Introduction
New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) is included in Language and Languages, an essential learning area in The New Zealand Curriculum Framework.
These curriculum guidelines strengthen the following statement:
All students benefit from learning another language from the earliest practicable age. Such learning broadens students’ general language abilities and brings their own language into sharper focus.
The New Zealand Curriculum Framework, page 10
The NZSL curriculum guidelines embody the principles, attitudes, values, and essential skills relevant to the learning and teaching of NZSL and reflect the importance of this language, which is unique to New Zealand.
The strands and goals for Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mo ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa/Early Childhood Curriculum have been woven together in these curriculum guidelines to provide an integrated foundation for every child’s language-learning development. The learning outcomes for early childhood describe what might reasonably be expected for children’s language development towards the end of their early childhood education.
Eight further levels of achievement are then defined for schools to indicate the progression and continuity of learning.
Learners of NZSL, no matter what their age or learning environment, will benefit from curriculum guidelines that place the learner within a range of linguistic and cultural contexts that represent the everyday lives of people in the Deaf community.
New Zealand Sign Language in the New Zealand Curriculum acknowledges that there will be a range of entry points for learners and provides continuity and a clear progression of learning. It sets out specific goals that help learners of the language to become aware of what they have already achieved and what they can aim for in the future. Each starting point aims to meet the individual learner’s needs.
In any early childhood setting, school class, or other learning environment, learners may be working at different levels. Also, an individual might be working at one level in one aspect (learning strand) of the programme and at a different level in another. Teachers need to design their programmes in a way that allows them to accommodate these differences.
New Zealand Sign Language in the New Zealand Curriculum identifies the skills that learners will develop through learning NZSL. It also contributes to expanding the knowledge and competencies that learners gain in other essential learning areas.