Ministry of Education Guidance
Implementation of the Technology Curriculum
The Ministry of Education goals for technology education are: to develop seamless quality technology education for all New Zealand students from early childhood, and through years 1-13, as part of students general education; to raise the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning in technology; and to promote a focus on the technology curriculum introductory learning area statement and achievement objectives, to provide consistent and coherent messages for teaching and learning in technology.
The technology curriculum in The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) consists of three strands (Technological Practice, the Nature of Technology and Technological Knowledge) and eight achievement objectives, to support the development of student technological literacy. All three strands of the technology curriculum in The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) work together to set the overall direction for learning in technology.
There is no longer a requirement for schools to provide learning experiences that cover four to six of the seven technological areas that were defined in Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum (1995). Instead, schools will be required to develop coherent learning programmes that reflect a broad range of contexts that draw from and cut across a variety of areas that come from communities of technological practice. Three types of transformations are associated with technology. These are the transformation of energy, information and materials.
To further increase student engagement and gain access to mentoring support networks, schools may also like to incorporate many of the technology related awards and competitions available into their technology programmes. Examples of these include Realise the Dream, CREST, Bright Sparks, the Transpower Neighbourhood Engineers Award, Young Designer Award.
The support material in this package has been provided to aid the development of understandings of the revised technology curriculum and help teachers and curriculum leaders as they implement the technology curriculum in The New Zealand Curriculum (2007). At this stage, additional resource material is available to support teachers in developing programmes and pedagogical strategies focused on the Technological Practice strand. Further research will be undertaken over the next three years to provide further resources for teachers focused on the two additional strands - Nature of Technology and Technological Knowledge. These resources will be available from 2010.
