High expectations principle
This resource provides a description, tools, and resources related to the high expectations principle as part of The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum.
About this resource
"The curriculum supports and empowers all students to learn and achieve personal excellence, regardless of their individual circumstances."
The high expectations principle is one of eight principles in The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum that provide a foundation for schools' decision making. The high expectations principle calls for schools and teachers to deliver a curriculum that:
- has high expectations for all students
- offers teaching practices and learning opportunities that enable students to meet those expectations
- recognises students' prior knowledge and skills
- enables all learners to achieve to their full potential.
High expectations principle
Why is the high expectations principle important?
Learners can have abilities in a wide range of domains (for example, creative thinking, the arts, sports, interpersonal skills, and spirituality). It is important that schools avoid defining high expectations in terms of academic outcomes alone. The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum points to a range of outcomes that are valued by our society, including social skills and outcomes related to well-being and cultural identity. Schools should consider how they can develop high expectations that reflect New Zealand’s bicultural foundations and growing cultural diversity.
The principle of high expectations
The NZC Update supports schools to explore and enact the curriculum principle of high expectations. It provides information, stories, guiding questions and useful links.
Below is a list of tools that could be useful in exploring the high expectations principle. These tools include short videos, activities, and opportunities for reflection.
High expectations for all learners chart
This chart from the NZC Update 22 includes statements about high expectations and guiding questions to help you consider what each statement implies for your particular context. The chart, High expectations (.pdf), can be used in a number of ways:
- by your entire school community, including students, parents, families, whānau, and iwi, to identify areas of strength and possible next steps
- by teachers to generate discussion and classroom actions
- by school leaders to inform strategic planning.
MASAM spotlight
Use this spotlight to engage in professional learning about Māori achieving success as Māori. Explore what MASAM means to you and work together with your staff to devise ways to be more culturally responsive.
- Growth mindset spotlight
Use this spotlight to explore growth mindset and find strategies to help you build a culture of growth mindset in your own classrooms. Find short videos, group activities, and opportunities for personal reflection.
See Materials that come with this resource to download:
- High expectations (.pdf)
- MASAM spotlight (.ppt)
- Growth mindset spotlight (.ppt)
Below is a list of resources that help to support the high expectation principle.
How to develop high expectations teaching
This resource outlines the key differences in teaching practices between low-expectation and high-expectation teachers. It provides helpful, practical teaching strategies to move towards high expectation teaching.The Pygmalion Effect: Communicating high expectations
In this article, Ben Solomon discusses the Pygmalion Effect, where positive expectations influence student performance positively and negative expectations influence performance negatively. Ben offers practical ideas for teachers on how to communicate high expectations to all students.Teacher Expectation Project
Completed in 2013, the three-year TEP evaluated the effects of raised expectations on student academic and social outcomes.