This report provides analysis of feedback on the draft Social Sciences learning area, released in 2022, as a part of The New Zealand Curriculum Refresh. Feedback was gathered through a survey for teachers (completed by groups of teachers from 91 schools) and six facilitated conversations with government agencies and organisations with an interest in social sciences.
School feedback on the Social Sciences learning area
Teacher groups were generally positive about most aspects of the curriculum design, though they were more likely to agree than strongly agree to most statements in the survey. Many agreed or strongly agreed that the Purpose statement provides a clear description of the contribution of the social sciences to learning (79%), that the content under Understand Know Do captures what is important to learn (83%), and that the Big Ideas make it clear that this learning is integral to all learning experiences in social sciences (83%). Teacher groups liked the way the Purpose statement and overview called out the “learning that matters” and the image showing the interweaving of Understand Know Do. Just under three-quarters (74%) agreed or strongly agreed that the content is clear and easy to use.
Over 80% of teacher groups agreed or strongly agreed that the progression statements for the Know and Do parts of the curriculum fitted into their current social sciences programmes or would usefully add to what they already do. Some teacher groups commented that the Do statements were the strongest parts of the curriculum. Some liked the ways in which they could see competencies and values woven together with knowledge in the Do statements. However, some teachers thought certain aspects would be too conceptually difficult or not engaging for their students.
Years 9–10 teachers tended to be less strongly positive than teachers of other year levels; however, there was a range of different views expressed by teachers at each year level. Some teachers were critical of certain aspects of the design or had questions about how to interpret some parts of the document.
Some teacher groups expressed concern about the focus on history at the expense of geography, economics, and commerce, or on history at the expense of a focus on the present and the future. Others expressed concern about a perceived focus on the local and national at the expense of the global. Other critical comments suggested progress outcomes were either too low or too high for students at those year levels, or that the step-up between year levels was too big.
Teachers indicated that challenges for teaching social sciences included lack of teacher confidence and knowledge, time, and resources. The greatest opportunities teachers saw for teaching social sciences included the opportunities for deeper and more authentic learning for students, and opportunities to connect with their local communities.