Globally, nationally and locally we need to ‘seize the day’ as educators and be bold in our vision for our students’ future.  After two and a half years of pandemic disruption, at a local level, we have the opportunity to assess what happened to students’ learning and plan ‘next steps’.    

At a national level, the ‘Curriculum Refresh’ has also developed some ‘next steps’, which need to be aligned and embedded in school curriculum delivery models.

Waves of change:

In 2007 the revised New Zealand Curriculum was hailed as one of the most flexible and liberal in the world.  Developed in consultation with the sector, the framework moved us away from prescriptive ‘Achievment Objectives’ and an obsession with curriculum coverage, to a focus on mastery of concepts.  Teachers were encouraged to teach curriculum content that matched the strengths, interests and learning needs of students. 

Just as schools were embedding NZC, we had a change of government and a change of ideology that affected curriculum delivery.  From 2009, ‘National Standards’ drove a focus on literacy and numeracy and ERO reviews were used to apply pressure on schools to get results.  In short, it didn’t work, one measure of this being a steady decline in international OECD PISA results.

In 2017, the Coalition Government abolished ‘National Standards’ and schools were encouraged to focus on a balanced broad curriculum, to localize curriculum content, develop cultural dimensions of content and grow digital curriculum expertise.  Some schools focused on developing stronger pedagogical capacity and content knowledge in different curriculum areas.  Some schools chose to maintain a strong focus on literacy and numeracy.  As a result, what students are being taught has become more variable while student progress and achievement levels have not improved. 

Then, in 2020, we had a global pandemic.

Jump on the board to catch the wave:

Having metaphorically been ‘dumped in the surf’ through the pandemic, leaders are being challenged to ‘get back on the board’, to catch and ride the next wave of curriculum change.  As teachers work out where students are currently ‘at’ in their learning, school leaders are being asked to organize and lead a school-based curriculum review and refresh process.  The national Curriculum Refresh Advisory Group has identified key concepts students need to be taught at each level, because ‘We don’t have time to teach everything, so we need to ensure the most important concepts are taught’. 

How we do this, using localized curriculum content and pedagogical approaches that work for our communities, is the ‘puzzle of practice’ to solve.  The ‘Understand, Know, Do’ elements and progressions underpinning each curriclum area have been designed to create coherence and alignment across different curriculum areas. If we are successful in our endeavours equity will be addressed.  Our tamariki will have strong knowledge of Māori language, culture and identity.  Our definitions of success in learning will be broad, because the strengths, talents, skills and aspirations of our tamariki will be broad.

Making sense of how the revised progressions compare to what schools are using now will be the first challenge.  The most effective ways to integrate curriculum content and localized content is the second challenge.  How to teach it so it is relevant, rich, purposeful, authentic and fun is the third.  Reviewing how well it worked will be seeing how many students catch and ride their own waves to success in learning.

The Curriculum Road Show:

To korero with colleagues, we have the NZPF-MOE Roadshow next month.  I hope to meet with many of you at these regional events.  To connect and reconnect with each other is something none of us takes for granted any more.  To learn how to lead a ‘Mathematics Refresh’ process with Rob Proffit-White will be an ‘added-value’ bonus. 

Please see below when the Road Show will be coming to your region.

Mā te wā.