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23/3/2023 10:45 AM  |  Social Studies  |  https://ncea.education.govt.nz/social-sciences/social-studies

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  • What is Social Studies about?
  • Big Ideas and Significant Learning
  • Key Competencies in Social Studies
  • Connections
  • Learning Pathway
[ Previous Learning Matrices ]

[ File Resource ]

  • Title: Draft for Pilot 2023
  • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
  • File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-03/SOS%20Learning%20Matrix.pdf?VersionId=hWk3s8.wuf9D8zYw8oPfzdEUfQwW0yv0
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    • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
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Draft for Pilot 2023

Social Studies Learning Matrix
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Past Matrices

[ File Resource ]

  • Title: Draft for Pilot 2022
  • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
  • File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-03/SOS%20Learning%20Matrix%20Pilot%202022.pdf?VersionId=6R1yIXKSFv9VxwFx7YgjFCQLiexBXnVc
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  • Draft for Pilot 2022.pdf
    • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
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Draft for Pilot 2022

Social Studies Learning Matrix
Social Studies Learning Matrix
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Current Learning Matrix:

[ File Resource ]

  • Title: Draft for Pilot 2023
  • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
  • File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-03/SOS%20Learning%20Matrix.pdf?VersionId=hWk3s8.wuf9D8zYw8oPfzdEUfQwW0yv0
  • File Extension: pdf
  • File Size: 262KB
  • Draft for Pilot 2023.pdf
    • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
Download
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Draft for Pilot 2023

Social Studies Learning Matrix
Social Studies Learning Matrix
pdf  |  262KB Download Download Download

Past Matrices:

[ File Resource ]

  • Title: Draft for Pilot 2022
  • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
  • File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-03/SOS%20Learning%20Matrix%20Pilot%202022.pdf?VersionId=6R1yIXKSFv9VxwFx7YgjFCQLiexBXnVc
  • File Extension: pdf
  • File Size: 257KB
  • Draft for Pilot 2022.pdf
    • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
Download
Download

Draft for Pilot 2022

Social Studies Learning Matrix
Social Studies Learning Matrix
pdf  |  257KB Download Download Download

[ File Resource ]

  • Title: Draft for Pilot 2023
  • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
  • File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-03/SOS%20Learning%20Matrix.pdf?VersionId=hWk3s8.wuf9D8zYw8oPfzdEUfQwW0yv0
  • File Extension: pdf
  • File Size: 262KB
  • Draft for Pilot 2023.pdf
    • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
Download
Download

Draft for Pilot 2023

Social Studies Learning Matrix
Social Studies Learning Matrix
pdf  |  262KB Download Download Download

[ File Resource ]

  • Title: Draft for Pilot 2022
  • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
  • File URL: https://ncea-live-3-storagestack-53q-assetstorages3bucket-2o21xte0r81u.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2023-03/SOS%20Learning%20Matrix%20Pilot%202022.pdf?VersionId=6R1yIXKSFv9VxwFx7YgjFCQLiexBXnVc
  • File Extension: pdf
  • File Size: 257KB
  • Draft for Pilot 2022.pdf
    • Description: Social Studies Learning Matrix
Download
Download

Draft for Pilot 2022

Social Studies Learning Matrix
Social Studies Learning Matrix
pdf  |  257KB Download Download Download

What is Social Studies about?

[ Video Resource ]

  • Title: Social Studies
  • Description: Social Studies Subject Expert Group members discuss their experiences in the Review of Achievement Standards
  • Video Duration: 6 minutes
  • Video URL: https://player.vimeo.com/video/571926798
  • Transcript: In conversation with Maria Perreau Michael Cabral-Tarry Desiree Hughes Transcript to come. Edit as a contentauthor (colinauthor)

Subject-specific terms can be found in the glossary.

Social Studies is about people. Who they are, what they do, how they change, and what happens to them. Social Studies looks at people in the context of societies in local, national, and global contexts. Students examine the causes and effects of social issues relating to identity, culture, societal structure and organisation, to investigate how people respond to change. They consider the past, present, and possible futures.

Students learn how they can take part in society as informed, critical, and active citizens. Social Studies takes a flexible and inclusive understanding of the concept of ‘citizen’. This recognises the multiplicity and diversity of identities, cultures, and experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand, in the Pacific, and connectedness with the wider world as global citizens.

Students learn to understand and be responsive to Aotearoa New Zealand’s diverse cultures and identities, and associated knowledges, values, and beliefs. Teachers encourage students to express their voice while also modelling sensitivity to others. All ākonga can learn the tools to access, understand, respect, and value mātauranga Māori and indigenous Pacific knowledges along with Western knowledge.

Central to Social Studies is a focus on conceptual understanding and social inquiry. Deep conceptual learning occurs when multiple concepts are re-visited over time, and their connections explored in diverse contexts. Learning develops in selected contexts through the skills and processes of social inquiry: researching, exploring people’s values, perspectives, decision-making, and responses to social issues.

Part of the social inquiry process is social action, where students are given opportunities to  participate in society in tangible ways to either support or challenge a current social issue. At the centre of social action is participation, which encompasses a wide scope of action and understanding – personal acts and agency, as well as understanding the individual and collective actions of others. Embodying manaakitanga, whakawhaungatanga, and engaging in tikanga as the practices and customs stemming from mātauranga Māori is central to taking social action. Learning about and practicing values such as vā, alofa, fanua, and kuleana are also deeply participatory, and are strong examples of social action and collectivism for good. 

Social Studies presents rich opportunities for student voice and choice, and reciprocal teacher-student relationships (ako). Students are storytellers, investigators, and agents of change. The scope of contexts for learning can draw from learners’ lived experiences, whakapapa, and prior knowledge. This also enables the engagement of whānau and local cultures and communities in the learning process. 

Progression across Curriculum Levels 6–8 involves examining key concepts in different and increasingly complex contexts, with greater depth and distance from personal experience. Learners' enquiry skills become more sophisticated with practice and experience.

Subject-specific terms can be found in the glossary.

Social Studies is about people. Who they are, what they do, how they change, and what happens to them. Social Studies looks at people in the context of societies in local, national, and global contexts. Students examine the causes and effects of social issues relating to identity, culture, societal structure and organisation, to investigate how people respond to change. They consider the past, present, and possible futures.

Students learn how they can take part in society as informed, critical, and active citizens. Social Studies takes a flexible and inclusive understanding of the concept of ‘citizen’. This recognises the multiplicity and diversity of identities, cultures, and experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand, in the Pacific, and connectedness with the wider world as global citizens.

Students learn to understand and be responsive to Aotearoa New Zealand’s diverse cultures and identities, and associated knowledges, values, and beliefs. Teachers encourage students to express their voice while also modelling sensitivity to others. All ākonga can learn the tools to access, understand, respect, and value mātauranga Māori and indigenous Pacific knowledges along with Western knowledge.

Central to Social Studies is a focus on conceptual understanding and social inquiry. Deep conceptual learning occurs when multiple concepts are re-visited over time, and their connections explored in diverse contexts. Learning develops in selected contexts through the skills and processes of social inquiry: researching, exploring people’s values, perspectives, decision-making, and responses to social issues.

Part of the social inquiry process is social action, where students are given opportunities to  participate in society in tangible ways to either support or challenge a current social issue. At the centre of social action is participation, which encompasses a wide scope of action and understanding – personal acts and agency, as well as understanding the individual and collective actions of others. Embodying manaakitanga, whakawhaungatanga, and engaging in tikanga as the practices and customs stemming from mātauranga Māori is central to taking social action. Learning about and practicing values such as vā, alofa, fanua, and kuleana are also deeply participatory, and are strong examples of social action and collectivism for good. 

Social Studies presents rich opportunities for student voice and choice, and reciprocal teacher-student relationships (ako). Students are storytellers, investigators, and agents of change. The scope of contexts for learning can draw from learners’ lived experiences, whakapapa, and prior knowledge. This also enables the engagement of whānau and local cultures and communities in the learning process. 

Progression across Curriculum Levels 6–8 involves examining key concepts in different and increasingly complex contexts, with greater depth and distance from personal experience. Learners' enquiry skills become more sophisticated with practice and experience.

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 Social Studies 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!”

Nā, Meri Ngāroto, Te Aupōuri (1830s)

The subject's Big Ideas and Significant Learning are collated into a Learning Matrix for Curriculum Level 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 three Big Ideas in Social Studies. The nature of this subject as a discipline means aspects of Significant Learning often cross over multiple Big Ideas, and vice versa. The social inquiry process wholly informs Social Studies, and is woven throughout the Big Ideas.

The nature of the Learning Matrix and Significant Learning, where Social Studies concepts can be explored in multiple contexts using inquiry processes, enables rich engagement with mātauranga Māori, Pacific knowledges, and other knowledges, values, and lived experiences. Social Studies assists to sustain te ao Māori and recognises the diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand. Social Studies at the senior secondary level builds on students’ foundational knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and The Treaty of Waitangi, and develops a deeper understanding of the relationship between these documents and ongoing implications and how it relates to contemporary social issues in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Social Studies Big Ideas

The complexity of people and societies means the three Big Ideas interweave. Concepts relating to culture, identity, social organisation, and globalisation are closely connected. Appreciating the relationships between them will give students deep, transferable knowledge and understanding.

Social Inquiry

Underpinning and woven throughout the Big Ideas is social inquiry – the mechanism to explore and understand the Big Ideas and Significant Learning and develop conceptual understandings in multiple contexts. Social inquiry provides a strategy for researching social issues, as well as an approach to planning teaching and learning.

Social inquiry processes involve: researching; exploring different values and perspectives; examining how people make decisions and the consequences; engaging with how people respond to challenges; and, evaluation and reflection. This approach is particularly valuable when dealing with complex concepts.

Social inquiry includes looking at the ways people can respond to challenges, personally or collectively. Responses could contribute to change or preserve what exists. Exploring possible action prompts students’ thinking about social and environmental justice, ethics, (in)equalities, and fairness. It contributes significantly to developing students as informed, critical, and active citizens.

Through social inquiry skills, students learn to engage actively and critically with real-life social issues. This means Social Studies learning can respond to contemporary social issues and the dynamic nature of society. Students can engage in authentic and personally meaningful learning, drawing on both teacher and learner strength and knowledge. Ākonga and kaiako explore together, drawing upon the principles of ako, talanoa, or wānanga as a way of responding to contemporary social issues and creating culturally-responsive meaning in the world around them. In the classroom, wānanga will look like small groups, engaging in a focused and shared discussion with all ākonga contributing and asking each other questions.

Talanoa, in many Pacific languages, can refer to a conversation, a talk, an exchange of ideas or thinking, informal or informal, but typically face to face. Talanoa is a form of dialogue that brings people together to share views without any predetermined expectations for agreement. It is deeply rooted in the sharing of stories, building empathy and to make wise and future-focused decisions for the collective good. Talanoa is also – in academic contexts – recognised as a Pacific research methodology that focuses on understanding the meaning that events have for participants, through having conversations and building relationships with them. In Social Studies, talanoa is utilised as an indigenous Pacific approach to social inquiry: the process grounded in the sharing of ideas, skills, and experience through storytelling. 

Kaupapa Māori Research is an approach, framework, or methodology for thinking about and undertaking research (Rangahau, Rautaki Ltd and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga). Kaupapa Māori informs ākonga's choice of tools and methodologies, ensuring these fit within cultural contexts and mātauranga Māori. Kaupapa Māori Research is informed by whakawhanaungatana, ‘the process of establishing whanau relationships, literally by means of identifying, through culturally appropriate means, your bodily linkage, your connectedness, and therefore, an unspoken but implicit commitment to other people’ (Bishop, 1998). 

The reciprocal nature of ako, understanding of tikanga, and the observation of mana motuhake are intrinsic to Kaupapa Māori Research. In the classroom, participatory research and facilitation can look like wānanga, and refers to conceptual analysis, making meaning through narrative, and relational analysis, that is, finding meaningful relationships between multiple social concepts. 

Social inquiry includes opportunities to engage appropriately with multiple knowledges and develop understanding of the diversity of Māori and Pacific perspectives. Teachers can equip and support students with inquiry frameworks that ensure inquiry can occur in a responsive, sensitive, ethical manner. Such engagement leads to richer, deeper, and more insightful understanding and knowledge.

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 Social Studies 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!”

Nā, Meri Ngāroto, Te Aupōuri (1830s)

The subject's Big Ideas and Significant Learning are collated into a Learning Matrix for Curriculum Level 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 three Big Ideas in Social Studies. The nature of this subject as a discipline means aspects of Significant Learning often cross over multiple Big Ideas, and vice versa. The social inquiry process wholly informs Social Studies, and is woven throughout the Big Ideas.

The nature of the Learning Matrix and Significant Learning, where Social Studies concepts can be explored in multiple contexts using inquiry processes, enables rich engagement with mātauranga Māori, Pacific knowledges, and other knowledges, values, and lived experiences. Social Studies assists to sustain te ao Māori and recognises the diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand. Social Studies at the senior secondary level builds on students’ foundational knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and The Treaty of Waitangi, and develops a deeper understanding of the relationship between these documents and ongoing implications and how it relates to contemporary social issues in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Social Studies Big Ideas

The complexity of people and societies means the three Big Ideas interweave. Concepts relating to culture, identity, social organisation, and globalisation are closely connected. Appreciating the relationships between them will give students deep, transferable knowledge and understanding.

Social Inquiry

Underpinning and woven throughout the Big Ideas is social inquiry – the mechanism to explore and understand the Big Ideas and Significant Learning and develop conceptual understandings in multiple contexts. Social inquiry provides a strategy for researching social issues, as well as an approach to planning teaching and learning.

Social inquiry processes involve: researching; exploring different values and perspectives; examining how people make decisions and the consequences; engaging with how people respond to challenges; and, evaluation and reflection. This approach is particularly valuable when dealing with complex concepts.

Social inquiry includes looking at the ways people can respond to challenges, personally or collectively. Responses could contribute to change or preserve what exists. Exploring possible action prompts students’ thinking about social and environmental justice, ethics, (in)equalities, and fairness. It contributes significantly to developing students as informed, critical, and active citizens.

Through social inquiry skills, students learn to engage actively and critically with real-life social issues. This means Social Studies learning can respond to contemporary social issues and the dynamic nature of society. Students can engage in authentic and personally meaningful learning, drawing on both teacher and learner strength and knowledge. Ākonga and kaiako explore together, drawing upon the principles of ako, talanoa, or wānanga as a way of responding to contemporary social issues and creating culturally-responsive meaning in the world around them. In the classroom, wānanga will look like small groups, engaging in a focused and shared discussion with all ākonga contributing and asking each other questions.

Talanoa, in many Pacific languages, can refer to a conversation, a talk, an exchange of ideas or thinking, informal or informal, but typically face to face. Talanoa is a form of dialogue that brings people together to share views without any predetermined expectations for agreement. It is deeply rooted in the sharing of stories, building empathy and to make wise and future-focused decisions for the collective good. Talanoa is also – in academic contexts – recognised as a Pacific research methodology that focuses on understanding the meaning that events have for participants, through having conversations and building relationships with them. In Social Studies, talanoa is utilised as an indigenous Pacific approach to social inquiry: the process grounded in the sharing of ideas, skills, and experience through storytelling. 

Kaupapa Māori Research is an approach, framework, or methodology for thinking about and undertaking research (Rangahau, Rautaki Ltd and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga). Kaupapa Māori informs ākonga's choice of tools and methodologies, ensuring these fit within cultural contexts and mātauranga Māori. Kaupapa Māori Research is informed by whakawhanaungatana, ‘the process of establishing whanau relationships, literally by means of identifying, through culturally appropriate means, your bodily linkage, your connectedness, and therefore, an unspoken but implicit commitment to other people’ (Bishop, 1998). 

The reciprocal nature of ako, understanding of tikanga, and the observation of mana motuhake are intrinsic to Kaupapa Māori Research. In the classroom, participatory research and facilitation can look like wānanga, and refers to conceptual analysis, making meaning through narrative, and relational analysis, that is, finding meaningful relationships between multiple social concepts. 

Social inquiry includes opportunities to engage appropriately with multiple knowledges and develop understanding of the diversity of Māori and Pacific perspectives. Teachers can equip and support students with inquiry frameworks that ensure inquiry can occur in a responsive, sensitive, ethical manner. Such engagement leads to richer, deeper, and more insightful understanding and knowledge.

Title: Cultures and identities can change, and this shapes societies

Big Idea Body:

In Social Studies, students bring their own identities, culture, lived experiences, and knowledge. They are enabled, via social inquiry, to apply their own and others’ lenses to social issues and explore the causes and consequences of change.

Social Studies considers identities and cultures in the broadest terms, encouraging wide exploration and understanding, and promoting diversity and inclusion. Culture and identity are closely connected; students examine the relationship between them, and how they are shaped by perspectives and worldviews, beliefs and values, wairuatanga, and religion.

Cultures and identities can change. Cultural interactions – anything from conversations to colonisation – and other social factors (economic, political, religious, technological, environmental) can cause change. Cultural continuity may also result. For example, students can recognise mātauranga Māori and indigenous Pacific knowledges as living systems grounded in the past but continuing to grow, adapt, and evolve.

What change means for people and how it shapes society is explored. Social Studies asks, what happened next? This opens the dialogue between teachers and students, creating conversation about real life that students can touch, feel, smell, and breathe too – enabling teachers to perceive the world as their ākonga might.

Students can investigate and discuss complex ideas and concepts. This might include how cultural expression and status in a community or society can reflect aspects of power, privilege, and cultural dominance, and impacts on minority groups.

Big
Idea

Cultures and identities can change, and this shapes societies

In Social Studies, students bring their own identities, culture, lived experiences, and knowledge. They are enabled, via social inquiry, to apply their own and others’ lenses to social issues and explore the causes and consequences of change.

Social Studies considers identities and cultures in the broadest terms, encouraging wide exploration and understanding, and promoting diversity and inclusion. Culture and identity are closely connected; students examine the relationship between them, and how they are shaped by perspectives and worldviews, beliefs and values, wairuatanga, and religion.

Cultures and identities can change. Cultural interactions – anything from conversations to colonisation – and other social factors (economic, political, religious, technological, environmental) can cause change. Cultural continuity may also result. For example, students can recognise mātauranga Māori and indigenous Pacific knowledges as living systems grounded in the past but continuing to grow, adapt, and evolve.

What change means for people and how it shapes society is explored. Social Studies asks, what happened next? This opens the dialogue between teachers and students, creating conversation about real life that students can touch, feel, smell, and breathe too – enabling teachers to perceive the world as their ākonga might.

Students can investigate and discuss complex ideas and concepts. This might include how cultural expression and status in a community or society can reflect aspects of power, privilege, and cultural dominance, and impacts on minority groups.

Title: Societies are made up of diverse systems and structures, which impact individuals and groups

Big Idea Body:

Societies are developed through a range of diverse systems and structures that have multiple impacts on the lives of people. Students learn about social organisation in the past and present and consider implications and challenges for the future. They develop understanding of place in these societal systems, informed by their own lived experiences.

Decision-making is at the heart of this Big Idea. Students learn how decision-making frameworks determine what roles and responsibilities, rights and obligations people have. In turn, they develop understanding of how these frameworks evolved and are shaped by values and beliefs, ideology, norms, and customs.

This Big Idea can encompass a breadth of systems and structures. Students can examine political, economic, and justice systems. The Big Idea also gives opportunities to explore and compare social, cultural, traditional, and spiritual forms of decision-making systems and structures.

Students develop understanding of the contested and controversial nature of concepts such as ‘rights’ and ‘justice’ in systems, and their relationship with decisions and actions in the past. They can explore how power, privilege, and control in decision-making are central to the impacts on and the different experiences of people. This Big Idea involves a critical examination of the challenges faced by some, such as marginal groups, and barriers to participation.

Learners will consider possible future change in social structures, through understanding, questioning, and critiquing the status quo. They will understand how they may be able to participate to influence decision-making or bring about change, such as through social action, political engagement, or policy processes.

Big
Idea

Societies are made up of diverse systems and structures, which impact individuals and groups

Societies are developed through a range of diverse systems and structures that have multiple impacts on the lives of people. Students learn about social organisation in the past and present and consider implications and challenges for the future. They develop understanding of place in these societal systems, informed by their own lived experiences.

Decision-making is at the heart of this Big Idea. Students learn how decision-making frameworks determine what roles and responsibilities, rights and obligations people have. In turn, they develop understanding of how these frameworks evolved and are shaped by values and beliefs, ideology, norms, and customs.

This Big Idea can encompass a breadth of systems and structures. Students can examine political, economic, and justice systems. The Big Idea also gives opportunities to explore and compare social, cultural, traditional, and spiritual forms of decision-making systems and structures.

Students develop understanding of the contested and controversial nature of concepts such as ‘rights’ and ‘justice’ in systems, and their relationship with decisions and actions in the past. They can explore how power, privilege, and control in decision-making are central to the impacts on and the different experiences of people. This Big Idea involves a critical examination of the challenges faced by some, such as marginal groups, and barriers to participation.

Learners will consider possible future change in social structures, through understanding, questioning, and critiquing the status quo. They will understand how they may be able to participate to influence decision-making or bring about change, such as through social action, political engagement, or policy processes.

Title: Global processes and flows interact and shape society

Big Idea Body:

Global processes, and flows of ideas, people, and media, interact with and shape past and present societies and possible futures. We live in an interconnected world where community, local, and national contexts are shaped by global forces. This Big Idea concerns how global processes interact to impact people, places, and systems.

Students can explore key global social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental processes that shape places and societies in the past and today. Some examples of global processes are: migration, global indigenous movements, trade, industrialisation, and technological innovation. Some examples of global flows are the movement of people, products and ideas.

Students can learn about different impacts and responses, including in relation to people’s identities, cultural practices, and beliefs. For example, the growing diversity of societies and communities due to increased flows of people – and different responses to this growing multiculturalism.

International and globalising processes also interact and shape conversations about what it means to be a global citizen. What can citizens of a nation do to address some global issues, such as international conflicts, climate change, and global pandemics? What are indigenous worldviews on globalisation? How are Māori and Pacific voices heard, seen, and acted on in global processes?

Students will develop skills and understanding in critiquing problem-solving and decision-making at the global level. This could include examining the place of power and cultural dominance, and looking at the ongoing impacts of colonisation. Students will also consider possible futures in specific contexts and envision how that could come about.

Big
Idea

Global processes and flows interact and shape society

Global processes, and flows of ideas, people, and media, interact with and shape past and present societies and possible futures. We live in an interconnected world where community, local, and national contexts are shaped by global forces. This Big Idea concerns how global processes interact to impact people, places, and systems.

Students can explore key global social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental processes that shape places and societies in the past and today. Some examples of global processes are: migration, global indigenous movements, trade, industrialisation, and technological innovation. Some examples of global flows are the movement of people, products and ideas.

Students can learn about different impacts and responses, including in relation to people’s identities, cultural practices, and beliefs. For example, the growing diversity of societies and communities due to increased flows of people – and different responses to this growing multiculturalism.

International and globalising processes also interact and shape conversations about what it means to be a global citizen. What can citizens of a nation do to address some global issues, such as international conflicts, climate change, and global pandemics? What are indigenous worldviews on globalisation? How are Māori and Pacific voices heard, seen, and acted on in global processes?

Students will develop skills and understanding in critiquing problem-solving and decision-making at the global level. This could include examining the place of power and cultural dominance, and looking at the ongoing impacts of colonisation. Students will also consider possible futures in specific contexts and envision how that could come about.

Key Competencies in Social Studies

The New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies align well with key purposes of Social Studies – to equip students to be critically literate, active, and future-facing thinkers and citizens – and are inherent in social inquiry processes.

Thinking

Students of Social Studies will:

  • problem-solve – what do we do about this issue? What are the challenges and possible responses?
  • use inquiry frameworks appropriately
  • engage in critical thinking and analysis – such as evaluating evidence, developing perspective thinking, and making informed decisions
  • think creatively – such as planning, considering personal and group action, considering possible futures
  • interpret a range of resources, making meaning from research.

Using language, symbols and text

Students of Social Studies will:

  • engage with oral, reading, and written language along with visual and audio
  • access and communicate information in a variety of formats
  • develop multiple literacies, for example: digital, popular culture, media
  • use clear, logical writing with supporting evidence, multiple sources, and robust, ethical research skills
  • use diverse knowledges obtained and expressed in different ways
  • learn specific concepts and develop connected, conceptual understanding.

Relating to others

Students of Social Studies will:

  • understand principles of ako, mana whenua, and mana motuhake within kaupapa Māori
  • undertake authentic tasks where they can engage with families and communities
  • engage in social inquiry processes – exploring and understanding values, points of view and perspectives, valuing diversity, acting in a sensitive and ethical matter, and being aware of how their actions may affect others
  • develop empathy, compassion, and respect.

Managing self

Students of Social Studies will:

  • develop increasing responsibility for managing own learning and choice (for example, when using social inquiry frameworks)
  • manage hauora, particularly in the context of challenging social issues
  • gain deep understandings of human society and skills to equip them as citizens
  • reflect on social issues and the (further) action or responses that may be required.

Participating and contributing

Students of Social Studies will:

  • actively engage in their learning and collaborate with others
  • practice active listening and focused dialogue, in a space where presented ideas are questioned and critiqued
  • use their learning in situations that matter to them, and potentially bringing about change
  • engage in talanoa, wānanga, or discussion to develop critical and empathetic thinking as a community of learners.

Key Competencies

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.

The New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies align well with key purposes of Social Studies – to equip students to be critically literate, active, and future-facing thinkers and citizens – and are inherent in social inquiry processes.

Thinking

Students of Social Studies will:

  • problem-solve – what do we do about this issue? What are the challenges and possible responses?
  • use inquiry frameworks appropriately
  • engage in critical thinking and analysis – such as evaluating evidence, developing perspective thinking, and making informed decisions
  • think creatively – such as planning, considering personal and group action, considering possible futures
  • interpret a range of resources, making meaning from research.

Using language, symbols and text

Students of Social Studies will:

  • engage with oral, reading, and written language along with visual and audio
  • access and communicate information in a variety of formats
  • develop multiple literacies, for example: digital, popular culture, media
  • use clear, logical writing with supporting evidence, multiple sources, and robust, ethical research skills
  • use diverse knowledges obtained and expressed in different ways
  • learn specific concepts and develop connected, conceptual understanding.

Relating to others

Students of Social Studies will:

  • understand principles of ako, mana whenua, and mana motuhake within kaupapa Māori
  • undertake authentic tasks where they can engage with families and communities
  • engage in social inquiry processes – exploring and understanding values, points of view and perspectives, valuing diversity, acting in a sensitive and ethical matter, and being aware of how their actions may affect others
  • develop empathy, compassion, and respect.

Managing self

Students of Social Studies will:

  • develop increasing responsibility for managing own learning and choice (for example, when using social inquiry frameworks)
  • manage hauora, particularly in the context of challenging social issues
  • gain deep understandings of human society and skills to equip them as citizens
  • reflect on social issues and the (further) action or responses that may be required.

Participating and contributing

Students of Social Studies will:

  • actively engage in their learning and collaborate with others
  • practice active listening and focused dialogue, in a space where presented ideas are questioned and critiqued
  • use their learning in situations that matter to them, and potentially bringing about change
  • engage in talanoa, wānanga, or discussion to develop critical and empathetic thinking as a community of learners.

Key Competencies

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

Ākonga should be given opportunities to develop connections across subjects, supporting the skills necessary for lifelong learning.

For kaiako of senior social studies this means making connections to the other subjects students are studying. This occurs throughout the cyclic process of teaching as inquiry.

Social studies has natural links between geography, history, religious studies, and economics and vice versa. These links can be used in ways that advantage ākonga understanding both within school and in life beyond.

Ākonga should be given opportunities to develop connections across subjects, supporting the skills necessary for lifelong learning.

For kaiako of senior social studies this means making connections to the other subjects students are studying. This occurs throughout the cyclic process of teaching as inquiry.

Social studies has natural links between geography, history, religious studies, and economics and vice versa. These links can be used in ways that advantage ākonga understanding both within school and in life beyond.

Learning Pathway

Social Studies supports multiple learning and career pathways for ākonga. Ākonga are encouraged to understand how they can connect to, and build on, life outside and beyond school.

At school, the significant research investigations at NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3 build the skills, knowledge, and understanding to prepare students for tertiary education’s highest goal: the creation of new knowledge and the understanding that comes from it.

Later, if ākonga choose to undertake tertiary studies, Social Studies contributes towards a student’s pathway into many courses of higher education. The social inquiry approach to teaching and learning (with emphasis on student directed learning) prepares students to take individual responsibility for, and manage, their learning.

Ākonga with a base in Social Studies can use their existing knowledge to deepen their further study in this discipline towards a career as a social scientist, teacher, researcher, or analyst. Social Studies 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.

Senior social studies has a focus on people, how they live their lives, on their relationships with other people, and the institutions created to order their communities. This understanding of human behaviour is a powerful tool for students to apply in negotiating their future pathways in their social, educational, economic and other worlds.

A significant part of the learning in senior social studies is developing the key competencies which are critical to sustained learning and effective participation in society.

Social Studies supports multiple learning and career pathways for ākonga. Ākonga are encouraged to understand how they can connect to, and build on, life outside and beyond school.

At school, the significant research investigations at NCEA levels 1, 2 and 3 build the skills, knowledge, and understanding to prepare students for tertiary education’s highest goal: the creation of new knowledge and the understanding that comes from it.

Later, if ākonga choose to undertake tertiary studies, Social Studies contributes towards a student’s pathway into many courses of higher education. The social inquiry approach to teaching and learning (with emphasis on student directed learning) prepares students to take individual responsibility for, and manage, their learning.

Ākonga with a base in Social Studies can use their existing knowledge to deepen their further study in this discipline towards a career as a social scientist, teacher, researcher, or analyst. Social Studies 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.

Senior social studies has a focus on people, how they live their lives, on their relationships with other people, and the institutions created to order their communities. This understanding of human behaviour is a powerful tool for students to apply in negotiating their future pathways in their social, educational, economic and other worlds.

A significant part of the learning in senior social studies is developing the key competencies which are critical to sustained learning and effective participation in society.

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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 Social 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.

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 Social 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.

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.

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.

1.1
Conduct a social inquiry to describe the impact of a global flow or process on society

Collection of evidence:

  • Teachers may guide students through the research process and assist in collecting sources and crafting research questions that reflect the social inquiry process. However, the students must decide how these resources are used to answer the inquiry questions and be able to identify the limitations of the sources to meet the requirements of the Standard
  • Templates may 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 media that allows the clear demonstration of meeting the requirements of the Standard. This is particularly pertinent when students have the same topic as a focus of their inquiry.

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
  • It should be clear that the inquiry findings presented have been drawn from the research process. 

Any other relevant advice for this assessment:

The social inquiry process is one that is woven throughout the teaching of senior Social Studies and students should be familiar with this before embarking on this assessment.

1.2
Demonstrate understanding of perspectives on a contemporary social issue

Collection of evidence:

  • Students require access to materials that cover all aspects of the assessment task. These materials may be collected by students or provided by the teacher. Where students collect their materials, it should be carefully monitored to ensure they have chosen materials that cover the scope of the Standard
  • Templates may be provided in assisting students to explore the materials given
  • Information used to answer the assessment tasks could be gathered from a range of sources, including but not limited to interviews with people involved, written articles, and video/audio clips
  • Students should be familiar with the context provided and the requirements of the task. It is not suitable to assess this Standard by using unfamiliar texts
  • The timeframe should allow sufficient time for students to become familiar with the materials used before writing their assessment response.

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
  • Three or more perspectives should be present in the materials provided to allow students to choose different combinations of perspectives to discuss their similarities and differences.

Any other relevant advice for this assessment:

This assessment could be completed in conjunction with the social inquiry (1.1)

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