Health education snapshot 1

• Inquiry rationale 
• Focusing inquiry
• Teacher inquiry
• Achievement objectives
• Assessment links
• Learning inquiry
• Learn more

Inquiry rationale

A culturally responsive approach to course design requires teachers to use a wide range of information about their students to ensure their learning needs and qualification pathway goals are met. Teachers build on existing information about students by engaging them in a range of inquiry processes to help identify relevant and meaningful contexts for learning. This enhances student ownership of the learning programme.

Focusing inquiry

Consider a whole year plan using student data and information to inform programme planning. Structural and timing considerations for other work need to be aligned to this. In order for a teacher to respond to the learning and pathway needs of the diversity (in its widest sense) of students in her class, a year 12 teacher took the following steps to plan her year 12 programme.

Teacher inquiry

The teacher:

• Used a range of data available on the school management system to identify what level the learners were at, for example, NCEA history, literacy data – year 9-10 asTTle data, and NCEA level 1 literacy data.
• Reviewed the students’ study and career pathway goals on the SMS to ensure that programme planning and assessment choices will contribute meaningfully to their qualifications and pathway goals.
• Considered the needs of the learners in relation to level 7 of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). In particular, students studying health education should be able to:
  • explain personal, interpersonal, and societal influences on health and relate these ideas to the relevant determinants of health 
  • describe the relationship between the factors influencing well-being and the short- and long-term outcomes for individuals, groups, and society. 
• Identified, in broad terms, the units of learning needing to be included in a year 12 programme, in preparation for consulting with the students about the contexts for learning to be included across the year, that is, an adolescent health issue, a major change situation, health promotion focus, sexuality and gender, safety in relationships.
• Identified a range of likely resource material (mainly web links that all students can access) and related to these (broadly) identified units of learning.
• Considered last year’s community consultation about the health education programme and recent New Zealand and local community research data (for example, Youth 2007-2012 data) about young people, to identify key issues that could be incorporated in the learning programme.
• Reviewed  a range of NZQA related documents (AS criteria including ENs) and the current assessment specifications for external assessments, and the examiners and moderators reports, to identify planning considerations that might be relevant for the year 12 programme being developed.
• Considered the above in relation to aspects of the New Zealand Curriculum – the vision, principles and values – and how these were expressed as part of whole school curriculum documentation; how these above process linked to understandings of effective pedagogy and the development of the key competencies, and the broader intent of the HPE learning area.   

Finding out about students' existing health education understanding and interests

• Introductory activities: 
  • New Zealand map activity about who/where I’m connected to  
  • profile of themselves  
  • personal writing - 'all about me’, name game, interests – what’s current and topical  
  • what’s ‘in’, what’s current in music, films, youth culture (local, national, international trends)   
  • identifying diverse cultural backgrounds and ways students like to learn.
• Five key things learnt from previous years.
• Task linked to above – 'What are the benefits of learning about Health Education?'
• Scenario based around a current topical issue or a recent news item:
  • determine level of knowledge of underlying concepts 
  • SEP (the personal, interpersonal, and societal aspects of a situation), hauora, strategies for managing self and relationships.
• Consider how progression in health education is developed over the levels. 
• Gaps in knowledge (conceptual) – what do they know about health education, where are the gaps (teacher identifies these based on outcome of activities above).
• What they think and believe about current adolescent issues.
• Instructional guide – framework for what they would want to know as a year 12 student (build this on a PMI focused on the main contexts from years 9–11).
• Teacher also checks student access to, and understanding of, e-learning: 
  • What do they know, for example, design an online survey to find out what the class knows about IT. 
  • What technology and services do students have access to at home and school (as an equity issue and to identify which students may require specific in-school support to gain access to IT required to meet the demands and expectations of their learning programme).
• Key competencies – Identifying what selected key competencies look like to a year 12 student, for example: 
  • How did we ‘reflect on our learning’ as a year 11 health education student? 
  • How do we ‘think critically’ about a situation – how do we know we are thinking critically and what does our learning look like when we have? 
  • What does it mean to ‘manage myself’?
  • What are the expectations of me when I relate to others and participate and contribute – what skills do I use to do that?

Based on the combination of all of the activities above, students and teacher negotiate and co-construct the specific contexts to be included in the learning programme so that there is coverage of what is (culturally) relevant for students as well as sufficient scope and depth of material for level 2 NCEA assessment. 

Structural and timing considerations for the programme 

Before selecting specific curriculum achievement objectives, consider the following:

• What sequence of units will be required to develop students’ conceptual understandings in a logical manner (which units will develop conceptual learning required for subsequent units)?
• What social, cultural, and sporting events on the school calendar are the students involved in that need to be worked around or could be incorporated in the programme?
• What, if any, prerequisites will be required for entry to this course and what are the implications of this decision?
• When are the school’s timetabled exam weeks? When are the final external exams and what will I need to consider when planning the timing of the learning that will contribute to external assessments?
• Which units contain material that will require me to know the students well and therefore come later in the learning programme?
• What is school policy and practice around notification on the timing of internal assessment?
• How do I include the health promotion unit in order to allow sufficient time for planning, implementation, and coincide with other events related to the action?
• What opportunities might exist to engage parents and whānau with aspects of the programme? For example, homework exercises that ask parents about their experiences or for their opinions, putting examples of student work on the school intranet for parents to read and respond to, inviting parents with jobs or roles relevant to learning context to present their knowledge and experiences.  
• How to maximise opportunities for student learning in aspects of the programme where they will need access to IT?  

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Achievement objectives that could be used as a basis to develop learning intentions

• 6A1: Investigate and understand reasons for the choices people make that affect their well-being and explore and evaluate options and consequences.
• 6A3: Demonstrate understanding or responsible behaviours required to ensure that challenges and risks are managed safely in physical and social environments.
• 6A4: Demonstrate an understanding of factors that contribute to personal identity and celebrate individuality and affirm diversity.
• 6C1: Demonstrate an understanding of how individuals and groups affect relationships by influencing people’s behaviour, beliefs, decisions and sense of self-worth.
• 6C3: Plan strategies and demonstrate interpersonal skills to respond to challenging situations appropriately.
• 6D1: Analyse societal influences that shape community health goals and physical activity patterns.
• 6D3: Compare and contrast personal values and practices with policies, rules and laws and investigate how the latter contribute to safety in the school and community.
• 7A1: Assess their health needs and identify strategies to ensure personal well-being across their lifespan.
• 7A3: Analyse the difference between perceived and residual risks in physical and social environments and develop skills and behaviour for managing responsible action.
• 7A4: Critically evaluate societal attitudes, values, and expectations that affect people’s awareness of their personal identity and sense of self-worth in a range of situations.
• 7C1: Analyse the nature and benefits of meaningful interpersonal relationships.
• 7C2: Analyse the beliefs, attitudes and practices that reinforce stereotypes and role expectations, identifying ways in which these shape people’s choices at individual, group and societal levels.
• 7C3: Evaluate information, make informed decisions and use interpersonal skills effectively to manage conflict, competition and change in relationships.
• 7D1: Analyse ways in which events and social organisations promote healthy communities and evaluate the effects they have.
• 7D2: Evaluate school and community initiatives that promote young people’s well-being and develop an action plan to instigate or support these.

Possible assessment links to achievement standards

• AS90971 Take action to enhance an aspect of personal well-being.
• AS91097 Demonstrate understanding of ways in which well-being can change and strategies to support well-being.
• AS90973 Demonstrate understanding of interpersonal skills used to enhance relationships.
• AS91235 Analyse an adolescent health issue.
• AS91236 Evaluate factors that influence people’s ability to manage change.
• AS91237 Take action to enhance an aspect of people’s well-being within the school or wider community.
• AS91238 Analyse an interpersonal issue(s) that places personal safety at risk.

Learning inquiry

Students engage in the planning of their own programme. Some possible achievement objectives and achievement standards are suggested above. However, specific achievement objectives and links to achievement standards that support student learning will be identified based on the result of the focused inquiry. Teachers and students are able to use this snapshot to help with planning for other units of work that contribute to their health education programme. Fundamentally this snapshot must sit alongside other snapshots and units of work in order to understand the ‘process’ required before selecting achievement objectives that align with the learning intent of the other snapshots.

Last updated May 10, 2022

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