Revise the Essential Learning Areas
Recommendation (5): that the essential learning areas/Ngä Wähanga Ako in the New Zealand Curriculum Framework and Te Anga Marautanga o Aotearoa are revised
This recommendation aims to address some of the concerns about the curriculum/Marautanga manageability, crowdedness, and a need to prioritise learning in the national curricula.
The essential learning areas/ngä wähanga ako of the frameworks should include the outcomes (aims and achievement objectives) from the curriculum statements/ngä tauäkï Marautanga. Specialist cross-disciplinary teams should audit the outcomes against the purposes of the curricula and against the future-focused curriculum themes of:
- social cohesion (including developing resilience and a sense of social connectedness);
- citizenship (local, national, and global);
- education for a sustainable future (including sustainable development and environmental sustainability);
- bicultural and multicultural awareness;
- enterprise and innovation; and
- critical literacy (including digital literacy).
The outcomes of the revised frameworks should contain the knowledge and skills that are critical for all students in New Zealand. The broad and flexible nature of the achievement objectives should be maintained.
Level one and two outcomes should emphasise foundation learning for each of the learning areas, particularly the development of literacy and numeracy skills. To ensure a focus on foundation learning and indicate priorities, there should be fewer strands and achievement objectives at levels one and two.
In the sections of the Frameworks on the essential learning areas and ngä tino wähanga ako there should be guidance statements that explain that the essential learning areas do not have to be taught as distinct subjects. This section should make explicit:
- that the outcomes of each essential learning areas inter-relate;
- that learning should be holistic; and
- the value of developing connections between the outcomes within and across essential learning areas/ngä tino wähanga ako.
The eight level and strand structures are useful for organising and clarifying expectations of learning. They are not intended to specify a one-size fits all learning progression. Although the rationale for and the number of levels has been questioned there are significant risks associated with changing the number of levels. This structure should be maintained, but the number of strands and objectives specified at each level should be reviewed.
New outcomes should only be developed where it is deemed necessary to make the curricula more efficient at fulfilling their purposes and to strengthen the emphasis on the future-focused curriculum themes. Overlap between the essential learning areas/ngä wähanga ako should be identified to avoid unnecessary duplication. Where overlap is necessary for transfer of knowledge, the links should be made explicit.
Rationale
The essential learning areas/ngä tino wähanga ako of the frameworks and their transformation into curriculum statements/ngä tauäkï Marautanga mö te motu fosters a `subject silo' approach which artificially compartmentalises and limits transference of knowledge.
The large number of achievement objectives has increased teacher workload and reduced opportunities for creativity.
The broad and flexible nature of the achievement objectives do not currently help teachers to set priorities or determine the key messages of the statements.
The outcomes of national curriculum need to recognise that students develop at different rates and that student's learning may be asynchronous.
A significant number of the achievement objectives need to be rewritten, as they do not always represent progression of concepts, processes and functions.
The outcomes of national curricula need to recognise the diverse nature of New Zealand students.
The outcomes need to be flexible enough so that schools can use them to develop their own curricula.
A focus on critical foundation learning at earlier levels is helpful for students with special education needs. Students for whom English is a Second Language also need a sound base of literacy on which to apply their prior knowledge in their first language.
The essential learning area Language and Languages/Te Körero me ngä Reo should be two separate learning areas - English/Te Reo Mäori and Languages. Additional Languages include foreign, community and heritage languages and second language learning in English and in te reo Maori.
Schools should be required to provide instruction in another language for students in years 7 to 10 (except for Mäori immersion settings), but it should not be mandatory for all year 7-10 students to learn another language.
Generic outcomes for Languages should be developed and included in the revised New Zealand Curriculum Framework and Te Anga Marautanga o Aotearoa.
Rationale
Learning languages is key to students developing greater understanding of the cultures of others.
Relative to other countries, New Zealand has very low levels of language learning.
Language education helps to foster bicultural and multicultural awareness.
The teaching of languages supports literacy in English and forms part of a broad general education for all students.
There is general agreement amongst the New Zealand languages community that years 7-10 are the most appropriate years for any significant investment in languages teaching.
The section on ngä tino wähanga ako should ensure that language and layout is consistent between statements.
Rationale
While the concept of ngä Marautanga o Aotearoa is philosophically sound, teachers find ngä tauäkï Marautanga o Aotearoa difficult to use.
The objectives are too broad to be easily understood, they use difficult and inconsistent vocabulary, and there are inconsistencies between the layout and terminology of the statements.