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The New Zealand Curriculum - Social sciences

Statement of official policy relating to teaching, learning and assessment of social sciences in all English medium state and state-integrated schools in New Zealand.

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Tags

  • AudienceSchool leadersKaiako
  • Resource LanguageEnglish
  • Resource typeText/Website

About this resource

Social sciences is one of the learning areas in the New Zealand Curriculum, the official document that sets the direction for teaching, learning, and assessment in all English medium state and state-integrated schools in New Zealand. In the social sciences, students explore how societies work and how they themselves can participate and take action as critical, informed, and responsible citizens.

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The New Zealand Curriculum: Social sciences

What are the social sciences about?

Unuhia te rito o te harakeke kei whea te kōmako e kō?
Whakatairangitia – rere ki uta, rere ki tai;
Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao,
Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata!

Remove the heart of the flax bush, and where will the kōmako sing?
Proclaim it to the land, proclaim it to the sea;
Ask me, "What is the greatest thing in the world?"
I will reply, "It is people, people, people!"

The social sciences learning area examines how societies work and how people can participate as critical, active, informed, and responsible citizens. Contexts are drawn from the past, present, and future, and from places within and beyond New Zealand.

Through the social sciences, students develop the knowledge and skills to enable them to: better understand, participate in, and contribute to the local, national, and global communities in which they live and work; engage critically with societal issues; and evaluate the sustainability of alternative social, economic, political, and environmental practices.

Students explore the unique bicultural nature of New Zealand society, which derives from the Treaty of Waitangi. Learning about people, places, cultures, histories, and the economic world within and beyond New Zealand, they develop an understanding of how societies are organised and function, and the ways in which people and communities respond are shaped by different perspectives, values, and viewpoints. As they explore how others see themselves, students clarify their own identities in relation to their particular heritages and contexts.

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