MAHI HAUHAKE REVIEW OF RE L EVANT LITERATURE by Colin Reeder for Kingston Strategic (NZ) Ltd Draft as at April 2005 INTRODUCTION The following selection of readings help set some parameters aimed at shaping the development of the Mataariki curriculum. These readings are authored by contemporary educational theorists, philosophers, researchers and commentators and cover a broad range of education issues including; curricular, education reform, teacher professional development, learning to learn, Matauranga Maori and future schooling models. The common theme which emerges from these readings is that the underlying rationales of the Western education are no longer appropriate for a world which embraces democracy, pluralism, biculturalism and multiculturalism, creativity, technology, the rapid and enormous growth of new knowledge and the Learner as the centre of learning. Moreover, any change requires a new paradigm and a degree of risk taking on part of reformers, educationalists, administrators, communities and care-givers, to better respond to the immense social changes which have taken place leading into the 21st Century. While there has been a steady rise in Maori educational research over recent years, it has been accompanied by strong debate as to what constitues Maori research and how and who should conduct Maori research. Some of the keys issues and themes in respect to Maori education and research are covered below and are generally consistent with current international indigenous educational scholarship and research. Finally, this document remains a draft and is subject to change. The document is continually being added to as relevant material is sourced and the whole document is regularly edited. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Erickson, H. Lynn. ‘Concept based Curriculum and Instruction’ Published by Corwin Press (2002). The author is an independent education consultant and was formerly Director of Curriculum for the U.S. Federal Way Public Schools (1987-1994). She claims the goal of this book is ‘to raise awareness of the differences between topical and concept models of curriculum and instruction, and to provide concept based examples from different school districts around the country’. It highlights the importance of curriculum design aimed at ‘facilitating complex thinking and deeper levels of understanding as an unfolding process’ and ‘using critical content as a tool to understanding key concepts and principles of a discipline, and applying understanding in the context of a complex performance’. Impetus for the interest in ‘standards’ has its origins in the America 2000 Act passed in 1991, itself a response to growing concerns over falling educational standards, and globalization. This has led to the establishment of a number of broad based committees comprising of experts and professionals from across a range of fields tasked with developing standards, which proved invaluable to state and local districts involved in designing their own curricular frameworks. Key to this is the notion that children learn best through ‘performance’, and the author points out higher scoring nations such as Japan and Singapore, which emphasize a curriculum and instruction around the understanding of discipline based concepts and principles. Here, facts and concepts are used as tools to help students develop a deeper understanding enabling them to reduce the number of topics covered; as many topics share the same concepts and conceptual understandings. In the US situation, a greater number of topics are covered, but in less depth. The affect is that time allocated to cover such a wide range of topics inhibits learning in depth, and on puts greater pressure on teachers to cover numerous topics who are already constrained by time. This raises the issue of the packaging of information, which affects student retention and transfer. Research shows that information provided in a problem solving context made ‘rich and extensive use’ of the information. A second affect according to the author is that learners adopted a ‘conceptual lens’. Their thinking was forced ‘meeting challenges’ that required learners to use higher level integrative thought processes. For her, there needs to be a focus on focusing on topics ‘to teach, assess and deeper, conceptual understanding’. Deep knowledge transfers across time and cultures and provides a conceptual structure for thinking about related and new ideas’. Taking thinking beyond the facts to facilitate deep understanding and the transfer of knowledge; Systematically developing a conceptual schema in the brain to handle new information; Meeting higher academic standards related to content knowledge, process abilities and quality performance. Conceptual development is a lifelong development process. It requires understanding a higher level, integrative thinking ability that needs to be taught systematically through all levels of schooling. Integrated thinking is the ability to insightfully draw patterns and connections between related facts, ideas, and examples and to synthesize information at a conceptual level. She argues that well designed curriculum documents can facilitate this teaching / learning process. Erickson attempts to measure this research against national standards. A coherent curriculum holds everything together. It fosters the increasing sophistication in critical content knowledge, conceptual inter relating and complex performance abilities. Thoughtful design is needed to ensure the time of student is maximized. It also means desired outcomes are achieved based on realities of living, learning in the 21st century. The author concludes that schooling is predicated on the interaction of children with curriculum and instruction. Educational change he maintains is based on educators, who themselves are also learners and on the understanding that learning and teaching must change with time. A learner according to Erickson requires sophisticated abilities for the ‘accessing, using, and sharing a growing body of knowledge’. He argues that concept process curricular models are needed for student centered teaching strategies and that research based instructional strategies framed by a concept process structure for 2 curriculum is needed for teachers of the future. Wiles, Jon & Bondi, Joseph. ‘Curriculum Development–A Guide to Practice’ (1998) Prentice Hall. The authors describe curriculum as a plan for learning predicated on a vision of what should be; as well as a structure that translates a vision into experiences for learning. It is a process that necessarily reflects values preferences. Curriculum development is a highly defined and deductive process involving analysis, design implementation and evaluation. The process involves the collation and ordering of information including: social forces, treatment of knowledge, human growth and development, as well learning processes. Critical is the need to match educational experience with the intentions of educational planners providing a clear purpose, as well as goal setting and formulation of objectives aligned to the curriculum content, which in turn focuses on the critical needs of learners and delivers the programme. The authors assert that in the 21st Century new roles of curriculum leadership are required accompanied by a restructuring of schools and new demands of the workplace driven by globalisation and technology. As well, tougher standards and tests will force schools to improve both the curriculum and its delivery. This means new challenges for traditional school leadership, already unable to cope in a climate of increased competition and public scrutiny. The overall affect will be greater responsibility on part of curriculum leaders for dynamic leadership. The authors believe the first decade of the 21st century will present the primary school as we know it with its greatest challenge. Social conditions and new understandings of human growth and development will deamnd changes to programmes and the means of delivery. Such a curriculum must include a variety of learning experiences for an increasingly diverse population of learners. This will provide major challenges for primary educators already affected by changing conditions which influence the ability of pupils to succeed in school. As well, the secondary school of the future will increasingly become a transition school orientated to higher education and the IT industry within a school environment which fosters greater democacy than at present. Zais, Robert S. ‘Curriculum : Principles and Foundations’ Harper Row (1976). Zais examines curriculum development in the US from a historical, social and philosophical perspective, to conclude that curriculum construction has been piecemeal and superficial. The overall affect for schools has been one of fragmentation, imbalance and incoherence. He attributes this phenomenon to: a.) the relative infancy of curriculum development; b.) its complexity involving countless interdependent variables which influence curriculum and; c.) the American temperament to ‘get the job done’. It is the last he claims ignores the need to understand the ‘basis and nature of curricular phenomena’ and ‘the effects of their actions on the total curriculum’. For Zais, the most significant influences on curriculum are external to both the community and education profession such as: Bodies that establish (and or enforce) minimum curriculum standards and compliance; ‘Alternative generators’ – e.g. pool of trained teachers, curriculum materials (cash resources),