The 'key competencies pathway resources' demonstrate how the key competencies are relevant and accessible to special education students working within level one of the New Zealand Curriculum.
This discussion tool suggests prompts that could be used to give attention to the key competencies in teaching as inquiry.
This tool presents some considerations for discussion about three features of the thematic approach outlined in the Katikati College video.
This tool picks up on the key competencies wall idea as described by the Sylvia Park School team. The 'wall' is not just a place to put up finished work but somewhere to support the development of learners' key competencies.
This tool draws on the Windsor School approach to home learning, which they call 'PRIDE challenges'. It highlights the key features of the challenge, which: differs from traditional homework; reflects the school's vision and values; promotes quality learning; and, is well-regarded by parents.
This discussion tool outlines suggestions for gathering feedback from students, to consider students' perceptions and experiences of teaching and learning.
ICT PD facilitator Tessa Gray looks at the ways in which key competencies can align with e-learning practices online.
The inclusion of key competencies on planning templates is a common strategy used by teachers. This discussion tool highlights some of the benefits and risks of key competency planning templates, and suggests some possibilities for consideration.
Lisa Morresey talks here about her role as curriculum leader and how she approached developing the curriculum at Fairfield Intermediate. The discussion tool highlights the work done to develop their curriculum – a process that reflected a teaching as inquiry approach.
This tool highlights key ideas raised in the Windley School digital story 'sharing understanding about the key competencies' about the use of images to support key competencies. Prompts are provided for thinking about what kinds of images could be helpful, how they could be used, and how they could be captured.
At Mangere Bridge School, teachers develop their thinking about being a learner, and use this to explore students' understanding of how the key competencies work for them. This tool highlights three themes – use of tools, being explicit, and being 'on the way' – that help explain the progress teachers are making, along with considerations for moving forward.
This tool highlights how the framework developed in Helena Baker's Te Kura o Tākaro school community refers to transfer and prompts thinking about transfer in teaching and learning.
Teaching as Inquiry in The New Zealand Curriculum is a model to support teacher inquiry into the teaching-learning relationship. It is useful across the curriculum as a whole, and also to consider teaching and learning in relation to the key competencies in particular.
Use these tools to involve parents and whānau in teaching and learning. The ideas will require adapting to your own students and school contexts.
These discussion tools pick up on an aspect of key competencies (learning conversations, de-privatising practice, and monitoring through noticing) as raised in the Kelburn Normal School digital stories. Additional ideas are outlined for how you could go about trying these strategies in your own context.
These tools support thinking about key competencies in relation to two recently developed Assessment Resource Bank tasks for science. They summarise the task, introduce the main key competency aspects of the existing tasks, and suggest other ideas for how subsequent activities could further strengthen key competencies.
This tool provides questions to consider in thinking about key competencies in English, the arts, health and physical education and learning languages. The questions are not meant to indicate all of the possibilities for key competencies in these areas, but to prompt thinking and generate further questions.
Bringing key competencies into teaching and learning does not mean giving up all of the activities that you have previously used in your programme. It does, though, require us to think about how those activities might be altered or adapted to emphasise key competencies.
The following tool takes one activity example (writing a report about athletics day) and suggests a few ideas for how each of the key competencies might strengthen the activity and make the most of opportunities for learners to develop their competencies.
The tool is aimed at teachers who are beginning to think about key competencies – starting with the learning activities you already know and do.
Think about and discuss the ways in which you have used, or could use, authentic contexts in teaching and learning with your students. This tool prompts you to think about various possibilities for 'contexts' including events, places, activities, and roles.
Events in and beyond the school community can provide students with opportunities to apply their learning in authentic ways that integrate learning across several learning areas.
Contexts can also be authentic in the way that they involve students with groups of people in real places, including the school community and the local, national, and global community.
Many day-to-day activities that occur in schools are potential opportunities for students to develop and strengthen key competencies.
Providing authentic contexts is one thing. Enabling students to carry out authentic roles in those contexts is quite another. Authentic roles are those that serve a real purpose.
