From 2023 Te Takanga o Te Wā and Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories is part of all kura and schools’ marau ā-kura and local curriculum. The final content was released in March 2022 to give kura and schools time to plan for implementation of the new curriculum content from term 1 2023. Details of the new curriculum can be viewed on the education.govt.nz website.
An Expert Advisory Panel was set up in March 2020 under the auspices of Royal Society Te Apārangi to provide an independent source of expertise to the Ministry of Education on the development of a core curriculum: Draft for Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories in Years 1–10. The Panel comprised Professor Charlotte Macdonald FRSNZ, Professor Michael Belgrave (co-convenors), Sir Tipene O’Regan CRSNZ, Emerita Professor Barbara Brookes, Associate Professor Damon Salesa FRSNZ, Sean Mallon, Emerita Professor Manying Ip FRSNZ, Dr Vincent O’Malley, Professor Jim McAloon, Dr Arini Loader (until June 2020), and Kahu Hotere. Their response can be found here: Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories: A response to draft curriculum, released January/February 2021
During the period of consultation, the following text, links and comments were on the NZHA website. We have had feedback that this discussion is a useful resource, so although it is no longer a draft curriculum and the moment for feedback and consultation has passed, we will keep this on the website as a record of the discussion.
In September 2019, the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, made a surprising announcement that New Zealand history would be taught in a compulsory curriculum across all schools. The Ministry of Education had very recently argued against such a move before the Education and Workforce Select Committee, which rejected any move towards prescription. Public pressure had been increasing for some time, initiated by students from Otorohanga College after discovering they had learned nothing about the attack on nearby Rangiaowhia in February 1864.
The Ministry’s reluctance to support a compulsory curriculum did not derive from a belief that children and young people had a perfect understanding of New Zealand’s past. Rather, it stemmed from the fact that providing such a level of prescription ran counter to the existing social sciences curriculum, which gave schools substantial autonomy over what they taught. The decision to proceed with a new curriculum was clearly political. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Education pushed through with this initiative despite the disruption of the pandemic and its various lockdowns. The draft curriculum was made public on 3 February 2021 and was available for consultation until 31 May 2021.
For some of the background to the Government’s decision see:
- Leah Bell, ‘Difficult Histories’, The New Zealand Journal of Public History, 2020
- Graeme Ball, ‘The Long History of Learning About Our Own History’, The New Zealand Journal of Public History, 2020.
The draft curriculum can be downloaded here
While there has been some discussion of the curriculum in more general terms, there has been little public debate over the detail. A panel of historians put together to advise the Ministry by the Royal Society Te Apārangi will shortly be releasing its comments.
The NZHA would like to encourage informed and considered discussion on the draft curriculum – on what it includes and on what it omits, as well as on its general approach to teaching history to children and young people.
Please consider making a contribution to the discussion by emailing it to nzhawebmaster@gmail.com. All contributions will be posted to this webpage following moderation by the NZHA Executive. Please also let us know of other useful pieces already published, so that we can provide links to them.
Links to published pieces:
Response from the Royal Society Te Apārangi Expert Advisory Panel:
Comment from Dame Anne Salmond
Further Comment from Dame Anne Salmond – Iwi vs. Kiwi: Beyond the Binary
Comment from Charlotte Macdonald – History in Schools: What’s In, What’s Not, and What Should Be
Comment from Helene Wong – 180 years of Chinese NZ History Appear to Count for Nothing
Joint Submission By Individuals of East Asian Heritages, Organised by Grace Gassin:
Comment from Mark Sheehan – New Curriculum: Thinking Critically About the Past
Comments from Philip Matthews – History in the Making: The Battle Over the New School Curriculum
The New Zealand Historical Association 