Histories at Tamaki College

 It was great to catch up with Mr Russel Dunn, Deputy Principal of teaching and learning at Tamaki College, to discuss his vision for the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum (ANZHC) at Tamaki College.

Currently there is no seperate ANZHC at Tamaki College. History is taught within the social studies programme in years 9 and 10 and then becomes an option for NCEA at Years 11, 12 and 13.  However the introduction of this new curriculum does provide an opportunity for colleges such as Tamaki to engage with and critically evaluate stories of our past, particually in a local context. 

Russel was clear that the new ANZHC "Must be given the mana it deserves". This, from my perspective, was great to hear!. Russel was especially excited about the opportunity to embrace the new curriculum with the front half of the NZC. Relating to others, critical thinking and collaberating are all Key Competencies that can be explicitly taught using the contexts within the ANZHC.  

Russel cautioned that as we embark on the journey of embracing the ANZHC we must be mindful of the lense that we are using.  We have to be mindful for instance of the Treaty of Waitangi not just in a historical context but how it remains relevant to all New Zealanders today. 

Thank you Russel for your time - I am excited to see how we can incorporate the new ANZHC into both Tamaki College and the Manaiakalani cluster.