Navigating the contested terrain of subject English in the New Zealand secondary school curriculum

Abstract

This research investigates subject English’s changing purpose and the complexity of the subject in the secondary school curriculum in New Zealand. The landscape of subject English in New Zealand has undergone substantial changes in the past few decades, particularly with the notable shift from a focus on prescribing specific content in the national curriculum to an emphasis on knowledge that resonates with student experiences. This shift has led to a destabilisation of knowledge within the curriculum, as seen in the 2007 version of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) (Rozas Gòmez, 2020). This thesis highlights the continuing tension between ‘traditionalism’ and ‘progressivism’, specifically focusing on The Refreshed New Zealand Curriculum: Te Mātaiaho (Ministry of Education, 2023b). I employ qualitative directed content analysis as a method through a social realist approach, emphasising the significance of knowledge types and knowledge structures in curricula. I use this theoretical standpoint to explore discourse changes and hypothesise challenges Te Mātaiaho may present for the teaching and learning of subject English. By focusing on the tensions between ‘traditionalism’ and ‘progressivism’ in the context of Te Mātaiaho, the research contributes to the broader discourse on curriculum development and educational reform in New Zealand. There are three significant findings in this thesis: Te Mātaiaho predominately features sociocultural knowledge as opposed to subject-specific knowledge; a process of recontextualisation has created a model of subject English that is aspirational and regulative as it aims to create students who have certain values rather than provide students with academic knowledge (or epistemic knowledge); and the Ministry of Education has given teachers of subject English a complex interpretative task to detect the subject-specific knowledge in Te Mātaiaho which raises concerns about equitable implementation across New Zealand. The findings of this study are expected to provide insights for educators and curriculum developers to inform future strategies for curriculum design and potentially other educational contexts facing similar challenges.