• HI Learning Matrix.pdf
What is History about?
In conversation with
Jo Cameron
Graeme Ball
Rowan Taurima
Transcript below:
It's been brilliant to shift the focus away from teaching to assess to teaching to learn. So hopefully this has allowed us to do that for our colleagues and our ākonga.
That feels like a significant shift to focus on the learning. To not have programmes being developed on the basis of what are the Paerewa Paetae, the Achievement Standards we've got to knock off.
I agree, and I think that our achievement standards, as they're being developed currently, are really reflecting that focus on the teaching and learning and the significant learning. I think they're four really good quality ones.
Yeah and that bigger principle of reducing student and teacher workload of the NCEA change package is fantastic. So down to four Achievement Standards, only two internals and two externals. That's a significant shift and is really going to change how ākonga experience studying NCEA.
Mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori is central to how the history changes are being developed, and it's a wonderful change. We chose after much discussion, but very quick agreement to explicitly name mātauranga Māori concepts throughout our learning matrix. I mean those concepts were picked specifically, because we felt it enhanced our teaching. It gave an opportunity, as we've mentioned before, for our students to ground themselves within it.
And on a side note, for me it's been a long time coming, that the education system has finally recognised the importance of Mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori as equal status as every other forms of knowledge. And so it's huge. It's hugely exciting. Yes, it's going to be challenging, but the payoff is going to be worth it in the end.
For me the most exciting part of working in the SEG was working with other, collaborating with other history teachers from a range of areas of New Zealand. Coming from different schools, different deciles, different populations, different experiences, we're all coming together, because we all believe in this mahi. We all want to serve our students the best way we can.
I was really excited to have this opportunity to jump on board. Having said that, I was also slightly intimidated. Yeah, because it's a huge responsibility.
And I've really loved how robust and invigorating our discussions are. How we listen to one another and we had really respectful constructive dialogue, where we take it apart, and apart until we're really sure. That's been fantastic.
With some of the challenges of course, every day's like two steps forward, one step back. But I think it's part of the process, but it's necessary, and it can be frustrating. Then you think you've resolved something, but the next day you go back to it, and it's like, okay, that wasn't quite right. But that's the process.
We're hopeful that people will be both motivated by the materials that we're developing, and see that they could be useful and helpful. But they will also hold them somewhat lightly in that they are emerging.
We're kind of building the plane as we fly it, and it'll be piloted first. We really will need to see how they work and the feedback and where the gaps are. And then continue to resource that and to create materials that support teachers.
That, to both be hopeful and positive with the engagement. But also to be constructive in feedback so that it improves, by the time it's ready to be implemented across the sector.
So don't worry. That's what I would say to teachers. Just, you know, we'll get there. Some will get there quicker than others. But we're all on the same journey, and we'll get there.
Subject-specific terms can be found in the glossary.
History invites ākonga to explore the past, and how this shapes our understanding of the present and future, through a variety of sources and perspectives. It nurtures the skills of inquiry and interpretation and encourages ākonga to think critically. As a research-led discipline, History supports ākonga to grow an informed understanding of the origins of our diverse society in Aotearoa New Zealand. Central to this understanding is an awareness of the history of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles, values, and ongoing relevance. Learning through historical contexts that are situated prior to the signing of Te Tiriti is equally important.
An awareness of history inspires ākonga to become confident, questioning, and empathetic individuals. Through History, ākonga engage with the past on multiple levels, extending from the personal and local all the way through to the global. Ākonga will investigate the histories and whakapapa of their communities, Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pacific, and the wider world, drawing links between these contexts where appropriate.
History presents ākonga with the dilemmas, choices, and beliefs of people in the past, and connects ākonga with the wider world as they develop their own identities and sense of place. As ākonga develop their understanding of the nature of historical inquiry, they employ a robust methodology. They learn to ask and put forward possible answers to important questions, to evaluate evidence, to identify and analyse different interpretations of the past, and to substantiate their arguments and judgements. In doing these things, ākonga will come to understand that historical narratives about the past are constructed and that those constructions are in turn contested. They can see why they are learning what they are learning and debate the significance of the history they learn.
History prepares ākonga for the future because it equips them with knowledge and skills that are valuable and useful throughout life. These include the ability to conduct historical research; to articulate ideas and make them clear to others; to process and synthesise varied and complex materials; to engage with and deconstruct historical narratives; and to give clear and effective presentations across a variety of media. Ākonga learn to embrace rather than be discouraged by the uncertainties of the past and its various interpretations.
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 History Big Idea.
The Social Sciences Learning Area curriculum, including its Whakataukī, inform this subject's Significant Learning – learning that is critical for students to know, understand, and do in 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:
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 subject's Big Ideas and Significant Learning are collated into a Learning Matrix for Curriculum Levels 6, 7, and 8. 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 five Big Ideas in History. The nature of this subject as a discipline means aspects of Significant Learning often cross over multiple Big Ideas, and vice versa.
The five Big Ideas of History are derived from the Social Sciences Learning Area. Two of these are the nature of history Big Ideas and sit across the top of the Learning Matrix. Three knowledge Big Ideas, shown vertically on the Learning Matrix, weave through the two nature of history Big Ideas.
Nature of History: Historical narratives are constructed
Histories are constructed by individuals and groups, and reflect the ideas, contexts, and prejudices of their constructors. Construction of histories in the present is limited by the sources that are bequeathed to us from the past. In this way, histories are always partial but also dynamic as new sources of evidence, and new constructions, challenge existing narratives.
Histories are constructed for different purposes and audiences, and across different media. They are not simply a record of what happened in the past. Histories can be inclusive, exclusive, general, or specific. Histories can and do develop and change over time.
These characteristics of history are demonstrated by pūrākau and pakiwaitara, which are integral to mātauranga Māori. These historical narratives, which are often delivered orally and collectively, offer self-aware and sometimes metaphorical constructions of the past.
Understanding that history is constructed gives ākonga permission to partake in the construction and deconstruction of histories themselves. Ākonga will learn to recognise the contexts, ideas, sources, privileges, and prejudices that influence the construction of histories they encounter. They will come to value the complexity and diversity of history, and reach conclusions that are grounded in evidence.
Nature of History: Historical narratives are contested
Contestability is at the heart of history – the debates it leads to enhance our understanding of the past and the present. Individuals and groups will agree and disagree on interpretations of and perspectives on histories, and the evidence that supports these interpretations. Interpretations, such as those of historical significance, may also change over time.
Students of History will develop skills to engage critically with historical narratives and sources from a variety of perspectives, origins, and world views. Students of History will evaluate and acknowledge the strengths and limitations of both the supporting evidence and the various narratives about the past derived from it, while also accepting that finding a single truth or consensus is unlikely. They will recognise that narratives vary between and within groups of people, such as the differences in point of view of iwi and hapū within an Aotearoa New Zealand context. By recognising that narratives vary, our ākonga will come to appreciate diversification of voice, of ways of knowing, and of understanding. History students celebrate difference because they understand we do not need to agree.
Students who can understand how and why histories are contested will be able to participate more actively in society as informed citizens. The ability to think critically about information and its origins, purposes, and limitations is increasingly important in an age of misinformation, disinformation, and ‘fake news’. Engaging critically with historical sources and narratives involves knowing how to evaluate evidence as a historian.
Knowledge: Power relationships often drive history
Historical events and change are influenced by the way that individuals and communities compete for power and control over resources. Power can be exercised militarily, constitutionally, socially, culturally, personally, and politically. Power can be used to sustain or challenge inequalities, to debate conflicting ideas, to exercise control over others, and to promote change or to suppress it. Changes in control over resources have influenced the rise and fall of different communities, and have been the subject of extensive political, military and social conflict.
While History has at times been overly focused on the powerful, more recently it has recognised and examined the ways in which power is exercised, resisted, and experienced across whole populations and between groups. It recognises that these relationships are dynamic. History is now concerned with the ways in which power has been experienced and exercised intersectionally – across the lines of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and more.
Knowledge: Place shapes the histories of peoples
It is through places that we know and interpret history. Historical narratives bring places to life, and places give significance to historical narratives. Certain places hold certain mana. While responses to places can change over time, histories always take place somewhere, and every place has histories to tell. Both the events and retellings of history are emplaced.
Place may anchor a sense of identity, and connection to place may create a sense of belonging for people across time. In mātauranga Māori, this can be expressed as tangata whenua, a group of people who, through their habitation of and long-standing relationship with a particular place, have authority over and responsibility for it.
Place is central to history because it affects the ability of peoples to record and pass on their histories. This is not a one-way or deterministic relationship, and the advantages and disadvantages of places tend not to be fixed. Places can be remembered differently, and people have changed and been changed by the environment over time.
Resource-rich places confer benefits on occupants but may also become the subject of contests for control over the resources associated with the area.
Knowledge: Identity is interwoven with history and is shaped by whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and tūrangawaewae
Titiro whakamuri kia anga whakamua – History is inextricably linked to the identities of people in the past, as well as to those of people in the present. Understanding this interwovenness of the past, present, and future is crucial to building, shaping, developing, and changing identities. It also gives us insight into how our own identities influence our perspectives and the way we interpret the significance of events, peoples, movements, and places.
For many peoples, relationships with others – who lived in the past, live today, or will live in the future – are central to understanding their histories. Tangata whenua carry their tūpuna with them, meaning that history is not linear, but relational and interwoven. History's non-linear movement shapes our identities, including those we cannot choose, and those we actively choose, when seeking relationships and community. In this way, exploring identity is not only valuable for the personal development of ākonga but also for their development of an understanding of the choices and decisions made by individuals and groups in the past.
Key Competencies in History
Learning in History provides meaningful contexts for developing Key Competencies from The New Zealand Curriculum. These Key Competencies are woven through, and embedded in, the Big Ideas and Significant Learning. Students will engage with critical thinking and analysis, explore different perspectives on historical events and places, and develop their understanding of the role of evidence in historical research.
Thinking
The thinking Key Competency is about using creative, critical, and meta-cognitive processes to make sense of information experiences and ideas.
Students of History will:
- consider the historical concepts that are at play within the contexts they are exploring
- think about the role of significance in framing the history they are studying
- evaluate strengths and weaknesses of primary and secondary sources
- weigh conflicting evidence and justify conclusions
- challenge perceptions and assumptions
- consider meta-narratives, which can explain the context of the history being studied
- identify and analyse different interpretations of the past.
Using language, symbols, and texts
This Key Competency is about working with and making meaning of the codes in which knowledge is expressed.
Students of History will:
- process and synthesise varied and complex materials, including non-textual sources
- analyse historical evidence, and identify what is missing, incomplete, or inconclusive
- use a variety of media to produce history
- organise the past and construct history, using historical concepts
- give clear and effective oral and written presentations
- substantiate their arguments and judgements.
Relating to others
Relating to others is about interacting effectively with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts.
Students of History will:
- develop historical empathy, including the ability to think beyond themselves and their personal, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds
- engage with different historical contexts and perspectives
- grow an understanding of the origins of our diverse society in Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific
- appreciate differences in how people understand the world
- develop their own identities and sense of place.
Managing self
This Key Competency is associated with self-motivation, a 'can-do' attitude, and students seeing themselves as capable learners.
Students of History will:
- show initiative in research
- employ a robust methodology
- manage their own assumptions, biases, and perceptions
- persevere with difficult sources and processes.
Participating and contributing
This Key Competency is about being actively involved in communities.
Students of History will:
- take a position, using evidence to support it
- engage in collaborative and group work, as citizens interpreting and understanding sources
- contribute to a body of knowledge or history
- challenge 'myth-takes' of history
- connect with whānau, iwi, and local groups.
This section of The New Zealand Curriculum Online offers specific 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
History supports multiple learning and career pathways for ākonga. Within the immediate context of senior secondary education, ākonga can apply the historical understandings they gain in History to other subjects within the Social Sciences, and to other Learning Areas such as the Arts, Sciences, and English.
Later, if they choose to undertake tertiary study, ākonga with a base in History can use their existing knowledge to deepen their further study in this discipline towards a career as a historian, teacher, researcher, or analyst. History may also enrich their study of other disciplines at the tertiary level, such as the arts, physics, medicine, law, commerce, management, languages, archaeology, anthropology, and health studies.
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 History course could be constructed using the new Learning and 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. For example: 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 etc.
Collection of Evidence
Teachers may:
- provide the focus question for the assessment, which should be broad but clearly defined and related to a historical event, person, or place
- collate a list of primary sources to get students started
- offer general guidance on how to locate primary sources
- distribute checklists or templates that prompt ākonga to make comments on the relevance, strengths, and limitations of their selected sources.
Teachers should ensure that there are relevant and sufficient primary sources available for the chosen historical context. This will allow ākonga to complete the assessment task at all levels of achievement.
Students may:
- work on their assessment in and out of class time, over a period of time specified by the teacher
- gather primary sources individually or in small groups (no more than three students per group)
- present their evidence for assessment in any medium that allows them to demonstrate their ability to engage with primary historical sources.
Any aspect of the assessment, beyond the focus question and gathering of primary historical sources, must be completed individually and independently by students. When the gathering of sources is carried out in groups, teachers must ensure that there is evidence that each student has met this aspect of the Achievement Standard.
Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
Evidence for this Achievement Standard should be gathered from in and out of class activities, and be completed by ākonga over a period of no more than four weeks.
Where several students wish to conduct an interview or korero with a person or group who could serve as a relevant primary source for the assessment task, these students may choose, if appropriate, to carry out the interview together. This interview could then be used as a source for each student's individual work.
If students present their evidence digitally, through a website, video, or blog, it is best to disable access to this after marking and moderation have occurred. This helps to ensure that students across the country cannot plagiarise the work or ideas of other those who have already completed the assessment for this Achievement Standard.
Finally, teachers could:
- monitor student progress closely to ensure students working together during source selection do not select identical sources
- provide a different focus question and/or historical context each year
- use oral questioning to confirm a student's understanding of primary historical sources, if doubts over the authenticity of the student's work arise.
Collection of Evidence
All teaching and learning for the assessment needs to have occurred prior to the commencement of the assessment period.
Teachers may:
- determine the timing of the assessment period
- provide a historical context for ākonga or offer guidance to ākonga when selecting a historical context of their own choice
- a historical context can be an event, person or place, from a local, regional, or international context.
- provide a framework, or some criteria, to which students can refer when demonstrating their understanding of the significance of their chosen historical context
- offer resources that help ākonga to discern the significance of their historical context
- offer generic verbal or written feedback to support students with their progress.
Students may:
- work on their assessment in and out of class time, over the assessment period specified by the teacher
- generate evidence in groups (no more than three students per group)
- present their evidence for assessment in any medium that allows them to demonstrate their understanding of the significance of a historical context.
Where this assessment is completed as a group, teachers must ensure that there is evidence that each student has met all aspects of the Achievement Standard. This might include conferencing with the student to determine their own understanding, having students complete an individual reflection or journal, or observing and making note of the contribution and participation of the various group members, all of which provide the opportunity for students to demonstrate their own understanding independently from the group.
Written responses should be between 750-800 words, while oral responses should be between 2-4 minutes in length.
Ensuring Authenticity of Evidence
If students present their evidence digitally, through a website, video, or blog, it is best to disable access to this after marking and moderation have occurred. This helps to ensure that students across the country cannot plagiarise the work or ideas of other those who have already completed the assessment for this Achievement Standard.
Teachers should:
- monitor student progress closely
- require draft materials to be submitted along with the final assessment evidence, to ensure all evidence is the student's own work
- provide a different historical context each year
- use oral questioning to confirm a student's understanding, if doubts over the authenticity of the student's work arise.