Curriculum context
Teaching and learning for all students in New Zealand schools, including those with special education needs, takes place within Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and The New Zealand Curriculum.
These curricula are the basis of the IEP process and the criteria for judging the quality of all teaching and learning.
Every aspect of the curriculum, including its vision, principles, values, and key competencies, is important. A key vision is to equip all students to be “confident, connected, actively involved, and lifelong learners” (The New Zealand Curriculum, 2007, page 8)
Through the school working together with its community, whānau, hapū, and iwi, graduates of Māori-medium schools will … reach their full potential … be confident to pursue their own lifelong learning pathways … participate positively in the community … live successful and fulfilling lives. (Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, 2008, pages 2 and 3 of online English version, page 8 of printed te reo version).
“[The IEP process] is about writing students into the New Zealand Curriculum rather than writing students out.”
Principal quote, 2011.