Differential achievement by groups of students is an international problem, with particular significance for New Zealand. While New Zealand students do well in the aggregate, we have one of the largest gaps between high and low achieving students among all OECD countries (OECD, 2010). New Zealand’s ‘PISA gap’ shows that students from poor communities, who are also often indigenous Maori and Pasifika learners, are heavily over-represented in the low achieving group, while students from more privileged communities are over-represented in the high achieving group. To mitigate this gap the Ministry of Education (MoE) sponsored a competitive tendering process for the ‘provision of exemplary post graduate initial teacher education (ITE) programmes’ (MoE, 2013) aimed at more effectively preparing teachers of disadvantaged learners. The programme that provides the context for this study was one of the first funded through the Ministry’s competitive process. It was designed to develop teacher candidates’ knowledge of how socio-economic disadvantage and disparities in opportunity impact on students' education outcomes, and what this means for teachers' attitudes and practice. This study is part of a suite of studies undertaken by Project RITE, an international research group whose goal is to develop an explanatory theory of teacher candidates’ learning to teach in ways that enhance equitable outcomes for disadvantaged learners. The study examines how, to what extent, and under what conditions candidates learn to enact six interconnected ‘patterns of practice’. These patterns were distilled from a systematic search of international research frameworks that identified practices that had a positive impact on learners from disadvantaged groups. Drawing on programme documents, teacher candidates’ writing, and survey data, this paper examines the learning opportunities afforded by an innovative, ITE programme with “patterns of practice for equity” (POPE) for students marginalized by poverty at its centre and social justice as its goal.

References deliberately not included