Considerations when planning programmes of learning

Structural and timing considerations

The usual structure for senior history is a sequential three-year programme for levels 6–8 (years 11–13). In a three-year programme, you can revisit and reinforce students’ learning in previous levels or years. Students may, however, begin studying history at year 12 or 13 and may study history for only one or two of the senior years.

Plan balanced history programmes at each level that are flexible enough to challenge continuing students and to support students beginning that year or studying only at that level.

Consider how much time you and your students realistically have once time for exams, sports days, and other school events are accounted for. There should be somewhere between 115 and 120 hours available in the academic year for programmed instruction. Further work out of class time must be balanced against other academic and personal demands on students’ time.

Requirements of an effective senior history programme

The pedagogy section of this guide describes key pedagogical requirements of effective teaching programmes, including:

• a basis of informed judgments about each student’s learning that will help shape and tailor the programme and its delivery
• appropriate instructional strategies
• content that meets the needs and interests of students
• sufficient and varied learning and assessment opportunities.

An effective senior history programme:

• makes the purposes of history explicit
• focuses on in-depth understanding of important concepts relating to those purposes
• builds on pre-existing knowledge and skills, including the key competencies
• emphasises collaborative, disciplined inquiry that investigates important questions in authentic ways (that is, ways that investigations are conducted in the world beyond the school)
• provides extensive scaffolding. (Scaffolding is the teacher’s purposeful use of guidance and support while handing over responsibility to the learner.)

Questions to ask when planning your programme

• Do my plans develop the students’ historical knowledge, skills, and understanding in an organised, systematic, and rigorous way?
• Is there a balance in my programme between overview and depth? Have I provided sufficient in-depth opportunities to enable students to explore key historical issues in detail and to produce significant outcomes?
• What is significant, diverse, engaging, and meaningful for my students about the events, issues, themes, and individuals included in this programme?
• Is my programme exciting, motivating, accessible, challenging, and relevant for each of my students? How does it tap into the cultural knowledge and experience of diverse students?
• Does my programme provide a coherent experience? Will it help my students to make links and connections between different aspects of the past within a broad chronological framework?
• Have I constructed a balanced approach to the local, national, and world dimensions of history?
• Does my plan address the social, cultural, gender-related, religious, and ethnic diversity of societies studied in New Zealand and the wider world?
• Have I included a range of historical perspectives (political, religious, social, cultural, gender-related, aesthetic, economic, technological, and scientific) in my plan?
• Have I built in an expectation of progress in terms of depth, range, scale, and complexity of study?
• Have I made provision to revisit and reinforce concepts in different contexts?
• Are there opportunities for my students to show greater independence with various types and scales of evidence? Do my plans account for the students’ prior and future experiences in history?
• Have I provided opportunities for a wide range of teaching and learning experiences, including visits to museums, galleries, and historical sites?
• Do my students have access to, and the opportunity to work with, a wide and diverse range of historical sources?
• Do my plans encourage students to use information and communication technology (ICT) effectively?
• Do my plans make the most of history’s potential to connect to the wider curriculum, including the key competencies?

These questions are adapted from the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, United kingdom. 

Last updated July 3, 2013

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