I think it’s fair to say that there’s some tension between the breadth of the vision in The New Zealand Curriculum and the government’s crusade for literacy and numeracy, which has seen something of a narrowing of focus and funding in the education sector.
What I’ve heard said in some circles is that we’re not leaving the curriculum behind, rather that students need literacy and numeracy to access the curriculum. But how about teaching the curriculum to teach literacy and numeracy? Using the curriculum to genuinely engage with students’ strengths and interests to support literacy learning?
There’s a history of educational resource development across government departments, which serves to advocate for their work and the wider curriculum. Let’s hope it continues – I think it can both support the crusade and the curriculum.
To help out, here’s a video by Professional Daniel Willingham on why teaching content is teaching reading. (Thanks to Artichoke for the link over twitter.)
