Introducing Myself

Kia Ora, Malo e Lelei, Talofa Lava, Fakaalofa Lahi Atu, Bula Vinaka and Hello

My name is Scott Mansell and I am a new across - CoL teacher in the Manaiakalani Cluster for 2022. 

First a little about myself. I am married to a wonderful woman (Wendy) and am the father to Liam, who is 12 going on 18. I have been blessed to be the Teacher in Charge of History for Tamaki College since 2012. I love my job and my students

The focus of my new CoL role will be to support teachers and schools with the implementation of the new Histories curriculum. After a student led petition, which was started by Otorohanga College gained 13,000 signatures, was presented to parliament, it was evident that there was a desire to place more emphasis on New Zealand History    In September 2019 it was announced that the teaching of Aotearoa History would be compulsory in all schools from 2022, to be taught from years 1-10. It is expected that schools make a start on the implementation of this curriculum should begin in 2022 with full implementation by 2025. Covid-19 has delayed this by one year.

I believe that this shift towards a prescriptive curriculum is a positive step. Currently, in social science, we have some rather broad Achievement Objectives. For example, at Level 5 of the curriculum, Students need to learn that people move between places and how this has consequences for the people and the places. There is no requirement for this to have any focus on Aotearoa New Zealand. The context could be, for example, Irish migration to the United States. In other words, under the current curriculum framework it is entirely possible that students can graduate secondary school without knowing history that is relevant to them. To quote the draft curriculum document, this is “Learning that can not be left to chance”. It is possible for learners to graduate from secondary school with no real insight into the history of their own country. The stories that are important to modern New Zealand, be it the loss of land following the Treaty and subsequent settlement process, the Spanish Flu epidemic or the Dawn Raids.  

Thus the pivot towards a focus on Aotearoa histories is exciting. I feel that the more educated the population is with regards to their own country, the better they are able to contribute to and participate in society. 

I look forward to working with teachers and learners as we embark on this new and exciting journey.