The national curriculum has been in a substantial period of transition since the 2019 Uiuinga ā-motu, National Survey of Schools.
These transitions, which were still in progress at the time of the 2024 survey and our latest report on primary principal perspectives, represent the most significant period of national curriculum change since the release of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) in 2007 and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (TMoA) in 2008.
Because curriculum changes were ongoing when we surveyed principals in late 2024, our latest survey focused curriculum questions on the following three areas:
- principals’ perspectives on the direction and pace of curriculum updates;
- their views about the English and Mathematics and Statistics learning areas, including the focus on “structured approaches” to teaching in these areas; and
- implementation of Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories.
Below is a summary of principal perspectives on the curriculum, based on a representative sample of 187 principals. Data was collected in October-December 2024.
Principals supported the direction, but not pace, of curriculum updates
A majority (70%) of principals agreed or strongly agreed that the updated curriculum changes are “going in the right direction”, and nearly one in five (19%) chose a neutral response.
However, the pictures change significantly for the pace of curriculum change. A majority (71%) of principals disagreed that these changes were happening at an appropriate pace, with 40% strongly disagreeing.
Only 16% indicated agreement about the appropriateness of the pace of change, with only 4% strongly agreeing.
Principals either agreed or were neutral about whether students would benefit from changes to English, mathematics, and statistics
Over half of principals indicated that their students would benefit from the changes to the English learning area (62%) and the Mathematics and Statistics learning area (60%), with a further third selecting a neutral response (32% for English, 33% for Mathematics and Statistics).
The high proportion of neutral responses likely signals uncertainty, as the draft documents for both learning areas had only recently been shared for feedback at the time of surveying.
Principals may therefore have had varying levels of familiarity with the curriculum documents, or felt it was too soon to say. Additionally, the neutral responses may also reflect principals’ uncertainty about the degree to which the changes would benefit their students.
Nearly half of principals indicated a structured approach would require changes to their maths teaching, while about a third felt the same for literacy
Throughout 2024, educators were instructed to begin using “structured” approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics. The Ministry of Education funded a PLD programme for structured approaches to literacy from Term 3, 2024, initially available to a cohort of Years 0–3 teachers, and expanding to Years 4–8 teachers from 2025.
While there are some variances of definition about what a “structured approach to literacy” means, there is greater disagreement about what a “structured approach” means in the context of mathematics and statistics (Bolstad et al., 2024).
In the 2024 survey, we asked principals whether structured approaches would require a change to their school’s current approach to maths and literacy.
Nearly half of principals (48%) indicated that a structured approach would require a change in their school’s current approach to teaching maths, while around a third (34%) felt a change would be needed to their current approaches to teaching literacy.
Schools were at varying stages with implementing Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum
The Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum was not available when we last surveyed primary schools in 2019. However, we did ask questions about this in the 2022 NZCER national survey of secondary school principals, including where schools saw themselves in relation to four stages indicated in the Ministry of Education’s guidance material to support implementation of this content.
In the 2024 primary survey, just over half of the principals said their school was either at stage 3 (implementing—43%) or stage 4 (embedding and sustaining—11%) Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories. More than a third (39%) placed their school at stage 2—developing understandings and relationships, and a few (6%) said they were at stage 1—just getting started.
While direct comparisons are inappropriate for several reasons (such as the timing of when the curriculum content was released), it is worth noting that, when the same question was asked of secondary school principals in 2022, a greater proportion of those principals located their schools at stage 1 (28%) or stage 2 (42%), with fewer saying they were at stages 3 (21%) or 4 (9%).
In addition to these findings from principals, NZCER will be releasing a report on teacher perspectives very soon. Sign up to our newsletter to receive the report when it is released. You can also find the full report on principal perspectives at the banner below.