Curriculum Matters 11: 2015

There is considerable excitement and debate in the educational world around future-oriented education, and a trend towards innovative (or modern) learning environments. This buzz is an international phenomenon. A trend towards innovative, open, and flexible learning environments is underpinned by ideas about 21st-century or future-oriented education. It is supported by International Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) research, which is… Read more

This article presents findings from a qualitative document analysis of selected resources for and about social justice in senior social studies, and argues that effective resources can facilitate transformative social-justice learning. During the study, analytic criteria were formed to examine purposively selected resources. This framework emerged from the work of multicultural education scholar James Banks and other research and literature. The study found two… Read more

Participation in community arts projects has the potential to enrich and regenerate communities, and to support teaching and learning. This article draws upon data from six New Zealand case studies, made up of six different community arts projects, and examines the dynamic relationship between community arts projects and participating schools and youth centres. Qualitative data analysis reveals a link between a school’s or youth centre’s participation in… Read more

This article reports on a research project that investigated the connections between early childhood teachers’ visual arts pedagogies and children’s engagement in the visual arts as a tool for learning. The journey of how one early childhood education centre had developed visual arts practices that were informed by sociocultural/constructivist theories, and how this played out through the children’s visual arts experiences, was conducted through qualitative and… Read more

It has been 21 years since a literature review by Helen Shaw established the conceptual foundations for the development of health education as part of the curriculum for New Zealand schools. Using the lens provided by the schooling improvement literature, this article reflects on the development of health education in New Zealand schools to examine two propositions, draw conclusions about the growth and maturity of the subject in relation to curriculum… Read more

The New Zealand Government’s National Science Challenges have recently generated renewed activity on how education, science and the public can better engage with each other, for the benefit of Aotearoa New Zealand society now and in the future. This work resulted in a key document: A Nation of Curious Minds—He Whenua Hihiri i te Mahara (Curious Minds). First, this article examines what Curious Minds means for science education and in particular… Read more

This article begins by making the case that the New Zealand curriculum component known as the Nature of Science (NOS) has generally not, thus far, achieved its stated intent of helping students think differently about science and its relevance to their lives. We argue that NOS components in curricula have tended to become positioned as additional content to be learned, at least partly as a consequence of well-meaning curriculum support initiatives that aim to… Read more

The recent revision of a national writing assessment tool, e-asTTle: Writing, is viewed from theoretical, design and implementation, and practice perspectives, and considered in relation to the original assessment concept and design. Aspects of the revision are questioned. These include a reduction in the scope and complexity of writing, with fewer functions or communicative purposes for writing included, and narrowing of the dimensions of writing.… Read more

Proponents of National Standards in New Zealand have argued that a key benefit of written reporting against New Zealand’s National Standards will be parents who are fully informed of their child’s achievements and thus better placed to support their learning. Using an interpretive, qualitative methodology and drawing on the perceptions and experiences of eight parents, this study investigated such claims. Using the reporting of reading progress and achievement… Read more

Expressions of interest are sought for proposals to guest edit a special section of Curriculum Matters.