Post by Kiwi Frontline on Sept 17, 2019 13:45:45 GMT 12
THE NZ HISTORY CURRICULUM - A TROJAN HORSE (By Elizabeth Rata)
Like many New Zealanders I am thrilled our history is to be included in the national curriculum. There will be plenty of debate between now and 2022 about what topics will be selected and that’s all for the good.
Bizarrely we have a national curriculum that isn’t a national curriculum. It’s a localised one. This means local schools and teachers decide what to teach. That is why we don’t know who is being taught what. And now, in a curriculum that fiercely rejects national prescription, New Zealand history will stand alone as a prescribed subject. Will this anomaly lead to calls for prescribed content for other subjects too? I hope so.
We need a truly national education system to ensure all children, no matter where they live and no matter their home circumstances, receive the best knowledge available. That requires leadership and organisation at the national level.
A compulsory New Zealand history curriculum for primary and secondary schools is a start. It may serve as a Trojan horse to expose the damaging effects of our localised curriculum. It may also provide an exemplary example of what a truly national curriculum should be. If so, then this Trojan horse is welcome......
www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/09/17/811099/the-nz-history-curriculum-a-trojan-horse
Like many New Zealanders I am thrilled our history is to be included in the national curriculum. There will be plenty of debate between now and 2022 about what topics will be selected and that’s all for the good.
Bizarrely we have a national curriculum that isn’t a national curriculum. It’s a localised one. This means local schools and teachers decide what to teach. That is why we don’t know who is being taught what. And now, in a curriculum that fiercely rejects national prescription, New Zealand history will stand alone as a prescribed subject. Will this anomaly lead to calls for prescribed content for other subjects too? I hope so.
We need a truly national education system to ensure all children, no matter where they live and no matter their home circumstances, receive the best knowledge available. That requires leadership and organisation at the national level.
A compulsory New Zealand history curriculum for primary and secondary schools is a start. It may serve as a Trojan horse to expose the damaging effects of our localised curriculum. It may also provide an exemplary example of what a truly national curriculum should be. If so, then this Trojan horse is welcome......
www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/09/17/811099/the-nz-history-curriculum-a-trojan-horse