combines and builds on the now considerable body of NZCER work on language and literacy, key competencies and TheNew Zealand Curriculum document, and 21st century learning.
A project that provided support to the Normal Schools as they undertook a journey to review teaching and learning practices and incorporate the new Key Competencies framework into their school context — and reported on insights gained from the case studies.
Research outputs for: Implementing New Zealand Curriculum
Rosemary Hipkins, Bronwen Cowie, Sally Boyd, Paul Keown, and Clive McGee
2011
Ministry of Education
Research report
This is the final report from the Curriculum Implementation Exploratory Studies (CIES) project. It reports on ways in which innovative schools and teachers have been working to implement The New Zealand Curriculum across all three years of the project.
Schools in the Curriculum Implementation Exploratory Studies (CIES) project evolved effective ways for teachers to learn together as they gave effect to The New Zealand Curriculum. Some common patterns were found in the ways learning networks formed within schools and evolved over time as curriculum understanding deepened and learning needs shifted.
Nature of Science is the core strand of science in The New Zealand Curriculum. This resource aims to support teachers to understand the different aspects of the Nature of Science and what this might mean in practice. All aspects of this strand are covered: Understanding about science; Investigating in science; Communicating in science; and Participating and contributing. The authors ask a key question, “what might Understanding about science look like in the classroom?” and then go on to suggest many practical activities.
This Update article illustrates what we are seeing in schools when they are successfully implementing The New Zealand Curriculum. It is one of a number of resources being provided by the Ministry of Education to support English-medium schools with implementation.
A Curriculum Updates article published in the Education Gazette in March 2010, promoting dialogue and develop understandings about the role of the curriculum principles in designing and reviewing the school curriculum.
One of the hot topics at a small science education conference I recently attended was the Nature of Science strand of the new curriculum. There was considerable discussion about the kind of support that would assist teachers both to understand what Nature of Science is about and to change their teaching of science to incorporate the intentions of this strand. Teachers may (legitimately) ask: Why would we want to change the way science is taught?
Bronwen Cowie, Rosemary Hipkins, Sally Boyd, Ally Bull, Paul Keown, Clive McGee, with Beverley Cooper, Jenny Ferrier-Kerr, Anne Hume, Anne McKim, Judy Moreland, Michele Morrison, Rachel Bolstad, Lorraine Spiller, Merilyn Taylor, and Russell Yates
2009
Ministry of Education
Research report
This research report provides examples of how some schools have approached the revised curriculum and the Key Competencies, and discusses the processes, tensions, and opportunities of leading and managing curriculum change.
Throughout the history of schooling in New Zealand the national curriculum has been revised at fairly regular intervals. Consequently, schools are periodically faced with having to accommodate to new curriculum. In between major changes other specifically-focused changes may arise; for example, the increased recent emphasis upon numeracy and literacy.
Making The New Zealand Curriculum a reality is a challenge all schools are tackling right now. This book captures the stories of 16 schools who participated in a week of conferences round the country earlier this year, as well as the contributions of the hundreds of school leaders and teachers who attended the conferences. Read about the different approaches primary, intermediate and secondary schools from Auckland to Wanaka have tried, what has worked and why, the challenges along the way and the plans for the future.
This companion article to “Enabling students to lead the way” explores the rationale for using a whole-school approach to health and wellbeing, and the connection between this approach and the revised curriculum. Some possible changes that could occur to school actions in regard to health and wellbeing are discussed. The article also explores some of the benefits and challenges of whole-school approaches.
“The most I have learnt about the new curriculum came from trialling this resource, because it incorporates everything and you can see it working in front of you. It is a resource that gets students thinking, working together, questioning.”
Lorraine Spiller, NZ Science Mathematics and Technology teaching fellow 2008 and teacher, Aotea College.
Chris Joyce, Ally Bull, Rosemary Hipkins, and Bill MacIntyre
2008
NZCER Press
Journal article
The water cycle is an important context for school science, but the uncritical use of diagrams to simplify ideas may lead to misconceptions. Incorporating learning about how representations such as water cycle diagrams function, helps students to explore and understand the complexities of such a system.
Rachel Bolstad, Sally Boyd, Ally Bull, Beverley Cooper, Bronwen Cowie, Jenny Ferrier-Kerr, Rosemary Hipkins, Anne Hume, Paul Keown, Clive McGee, Anne Mckim, Judy Moreland, Michele Morrison, Merilyn Taylor, and Russell Yates
2008
Ministry of Education
Paper
This interim research report provides examples of how some schools have approached the revised curriculum and the Key Competencies, and discusses the processes, tensions, and opportunities of leading and managing curriculum change.
This article was included in an information pack for school principals and curriculum leaders, designed and distributed by the Ministry of Education and intended to support the implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum.
It discusses assessment and the key competencies, framed within wider questions about the purposes and outcomes of schooling and education.
Rose Hipkins is an NZCER Researcher who has been involved in the development of the New Zealand Curriculum
This is a discussion kit based on NZCER’s research with five “early adopter” schools. The seven pamphlets in this kit draw on the stories of these schools as they adapt their curriculum, teaching and learning to focus on lifelong learning. They are intended as a beginning point, or “kick start”, as schools work towards implementing the key competencies.
From 2003, schools have been required to gather data on student learning and engagement, and to use it to set goals for boosting student achievement. This is known as the planning and reporting (PAR) framework.
This article, the fourth of a series about student research activities, examines the underlying reasons why it is important for students to have rich opportunities to carry out research-related activities. The author discusses the nature of research as enquiry, identifies some common themes in advocacy for future-focused education, and links them to the key competencies currently being introduced into the New Zealand curriculum.
This article, the third in a series about carrying out research as a student learning activity, discusses how research relates to context—in this case, history.
The challenge is to help students experience and understand research as the basis for new knowledge construction in any discipline area.
What are the challenges for schools in creating effective change, and what are the factors that support its success? This is a description of how four secondary schools and a school cluster implemented locally-designed curriculum innovations.
