Teaching of New Zealand history in schools delayed by a year – Stuff.co.nz

Supplied

Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) will be part of the Aotearoa history curriculum, which now won't be taught to year 1 to 10 students until 2023.

Schools will not be required to teach Aotearoas history until 2023 to give them longer to implement the new curriculum while navigating disruptions caused by Covid-19.

In response to growing demand from Kiwis, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in September 2019 that all schools and kura would be expected to start teaching the country's history to year 0 to 10 students by 2022.

But a year-long delay has been confirmed after public reservations about the finer details of the draft that drew in more than 4000 submissions. It is now due to be finalised early this year.

Ngi Tahu kaumtua T Tipene ORegan, who sat on the advisory panel to the ministry creating the curriculum, said the fact that its being debated is wonderful, but I'm anxious about how it will emerge.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff

T Tipene ORegan says Aotearoas history and the relationship between Mori and Pkeh is more nuanced than a goodie and baddie narrative.

READ MORE:* Teachers will get support they need to teach new history curriculum, PM says* History on repeat - how compulsory teaching in NZ might work* New Zealand history to be taught in schools by 2022, says PM Jacinda Ardern* Teaching New Zealand history 'common sense': Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

He was initially concerned that the curriculum change would replace one unsatisfactory narrative with another about goodies and baddies and Mori victim, Pkeh oppressor.

The interrelationship of Mori and Pkeh is much more nuanced than this standard division that we have ... [it] is conventional to talk and blame everything on colonialism.

He believed a certain amount of dissatisfaction had stalled the roll-out, and the final curriculum could take years to have any effect on society.

The iwi would be quite heavily involved in what it would look like in Te Waipounamu (the South Island), he said.

JO MOIR/STUFF

NZ History Teachers Association chair Graeme Ball talks to the Maori Affairs select committee about the need for teaching the countrys colonial history in schools. (First published June 20, 2018).

New Zealand History Teachers Association chairman Graeme Ball has been pushing for the nation's history to be taught in schools for years, but agreed with delaying the launch because there was already too much pressure on schools during the pandemic.

A lot of hap and iwi might not be ready for it either, he said.

Also involved in the curriculum design, Ball said the latest version allowed schools to adapt the curriculum to key events in their regions.

Creating a curriculum was a long process, he said, and this was the first time it set expectations for primary and intermediate teachers to teach the nations history.

Supplied

Ministry of Education deputy secretary early learning and student achievement Ellen MacGregor-Reid.

He hoped the anxiety many teachers might feel that I dont know this stuff so how can I teach it would be alleviated with professional development.

The country is ready for it.

Ministry of Education Te Pouth (Curriculum) haut (leader) Ellen MacGregor-Reid said the release of the final curriculum content was delayed to early 2022 due to Covid-19 disruptions over the past two years, and schools and kura would not be required to teach it until a year later.

The draft content was developed by an expert panel before being tested with a wider reference group, Ohu Matua. This group was made up of history experts, Mori, Pkeha, Pacific, migrant communities, disabled peoples, teachers and curriculum leaders.

It was tested in 2021 in staffrooms and classrooms, and underwent public consultation between February and May 2021.

Schools and kura would be supported during 2022 to access the resources they needed, and would have funding to involve iwi and hap in developing region specific information. The new content would start being taught from 2023.

In 2015, torohanga College students petitioned for more education in schools about the Land Wars, one of the bloodiest of which the 1863-64 Waikato War happened just 20 minutes drive from their King Country school.

Hundreds gathered at Parliament's forecourt to present the 13,000-signature petition, but the ministry refused to accept it because requiring schools to teach a specific subject would be contrary to the spirit and underlying principles of the curriculum.

That stance was flipped in 2019 following another petition from history teachers, and a campaign run by Stuff in 2018.

Read the rest here:

Teaching of New Zealand history in schools delayed by a year - Stuff.co.nz