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It is proposed the draft curriculum will be published mid 2006 and distributed to all schools. Following this, the project will enter a consultation phase in which the Ministry of Education will be seeking feedback until late 2006.
The consultation phase of the project provides an opportunity to gather responses in regards to how the work is progressing and levels of acceptance for the directions being developed.
Key reference group members will meet with writers during May–June 2006 to offer advice and guidance on the next steps.
Dr Rosemary Erlam's paper on (non)alignments between (a) existing languages curricula and (b) languages achievement standards, the new generic languages framework and revised achievement objectives is due in late May 2006.
A literature review of Intercultural Language Learning has been commissioned and will be completed later in 2006.
Dr Rosemary Erlam of the University of Auckland is writing a paper that considers each of the existing languages curriculum documents and the NCEA languages achievement standards against the draft essence statement and achievement objectives to check for congruence, and implications for pedagogy, materials and assessment. This paper will be available online in May 2006.
It is proposed the draft curriculum will be published mid year and distributed to all schools. Following this, the project will enter a consultation phase in which the Ministry of Education will be seeking feedback until late 2006.
The draft essence statement is being discussed more widely now. The Ministry appreciates all the interest and feedback that is helping us to shape a statement on learning languages that will have meaning for everyone. A November 2005 version is being developed right now, and will be posted when ready.
A reference group meeting is planned around February or March 2006 to look at next steps in the curriculum development and the kinds of support that will be needed.
The Ministry is encouraging everyone to discuss the learning languages essence statement and think about what it means, if the messages are clear, and how it could best be used. This is very important for us in this community, as this is a new learning area.
A paper is being written on how each of the existing languages curriculum guidelines relates to the draft essence statement. The same paper will look at the languages achievement standards in relation to the essence statement to see if any changes will be needed, and if so, what these changes would be.
In September 2005 the writers redrafted the essence statement and achievement objectives for learning languages. The latest draft has since been audited for consistency and coherence across a range of curriculum contexts.
In addition, Angela Scarino's paper,
Learning languages in the New Zealand curriculum (Word, 173 KB)
raises important questions that need to be considered, including looking at issues for curriculum development as a whole, and the place of learning languages within it. The writers will take all this information into account as they work on the next draft over the next month.
The emerging curriculum is currently undergoing various audits. Some of these audits are to ensure that the following future-focused themes are apparent:
Other audits are concentrating on diversity, Māori in the mainstream, ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), financial literacy, and special education.
A draft curriculum will be published in 2006 for feedback and trialling.
The Learning Languages Curriculum writing group met on 2 September 2005 to reframe the essence statement and achievement objectives following recommendations from the 9 August reference group meeting.
The essence statement has been rewritten, and also gives a clearer explanation of the strands and their relationship to each other. This relationship will be represented in a weaving design – 'Language' and 'Culture' will be shown as the vertical strands with a strong pedagogy focus and intent, and the 'Communication' will be shown as the horizontal strand in which achievement is assessed. The communication strand is therefore paramount.
The emerging curriculum is currently undergoing various audits to identify cross-disciplinary connections, and to ensure that the following future-focused themes are apparent:
The writers and the reference group met on 8–9 August 2005. The writers revised the essence statement, achievement objectives, and proficiency levels according to feedback received to date from a range of sources.
The reference group met to comment on the revisions, make recommendations, and formally approve the revised draft documents to go forward for publication in the draft New Zealand Curriculum available for widespread consultation in 2006.
The final meetings for the writers and the Learning Languages Reference Group will take place on 8–9 August 2005. The writers will spend a day together revising the essence statement, achievement objectives, and proficiency levels according to feedback received to date from a range of sources.
The following day the Reference Group will meet to comment on the revisions, make recommendations and formally approve the revised draft documents to go forward for publication in the draft New Zealand Curriculum available for widespread consultation in 2006.
As we look ahead to the consultation process it will be important to think about the essence statement and how useful it will be to teachers, students, parents, and schools and how understandable it is (in terms of the messages, the vision, setting the directions for learning, planning, etc.). Will it require changes to what teachers do now? And if so, what would these changes be? These are the questions we need to think about really carefully to make sure we are all heading in the same direction, and for the best reasons.
A paper commissioned by the Ministry from Associate Professor David Crabbe, School of Lingusitics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington offers a
critique of the draft Learning Languages essence statement (Word, 80 KB)
. It is thoughtful and makes recommendations that will be considered in the revision process.
The Ministry contracted the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education at the University of South Australia to comment on the essence statement and the achievement objectives to inform their development. In early May, the Centre Director, Angela Scarino, a long standing expert in the field of languages curriculum development, sent
initial comment on the essence statement (Word, 40 KB)
.
The work on the achievement objectives and strands was presented to the reference group and met with a favourable response, including feedback for improvement.
Each strand has a conceptual framework that provides the foundation for the choice and development of the objectives.
The working documents relating to the achievement objectives and strands are available on the Curriculum Project Online.
With the increased emphasis on culture as a strand in its own right, the Australian
Report on intercultural language learning (PDF, 2 MB)
provides an emphasis on the socio-cultural dimensions of language teaching and learning in classroom practice. Intercultural language learning is assuming greater importance world wide for the kinds of competencies we expect young people to have to be able to communicate globally.
Current thinking is that proficiency statements should be included. In this paper on
proficiency statements (Word, 37 KB)
the statements from the Common European Framework proficiency level descriptors have been adapted by the learning languages writers to suit us in New Zealand.
The writers for learning languages met on 18–19 May 2005 and crafted a generic set of achievement objectives (levels 1–8) organised around three strands.
The Reference Group met on 20 May 2005.
The writers will consider all feedback in August 2005. The next version of the learning languages essence statement and the achievement objectives will be prepared. These will be published online and circulated to reference group members for further comment.
The Learning Languages Reference Group will meet in September 2005 and, following further comment and discussion, will approve the essence statement and the achievement objectives as final drafts for publication. The draft New Zealand Curriculum will be distributed early 2006 for widespread consultation.
The Ministry has commissioned Associate Professor David Crabbe, Head of School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, to provide comment on the essence statement. David shared his initial thinking at the Reference Group meeting. His paper will be online by the end of June 2005.
The term 'intercultural' implies engagement with, or back-and-forth movement across, languages and cultures.
Intercultural language learning involves developing with learners an understanding of their own language(s) and culture(s) in relation to the additional language and culture.
Intercultural language learning is captured in five principles which guide curriculum design and classroom interaction. They are: active construction, making connections, social interaction, reflection, and responsibility.
Staff from universities in New Zealand and Australia are critiquing the draft essence statement. The work includes a critique of the achievement objectives in relation to the essence statement, and will make recommendations for consideration.
Writers meeting 18–19 May 2005 to develop the first draft achievement objectives.
Reference Group meeting 20 May 2005 to give feedback on achievement objectives and the two reviews of essence statement.
A revised draft essence statement and draft achievement objectives will be developed and forwarded for further critique and recommendations.
The New Zealand Association of Language Teachers is leading a 2005 consultation process, to inform members and to invite comment, discussion, and feedback. Feedback will be sent to the Ministry of Education to inform revisions.
Writers will make revisions as appropriate from the feedback received. The Reference Group will comment further and ratify final draft.
A paper will be commissioned on implications on current assessment provision of any changes proposed.
The writers met on 28 February, 1 March, and 2 March 2005 and drafted a set of achievement objectives at levels 1–8 of the new generic languages framework. The writers used the three strands: language knowledge, cultural knowledge, and communication skills to frame the achievement objectives.
The third day involved key reference group members critiquing the work. This involved thinking hard about the purposes of the strands, and then seeing how the achievement objectives could be framed to align with the purposes, and show progression. This work needs to be completed at another meeting.
A team from the University of Waikato has been commissioned by the Ministry to consult on values in the New Zealand Curriculum. They spent time with the writers as they worked.
The next meeting of the full reference group is planned for May 2005, and following that meeting the achievement objectives will be posted on talk2learn and comment invited.
The Ministry of Education presented and led discussion on key competencies and current thinking – writers considered implications for the essence statement. They discussed the reshaped draft of essence statement, and further refined it ready for the reference group.
The two key outcomes of this meeting were:
The writers met to work on a revised draft of the curriculum levels 1–8. Their work was preceded by an analysis of key languages documents from other states and countries internationally. This analysis was intended to enable the writer to present an informed scoping of achievement levels that allow for a learning progression to be made explicit. That's the vision, anyway. A hard task, and they were willing to face it.
The three groups met again to discuss the evolving drafts. The essence statement will continue to be informed by consultation with language representatives. A revised draft will be presented at the next group meeting in June 2004.
The writing group revised the essence statement and drafted levels 1–8 generic achievement objectives.
The three groups met for two days. Discussion centred on the first drafting of an essence statement, and what proficiency levels might be expected at curriculum level 8, and which strands would be involved.
The selected groups met for the first time for a two-day discussion. The groups involved a key reference group, an expert focus group, and a writing group. The three groups involved representatives from the various areas of education, teacher associations, specific languages, teacher unions, and tertiary institutions. There were 14 languages represented, including te reo Māori as a second language, European and Asian languages, Pasifika languages, Latin, and New Zealand Sign Language.
All of those interested in the Learning Languages learning area as part of the New Zealand Curriculum Marautanga Project were invited to register their interest, with the aim of becoming involved at various levels of discussion and writing over the following years of development.
Published on: 13 Sep 2007
