The Effects of Technological Change on the Taught Curriculum since the 1980's

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In order to evaluate the effects of technological change on the taught curriculum since the 1980’s we have to unpack some important developments. This essay will focus on the developments of the taught curriculum particularly how it is enacted by teachers, and concurrently the technological changes that have brought about those developments. To do this well, we will need to cover quite a bit of ground concerning the motivations, purposes and effects of curriculum development as a response to technological change. In the grand scope of this essay it will be fairly straight forward to map out the motivations and purposes that have directly influenced the trajectory of curriculum development in New Zealand as these are explicitly set out in the curriculum document. The challenge of this essay will be in the evaluation of the effects of technology on the taught curriculum. The lines of personal opinion and academic discourse could be blurred at this point, but hopefully this awareness means that this won’t be an issue. The ultimate thrust of this essay is to explore the ways in which, whether we are aware of it or not, technology shapes our teaching and instead have our teaching shape technology. Before we can make any claims on the effect of technology on the taught curriculum we have to first look at curriculum development.

Curriculum development in the 1980’s has been referred to as “a decade of documents” by McGee (2001, p. 98). This is a significant decade in the overall scope of curriculum development in New Zealand and the Ministry of Education was driving the change. In the 1980’s there were two reviews and a national curriculum statement. These reviews resulted from the governments set up of a review group. The group was ...

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...nistry of Education. (2007, September 13). Developing the draft: Background. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from The New Zealand Curriculum Online: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Archives/Curriculum-project-archives/Developing-the-draft#Background

NZ Ministry of Education. (2007, October 12). History of Curriculum Development. Retrieved April 13, 2014, from The New Zealand Curriculum Online: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Archives/Curriculum-project-archives/Developing-the-draft/History-of-curriculum-development

NZ Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media Limited.

Reid, M. S. (2000). Towards Effective Technology Education in New Zealand. Journal of Technology Education , 33-47.

Wood, B. E., & Sheehan, M. (2012). Dislodging knowledge? The New Zealand Curriculum in the 21st Century. Pacific-Asian Education , 24 (1), 17-30.

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