Curriculum - Integrated Studies

Background to Integrated Studies at Freyberg High School

The Integrated Studies programme has been a part of a research programme funded and staffed by a joint agreement between IBM, Massey University, the Education Department and Freyberg High School from 1987 to 1989.

In 1987 the project started with sixty five Year 9 students in two integrated classes, and one Year 12 class taking Environmental Studies.
By 1989 there were three Year 9 Integrated Studies classes, three Year 10 Integrated studies classes and one Year 12 class studying Environmental Studies.

Since 1989 Integrated Studies has become an approach to learning for all students in the junior school. In 1990, as a result of the positive outcomes of the research and with the support of both the school and parent community, the programme was fully accepted into the school's charter. An important step was taken in 1991with the move to each Integrated Studies class being taught by the one teacher. This allowed the class to spend seven to eight hours per week with that teacher.

What had become more apparent since 1987, is the ease with which the curriculum can be incorporated into a theme-based curriculum.
For this reason, in 1992 a significant portion of the health programme was integrated into the Integrated Studies syllabus. The Relationships Course was introduced to the Year Nine programme in Term 4.

In 1995 and 1996 the Integrated Studies Department entered into a contract with the Department of Education and the Palmerston North College of Education to trial the draft Social Studies curriculum. This gave an opportunity for those department members participating in the trial to re-evaluate the current programme and to make the necessary changes to bring it into line with both the new draft curriculum and the shift to a four-term year. The involvement in the two trials has meant that units of work could be written to fit the new curriculum and teachers gained understanding of the Social Studies draft documents and the principles of the New Zealand Curriculum Framework.

In 1997 the department undertook its own trial and a team of teachers continued to assess the use of portfolios, develop assessment schedules, and rewrite the Integrated Studies English scheme to bring it in line with the English curriculum document. This work continued in 1998 and 1999 when the department entered into a Curriculum Integration professional development with the Education Research and Development Centre (ERDC). Specifically, the department developed a major Year 10 ‘Technology and Change’ unit in order to integrate aspects of the Technology curriculum into the Integrated Studies programme. This unit has been published on the Ministry of Education’s TKI website.

When the programme was brought into line with the requirements of the new curricula the key themes were maintained, as were the out of class trips and the focus on the use of computers as a student learning tool. A greater emphasis has been placed on the development of students’ information technology skills, including student use of computers, telecommunications, Internet, interactive educational sites, power points, data projectors and databases such as INNZ. It has been necessary to ensure units of work acknowledge bi-culturalism in New Zealand, the place of Pacific Islands communities in New Zealand society and New Zealand’s relationships with the people of Asia, the South Pacific and the Global community.

In 2009 the advent of the new New Zealand Curriculum the planning begins again. Currently all members of the Department are auditing the existing Integrated Studies programme against the new curriculum and making exciting changes using a new planning template which incorporates Values, Principles, Key Competencies and Pedagogies. The process of evaluating programmes never ends.

The department continues to attract attention from educators and other schools both within New Zealand and from overseas.