Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, August 29, 2023
Discussions around falling literacy rates have been a point of worry for parents and the government after many studies have highlighted how the performance of New Zealand students in international standardised tests measuring numeracy, literacy, and science performance has been declining constantly since the early 2000s.
The Government is now taking action to make sure every child leaves school with a bright future and equipped with foundational knowledge in maths, reading and writing by making their teaching requirements compulsory and consistent, Minister of Education Jan Tinetti announced last week.
“We have been working on a model that will see maths, reading and writing taught the same way right across the country,” Jan Tinetti said.
“We will legislate these core teaching requirements so that all young people, regardless of where they go to school, get the same education. We have great teachers, but historically the curriculum has not always been clear about how core subjects should be taught, which has meant there are wide variations of teaching. We are changing that.”
What it means
The compulsory core teaching requirements will outline what teachers have to cover at every year level across a student’s time at school. Teachers will be supported with guidance, professional development, and materials to implement these changes and ensure there is consistency across all schools to give all children equal opportunity.
“This, along with the new maths and literacy co-requisite at secondary schools, means employers anywhere in New Zealand can expect young people to have core maths, reading and writing skills when they leave school, and it will also help those wanting to go on to further education or training to achieve University Entrance or other requirements,” Ms Tinetti said.
The Government is also continuing to implement learning progress steps so teachers can track a child’s progress in their education.
“Learning progress steps give parents an overview of their child’s achievement and enable them to work with teachers to support their child’s progress,” Ms Tinetti said.
“Every child is unique and the changes we are making will give parents confidence that their children are supported to learn maths, reading and writing skills in the way that suits them best. There will still be flexibility around how different students learn best, however what they learn and when they learn it will be much clearer.”
Not a welcome change for many
The updated English, mathematics and statistics curriculum will be used in schools from the start of 2025, with core teaching requirements becoming compulsory in all schools by 2026.
Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) acting president Chris Abercrombie said the government’s move was highly unusual. “There is no other aspect of our curriculum where this is dealt with in this way so it is unusual. We know this happens in overseas jurisdictions, but it is very unusual to be told how to teach something. What to teach is always there in the curriculum, but the ‘how to do it’ is really unusual,” he said.
Mr Abercrombie said making particular approaches to teaching compulsory would make it harder for teachers to innovate for students who needed something different. He said the union was increasingly worried education was being politicised ahead of October’s general elections.
“What we need in education is certainty. We have already got one party saying ‘We are going to change the curriculum’ if they come in, and we have got another party saying ‘We are going to do this’ if it comes in, so we are concerned about the politicisation of our national curriculum,” he said.
“Taking pedagogy [the method and practice of teaching] away from the profession and putting it in the hands of politicians is of serious concern. Doctors do not have laws about how they treat patients day to day, lawyers do not have laws about how they prosecute their clients’ cases; making laws about how teachers teach is the thin edge of the wedge.”
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.
