Curriculum
The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa are the guiding documents which together form the national curriculum for New Zealand schools.The social sciences are one of eight learning areas in the curriculum. Senior social studies is one of a number of specialisations in the social sciences area that might be offered for senior secondary school students.
Links to key curriculum documents for senior social studies are provided here:
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Senior Social Studies Teaching & Learning Guidelines (years 11-13)
Senior Secondary Teaching and Learning Guidelines for social studies are now available. The Guidelines provide support for teachers of senior social studies, as they develop programmes of learning for their students. They reflect the intent of the national curriculum and are an adjunct to it.
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The New Zealand Curriculum: Social sciences
Find out more about social sciences in The New Zealand Curriculum in the social sciences learning area section of The New Zealand Curriculum Online website.
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The New Zealand Curriculum
The New Zealand Curriculum sets the direction for teaching and learning in English-medium New Zealand schools. It became mandatory as from February 2010.
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Te Kaupapa Marautanga o Aotearoa
Te Marautanga o Aotearoa is the new curriculum for Māori-medium teaching, learning and assessment launched in September 2008. It is New Zealand’s first curriculum to be developed and written in te reo Māori and sets the direction for teaching and learning in Māori-medium schools and settings.
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Understanding the social sciences as a learning area - a position paper
This position paper is about the importance of the social sciences and the place of social studies as a social science in the New Zealand curriculum. It focuses on the broader social sciences and includes classical studies, economics, geography, history and social studies, along with other related options which are developed by schools for the senior years.
It brings together historical developments, research findings, and recent curriculum, assessment and resource initiatives to provide a discussion of how the social sciences learning area is defined, and how teachers, teacher educators and researchers can move forward with a stronger sense of shared understanding.