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Curriculum
Update, delivered direct to schools once each term, outlines recent
projects to support teaching and learning, together with information
from current research that could be valuable to schools in their pursuit
of excellence in teaching. This issue looks at Learning Experiences
Outside The Classroom (LEOTC).
Index
Learning
Experiences Outside The Classroom
New LEOTC ICT/Environmental
National Projects
Globe
LEARNZ
National Waterways
Technology
The New Arts
Curriculum
Drama
Dance
Art Galleries
and Museums
LEOTC Providers
- July 2001
Learning
Experiences Outside The Classroom (LEOTC)
Learning Experiences Outside the Classroom provide students in New Zealand
schools with interactive, curriculum-based programmes that enhance their
learning. By term 3 2001, sixty providers – including museums,
historic parks, zoos, art galleries, arts organisations, and science
centres – will be offering stimulating and challenging programmes
to students on behalf of the Ministry of Education. The Ministry seeks
to ensure that LEOTC programmes are accessible to students in as many
areas of New Zealand as possible.
LEOTC provides learning opportunities that are not available in the
wider school environment and adds value, in a cost-effective way, to
a school's curriculum delivery. The learning experiences also enhance
and enrich a teacher's own curriculum delivery.
The programmes are centred on local, regional, and national resources,
with lessons and activities planned to meet the specific learning needs
of the participating students. In a number of cases, consultation with
local iwi focuses programmes on aspects of tikanga relevant to the LEOTC
context in order to address the needs of Māori in immersion and
mainstream education.
LEOTC educators and support staff are passionate about their particular
areas of expertise. They bring the curriculum alive for students with
hands-on investigation, explanations, and expert teaching. Principals,
boards of trustees, and teachers recognise the importance of all these
contributing factors when making decisions about their school's
participation in LEOTC programmes and the associated commitment of time
and resources.
Schools are encouraged to book well ahead because the programmes are
in high demand. Many providers offer professionally developed materials
prior to the visit, which teachers can then incorporate into their planning
and pre-visit activities. The contact details for all providers are
set out on [the back page].
The programmes offered are really geared for our
school and tailored to meet the needs of various age groups –
the children come back buzzing with the ideas they have learned.
David Bilderbeck, Principal, Urenui School, Taranaki |
The visit was brilliant for our year 3 – 5
children. The whole programme was hands-on and geared exactly to the
age group. The class is still talking about the experience.
Mary Harrison, Senior Teacher, Russley School, Christchurch |
An absolutely awesome programme. It was so well
set up following our meeting with the museum teacher … we were
all involved with the planning and shared ownership of the programme.
It was all so appropriate to our children.
Robyn Guy, Teacher, Kokopu School, Whangarei |
The museum education programme is
very important to us and provides aspects of our programme that we
couldn't possibly do at school.
Andy Nicolson, Principal, St Mary's School, Gisborne |
Curriculum Update outlines recent curriculum developments that support
teaching and learning.
New LEOTC ICT/Environmental
National Projects
In 1999, three new national projects were selected to provide LEOTC
opportunities for primary, intermediate, and secondary school students:
- GLOBE
- LEARNZ
- National Waterways.
All three projects relate to the publication Guidelines for Environmental
Education in New Zealand Schools and make use of information and communication
technology.
Globe
Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE)
is a worldwide network of students, teachers, and scientists working
together to study and understand the global environment. It is implemented
internationally through bilateral arrangements between the United States
government and the governments of partner nations. It was initiated
in the United States in 1994 by the then Vice-President, Al Gore.
New Zealand's participation in the GLOBE programme was formalised
on 29 February 2000, at a ceremony at Hutt Intermediate School, when
the Minister of Education, Trevor Mallard, signed an arrangement with
the then Ambassador of the United States, Carol Moseley Braun.
GLOBE provides interactive experiences aimed at improving student achievement
in science, social studies, and mathematics whilst increasing skills
in information and communication technology.
Students participating in GLOBE undertake scientific and environmental
research and have opportunities to record, access, and use up-to-date
scientific data. In their local environments, the students take measurements
in the four protocol categories: weather, water, soils, and land cover.
This data is then made available to schools, through the GLOBE website,
for use in a wide range of topics, projects, and classroom activities.
There are now hundreds of thousands of GLOBE students in over 9000 schools
in more than ninety countries. By bringing together these students,
their teachers, and scientists from around the world, the project also
has the potential to enhance international environmental awareness.
Last year, the Ministry of Education contracted the University of Waikato
School of Education to facilitate this international project in New
Zealand for a two and a half year period. Under the GLOBE programme,
participating teachers are trained in the correct protocols for taking
the environmental measurements. They are also instructed in the use
of the GLOBE website – how to log data and use the facilities of
the site to extract data for project and research work. A feature of
a preliminary training workshop for teachers, held at Lake kataina,
was a hui investigating and identifying local and national environmental
issues from different perspectives, including those of local kaumàtua.
The GLOBE programme will be introduced nationwide during 2001 and 2002,
with workshops for teachers being held in both the North and South Islands.
(See the Education Gazette Vol. 80, No. 5, 2 April 2001, page 17 for
details.)
You can visit GLOBE online at www.globe.gov
to find the latest details on New Zealand school participation. A New
Zealand-based GLOBE website is also being developed.
LEARNZ
LEARNZ began in 1995 as an education programme making use of the great
stories from New Zealand's Antarctic science research. The LEARNZ
acronym was based on the initial focus – Linking Education and
Antarctic Research in New Zealand – but the name LEARNZ has been
retained as the programme has extended its areas of scientific research
beyond Antarctica.
From 1995 to 1998, LEARNZ developed the concept of the virtual field
trip: "taking" students on learning adventures to the Dry
Valleys, the Antarctic coast, and the Ross Sea in the depths of an Antarctic
winter on board a research ice-breaker.
Since 1999, LEARNZ, in partnership with the New Zealand Department of
Conservation, has adopted a theme of World Heritage. LEARNZ99 introduced
Fiordland's Secrets and, in 2000, LEARNZ2K introduced Ngā
Taonga o Tongariro: The Treasures of Tongariro.
Excellent! The children's mind-mapping skills have skyrocketed.
The kit that came back with our class ambassador was awesome!
Lisa Wilson, Teacher, Brightwater School |
This year's kit was stunning. I was surprised at how all three
boys enjoyed this. A very real and incredibly positive learning experience.
Jane Ellis, Ellis Home School |
My students are year 7 and 8 and the programme was at exactly the
right level. Student note-taking skills developed amazingly. Thanks
for this awesome programme that you have put together. We're
looking forward to the next one!
Sue Stimpson, Teacher, Marotiri School |
Absolutely wonderful! To be able to speak with Jeff and his guests
"live" was a real buzz for the kids. Make sure you have
more programmes of the same calibre. Congratulations!
George Maskill, Teacher, Karoro School |
The components in each LEARNZ programme include:
- a teacher resource kit;
- two virtual field trips, which "take" students to unique
locations and allow them to participate in research;
- a website;
- a discussion board, which enables students to ask questions and
have them answered;
- an audio-conferencing programme, which is used in conjunction with
the website and enables students to interact directly with the LEARNZ
teacher.
Classes can also send an "ambassador" to travel with the LEARNZ
teacher. The ambassadors have their own websites and report back daily
to their class by email.
LEARNZ is increasingly being recognised as a professional development
resource for teachers. With its combination of rich learning contexts,
stimulating learning opportunities, and user-friendly technical support,
it builds teacher confidence and helps overcome any uncertainties a
teacher might have about working online.
LEARNZ2001 is aimed at levels 2 to 4 of the curriculum, with a focus
on science, social studies, and technology. A bilingual aspect is being
developed that will provide material in Te Reo Māori. This year,
schools have the opportunity to travel with the LEARNZ teacher on an
Island Odyssey, visiting the mainland "conservation island"
of Rotoiti (the Nelson Lakes area) and the offshore islands of Tiritiri
Matangi and Great Barrier.
Participants in the Rotoiti programme (term 2) study:
- a honeydew beech forest ecosystem and the wildlife that it supports;
- giant snails, falcons, and predator control;
- the creation and formation of the Rotoiti area.
Participants in the Great Barrier Island and Tiritiri Matangi programme
(term 4) study:
- the connections between people and the environment;
- marine reserves;
- the chevron skink, black petrel, hihi, and kākako;
- historical aspects, including local iwi, early settlers, kauri
logging, whaling, and lighthouses;
- offshore islands and predator control.
Classes participate in a virtual field trip using classroom tools such
as a computer and telephone. The LEARNZ website provides background
material and activities to prepare students for the field trip. The
students are then able to follow the daily diary, view the photo gallery,
ask and answer questions in a discussion room, enjoy the "for kids"
section, and talk via audio conferences with the LEARNZ teacher and
Department of Conservation (DOC) staff as they carry out conservation
work in the field.
Participating schools are encouraged to adopt an island in their local
area as part of a conservation study. LEARNZ2001 will also link to DOC's
Conservation Week programme in August.
Full participation in LEARNZ is available to schools that register ($65
this year), and the online learning materials are available free to
all schools to download as they wish.
The Ministry of Education contracts Heurisko Limited to provide the
LEARNZ programme to participating schools. You can obtain further information
by visiting the LEARNZ website at www.learnz.org.nz/2001/index.htm
National
Waterways
This nationwide project provides primary and secondary students with
opportunities to be involved in the monitoring of their local rivers
and other fresh waterways. It teaches them the importance of maintaining
waterways in pristine condition and encourages them to take responsibility
for their own environment.
The context of waterways integrates a number of curriculum areas, including
science, social studies, technology, mathematics, and health. Students
learn how to gather, record, interpret, and assess data and how to use
their findings to make wise decisions about the care and use of one
of our most precious commodities – fresh water.
The project is available to schools through a Ministry of Education
contract with the Royal Society of New Zealand, who will co-ordinate
the programme during 2001 and 2002. They offer training for teachers
in planning field trips and gathering data, provide useful resources
(including a website and a database) and can also supply schools with
monitoring kits.
To find out more about the National Waterways Project, visit their website
at http://nwp.rsnz.govt.nz/content/index.htm
Technology
Capital E is a theatre, events, and activities centre for children,
based in Wellington. They offer a technology programme called ONTV in
which school students use the ONTV studio and adjoining classroom in
a half-day module to record the day's news and weather on camera.
Detailed and extensive teaching resources are provided beforehand to
enable teachers to plan lessons based on particular curriculum achievement
objectives.
Students and teachers then work together in the Capital E classroom
to develop the skills and knowledge required to put together a television
production. The students work in teams to meet tight deadlines and take
responsibility for writing, editing, and presenting the news. At the
end of the module, they take away their half-hour news broadcast on
a video to celebrate and share their achievements back at school.
The New Arts Curriculum
The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum embraces the four disciplines
of the arts – dance, drama, music, and the visual arts – and
sees "learning in all four disciplines [as] essential for a comprehensive
education in the arts". This learning includes "developing
an understanding of art forms in relation to the tangata whenua, to
biculturism in New Zealand, and to the multicultural nature of our society
and its traditions" (page 7).
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Drama
In drama, students can participate in Capital E's exciting LEOTC
programme – Theatre for Schools. This programme involves students
in a full theatrical experience. Each show is supported by activities
that offer students insights into theatrical production processes –
acting, production, lighting, costumes, and design. Free teacher support
materials are supplied when a booking is confirmed. These materials
enable teachers to develop class lessons that link the theatre shows
to the arts and other curriculum areas.
Dance
Dance is promoted in the curriculum as "a unique medium for learning
about self and the world" and is regarded as a form of self-expression
that links "the mind, body and emotions," promoting personal
growth (page 19).
Through LEOTC, the Ministry of Education is providing services to extend
ideas in this new curriculum area. Two new providers in the arts are
Dance Aotearoa New Zealand (DANZ) and Footnote Dance.
The DANZ programme offers suggestions for school-based dance activities
and recommends music resources to teachers for dance projects. It also
provides a number of programmes that promote the value of dance in schools.
These include student and teacher workshops and theatre visits to help
students appreciate and celebrate dance. The workshops are intended
to develop teachers' confidence in their ability to implement the
dance curriculum.
Last year, nineteen primary schools throughout the country explored
the theme: let your body do the talking. In workshop sessions, the students
investigated the elements of space and shape and then used their findings
to explore concepts of character. The second part of the workshop, which
was based on the story of Cinderella, involved the students in using
the concepts they had been exploring earlier to create an Ugly Sisters
dance. This was the favourite part of the workshop for many of the students,
particularly as it involved their teachers modelling how to play an
ugly sister!
Footnote Dance has so far taken its programme to schools in Northland,
Auckland, Wellington, and northern areas of the South Island. The programme
offers dance education that promotes curriculum links and builds personal
skills. It encourages students to develop movement through discovery
experience.
Footnote Dance offers a range of options for students, including a popular
two-hour package of performance and workshop participation, with an
emphasis on creativity and composition. Footnote Dance also provides
either a defined repertoire performance programme or a residency (a
week's work in schools) that helps students to appreciate and create
dance as a living part of their day).
Art Galleries and
Museums
When considering an LEOTC experience for their students, many schools
focus on a particular event or exhibition and also choose a locality
that is rich in a variety of learning opportunities in order to maximise
the experience. For example, in March 2001, all six children from Tukemokihi
School, one of the smallest schools in New Zealand, situated 35 km from
Wairoa, visited Wellington. Their trip included a visit to the City
Gallery Wellington for an LEOTC lesson on the exhibition Home and Away:
Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art from the Chartwell Collection.
As well as giving the students a guided tour of the exhibition, the
gallery's education co-ordinator involved them in discussion of the
art works and encouraged them to experiment with drawing and sculpting.
The local Tukemokihi community had raised funds for the students' week-long
trip, which also included visits to Wellington airport, the zoo, Te
Papa, and the Beehive, a trip on the Days Bay ferry, and a visit to
Staglands, a nature reserve. Their teacher, Raelene Bennett, planned
the trip to fit in with the curriculum and commented that it had "given
the children lots of experiences that other children just take for granted."
The LEOTC educators in museums are skilled at adapting topics to suit
students at all ages. For example, the topics for years 1-13 offered
by Canterbury Museum's Discovery Centre include insects, birds, dinosaurs,
volcanoes, Antarctic heroes, and early Christchurch settlers.
Their cultural history programmes include hands-on Māori technology
(where students can use replica tools similar to those used by early
Māori) and harakeke (a study that explores the versatility of flax
and its importance to the Māori). The education programmes are
closely linked to the science, social sciences, and technology curricula,
but the Museum is also able to provide learning opportunities for students
of arts and English who want to study topics in greater depth.
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LEOTC Providers
- July 2001
Contact numbers are for fax unless otherwise stated. Websites are included where
applicable.
National Programmes
DANZ (Dance Aotearoa New Zealand) (04) 382.8461
Website: www.danz.org.nz/
Footnote Dance Company (04) 801 5010
Website: www.footnote.org.nz/
LEARNZ (Heurisko Ltd) (03) 366 5488
Website: www.learnz.org.nz/2001/index.htm
National Science-Technology Roadshow Trust (04) 499 7194
Website: http://www.roadshow.org.nz
National Waterways (Royal Society of New Zealand)
(04) 473 1841
Website: http://nwp.rsnz.govt.nz/content/index.htm
Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission (04) 499 5190
Website: www.tokm.co.nz/
GLOBE (University of Waikato School of Education)
(07) 858 5077
Website: www.globe.gov/
Northland
Waitangi National Trust (09) 402 8303
Whangarei Museum (09) 438 9630
Website: www.zartaj.co.nz/heritagepark/
Auckland Region
Auckland Regional Council (09) 366 2027
Website: www.arc.govt.nz/about/educate/edu.htm
Auckland War Memorial Museum (09) 306 7075
Website: http://www.aucklandMuseum.com
Auckland Zoo (09) 360 3815
Website: www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/education/index.php
te tuhi (09) 577 0139
Website: http://www.tetuhi-themark.org.nz/
Howick Historical Village (09) 576 9708
Website: www.fencible.org.nz/main.htm
Museum of Transport, Technology and Social History (MOTAT)
(09) 846 4242
Website: www.akcity.govt.nz/around/places/motat/
New Zealand National Maritime Museum (09) 377 6000
Website: www.nzmaritime.org/education.htm
Stardome Observatory (09) 625 2394
Website: www.stardome.org.nz
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Central North Island
Bushy Park Homestead and Forest Trust (Wanganui)
(06) 345 6787
Hamilton Zoo (07) 849 0293
Website: www.hamiltoncity.co.nz/hamiltonzoo/
Hawke's Bay Cultural Trust (Napier) (06) 835 2077
Website: www.mysite.xtra.co.nz/~HoltPlanetarium/
Army Memorial Museum (Waiouru) (06) 387 6319
Website: www.army.mil.nz/museum/intro.cfm
Rotorua Museum of Art and History (07) 349 2819
Sarjeant Gallery (Wanganui) (06) 349 0507
Website: www.sarjeant.org.nz/education.htm
Tairàwhiti Museum (Gisborne) (06) 867 2728
Taranaki Museum (New Plymouth) (06) 758 7427
Website: www.taranakimuseum.org.nz
Te Awamutu District Museum (07) 871 4326
The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute
(Rotorua) (07) 348 9045
Website: www.nzmaori.co.nz/
Waikato Museum of Art and History (Hamilton) (07) 838 6571
Website: www.waikatomuseum.org.nz/
Waitomo Caves Museum Society (07) 878 6184
Whanganui Regional Museum Science Centre (06) 347 6512
Website: www.geocities.com/athens/forum/3657
Manawatu and Wairarapa
Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre (06) 375 8004
Website: www.mtbruce.doc.govt.nz/
The Science Centre, Manawatu Museum and Art Gallery
(06) 358 3552
Wellington
Carter Observatory (04) 472 8320
Website: www.carterobs.ac.nz/
Dowse Art Museum (Lower Hutt) (04) 569 5877
Website: www.huttcity.govt.nz/council/services/recreation/dowse/
Capital E (04) 384 8615
Website: www.capitale.org.nz/
City Gallery (04) 801 3096
Website: www.city-gallery.org.nz/html/education.html
Island Bay Marine Education Centre (04) 383-8285
Website: www.islandbay.wellington.net.nz/Environment/mlab/marine.htm
Museum of Wellington City and Sea (04) 496 1949
Website: www.bondstore.co.nz/education.htm
Search – AgResearch Educational Outreach (04) 922.1380
Website: www.agresearch.co.nz/
New Zealand Film Archive (04) 382 9595
Website: www.nzfa.org.nz/education/
Wellington Zoo (04) 389 4577
Website: www.zoo.wcc.govt.nz/
Nelson/Marlborough
Marlborough Historical Society (03) 578 1739
Nelson Provincial Museum (03) 547 9740
Canterbury/Westland
Canterbury Museum (03) 366 5622
Christchurch City Council (03) 371 1987
Website: www.ccc.govt.nz/
Ferrymead Historic Park (03) 384 6492
Website: www.ferrymead.co.nz/
Orana Wildlife Park (03) 359 4330
Website: www.oranawildlifepark.co.nz/
Science Alive! (03) 365 5189
Website: www.sciencealive.co.nz/
Shantytown (West Coast Mechanical and Historical Society)
(03) 762-6649
Website: www.shantytown.co.nz/school.html
Otago
Dunedin City Council Botanic Garden (03) 477 8052
Website:
www.cityofdunedin.com/city/?page=bg_services
Dunedin Public Art Gallery (03) 477 3250
Website: www.cityofdunedin.com/city/?page=sites_dpag
Lakes District Museum (Arrowtown) (03) 442 0835
Website: www.handsonhistory.co.nz/
New Zealand Marine Studies Centre (Portobello) (03) 479 5844
Website:
www.otago.ac.nz/MarineStudies/
New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame (03) 477 7762
Otago Museum and Discovery World (03) 477 5993
Website: www.otagomuseum.govt.nz
Otago Peninsula Trust C/- (03) 479 5844
Otago Settlers Museum (03) 477 8360
Website: www.cityofdunedin.com/city/?page=sites_osm
Port Chalmers Museum 03 472 8233
Southland
Department of Conservation (03) 214 4486
Website: www.doc.govt.nz/local/south.htm
Southland Museum and Art Gallery (03) 218 3872
Website:
www.southlandmuseum.co.nz/
Published 2001 for the Ministry of Education by
Learning Media Limited, Box 3293, Wellington.
www.learningmedia.co.nz
ONTV photographs by Adrian Heke copyright Crown 1999
Photographs not Crown copyright have been used with the permission of
the copyright holders and are acknowledged on each page.
Copyright Crown 2001
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