Caught in between: How the scientific management of education in New Zealand made history history

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Abstract

Scientific management theory (SMT) is based on state legislation to control education. It usually involves an outcomes-based curriculum, standards-based assessment, audit mechanisms, and an unquestioned commitment to “evidence-based” practice. This approach has been detrimental to the study of history , where a student' s progress depends on the depth and breadth of their knowledge about the past rather than isolated, measurable, and transferable skills. History's predicament has been compounded by the way in which the SMT model has been implemented in New Zealand. Particular difficulties have arisen from the organisation of the curriculum around learning areas rather than subjects, as well as the development of standards-based assessment for history without an outcomes-based curriculum to work from. The revised New Zealand curriculum provides a small window of opportunity for history teachers to undermine the scientific management of their subject and to reintegrate curriculum, assessment, and evaluation.

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Fountain, G. (2008). Caught in between: How the scientific management of education in New Zealand made history history. Curriculum Matters, 4, 134–146. https://doi.org/10.18296/cm.0098
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