Editorial: What matters in the curriculum?

This year, New Zealand’s Ministry of Education published a draft curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2006), as part of the consultative process associated with the development of the next school curriculum. Whether this document is a major perturbation to our curriculum thinking remains to be seen, but I assume that most paradigm shifts cause some unrest. The publication seems somewhat premature—as some sections had not been completed—which suggests that the political agenda may have outweighed other considerations. The proposed timeline also reinforced this; dates for the final version, and for implementation, were forecast, and I wondered whether the time frame was such that—if feedback requesting significant change was forthcoming—it could be given due consideration. However, knowing the extent and nature of feedback that has been received when draft documents have previously been published, perhaps the timelines are not unreasonable.