Previous New Zealand Curriculum Framework
In November 2007, a new curriculum was introduced in New Zealand. This appendix provides details of the curriculum it replaced.
This curriculum (the official policy for teaching, learning and assessment in New Zealand schools) applied to all New Zealand schools, including kura kaupapa Maori, and special education schools; all students, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, belief, ability or disability, social or cultural background or geographical location; and to all years of schooling from Years 1 - 13 (compulsory primary level and lower secondary level education, students aged 5/6 to 16 and post-compulsory senior secondary education for 15/16- to 18-year-olds).32 This New Zealand Curriculum, determined by the Ministry of Education, was organised as follows:
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The New Zealand Curriculum Framework |
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The Principles |
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The Essential Learning Areas |
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The Essential Skills |
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Attitudes and values |
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National curriculum statements - |
Source: NEW ZEALAND. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (1999).
It had been developed to take New Zealand education into the future, by providing guidelines covering teaching, learning and assessment for all students in all New Zealand schools. The main principles of the curriculum were based on the belief that the individual student is at the centre of all teaching and learning. 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
The curriculum framework set out the official policy for teaching, learning and assessment in New Zealand schools, based on seven national curriculum statements, one for each essential learning area.36 These detailed the programme achievement objectives that all students should aim for.13 It was the responsibility of boards of trustees to ensure that schools implemented this curriculum. Every school charter and proposed charter had to include the aim of meeting and following the National Education Guidelines which included the national curriculum statements.32
The national curriculum statements for the seven 'essential learning areas' (language and languages; mathematics; science; technology; social sciences; the arts; and health and physical well-being) were developed by the Ministry of Education (or by contract curriculum developers, many of whom were subject specialists from amongst teacher educators or advisors) after consultation with teachers, other educators, boards of trustees, and the wider community, including the business community. In this way, all statements built on the best of New Zealand experience and research. Draft statements were released across all schools in the country for a trial period before being evaluated, revised, finalised and published.32,44. Mandatory implementation followed after a period of time (usually two years), when schools could access professional development and other support. All national curriculum statements in English and Maori 17 were completed in 2001.
The final four national curriculum statements (for technology, social studies, health and physical well-being, and the arts) were affected by the slowing down in the pace of curriculum reform (announced in July 1996 in response to widespread concern across the school sector about the scale, pace and workload implications of the changes).36,22
(For each new national curriculum statement, there was a transition period of around two years between the publication of the final version and the date on which it was gazetted (made mandatory). From that date, it was expected that all schools would be implementing it. During the transition period, schools were expected to provide programmes in each of the seven essential learning areas of the New Zealand Curriculum, including the area covered by the new curriculum statement. Schools were expected to progressively develop programmes so that they were prepared to implement new statements fully, once they had been gazetted. During the transition period, schools could be using the old syllabus, the new curriculum statement, or a mix of the two. Schools could introduce the new curriculum in a phased way. For example, a secondary school could trial the new social studies curriculum in 1998, fully implement it in Year 9 in 1999 and in Year 10 in 2000. To make the transition effective, each existing syllabus was revoked as soon as the final national curriculum statement was published, rather than when it was gazetted.22)
Compulsory subjects
Coverage of the seven essential learning areas and the eight groups of essential skills was compulsory during the ten years of statutory primary and lower secondary education. This was to ensure a broad and balanced education.10
Essential learning areas
The seven essential learning areas were broad, recognisable categories of knowledge and understanding. They provided the context within which the essential skills, attitudes, and values were developed. The seven compulsory essential learning areas were:
Other important areas of study, such as the environment, and culture and heritage, were included in a number of the essential learning areas.32 Information and communications technology (ICT) was used rather than taught.5 The development of ICT was part of the technology curriculum. The use of ICT extended across all learning areas.17
Essential skills
In addition, the New Zealand Curriculum specified eight groupings of essential skills to be developed by all students across the whole curriculum throughout the years of schooling. These categories encompassed other important groups of skills, such as creative skills, valuing skills, and practical life skills. The eight groupings of essential skills were:
All the essential skills were regarded as important if students were to achieve their potential and to participate fully in society, including the world of work. The categories into which the essential skills were divided were simply convenient labels for grouping them and the skills and attributes which the Ministry of Education believed students needed to develop. These skills could not be developed in isolation. They were developed through the essential learning areas and in different contexts across the curriculum. It was intended that the curriculum should challenge all students to succeed to the best of their ability. Individual students therefore developed the essential skills to different degrees and at different rates.295
The eight essential skills were expressed as competencies/results statements. For example, for numeracy skills, the statement included:
Students will:
Attitudes and values
In addition, the New Zealand Curriculum Framework identified the values that underpin New Zealand society and which should be reflected in the teaching of the curriculum as:
Time allocation
The curriculum was not time-based. 10 There were no regulations regarding timetabling or the amount of time schools had to allocate to each subject. 62 Schools achieved 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 had the flexibility to plan programmes to meet their particular needs; for example, kura kaupapa Maori programmes, English programmes for speakers of other languages (ESOL), or Pacific Islands language courses. In whatever way programmes were organised, they had to incorporate the knowledge and understanding described in all seven essential learning areas.32
The essential learning areas were interrelated. Many activities which students engaged in drew on more than one learning area. For example, a study of sound could focus primarily on science, but could also contribute to students' development in the arts, technology and mathematics. In planning programmes, schools were expected to understand and make use of the connections between the learning areas.299
Optional/elective subjects
Schools could also offer optional subjects. By law, Maori language had to be provided to students/parents who requested it. Demand could therefore mean that this subject was offered from Year 1. Some of the essential learning areas (language and languages; mathematics; science; technology; social sciences; the arts; and health and physical well-being) were broken down into specific subjects, e.g. specific languages and specific sciences and offered as optional subjects.10
There was a trend for primary schools to offer the choice of learning languages other than English or te reo Maori to older students aged 10 years plus. Japanese was the most popular of these languages followed by French, German, Spanish and Pacific Islands languages.5 Latin and Chinese were also offered in a few schools.18
Formulation of curriculum
The curriculum was expressed in terms of both input and output.10
The New Zealand Curriculum Framework described the elements which were essential to teaching and learning in schools. It:
Each section of the curriculum (e.g. mathematics) was further defined in a national curriculum statement, written so that the curriculum was a continuation from junior classes (age 5+) to the final year of schooling. National curriculum statements were phased in over a number of years, beginning with mathematics in 1993-94. Existing syllabuses were regarded as national curriculum statements until they were replaced.40
National curriculum statements provided sets of achievement objectives against which students' progress and achievements were evaluated.10 They defined the areas of knowledge and understanding to be covered and skills to be developed; and desirable levels of knowledge, understanding and skills (Education Act 1989) 2. Several strands of learning were identified, each with one or more achievement aims. For each strand, achievement objectives were defined and set out in a number of levels (usually eight), to indicate progression and continuity through the years of compulsory schooling (ages 6-16) (and beyond, 18+). The statements were intended to be sufficiently broad and flexible to allow for local interpretation, but sufficiently specific to provide clear information about what was to be learned and achieved.40 In any one class, students could be working at a range of levels, both in the different learning areas, and within a single learning area. They worked at their own rate while being encouraged to strive for higher goals.32
The framework also outlined the policy for assessment at school and national levels. These elements were interrelated. For example, the essential skills (communication skills; numeracy skills; information skills; problem-solving skills; self-management and competitive skills; social and cooperative skills; physical skills; and work and study skills) were developed in the context of the essential learning areas (language and languages; mathematics; science; technology; social sciences; the arts; and health and physical well-being).32
Example - Science in the New Zealand Curriculum
The document 'Science in the New Zealand Curriculum' was intended to provide the basis for science education from junior classes (ages 5+,) to Year 13 (Form 7) (age 17-18, post-compulsory) in New Zealand schools. The document described expected student learning through eight levels in the form of sets of achievement aims and objectives, organised in six learning strands. (The eight levels equated roughly to one level for every two years of schooling up to Year 10, age 14-15, then one level for each year for Years 11-13.) Each learning strand had a number of general achievement aims, which were further elaborated into learning objectives at each of the eight levels. The learning strands were divided into two groups: two integrating strands and four contextual strands. The integrating strands were:
The contextual strands were:
It was intended that the curriculum be implemented by teachers in flexible ways to meet the differing needs and learning styles of students. Both teaching activities and assessment examples were, however, provided in the New Zealand Curriculum documents. Teaching activities were described as 'possible learning experiences' which were described as specific activities that 'students could be learning by'. Assessment activities were noted as ways that 'teachers and students could assess the students'.41