See section 5 also.
The New Zealand Curriculum (the official policy for teaching, learning and assessment in New Zealand schools) applies to state schools (including integrated schools) and to all students in compulsory phase education in those schools irrespective of their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, belief, ability or disability, social or cultural background or geographical location. Parallel documents exist for English- and Maori-medium schools. Although starting from different perspectives, both encompass visions of young people who will develop the competencies they need for study, work and lifelong learning and go on to realise their potential.88 The New Zealand Curriculum, determined by the Ministry of Education, is organised as follows:
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The New Zealand Curriculum | |||
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Directions for learning |
Guidance | ||
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Values |
Key competencies |
Learning areas |
Purpose and scope |
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Excellence Innovation Inquiry and curiosity Diversity Community and participation Ecological sustainability Integrity Respect |
Thinking Using language symbols, and texts Managing self Relating to each other Participating and contributing |
English The arts Health and physical education Learning languages Mathematics and statistics Science Social sciences Technology Official languages
Achievement Objectives |
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Effective pedagogy | |||
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Principles High expectations, Treaty of Waitangi, cultural diversity, inclusion, learning to learn, community engagement, coherence, future focus |
The school curriculum: Design and review | ||
| The School Curriculum | |||
The previous New Zealand Curriculum, implemented from 1992 onwards, was New Zealand’s first outcomes based curriculum. It was developed to take New Zealand education into the future and provided guidelines covering teaching, learning and assessment for all students in all New Zealand schools. Its main principles were based on the belief that the individual student is at the centre of all teaching and learning, and the curriculum outlined the need for education to be both relevant and responsive to the needs and abilities of all students so that they are able to play a full part in the world in which they will live and work.13
Since this first outcomes based curriculum was launched, there has been continued social change in New Zealand. Following curriculum reviews undertaken between 2000-2002, it was decided that a new curriculum was needed. The revised New Zealand Curriculum is a clear statement of what is deemed to be important in education. It aims to state succinctly what each of the eight learning areas (see above) is about and how learning is structured. The sets of achievement objectives have been revised by teams of academics and teachers to ensure that they offer current, relevant and well-defined outcomes for students. A new learning area 'learning languages' has been added to encourage students to participate more actively in New Zealand's diverse, multicultural society and in the global community. 88
Although the New Zealand curriculum sets out the direction for teaching and learning in New Zealand schools, it is intended to be used as a framework rather than as a detailed plan. Individual schools are required to base their curriculum on the principles of the New Zealand Curriculum, which provides the framework and common direction for schools regardless of type, size or location. It gives schools the scope, flexibility and authority they need to design and shape their curriculum so that teaching and learning is meaningful and beneficial to their particular communities of students. In turn, the school curriculum should allow teachers the scope to make interpretations in response to the needs, interests and talents of individuals and groups of students in their classes. 88
It is the responsibility of boards of trustees to ensure that schools implement the curriculum. A school curriculum must:
Coverage of the eight learning areas and the five key competencies is compulsory during the ten years of statutory primary and lower secondary education. This is to ensure a broad and balanced education. 88
Learning areas
The New Zealand Curriculum specifies eight learning areas, which aim to provide a broad, general education and lay the foundation for later specialisation. The learning areas are:
Although the learning areas are presented as distinct entities, it is not intended that this should limit the ways in which schools structure the learning experiences offered to students. All learning experiences should make sure of the natural connections that exist between learning areas and link learning areas to values and key competencies. 88
The curriculum document also provides learning area statements for each of the eight learning areas. These statements are used by schools as the starting point for developing programmes of learning. Schools are then able to select achievement objectives to fit these programmes. In each learning area statement there are a number of strands. In the mathematics and statistics area, for example, there are number and algebra, geometry and measurement, and statistics strands. Each strand of the learning area is compulsory, but particular strands may be emphasised at different times or in different years. Schools should have a clear rationale for how they implement this and should ensure that each strand receives equal coverage.88
Key competencies
The five key competencies identified by the New Zealand curriculum are:
These competencies are regarded as key to the curriculum as they are an integral part of life – people use them to live, learn, work and contribute as active members of their communities. More complex than skills alone, they draw on knowledge, attitudes and values in ways which lead to action. They are not separate nor do they stand alone. 88
Other important areas of study, such as the environment and culture and heritage, are also included as learning opportunities across the eight learning areas. The aim is to encourage the making of connections across the learning areas, values and key competencies. Such learning opportunities include:
Resources have been produced to support their teaching. For example, the Government has recently released an environmental education strategy, which includes the publication of environmental education guidelines for schools. These guidelines are not mandatory, but demonstrate how the objectives of the various curriculum statements (particularly social studies, science and technology) can be implemented through environmental contexts. At the same time, the guidelines promote the need for students to learn more about the environment and for everyone to take an active role in the protection and enhancement of it.5
At present, in primary level education, information and communications technology (ICT) tends to be used rather than taught.5 The development of ICT is part of the technology curriculum. The use of ICT extends across all learning areas.17 It is expected that schools will explore not only how information and communication technology (ICT) can supplement traditional ways of teaching but also how it can open new and different ways of learning. 88
Values
In addition, the New Zealand Curriculum identifies the values that should be reflected in the teaching of the curriculum as:
Time allocation
The curriculum is not a time-based curriculum. 10 That is, there are no regulations regarding timetabling or the amount of time schools must allocate to each subject.62 Schools may achieve a balanced and broad curriculum in a number of ways; for example, by organising their programmes around subjects, by using an integrated approach, or by using topic or thematic approaches. Schools have the flexibility to plan programmes to meet their particular needs providing they cover the knowledge and understanding of the New Zealand Curriculum.32
See section 5.3.2.
The curriculum is expressed in terms of both input and output.10
The New Zealand Curriculum (the official policy for teaching, learning and assessment in New Zealand schools) applies to English-medium state schools (including integrated schools) and to all students in compulsory phase education in those schools irrespective of their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, belief, ability or disability, social or cultural background or geographical location. A parallel document serves the same function for Maori-medium schools. Although starting from different perspectives, both curriculum frameworks encompass visions of young people who will develop the competencies they need for study, work and lifelong learning, and go on to realise their potential.88
The New Zealand curriculum includes and explains:
The designing and planning sections of the curriculum provide guidance to schools on working with their communities to design and implement the curriculum to plan for clear learning objectives and to assess for learning. Schools are advised on how to incorporate significant themes such as sustainability, citizenship, enterprise, globalisation, and financial literacy into their teaching programmes. 88
Although the New Zealand curriculum sets the direction for teaching and learning, it is intended to be a framework for schools rather than a detailed plan. This means that the school curriculum must be aligned with the intent of the curriculum document, but that individual schools have considerable flexibility in determining the detail. They can draw on a variety of ideas, recourses and models in doing this. Schools may, for example, decide to organise their curriculum around one of the three key aspects - values, key competencies or learning areas. Alternatively they may organise their curriculum around central themes, integrating values, key competencies, knowledge and skills across a number of learning areas. 88
The curriculum document also provides learning area statements for each of the eight learning areas. In each learning area statement there are a number of strands. 88
In addition, the New Zealand curriculum contains achievement objectives. These set out selected learning processes, knowledge, and skills relative to eight levels of learning. These desirable levels of knowledge, understanding and skills represent progress towards broader outcomes that ultimately amount to deeper learning. The learning objectives are available online: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/.
Key competencies
The five key competencies identified by the New Zealand curriculum are:
These competencies are regarded as key to the curriculum as they are an integral part of life – people use them to live, learn, work and contribute as active members of their communities. More complex than skills alone, they draw on knowledge, attitudes and values in ways which lead to action. They are not separate nor do they stand alone. The development of the competencies is both an end in itself (a goal) and the means by which other ends are achieved. Successful learners make use of the competencies in combination with all the other resources available to them. These include personal goals, other people, community knowledge and values, cultural tools (language, symbols, and texts), and the knowledge and skills found in different learning areas. The competencies continue to develop over time, shaped by interactions with people, places, ideas, and things. Students need to be challenged and supported to develop them in contexts that are increasingly wide-ranging and complex. 88
The Government is involved in textbook/curriculum material production in a limited way. Learning Media, a crown-owned company, publishes a range of resources for schools (http://www.learningmedia.co.nz/). The use of these resources is not mandatory and how and when they are used is decided by schools/teachers. A number of commercial publishers also produce materials that can be used in schools.5
The New Zealand approach is not a textbook-based curriculum. Consequently, books are not approved by the State. However, some curriculum-related resources are developed with government funding and are published by Learning Media on a contract basis, or by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. In addition, curriculum-related resources are published in the private sector.10
Teachers and heads of departments choose the books to be used for each class.10
Schools provide students with supplementary materials to support classroom programmes, such as books and journals. Textbooks are usually loaned to students and only paid for by students if lost.5
Parents providing their children with Ministry of Education-approved home-based schooling are given an annual grant to help with the cost of learning materials.26
The Ministry of Education provides an online resource centre: the Online Learning Centre, http://www.tki.org.nz/.