John Locke, Director of the First Time Principals' Programme, explains that The New Zealand Curriculum offers school leaders an opportunity to carry out significant and systematic change.
The kinds of change I would hope occur are that in ten years time, It will be clear that the key competencies are made manifest and are embedded in every aspect of the formal and hidden curriculum in a school.
I think this sits in a background of global, social, and economic change and I don’t want to go into that as I think we can assume that everyone knows the 21st century is different to the 20th century.
It also sits against a background of the particular privilege that New Zealand educational leaders have, in as much as they have the permission through the key competencies, and in senior secondary they have the permission through the NCEA, and through the whole structures associated with school self management, school leaders have the capabilities and the permissions, and to a degree most of the resources, to carry out significant and, if enough do it, systematic change.
The kinds of change I would hope occur are that in ten years time say, It will be clear that the key competencies are made manifest and are embedded in every aspect of the formal and hidden curriculum in a school. And that students, teachers, and school leaders can all be measured against the key competencies and look pretty good.
I’m sure that if that’s the case then the economic and social future of New Zealand is likely to be far more favourable than it will be if those changes don’t take place.
Updated on: 13 Jun 2009
Back to the media gallery