What is Health Studies about?
In conversation with
Nicola Potts
Katrina Lemon
Matt Stenbo
Transcript below:
The shift in assessments, particularly in methods of assessment for external, have opened up some real possibilities to help look at the students learning’ in new ways, which is a really exciting opportunity.
The opportunity that we've been allowed to have a lot of scope in terms of developing frameworks, and expanding on the whakapapa of knowledge that has already been created.
Not neglecting that, but enhancing that, has been really exciting. Having the ability to be able to do that and be supported by the SEG. I'm hoping that students will see themselves in the learning more. That it will cater for diverse learners across our schooling system.
Absolutely and we will focus on, at level one, the individual, and where they're at. With our 15-16 year-olds, that's where they are at, eh?
They work well when they're talking about themselves. That's going to be a huge focus at level one. I think, they'll feel really comfortable in that zone, eh?
The Learning Matrix is an exciting new product. It's not something that we've had before within our NCEA system. It's kind of a distillation of what's important within the New Zealand curriculum, and what we need to make sure, that students aren't missing out on learning. It's about developing those capabilities and skills that are going to enable those students to pathway into further learning in these subjects or in other areas as well.
That's where all the work that we did on the Significant Learning for our subject, and the Big Ideas, was so important. How we've gone back to that and refined it. That's been at the core really of where we've come from, eh?
We kept looking back and seeing, are we on the right track? One of the biggest changes that we're going to see is this real prioritisation of mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori.
I think this is something that our subject expert group here has been really focusing on. It's been difficult. It's been confronting. It's been a really hard task to look at how we can incorporate mana ōrite authentically across our products. It's been fantastic to work with people who are authentically investigating what that means and how to do that.
But in saying that, Matt, I think we were already... Our journey had already begun with the curriculum when it was written previously. To having te whare tapa whā was a great place to start for us. It was already there, so our learning had begun quite a while ago. Do you agree?
Yeah, and it was just about bringing te whare tapa whā to life in terms of how is that in a Māori context, and how do we develop resources from a mātauranga Māori perspective.
Yeah. I think the subject experts that we have on the group bring a fantastic range of skills and expertise together. It's been really wonderful to be able to draw from such incredible wealth of experience. I've already taken quite a lot of what I've learned into my classroom, and practiced for next year, when I'm hoping to be at a school that will trial what I've learned.
And particularly, the last group. We looked at all the different ranges of assessments that we can do now. I've got my year 11's currently doing an assessment based on something that I haven't done before, because of what I learnt from the RAS. It's fantastic for me. That's the thing that's been exciting.
The next steps in terms of resourcing and how we can bring the learning to life. So the conversation doesn't just stop with assessment. There's a lot of conversation ongoing from that, so how can we best support classroom teachers.
I think starting with the Learning Matrix is really valuable, and helping. If teachers look at the products in the order that they were created within our project. Starting with that Learning Matrix, and then looking through the standards to the assessment activities. That could be really valuable to help them understand how we got to what we got to.
Yeah, and next year, whether they're a part of the trial or not, it's really important that you look and try some activities. Try some things that we're recommending. It's all going to be on the website. We've all spent some time writing some really cool assessments and assessment schedules. Give it a go.
Mine would be around that the assessment is only an evidence part of the process, and to remember that. It's about the journey, and the hikoi towards the assessment. Looking at these assessments as that.
Yeah, and the assessment not driving the learning.
Exactly.
Subject-specific terms can be found in the glossary.
Health Studies is about engaging in three key areas of learning — food and nutrition, mental health, and relationships and sexuality — in relation to hauora, and the health and wellbeing of individuals, whānau and communities. It is about the complex interconnections between the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of people’s lives.
Ākonga can explore Māori and Pacific knowledge bases, values and practices related to hauora and wellbeing. They can learn about hauora as a body of knowledge, and learn about models of health such as Te Whare Tapa Whā and Fonofale.
Through Health Studies, ākonga can learn about how kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, and whanaungatanga contribute to the hauora of individuals, whānau and communities.
By engaging in this subject, ākonga develop further understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand as a bicultural nation, with diverse viewpoints on hauora, health, and wellbeing. They can learn about how actions can enhance hauora, and explore ways to manage change situations that impact health and wellbeing. They learn that hauora is more than a matter of personal choice and individual responsibility.
In this subject, ākonga develop understanding of current issues related to food, nutrition, and health, and learn about how a range of factors influence wellbeing. This learning can help ākonga understand what contributes to healthy relationships, and develop strategies to strengthen their sense of identity and self-worth.
There are sensitivities to learning about, and being assessed on, hauora and wellbeing issues. Given these sensitivities, a strengths-based approach must be taken with the subject's learning tasks and assessment activities.
Ākonga can learn foundational knowledge and skills that can lead to diverse future pathways, including becoming a teacher, and working or studying in health community services, government, hospitality, and science sectors.
Big Ideas and Significant Learning
This section outlines the meaning of, and connection between, the Big Ideas and Significant Learning, which together form the Learning Matrix. It then explains each Health Studies Big Idea.
The Health and Physical Education Learning Area curriculum, including its Whakataukī, inform this subject's Significant Learning – learning that is critical for students to know, understand, and do in relation to a subject by the end of each Curriculum Level. This covers knowledge, skills, competencies, and attitudes. It also includes level-appropriate contexts students should encounter in their education. The Learning Area's Whakataukī is:
He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora
Positive feelings in your heart will raise your sense of self-worth
The subject's Big Ideas and Significant Learning are collated into a Learning Matrix for Curriculum Level 6. Teachers can use the Learning Matrix as a tool to construct learning programmes that cover all the ‘not to be missed’ learning in a subject.
There is no prescribed order to the Learning Matrix within each Level. A programme of learning might begin with a context that is relevant to the local area of the school or an idea that students are particularly interested in. This context or topic must relate to at least one Big Idea and may also link to other Big Ideas.
There are four Big Ideas in Health Studies. The nature of this subject as a discipline means aspects of Significant Learning often cross over multiple Big Ideas, and vice versa.
Health and wellbeing are understood in diverse ways, according to a person's values, cultures, experiences, identities, and worldview. To approach health and wellbeing in a holistic way is to understand the multiple, interrelated dimensions of health and wellbeing related to individuals, whānau, communities, and the surrounding environment.
This Big Idea is about hauora as an important Māori body of knowledge, which encompasses and connects physical, social, mental and emotional, and spiritual wellness, and the appropriate practices associated with holistic wellbeing.
Part of learning about hauora and indigenous knowledge bases, values, and practices involves looking at the four dimensions of taha hinengaro (mental health), taha wairua (spiritual health), taha tinana (physical health), and taha whānau (family health) as an interconnected whole, where one dimension does not exist in isolation, and no dimension should be privileged over others.
Thinking of hauora as a holistic body of knowledge opens opportunities for ākonga to better understand themselves, their whānau, and their communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This Big Idea is about how the practice of whakawhanaungatanga is critical to the good health and wellbeing of individuals, whānau, and communities.
Kaitiakitanga refers to Māori environmental management and sustainability practices that have evolved to protect and enhance the mauri of te whenua.
By exploring this Big Idea, ākonga can learn about diverse cultures' ways of creating and nurturing relationships, and understand how mana and identity are connected with a sense of self-worth. Through this understanding, ākonga can develop skills to build relationships, enable mutual care, and foster attitudes and values that support the wellbeing of themselves and others.
This Big Idea is about how perspectives of wellbeing are not static and linear – they change continually as the result of the interaction between a broad and complex range of political, environmental, social, cultural, and other factors in seen and unseen ways.
Ākonga can learn about how perspectives can influence the wellbeing of others and, similarly, how a societal perspective can impact the wellbeing of individuals. They can explore complexities and interconnectedness of Māori and Pacific perspectives of wellbeing. They can think about how, and where, in their lives they experience the practice of manaakitanga, or caring for others.
By exploring this Big Idea, ākonga can learn to identify the impact of diverse attitudes, values, and perspectives on wellbeing. This learning will help ākonga understand that hauora is not just a matter of personal choice and individual responsibility, and see how a range of health-promotion actions are needed at personal, interpersonal, and societal levels to enhance hauora.
This Big Idea is about how hauora and positive wellbeing outcomes for all people and communities are only possible when inequities are addressed and all members of society are treated fairly. Therefore, social justice principles and aims have been integral to the development of diverse approaches to hauora and wellbeing.
By exploring this Big Idea, ākonga can understand how social constructs and inequitable distribution of power within relationships can create injustice, and affect multiple generations of people. This understanding can help ākonga learn to recognise sources and instances of injustice, and how hauora, health, and wellbeing is enabled through strategies and actions based on fairness and equity.
Key Competencies in Health Studies
Health Studies provides learners with opportunities to develop The New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies in practical and engaging contexts.
Thinking
Students in Health Studies will:
- understand sensitivities around health and wellbeing contexts and perspectives
- think about ethics related to health, food, and wellbeing issues
- learn to identify and analyse unfairness and exclusiveness in different situations
- think about attitudes and values that influence choices or behaviours related to health, food, or wellbeing
- perceive different experiences of individuals, their whānau and groups in a situation related to health, food, or wellbeing
- think critically about a health or food issue that affects wellbeing
- learn to recognise situations of injustice and identify actions that could be taken to make communities and society fairer and more inclusive
- make sense of health and wellbeing through a diversity of lenses and perspectives
- think about ethical dilemmas related to health and wellbeing issues
- gain confidence and strategies to analyse perspectives and messages about mental health, food and nutrition, and relationships and sexuality.
Using language, symbols, and text
Students in Health Studies will:
- use health promotion models to explain concepts and behaviours
- use models and frameworks to explain the complexity of health and wellbeing issues where social justice is a consideration
- understand how diverse interpretations and use of language, symbols, and text about health and food influence the decisions and behaviours of individuals and communities
- develop subject-specific literacy, to help them understand the language and strategies for meaning-making
- learn the vocabulary and symbols of different models of health and wellbeing
- develop understanding of verbal and non-verbal language associated with food customs and contexts
- understand why Health Studies takes a strengths-based approach that focuses on health promotion and healing.
Relating to others
Students in Health Studies will:
- gain insight into the consultation processes and methods of Māori, Pacific Island, and disability communities that enable the voices and views of a diverse range of stakeholders to be heard
- develop empathy with a diverse range of perspectives and contexts about health, food, and wellbeing
- learn about interpretations of health and wellbeing within their peer group and communities
- experience the lived practices of diverse cultures.
Managing self
Students in Health Studies will:
- learn to take personal responsibility to treat others fairly and include them
- understand how collective actions contribute to social justice at a local, community, or national level
- establish personal meanings as attached to diverse lenses on health and wellbeing.
Participating and contributing
Students in Health Studies will:
- understand how participation and contribution is integral to Māori and Pacific Island communities' food traditions and health models
- learn how boundaries can be established, and safe participation can occur in kōrero, talanoa, and wānanga
- understand how collective actions contribute to social justice at a local, community, or national level
- gain confidence in making collective decisions and participating in kōrero about health, food, or wellbeing issues
- think about strategies for managing conflict and tensions within groups and society.
Key competencies
This section of The New Zealand Curriculum Online offers guidance to school leaders and teachers on integrating the Key Competencies into the daily activities of the school and its Teaching and Learning Programmes.
Connections
Health Studies is connected with the subject Physical Education. They both stem from the Health and Physical Education Learning Area within the New Zealand Curriculum, with a shared whakatuakī, and focus on wellbeing.
Learning Pathway
The knowledge and experiences that ākonga achieve through their engagement with the Health Studies learning can lead to a wide range of pathways.
The health sector, such as :
- care, support and rehabilitation of people
- diagnosing and treating people
- health promotion and advice
- medical research and testing
- providing technical support and equipment to healthcare professionals.
Community services, such as:
- working with people of different ages, life stages, abilities and cultures
- counselling and therapy
- helping people with personal development and life decisions
- community support and care.
Hospitality, such as:
- working with food and drink.
The science sector, such as:
- analysing and interpreting results and data related to health and wellbeing
- research, investigation, and experiments into an area of health or nutrition science.
Management and consulting, such as:
- the recruitment, training, and development of staff in any health- or wellbeing-related workplace
- health and/or wellbeing marketing and communications.
Education, such as:
- helping children, young people, or adults to learn about health and wellbeing
- planning programmes and classes about health and wellbeing.
Government and law, such as:
- development of policies and regulations related to health and wellbeing
- writing, researching, analysing, and evaluating information about health and wellbeing.
Introduction to Sample Course Outlines
Sample Course Outlines are being produced to help teachers and schools understand the new NCEA Learning Matrix and Achievement Standards. Examples of how a year-long Health Studies course could be constructed using the new Learning Matrix and Achievement Standards are provided here. They are indicative only and do not mandate any particular context or approach.
More detailed sample Teaching and Learning Programmes will be developed during piloting.
Assessment Matrix
Conditions of Assessment for internally assessed standards
This section provides guidelines for assessment against internally assessed standards. Guidance is provided on:
- appropriate ways of, and conditions for, gathering evidence
- ensuring that evidence is authentic
- any other relevant advice specific to an Achievement Standard.
NB: Information on additional generic guidance on assessment practice in schools is published on the NZQA website. It would be useful to read in conjunction with these Conditions of Assessment.
The school's Assessment Policy and Conditions of Assessment must be consistent with the Assessment Rules for Schools With Consent to Assess. These rules will be updated during the NCEA review. This link includes guidance for managing internal moderation and the collection of evidence.
For all Achievement Standards
Internal assessment provides considerable flexibility in the collection of evidence. Evidence can be collected in different ways to suit a range of teaching and learning styles, and a range of contexts. Care needs to be taken to offer students opportunities to present their best evidence against the standard(s) that are free from unnecessary constraints.
It is recommended that the design of assessment reflects and reinforces the ways students have been learning. Collection of evidence for the internally assessed standards could include, but is not restricted to, an extended task, an investigation, digital evidence (such as recorded interviews, blogs, photographs or film), or a portfolio of evidence.
It is also recommended that the collection of evidence for internally assessed standards should not use the same method that is used for any external standards in a course, particularly if that method is using a time-bound written examination. This could unfairly disadvantage students who do not perform well under these conditions.
A separate assessment event is not needed for each standard. Often assessment can be integrated into one activity that collects evidence towards two or three different standards from a programme of learning. Evidence can also be collected over time from a range of linked activities (for example, in a portfolio). This approach can also ease the assessment workload for both students and teachers.
Effective assessment should suit the nature of the learning being assessed, provide opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students, and be valid and fair.
Authenticity of student evidence needs to be assured regardless of the method of collecting evidence. This needs to be in line with school policy. Examples include an investigation carried out over several sessions could include teacher observations or the use of milestones such as a meeting with the student, a journal, or photographic entries recording progress.
Collection of evidence:
- Digital and hard-copy template options should be provided.
- Students may work on assessment responses in and out of class time, over a period of time specified by the teacher that takes into consideration the availability of research tools.
- Students can present their findings in any medium that allows for the clear demonstration of meeting the requirements of the Standard.
Ensuring authenticity of evidence:
- Where a collaborative approach to collecting evidence has been utilised, teachers must ensure that each student has met the requirements of the Standard.
- Teachers should ensure the authenticity of assessment responses through monitoring student progress, interviewing students, and checking for understanding throughout the assessment timeframe.
- Teachers will need to monitor the development of students’ work – checkpoints are suggested with the student instructions.
- Students will need to sign an authenticity of work statement.
- It is recommended for authenticity purposes that contexts be reviewed regularly.
Collection of evidence:
• Ākonga will gather evidence of their learning throughout the teaching and learning programme, and may evaluate the use of capabilities as they go.
• Ākonga may work on assessment responses in and out of class time, over a period of time specified by the teacher.
• Ākonga can present their evidence via any medium that allows them to demonstrate clearly that they have met the requirements of the Standard.
Ensuring authenticity of evidence:
• Where a collaborative approach to collecting evidence has been used, teachers must ensure that each student has met the requirements of the Standard.
• Teachers should ensure the authenticity of assessment responses through monitoring student progress, interviewing students, and checking for understanding throughout the assessment timeframe.
• Teachers will need to monitor the development of students’ work – checkpoints are suggested with the student instructions.
• Students will need to sign an authenticity of work statement.