Knowledge and the New Zealand curriculum ‘refresh’

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the extent to which there has been a shift towards disciplinary knowledge in recently developed curriculum documents in New Zealand and evaluates whether a new ‘Understand, Know, Do’ structure for the curriculum has the potential to facilitate coherent design of teaching programmes and ‘deep learning’. Using a social realist lens, Bernsteinian theories on knowledge structures and recontextualization, and the principles of a Curriculum Design Coherence Model, the analysis identifies instances of both conceptual coherence and epistemic confusion which raises questions about the underlying principles upon which the curriculum documents are being developed.KEYWORDS: disciplinary knowledgecurriculum designsocial realismrecontextualizationcurriculum design coherence model Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. ‘Te Tiriti o Waitangi (in English, the Treaty of Waitangi), New Zealand’s founding document, was meant to be a partnership between Māori and the British Crown. Although it was intended to create unity, different understandings of the treaty, and breaches of it, have caused conflict. From the 1970s the general public gradually came to know more about the treaty, and efforts to honour the treaty and its principles expanded’ (Orange, Citation2023).2. taonga—a treasure, or anything valued by Māori for example the Māori language.3. te reo—the Māori language.4. tikanga—customary practices.5. mātauranga Māori–Māori knowledge.