Staff at The University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education who are involved in teacher education and ongoing professional development are committed to supporting school leaders and teachers with the implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC), launched today by the Ministry of Education.
The New Zealand Curriculum is the policy document that sets the official direction for teaching, learning and assessment in New Zealand English medium state schools. The redevelopment of the New Zealand Curriculum began in 2002 and has led to one of the most comprehensive consultation processes undertaken by the Ministry of Education with more than 15,000 New Zealanders involved and more than 10,000 submissions received on the draft.
Faculty of Education Dean, Dr John Langley, says the new curriculum has the potential to provide a solid foundation for students to succeed.
"This document puts students at the centre of their learning and has the potential to encourage schools to provide learning environments that will prepare students for their future, not ours," says Dr Langley. "The key competencies of managing self, relating to others, participating and contributing, thinking and using language, symbols and text are the capabilities our young people need to live, learn, work and contribute in a rapidly changing world."
Many staff at the Faculty of Education have written and critiqued this curriculum as it has been developed, and they support the direction for student learning that the document describes.
Team Solutions, the professional development provider at the Faculty of Education, is committed to supporting school leaders and teachers with the implementation of the NZC.
Team Solutions director Camilla Highfield says supporting schools as they become familiar with the new curriculum will be a major focus of professional development work over the next two years.
"Team Solutions staff are well-placed to assist schools with the transition to the New Zealand Curriculum," says Ms Highfield. "There are some schools in our region that are already very advanced with their thinking around this new curriculum and their students are experiencing dynamic and interesting learning environments that are flexible yet focused. We will be supporting collaboration between schools and leaders to share their best ideas and work with their parent communities," she says.
Team Solutions support activities and programmes include:
- Providing regional workshops for school leaders to become familiar with the final NZC document. Dates for these workshops have been sent to schools and will be held in November and December 2007.
- Supporting experienced principals in 2008 to run professional learning groups or clusters to foster and understand school based curriculum design.
- Facilitating workshops in 2008 to coincide with the release of the Ministry of Education resource kits.
- In-depth work for schools on a needs assessed basis in all learning areas.
