Learning within The New Zealand Curriculum
Values
Values are deeply held beliefs about what is important or desirable. They are expressed through the ways in which people think and act. Every decision relating to curriculum and every interaction that takes place in a school reflects the values of the individuals involved and the collective values of the institution.
(The New Zealand Curriculum, p. 10)
The key values from The New Zealand Curriculum promoted through Road Safe are:
- community and participation for the common good
- integrity, which involves being honest, responsible, and accountable and acting ethically
- to respect themselves, others, and human rights.
Through learning experiences in Road Safe students will learn about:
- their own values and those of others
- different kinds of values, such as moral, social, cultural, aesthetic, and economic values
- the values on which New Zealand’s cultural and institutional traditions are based.
Through learning experiences in Road Safe students will develop their ability to:
- express their own values
- explore, with empathy, the values of others
- discuss disagreements that arise from differences in values and negotiate solutions
- make ethical decisions and act on them.
Key competencies
People use the key competencies to live, learn, work, and contribute as active members of their communities … Opportunities to develop the competencies occur in social contexts. People adopt and adapt practices that they see used and valued by those closest to them, and they make these practices part of their own identity and expertise.
(The New Zealand Curriculum, p. 12)
The key competencies from The New Zealand Curriculum that are most obviously promoted through Road Safe are:
Managing self: “Students who manage themselves are enterprising, resourceful, reliable, and resilient”
Relating to others: “This competency includes the ability to listen actively, recognise different points of view, negotiate, and share ideas. Students who relate well to others ... are aware of how their words and actions affect others”
Participating and contributing: “This competency is about being actively involved in communities. Communities include family, whānau, and school and those based, for example, on a common interest or culture. Students who participate and contribute in communities have a sense of belonging and the confidence to participate within new contexts. They understand the importance of balancing rights, roles, and responsibilities and of contributing to the quality and sustainability of social, cultural, physical, and economic environments."
Establishing a supportive learning environment
Participating in Road Safe both positively influences the class and school environment and is positively influenced by a supportive learning environment.
Learning is inseparable from its social and cultural context. Students learn best when they feel accepted, when they enjoy positive relationships with their fellow students and teachers, and when they are able to be active, visible members of the learning community. Effective teachers foster positive relationships within environments that are caring, inclusive, non-discriminatory, and cohesive. They also build good relationships with the wider school community, working with parents and caregivers as key partners who have unique knowledge of their children and countless opportunities to advance their children’s learning.
(The New Zealand Curriculum, p. 34)
Needs assessment for teachers
It will be helpful, as part of this needs assessment, for teachers to spend some time observing traffic patterns and behaviour outside the school, including the behaviour of students. This may identify some special traffic hazards that your students have to deal with – for example, large trucks that pass the school frequently. It may also identify some unsafe behaviours among students – for example, students who jaywalk across the road.
Needs assessment checklist
| What road safety skills do I need to revise? | Daily This term This year |
| What road safety skills do I need to teach? | Daily This term This year |
| What past road safety learning have students undertaken in a previous class? | |
| What can I observe about the road safety skills of my class? | |
| What road safety skills do families think their children need? | |
| What road safety skills do students think they need? |
Download the table (Word, 27KB)