School system 'fair' but we've been pretending it's 'great'
Photo:
Supplied / Ministry of Education
How good is the school system? According to an internal Education Ministry document it's "fair" and we've been fooling ourselves that it's "great".
The document, sighted by RNZ and understood to date from 2023, also sets out three options for improving the system by specifying through the curriculum what teachers teach and how they teach it.
"Our data suggests that the New Zealand education system would be defined at the top of FAIR by McKinsey 2010 yet we have been behaving as if it is GREAT," it said.
The McKinsey reference appeared to be to a report by an international consultancy firm that rated education systems from "poor" to "excellent" based on performance in OECD tests between 2000 and 2010.
The report placed New Zealand at the top of "fair" along with countries including Armenia and Greece and behind Australia which was considered low in the "good" ranking.
Despite
steadily declining scores
, New Zealand ranked 10th in reading, 11th in science and 23rd in maths in the most recently published OECD Pisa tests of 15-year-olds.
The ministry's document said the introduction of a new curriculum in 2007 without sufficient support caused problems for schools.
"As we sought to shift from great to excellent, the 2007 curriculum went straight from a detailed curriculum to a very open curriculum. It did so however, without providing the supports needed to maintain and build on system coherence and capability," it said.
"Some schools with strong networks, resources, and accountabilities manage to perform well with minimal system supports but many of those carrying the weight of high needs and complex issues struggle. Teacher and learners both struggle."
The options for increasing the level of prescription in the curriculum ranged from a high degree practiced in "developing nations including Rwanda" to allowing a balance between the national curriculum and local decision-making similar to schools in Scotland and British Columbia.
The document said the most severe option was designed to move schools from poor to fair and the least severe from good to great.
The middle option, for moving school systems from fair to good, would mandate the school-level curriculum including what would be taught and when, though schools would retain some ability to localise their curriculum.
It said similar approaches were used in Australia and Alberta in Canada.
The document said under-prescription left decisions with schools and teachers "who do not always have the capacity or expertise to select appropriate content or approaches".
"This can contribute to learner under-achievement and exacerbate inequitable outcomes. The New Zealand curriculum environment shows evidence of under prescription in the highly variable quality of learning that students receive," it said.
The paper said over-prescription limited the ability of schools to respond to learners and contexts and to be innovative.
"Over time, over prescription may contribute to curriculum overcrowding and a focus on coverage rather than meaningful learning; this can contribute to poor learner outcomes," it said.
"Prescribed curricula are also liable to become outdated and require monitoring and support to stay up-to-date. A primary rationale for the design of the 2007 curriculum was to address over prescription in previous curricula."
The paper said over-prescription limited the ability of schools to respond to learners and contexts and to be innovative.
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
The ministry did not tell RNZ which of the options was being followed.
However, it said it had advised successive governments about the need to balance national direction with local flexibility.
"While high autonomy suits systems with uniformly strong practice and outcomes, New Zealand's variable, inconsistent, and inequitable performance-particularly for Māori, Pacific, disabled and low socio economic students means our current high autonomy settings are not justified," acting curriculum centre leader Pauline Cleaver said.
She said the previous government acted on the ministry's advice by starting to
make the curriculum clearer
about what all learners must know and do, and deciding to mandate a common practice model for how literacy and mathematics should be taught.
"The current minister has continued that trajectory, starting with issuing detailed curriculum and teaching practice expectations for English (Years 0-6), Mathematics & Statistics (Years 0-8), Te Reo Rangatira (Years 0-6) and Pāngarau (Years 0-8)."
Cleaver said the documents specified what students should learn over time, when and how key content must be taught, and how it should be assessed.
Auckland University professor of curriculum and pedagogy Stuart McNaughton said New Zealand's results in international tests were relatively good, but its ability to improve was only fair.
"In terms of the the quality judgement from the OECD in point of time and then over time, we're relatively good, relatively high quality," he said.
"But having said that, it is also true to say that we have had some declines in achievement and we need to recognise those overall declines in achievement which have in some of the assessments come from high performing students not performing quite as highly," he said.
"It is an unfair system and we have a real problem with our equity profile."
McNaughton agreed a greater level of prescription was required in the curriculum to improve New Zealand's school system, but he worried it might be going too far in places.
"It depends very much on the degree to which both content and teaching are prescribed because if you take it too far, you undermine the agency of the teacher, which is a great risk in a system that that prides itself on innovation and expertise, and the second risk is you've got to be really sure that you've got a good evidence-base for the content that you're providing," he said.
McNaughton said the recently-introduced primary school English curriculum over-prescribed how the youngest children should be taught to read because years of evidence showed different children needed different approaches.
Post Primary Teachers Association vice-president Kieran Gainsford said he agreed schools lost centrally-provided support in 2007.
He said teachers were hopeful it would be restored under the current reforms, but worried the ministry might not be able to provide it and teachers would be left to introduce the new curriculum on their own.
Principals Federation president Leanne Otene.
Photo:
Supplied
Principals Federation president Leanne Otene said years of "flip-flopping" education policies had damaged the school system.
"We have never been given an opportunity as a workforce to embed a curriculum and to really ensure that our workforce is confident and competent in the curriculum document and its teaching so that we can see improvement in student outcomes. We are just flip-flopping every time there's a change of government," she said.
Otene said the problem was happening again with more than 70 percent of teachers and principals telling a recent NZEI survey that curriculum change was happening too fast.
"At the moment that pace of change is overwhelming schools... Our principals who are leading teaching and learning for goodness sake, haven't even received any professional development yet and they are supposed to be leading these curriculum changes in their schools. So I would agree, we're not a world class education system," she said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
13 hours ago
- RNZ News
Australian Prime Minister says easing of curbs on US beef not prompted by Trump
By Sam McKeith , Reuters The review had been in the works for 10 years, Albanese said (file image). Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says a decision to ease rules on US beef imports was not prompted by US President Donald Trump. This week, Trump said the US would sell "so much" beef to Australia , after Canberra announced the relaxation of restrictions, potentially smoothing trade talks with Washington. In place since 2003, the curbs were due to concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy - or mad cow disease - which could kill cattle, as well as people who eat infected beef. When asked if the easing had anything to do with Trump, Albanese said: "No, this has been a process that has been there for 10 years, the review process." "This wasn't a political decision," Albanese said to Australian Broadcasting Corp television, adding that Trump had not raised the issue with him in a phone call. The comments come after US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins called the easing a win for Trump. In April, Trump singled out the beef trade disparity with Australia, after Australia's beef exports to the US surged last year, reaching AU$4 billion (NZ$4.36b) amid a slump in US beef production. By contrast, Australia's agriculture minister said the rules were relaxed, after a "rigourous science and risk-based assessment" concluded US measures to monitor and control cattle movement were effectively managing biosecurity risks. News of Australia changing its policy was first reported by the Australian Financial Review . The report said Australia would use the easing of rules to argue its case for the US to wind back 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium, and Trump's threat to impose a 200 percent tariff on pharmaceuticals. The National Party - part of Australia's conservative opposition coalition - said "biosecurity should not be political" and called for an independent scientific panel to review the decision. A loosening of beef import rules is not expected to boost US shipments significantly, because Australia is a major beef producer and exporter, whose prices are much lower, according to analysts. Last year, Australia shipped almost 400,000 metric tons of beef worth US$2.9b (NZ$4.82b) to the United States, with just 269 tons of US product moving the other way. - Reuters
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
European Union parliamentarians in antipodes
Delegation Chair Seán Kelly represents the Ireland South constituency at the European Parliament. Photo: VNP/Louis Collins New Zealand is a crucial partner despite being on the opposite side of the globe, a visiting Member of the European Parliament said while in New Zealand this week. Six members of the multinational legislature, which has recently signed a Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand, were in Wellington to strengthen inter-parliamentary ties, and relay information about our society and the economy back to Brussels. Parliamentary diplomacy, which is distinct from government-led foreign affairs, is something that New Zealand's Parliament values highly. Connecting with counterparts through both inward and outward engagements gives MPs a platform to foster bilateral and multilateral relationships and exchange knowledge. Delegation chair Seán Kelly represents the Ireland South constituency. He says the European Union is keen to grow its relationship with New Zealand, which is culturally connected despite the distance. "New Zealand is the furthest away from Europe, but at the same time, in all other respects, it's very close to Europe, both in terms of language, in attitude, in democracy, culture, and even listening to the parliament there today, it was very similar to the Parliaments across the European Union." Fostering these relationships with like-minded nation states is even more crucial these days, Kelly said. "There are a lot of challenges globally, and working together with like-minded partners in particular is hugely important now for Europe, especially because of what has happened geopolitically in the world in the last number of years." Coming from New Zealand, with our comparatively small, Westminster-derived legislature, the European Union seems like a bit of a distant and unusual entity - akin to a scenario in which New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Island Nations sharing a common currency, lawmaking body and soft borders. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen gives a press conference on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia at the EU headquarters in Brussels. Photo: AFP /NICOLAS TUCAT Kelly gave The House a brief rundown of how the EU Parliament works, noting its trajectory from being branded as a "Mickey Mouse Parliament" to now being a highly respected lawmaking body. "Over time, the European Parliament evolved from having almost no powers to becoming a true co-legislator," Kelly said. "[Nowadays] some would say that we have too much power, because if you look at what's happening in national parliaments, it's estimated that around 60 percent of the legislation that's going through national parliaments is now actually transposing what has been decided or voted on in the European Parliament." "Now, that's in the sense that every single country, the 27 members of the European Union, have representation in the Parliament, and the smallest countries like Malta and Luxembourg, they are guaranteed a minimum of six [seats], the biggest country, Germany has 96. So it's very democratic - there is no government there, so everything is done by majority." New Zealand and Ireland are two countries that are often compared due to their similar populations, and rankings on the human development index. The two societies also have the commonality of pursuing language revitalisation efforts - Irish (Gaelic) in Ireland, and Te Reo Māori in New Zealand. Kelly, a keen proponent of the Irish language says the European Parliament's mantra of "unity in diversity" has been conducive to the legitimisation of indigenous languages being used in administrative and legislative contexts. "So I speak Gaelic, I can speak it in the European parliament - you often do - and that's then interpreted into all the other languages. [It's] the same here. You're preserving your languages [in Parliament] here, which is very important for the Maōri. "We have 200 plus Irish people employed in Brussels, either as interpreters or translating documents. Every single document is translated into the 23 official languages, and, Irish, became a working document language just two years ago, and I put down the first ever amendment to a resolution in our native language. So there's a lot of support there for it and [it's] something we appreciate." You can listen to the audio version of this story, along with other coverage from Parliament this week by clicking the link at the top of the page. *RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
17 hours ago
- RNZ News
EU Parliamentarians in the antipodes
Delegation Chair Seán Kelly represents the Ireland South constituency at the European Parliament. Photo: VNP/Louis Collins New Zealand is a crucial partner despite being on the opposite side of the globe, a visiting Member of the European Parliament said while in New Zealand this week. Six members of the multinational legislature, which has recently signed a Free Trade Agreement with New Zealand, were in Wellington to strengthen inter-parliamentary ties, and relay information about our society and the economy back to Brussels. Parliamentary diplomacy, which is distinct from government-led foreign affairs, is something that New Zealand's Parliament values highly. Connecting with counterparts through both inward and outward engagements gives MPs a platform to foster bilateral and multilateral relationships and exchange knowledge. Delegation Chair Seán Kelly represents the Ireland South constituency. He says the European Union is keen to grow its relationship with New Zealand, which is culturally connected despite the distance. "New Zealand is the furthest away from Europe, but at the same time, in all other respects, it's very close to Europe, both in terms of language, in attitude, in democracy, culture, and even listening to the parliament there today, it was very similar to the Parliaments across the European Union." Fostering these relationships with like-minded nation states is even more crucial these days, Kelly said. "There are a lot of challenges globally, and working together with like-minded partners in particular is hugely important now for Europe, especially because of what has happened geopolitically in the world in the last number of years." Coming from New Zealand, with our comparatively small, Westminster-derived legislature, the European Union seems like a bit of a distant and unusual entity - akin to a scenario in which New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Island Nations sharing a common currency, lawmaking body and soft borders. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen gives a press conference on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia at the EU headquarters in Brussels. Photo: AFP /NICOLAS TUCAT Kelly gave The House a brief rundown of how the EU Parliament works, noting its trajectory from being branded as a "Mickey Mouse Parliament" to now being a highly respected lawmaking body. "Over time, the European Parliament evolved from having almost no powers to becoming a true co-legislator," Kelly said. "[Nowadays] some would say that we have too much power, because if you look at what's happening in national parliaments, it's estimated that around 60 percent of the legislation that's going through national parliaments is now actually transposing what has been decided or voted on in the European Parliament." "Now, that's in the sense that every single country, the 27 members of the European Union, have representation in the Parliament, and the smallest countries like Malta and Luxembourg, they are guaranteed a minimum of six [seats], the biggest country, Germany has 96. So it's very democratic - there is no government there, so everything is done by majority." New Zealand and Ireland are two countries that are often compared due to their similar populations, and rankings on the human development index. The two societies also have the commonality of pursuing language revitalisation efforts - Irish (Gaelic) in Ireland, and Te Reo Māori in New Zealand. Kelly, a keen proponent of the Irish language says the European Parliament's mantra of "unity in diversity" has been conducive to the legitimisation of indigenous languages being used in administrative and legislative contexts. "So I speak Gaelic, I can speak it in the European parliament - you often do - and that's then interpreted into all the other languages. [It's] the same here. You're preserving your languages [in Parliament] here, which is very important for the Maōri. "We have 200 plus Irish people employed in Brussels, either as interpreters or translating documents. Every single document is translated into the 23 official languages, and, Irish, became a working document language just two years ago, and I put down the first ever amendment to a resolution in our native language. So there's a lot of support there for it and [it's] something we appreciate." You can listen to the audio version of this story, along with other coverage from Parliament this week by clicking the link at the top of the page. *RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
