that they build Modern Learning Environments (MLEs). These are large, open-plan classrooms, sometimes housing more than a hundred children and their teachers. Read more
New Zealand has produced some impressive scientists during its short history. Ernest Rutherford, dubbed ‘the father of nuclear physics’, must surely be foremost among them. Read more
The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in most constitutions and is deemed to be an essential human right under international law. Yet people in many countries face restrictions on their freedom of speech and on other civil liberties. Read more
Welcome to the New Zealand Initiative podcast! In this week’s episode, Drs Michael Johnston and James Kierstead discuss the challenges faced by universities in New Zealand, focusing on issues such as declining enrolments, the impact of international student numbers, and the need for universities to foster open and civil debate on controversial topics. Read more
New Zealand’s universities are in crisis. AUT announced 170 academic redundancies last year. Read more
Wellington (Monday, 19 June 2023) – The New Zealand Initiative has revealed that Victoria and Otago Universities employ more non-academic than academic staff, a situation prevalent in all New Zealand universities for the past decade. The findings, prepared by Drs. Read more
New Zealand’s universities are in crisis. Their most immediate problem is financial. Read more
State education has been in a void in New Zealand for a number of years. After spending some time as a world leader, the education field has been ploughed with incompetence. Read more