THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY CURRICULUM CHANGE

The aim of this paper is to provide an introduction to the broad field of curriculum change, with the focus being on school curriculum. The first part of the paper provides a brief overview of curriculum change in New Zealand at the national level. In the early years of a state system of schooling, curriculum revision was highly centralised, giving way in recent decades to a wider involvement of stakeholders. The second part examines how national curriculum implementation in schools involves input from the state and schools; in particular, reference is made to a greater emphasis upon school-based curriculum development. It is argued that to achieve greater teacher involvement in school-level decisions, ongoing professional development of teachers is necessary. New Zealand was one of the first countries to legislate for compulsory schooling. In the 1870s the new state system began with a national curriculum under which all children were to be provided with broadly similar educational experiences no matter where they lived or what their circumstances were. The principle of educational opportunity for all underpinned the philosophy and policy and has been important ever since. A national curriculum provided a general education and the state provided resources to support curriculum implementation. Standards of teaching and learning could be monitored. Change of schools when families moved was less disruptive. This first curriculum was written by a few men who were inspectors of schools and was heavily influenced by the curriculum of Britain. It contained traditional academic subjects and others that were to broaden the educational experiences in subjects like vocal music and sewing, needlework and domestic economy for girls (Ewing, 1970). For well over a century, then, New Zealand teachers have been accustomed to teaching from a national curriculum produced by the state. This first curriculum document of 1877 was prescriptive, describing in detail the content to be taught in every subject. Evidence suggests that teachers were expected to follow these prescriptions, and school inspections ensured that there was little deviation from a top-down presentational style of teaching (Ewing, 1970). Students had to pass their academic work to advance to the next standard of the primary school. Few students undertook post-primary schooling.