Improving Classroom Practice: Lessons from Psychology

The articles in this Special Issue explore, extend, and challenge how psychological research has been used to improve teaching and learning in Aotearoa New Zealand classrooms across primary (elementary), secondary (high), and tertiary sectors.The collection offers contemporary insights for improving classroom practice through applying a range of psychological framings referencing in particular the social psychology of the classroom, and the use of novel modes of inquiry.Issues covered include teacher expectations, learning environments, mathematics education, emerging readers, supporting Māori and Pasifika learners, science and technology education, and complexities in highly-transient contexts.As Aotearoa New Zealand classrooms become increasingly multicultural and diverse, knowledge of pedagogies that are responsive to a range of young people is vital (see Allen, 2020;Bishop, 2019;Webber, 2024).Such understanding is core in enhancing successful classroom climates (see Rubie-Davies, 2015), a fundamental tenet of positive school communities.Further, in recent years, the global discipline of educational psychology has shifted from studying isolated beliefs and practices, including how these are manifested in educational settings, to understanding human learning in situ, and the role of psychological beliefs in shaping complex social systems (i.e., mind-in-context).Many educational psychologists have shifted the focus of their work towards examining a range of psychological constructs, beliefs, and practices in the same context, through novel methodologies, to address educational 'puzzles of practice'.Establishing strong links between research and practice in the classroom highlighting networks of