Students first
The New Zealand Curriculum has students at the heart of the educational process. The decisions made in departments focus on the diverse learning needs and achievement of the best outcomes for all students. How departments support students' culture and identity is central to students experiencing success and realising their potential.
What does putting students first mean?
Overview | What the research says | Discussion tools | Examples from practice
Overview
Your department's culture exists within and alongside many other cultures, including the cultures of the wider school and the local community, the students’ peer culture, and the teacher’s professional culture. Nurturing these relationships matters.
What the research says
Students learn best when they feel accepted, when they enjoy positive relationships with their fellow students and teachers, and when they are able to be active, visible members of the learning community.
The New Zealand Curriculum
Better than a professional? Students as co-contributors to educational design
Researchers worked with junior secondary students to consider teaching and learning practices in their schools.
Making sense of learning at secondary school: An exploration by teachers with students
This project shows the value of acknowledging the student as an important and authentic voice within the teaching–learning relationship.
Discussion tools
How well do you know your students?
How are student voices encouraged, listened to, and acted upon?
How can we ensure success for Māori students?
How can we ensure success for Pasifika students?
Examples from practice
Putting students first in your department
Culture counts
This short video shows the importance of cultural inclusiveness and being aware of your students’ prior knowledge.
Watch 'Te Mana Kōrero - Student voices'. Duration 1:34.
In this clip, from Te Mana Kōrero - Teachers Making a Difference, students talk about what they think makes a good teacher.
Watch 'Know the learner'. Duration 1:32.
In this clip, from Making Language and Learning Work 1, a social studies teacher talks about how she goes about collecting information about the prior knowledge of her students.
What does assessment look like that puts students first?
Overview | What the research says | Discussion tools | Examples from practice
Overview
Effective assessment involves students. They discuss, clarify, and reflect on their goals, strategies, and progress with their teachers, their parents, and one another. This develops students’ capacity for self- and peer assessment, which lead in turn to increased self-direction.
The New Zealand Curriculum
What the research tells us
Directions for assessment in New Zealand (DANZ report)
This paper places students at the centre of assessment practice. It focuses on assessment for learning and the use of assessment feedback to enhance teaching and learning.
Inside the Black Box - Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment
An article by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam (1998).
Discussion tools
Knowing where your students are and where they are going next
Examples from practice
Knowing where the student is and where they are going next
Watch 'Encouraging self-evaluation'. Duration 0:40.
Watch this short clip, from Making Language and Learning Work 1, showing a year 10 maths teacher using Post It notes to encourage students to reflect on how, and what, they have learnt to inform what they need to learn next.