News | The Curriculum
Keeping pace
Well, it’s official. As of 2022, computers, artificial intelligence and automation are all no longer the stuff of science fiction movies. By Rosie Duff
Yet, in most schools you visit in 2022, you will find educators teaching the exact same subject matter that was being taught a century ago – reading, writing, math, science and history. Whilst there’s no denying these skills are essential, the issue is, is that with the rate of technological advancements, some of these topics will no longer require human intervention in 10 years. For example, handwriting is increasingly obsolete and the internet has replaced the need to memorise many basic facts. Up until the 1990s, the NZ curriculum adhered to a strict syllabus prescribing what school pupils were required to learn about in every subject. This framework began to broaden from 1993, and has
continued to gradually develop since then. Still, critics of the school curriculum argue this isn’t fast enough. The maths and literacy achievement rates of 15-year-olds have been declining for around 20 years, with significant drops between 2009 and 2012 assessment cycles, according to an OECD report. However, just over 80 percent of students met the baseline reading performance level in 2018, which is higher than the OECD average of 77 percent. For maths, 22 percent of 15-yearolds were below the baseline level where students begin to show skills that would allow them to participate in real life situations that require mathematical skills. The OECD average was 24 percent. The National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement reported that in 2019, 63 per cent of Year 4 students were at or above the curriculum level while 56 per cent of Year 8 students were at or above the curriculum level. In 2018, the same study assessment found 81 percent of Year 4 students were at or above the mathematics and statistics curriculum level, but this dropped to 45 percent achievement for Year 8 students. A report from The Education Hub released in March titled ‘Now I don’t know my ABC,’ said that limited data makes it impossible to build a full picture of literacy achievement in Aotearoa, but the overall picture is concerning. New research claims that a child-led approach to teaching is the biggest culprit to blame for New Zealand’s declining educational performance.
10 | Term 3, 2022 www.principalstoday.co.nz
“We want to set our children and young people up for the future. We are ensuring that what they are learning at school is interesting and relevant and there are opportunities for all learners, so that they want to be at school and are attending regularly.
The NZ Initiative report, New Zealand’s Education Delusion, says NZ educators are ‘deluded’ in thinking teachers should let children direct what they want to learn about. It calls for a much more detailed curriculum specifying what children should learn at each level, and standardised national assessments to ensure they learn those things. So, the question that remains is, what are we doing to prepare future generations to thrive in this changing landscape? In May, education minister Chris Hipkins outlined four major milestones in the Government’s reform of the education system which he believes will give every Kiwi the best chance to succeed. “Budget 2022 provides $2 billion operating expenditure and $855 million capital expenditure to build on and continue key shifts across the
education system and deliver greater support to both education providers and learners,” he said. “It also continues our work to implement Supporting All Schools to Succeed (the reform of Tomorrow’s Schools), putting more frontline support closer to schools so they can best support their students, and with a strong focus on continued improvements in teaching and learning. “Together with the $40 million already announced for the new Regional Response Fund, this will enable greater flexibility in working with schools and communities to provide the support they need,” the education minister explained. Over the next four years, this funding will help power key shifts in teaching and learning, with a particular focus on literacy and communication and mathematics, and in supporting the education workforce. This new support includes dedicated resources to develop te reo matatini, pāngarau and aromatawai research, tools and resources, and builds on previous funding in Budget 2021, as well as the establishment of a curriculum centre. “We want to set our children and young people up for the future. We are ensuring that what they are learning at school is interesting and relevant and there are opportunities for all learners, so that they want to be at school and are attending regularly. “We want them to feel included, and we want to ensure there are tools and resources in place to support them where and when it’s needed,” Chris said.
