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Draft curriculum content

This page is based on the draft Year 9 content for Social Sciences, which is currently open for feedback. Schools are not required to implement changes until the consultation process is confirmed.

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Consultation for Year 0 to 10 draft curriculum content

The Social Sciences help students understand how people live together, make decisions, and shape communities so they can participate thoughtfully in society. In Years 9 and 10, students build upon their prior learning and engage with complex contexts related to political ideologies, governance systems, and human rights frameworks. In Year 9, these include:

  • History: World War One and its aftermath and change in New Zealand from 1840–1914, 1914–1920, and 1920–2000
  • Civics and Society: New Zealand’s government
  • Geography: migration, coasts, and urban challenges
  • Economic Activity: the global economy and how people make financial ecisions.

History#

Ideas to help at home

With your child, you could:

  • discuss the push and pull factors that led to your family and/or other families’ arrival in the area
  • discuss how land use in your area has changed over time and how this has affected the people who lived there in the past and those who live there now
  • discuss how Māori were disadvantaged by settler activity in your area, for example, through land confiscations, blockading of Māori-owned ports, or the New Zealand Wars
  • discuss the impact of World War One and its aftermath on your area and/or family
  • explore the ways the changes in New Zealand since the 1920s have affected your family and community, for example, land rights activism, Māori language revival, social welfare, Māori urbanisation, and second-wave feminism.

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on World War One, its aftermath and on change in New Zealand in 3 eras: 1840–1914, 1914–1920, and 1920–2000. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

  • compare the experiences of various groups of immigrants, considering ‘push’ ‘pull’ factors, like war and educational opportunities, and the impact of discrimination
  • examine changes in land use and economic activity, for example, how iwi and hapū adapted to new economic opportunities and later damage to the Māori economy through the loss of fertile land
  • describe the causes, key events, and consequences of the New Zealand Wars (1845–1872), for example, the impact on Māori-Crown relations
  • consider a range of issues and perspectives around New Zealand’s participation in World War One, for example, conscription, the meaning of Gallipoli and ANZAC Day, soldiers’ experiences, and women’s roles
  • outline how New Zealand changed and stayed the same during the 20th century, and who shaped that change, for example, the development of the welfare state, moving from colony to nation, the impact of protest movements, social and economic changes, and the rise of global trade.

Civics and Society#

Ideas to help at home

With your child, you could:

  • explore a new piece of legislation that interests them, following it from introduction, first and second readings, committees, submissions, and final readings
  • discuss the ways people can influence law-making from inside and outside parliament, including bills, making submissions, public campaigns
  • discuss how a government forms after an election, and the roles of different people, including your local MPs
  • explore various ways leadership is shown in New Zealand, for example, the Kīngitanga.

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on the New Zealand government. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

  • compare New Zealand’s political structure with a different type of government, for example, the United States' federal system
  • demonstrate how a recent new law came to be passed
  • describe the structure of New Zealand’s government, focusing on:
    • how a government is formed and maintained
    • the role of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
    • the role of the official opposition
  • compare the structure and responsibilities of city, district, and regional councils, highlighting how their decisions affect daily life, for example, parks, libraries, water, transport
  • explain why and how people can participate in local government, for example, by attending meetings, taking part in elections and consultation processes
  • investigate the formation of the Kīngitanga Movement | Māori monarchy and its kaupapa of kotahitanga and mana motuhake.

Geography#

Ideas to help at home

With your child, you could:

  • look at old family photos or heirlooms and talk about where your whānau | family or ancestors came from, why they moved, and how this affected their lives
  • imagine your family lives on a coastline that’s eroding and list the pros and cons of staying and protecting the house, or moving away.

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on the impact of migration, coasts, and urban challenges. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

  • interpret quantitative data, for example, population pyramids, census data, to identify population trends
  • interpret qualitative data, for example, testimonies, photographs, to understand people’s experiences of migration
  • present a case study of a New Zealand example of migration and settlement, examining the push and pull factors that drove it and its impact on the people and places involved
  • explain how waves erode or deposit material to create distinctive landforms at the coast, for example, headlands, bays, caves
  • conduct a case study of coastal management in which they:
    • identify threats to the coast, for example, erosion, flooding
    • describe and evaluate strategies for managing threats, for example, sea walls, dune regeneration, managed retreat
  • analyse data about the challenges of urbanisation in different places around the world and investigate and evaluate the success of:
    • an initiative to improve an informal settlement in a developing nation
    • a sustainable urban initiative in New Zealand.

Economic Activity#

Ideas to help at home

With your child, you could:

  • talk about what New Zealand imports and exports and why, and then ask your child what they think would happen if one of our major trading partners stopped trading with us
  • make a household safety checklist called 'How we protect ourselves online', and add one rule you all agree on to help avoid online scams
  • create a financial plan to reach a financial goal and talk about how it feels to work towards purchasing something instead of buying it straight away.

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on understanding the global economy and how people make financial decisions. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

  • explore how indicators like GDP and life expectancy are used to classify countries into different levels of economic development, low-income, lower middle-income, upper middle-income, or high-income
  • explain the challenges countries may face in transitioning between different stages of economic development, such as having to pay high tariffs
  • use maps, statistics, and graphs to report on New Zealand’s place in the global economy, for example, what we export and import and who we trade with
  • examine factors that impact people’s spending decisions, such as friends, peers, advertising, and the manageability of debt, for example, interest, rate of repayment
  • identify examples of scams, what they are trying to achieve, and how people can protect themselves
  • understand the purpose of a financial plan and create and monitor a simple financial plan.