CARTOON – COVID art by Hana Chajecka and Editorial

EDUCATION TODAY – established 1989 Student Voice BUMPER EDITION Spring – Summer 2021/2022 Publisher – Education Today Limited ISSN 1175 9240

COVID art by Wellington Y4 student Hana Chajecka

This magazine exists to help nurture a love of language and its use by young writers. They are encouraged to explore and comment on the world around them. We are not expecting them to specialise in investigative, news, reviews, columns and feature writing, and they tend to develop a style combining several of these, mixing their own opinions with questions asked of teachers and peers. Education Today’s Student Voice are conducted away from the classroom with the students expected to work with editorial and design practitioners, discuss and choose story ideas as an editorial board, and produce against deadlines. Their scrutiny of the world around them includes an acumen highlighting social maturity beyond their years. They are quickly and equally critical of alarmist headlines and the FOMO security blanket of social media. Many of the younger writers barely use those mediums, developing their world view from adults around them, teachers, and peers. They question, they have few preconceived notions, and no fear. The objective is developing their language survival kit and the ability to conceptualise and describe the world around them to others, and to themselves. The dynamics in the world they are about to inherit underlines the vital need for their ability to think for themselves, and to share their thoughts to others. We explore diverse concept-building words as part of our sessions – intimidation, ethics, irony and others as we encounter them – in a context of journalism, history, sport, art, politics, personal responsibility and more. Readers of this edition will see the links these students make between their academic world and the world they face outside the school gate. They will ask the questions and those who go on as journalists will bring a new integrity to the vocation. The questions are waiting to be asked. There are significant gaps in news and feature coverage of the important events of the day, and perhaps a greater need for free-thinking journalists than ever before. We are grateful for our partnership with COMET Education and AUT, and the support we have from BNZ with its conference facilities, and the schools involved in each edition. Education Today has been in schools in hard copy for more than 30 years, and for the past 10 years we have put the education writers to one side in favour of student writing and to help them become agents for change in their education and the society they share. Education Today and COMET Auckland thank designers Shannen Randell and Leila Bailey-Moore for their invaluable contribution. We also acknowledge the sponsorship of AUT.