Ministry of Education Guidance
Recommendations for All Teachers
When developing implementation plans for technology it is recommended that you consider the following:
- All three strands of technology should be incorporated into comprehensive school technology programmes;
- Technology programmes should provide a coherent structure across time. It is expected that within a learning programme individual units of work would be developed to ensure there is adequate opportunity for students to progress their learning across all eight achievement objectives over time and therefore provide students with a comprehensive education in technology;
- Teaching and learning experiences should be planned to ensure contexts for learning provide robust multilevel learning opportunities related to the selected achievement objective/s. No single teaching unit is expected to focus on all eight achievement objectives;
- The Teacher Guidance within the Indicators of Progression for each achievement objective should be used to support the planning and implementation of learning experiences;
- The student Indicators within the Indicators of Progression for each achievement objective should be used to support diagnostic, formative and summative assessment to support student progression; and
- Assessing and reporting student achievement should be focussed on the achievement objectives and as students move from one programme of technology to another, all achievement objectives should be reported on.
To support the vision for seamless quality technology education, it is essential that technology teachers in early childhood centres and primary, intermediate and secondary schools have an understanding of technology education and what progression in technology learning looks like.
Working from the technology curriculum in The New Zealand Curriculum, student achievement can be enhanced by effective pedagogical strategies (including formative assessment strategies) and these should be guided by the achievement objectives and their associated teacher guidance and indicators. Data providing evidence of individual student achievement can be recorded and provided to subsequent teachers to ensure 'next step learning' is effectively communicated across different learning sites. This will help remove barriers that often exist at transition points and support seamless technology education. This in turn provides opportunity for all students to develop a fundamental level of technological literacy through their compulsory schooling that will help them participate fully in a technological society. This technological literacy will also support students to continue in senior secondary courses, progressing their understandings of and in technology, and improving their performance in NCEA technology achievement standards.
Years 1- 6 It is recommended that teachers consider:
- Ensuring links are made to entry and destination programmes and develop reporting mechanisms to communicate progress data that supports seamless learning for students;
- Planning programmes with the aim of ensuring all students are working at a minimum of level 3 of The New Zealand Curriculum by the end of year 6;
- Drawing from their existing pedagogical strengths to ensure they provide technology learning experiences that focus on progressing student learning in technology; and seek to increase their pedagogical content knowledge in technology;
- Developing their own knowledge and skills related to all eight achievement objectives of the technology curriculum in ways that can support a broad range of contexts;
- Working with their local community to access available resources and expertise;
- Plan technology learning experiences that provide authentic contexts which allow for the development of key competencies and for supporting values education;
- Planning technology learning experiences that enhance student general literacy and numeracy; and
- Planning to use technology contexts that encourage links to be made with other learning areas.
Years 7- 8 It is recommended that teachers consider:
- Ensuring links are made to entry and destination programmes and develop reporting mechanisms to communicate progress data that supports seamless learning for students;
- Planning programmes with the aim of ensuring all students are working at a minimum of level 4 of The New Zealand Curriculum by the end of year 8;
- Drawing from and expand their existing knowledge and skills to ensure provision of quality learning experiences for students in keeping with all eight achievement objectives and allow for a broad range of contexts;
- Developing their pedagogical strategies to ensure effective use is made of specialist equipment, resources and facilities in ways that support progression based learning for students in technology;
- Plan technology learning experiences that provide authentic contexts which allow for the development of key competencies and for supporting values education;
- Planning technology learning experiences that enhance student general literacy and numeracy;
- Increasing links between specialist technology and generalist classroom teachers to enhance programme planning and encourage links to other learning areas; and
- Making clear links for their students to technology related careers.
Years 9- 10: It is recommended that teachers consider:
- Ensuring links are made to entry and destination programmes and develop reporting mechanisms to communicate progress data that supports seamless learning for students;
- Planning programmes with the aim of ensuring all students are working at a minimum of level 5 of The New Zealand Curriculum by the end of year 10;
- Drawing from and expanding their existing knowledge and skills to ensure they provide quality learning experiences for students that are in keeping with all eight achievement objectives and allowing for a broad range of contexts;
- Developing their pedagogical strategies to ensure effective use is made of specialist equipment, resources and facilities to support progression based learning for students in technology;
- Working alongside other technology teachers within department or faculty to ensure coherency between learning experiences and coverage of a broad range of contexts as part of year 9 and 10 compulsory technology programmes;
- Planning technology learning experiences that provide authentic contexts which allow for the development of key competencies and for supporting values education;
- Planning technology learning experiences to enhance student general literacy and numeracy; and
- Making clear links for students to technology related careers, and support students in their future learning and/or career pathway planning.
Senior Secondary Courses: It is recommended that teachers consider:
- Planning initial courses in technology that are flexible enough to meet student interest across a range of technologies, develop student capability, and allow students a broad base for a range of choices in the future;
- Providing students with the opportunity to progress to Level 6 of The New Zealand Curriculum and gain Level 1 technology achievement standards;
- Recognising some students may benefit from initial technology courses running over two years in order to progress to curriculum Level 6 and gain NCEA Level 1 technology achievement standards. ;
- Providing students in subsequent courses with the opportunity to progress to Level 7 and/or 8 of The New Zealand Curriculum and gain NCEA Level 2 and/or 3 technology achievement standards respectively;
- Considering offering opportunity for students to gain additional technology related national certificates at NQF Level 1, 2 and/or 3 through technology courses from other providers such as ITO's;
- Drawing from and expanding their existing knowledge and skills to ensure they provide quality learning experiences for students that support achievement at levels 6, 7 and 8 of The New Zealand Curriculum;
- Drawing from and expanding their existing specialist knowledge and skills to ensure they provide quality learning experiences for students to support achievement within or across the four specialist categories of technology;
- Working alongside teachers from other learning areas to ensure students' overall programmes are complementary, and that opportunities for cross curricula learning are maximised. For example, a chemistry course could be taken that supports students doing food technology;
- Ensuring up to date understanding of requirements/desires of relevant industry and tertiary organizations that optimize future pathways for students;
- Making clear links for students to technology related careers and supporting students in exploring future education opportunities and/or career pathways; and
- Using mentors from communities of technological practice and encouraging students to work with real clients as appropriate.
For further explanation of the ideas presented in this paper, please refer to relevant sections contained in the Technology Curriculum Support package.
