Future-oriented learning and teaching
Welcome to The New Zealand Curriculum Update
Curriculum Updates support school leaders and teachers as they work to design and review their school curriculum in line with the New Zealand Curriculum and with current knowledge and understandings about effective classroom teaching.
Curriculum Updates are published in the Education Gazette and are available online.
This Update looks to the future in education. It outlines key themes that will underpin future-oriented learning for young New Zealanders. It is based on a recently released research report.
Twenty-first century education must be future-oriented and adaptable to meet the learning demands of an increasingly complex world.
The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) recently drew together more than ten years of national and international research on the future of learning, including new data on the practices of innovative school leaders and teachers.
The research identified key themes for a connected and coherent future-oriented learning system. These themes include a commitment to personalising learning, a curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learning capacity, the rethinking of learners’ and teachers’ roles, and the forging of new partnerships with the wider community.
The capacity for innovation already exists in our education system. The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa are flexible and enabling frameworks. The vision, values, and principles of these documents provide a strong foundation for teachers and school leaders to take a future-oriented approach to learning and teaching.
Many schools have adopted such an approach. The challenge is to identify how today’s most effective and innovative practices can be integrated throughout the education system.