History curriculum is a 'sanitised view'
The government has released a new social sciences curriculum for Years 0-10. AUT Lecturer in education Christopher Burns gave an expert reaction to the Science Media Centre:
“As a history teacher, I have serious concerns about the presentation of New Zealand history in the new Social Sciences curriculum document. The curriculum provides a sanitised view of New Zealand history and fails to meet the demands of students and other New Zealanders for an honest engagement with our past.
“These concerns are most evident in the content on te Tiriti o Waitangi and the New Zealand Wars. The curriculum presents te Tiriti as a response to concerns about 'lawlessness' but not that it was lawlessness among British settlers. This omission gives the misimpression that pre-European Māori society was 'lawless'.
"Statements in the curriculum also assume that rangatira who signed te Tiriti ceded their existing authority. The section on the New Zealand Wars states that 'conflict grew because Māori and European settlers had different ideas about land, authority, and te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi'. This reduces the government acquisition of Māori land by force to a kind of misunderstanding.
“On the whole, the curriculum is inadequate for supporting young people to critically engage with the world around them.
"Alongside a sanitising of New Zealand history, students learn that discrimination and prejudice occur in other countries or the past, with little scope to explore how our social and political systems in Aotearoa do not always work as intended. For students who experience discrimination in their daily lives such a curriculum risks alienating them from learning and schools.
“Compared to the draft version of the curriculum, the final version has clearer emphasis on conceptual knowledge and some reduction in content. There are still concerns about these aspects of the curriculum, but the improvements are noted.”
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