A Different View of the Purpose of Learning: New Zealand – Wellbeing as a Curriculum Foundation

Too often questions about the purpose and direction of learning are confounded by existing building blocks. The most resistant to change being the curriculum content that constrains the scope for change. However many countries are now realising that tying leaning to a redundant set of knowledge and lessons is fundamentally hampering the ability of children to learn independently and set high expectations for their futures.

I’ve previously mentioned Singapore and Finland, both leaders in the OECD tables, abandoning traditional learning models and curricula for a project based learning approach in which the child has more autonomy and agency in determining their learning.

New Zealand has addressed the learning issue from a different angle and have come to some radically different perspectives regarding the purpose of learning for young people.

Tara Porter explores the NZ perspective in this article from the TES: Mental health: Why we should value wellbeing over results | TES

About educationalist04

I'm convinced we can, as a species, do much better than this if we set our minds to being much more positive and productive towards our fellow humans. The solution is learning - creating independent and autonomous learners who can problem solve, innovate and create a better more equitable and sustainable world. My books, Future Proof Your School and Re-Examining Success together with this blog, explore how better learning outcomes for all can be achieved.

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