Learning for life and work
Good learning programmes provide ākonga with clear pathways to further education and employment. This can improve ākonga retention in education and encourage them into career pathways they are passionate about.
When designing your learning programme, think about how they:
- build on the vision and principles of The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
- have contexts that meet the needs and interests of your ākonga while increasing awareness of where those interests could lead to in work and life
- support the development of the key competencies valued in the workplace
- incorporate sound teaching and learning delivery approaches
- make connections to other areas of learning and ākonga experiences.
Principles underpinning programme design
The following three principles underpin the Vocational Pathways programme design and are aligned with those of The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.
Principle 1: Learning programmes’ design and delivery are ākonga-centred
Educators:
- make connections to ākonga experiences and build on what ākonga already know
- create supportive learning environments for ākonga that are caring, inclusive, non-discriminatory and cohesive
- explicitly plan approaches to teaching, learning and assessment | aromatawai that are valid and fair
- explicitly assess the literacy, language and numeracy needs of all ākonga, providing appropriate and relevant support through all course delivery and assessment
- proactively ensure pastoral care for ākonga is planned for and available.
Principle 2: Learning programmes consist of a coherent set of knowledge and skills
Educators:
- use Vocational Pathways to develop programmes that are educationally coherent and robust, and situated within a broad industry pathway
- deliver programmes that provide ākonga with a coherent body of general and specialist knowledge and skills, practices, and competencies in an engaging manner
- assess general and specialist knowledge and skills, practices, and competencies through a range of assessment approaches
- where appropriate, plan partnerships (e.g. with tertiary education providers, employers, Iwi, hapu and communities) that provide complementary learning
- support the development of generic and transferable competencies through embedding opportunities for ākonga to practice and reflect on these.
Principle 3: Learning programmes lead to New Zealand qualifications
Educators:
- situate their programmes within a learning pathway that is transparent to the ākonga, has clear and achievable next steps to further study or employment, and includes genuine progression links to further qualifications
- demonstrate that the qualifications they offer are recognised across New Zealand.