Matawhenua | Geography – Year 11

Matawhenua | Geography – Year 11–13
Consultation Feedback Summary
Curriculum Design: Key Concerns
Poorly to Somewhat — across purpose, progression, and content framing
Limited purpose statement
Geography's purpose is framed narrowly around environmental management. 
Outdated disciplinary framing
The curriculum reflects 1990s geography rather than 35 years of disciplinary development. Key skills such as maps and navigation are absent. 
Weak sequencing logic
No clear basis for organising the topics across year levels. Climate processes appear at Year 11 but climate change only at Year 13. Year 13 is imbalanced toward geopolitics.
Poorly conceived concepts
The listed concepts do not reflect current research. Geography once had a full list of Māori concepts — now only one remains. "Explain interaction" appears as a heading yet is itself a concept. 
Mātauranga Māori: Hopeful but Additive
Somewhat — inclusion is present but approach is limited
Additive rather than integrated
Mātauranga Māori is included as isolated points within a mandated sequence rather than given equal status. This is a limited form of multicultural education — not indigenisation.
Universalisation concern
The mātauranga Māori represented is overly universal. Greater acknowledgement of iwi differences and the ability for schools to teach mātauranga-a-iwi is needed.
Absent from practices section
Mātauranga Māori does not appear in the practices section. Oral practices of sharing and interpreting geographic knowledge could be specified here to ensure genuine status alongside other disciplinary practices.
The mandated teaching sequence specifies that knowledge statements be taught in order — meaning single points of mātauranga Māori are only encountered where placed, limiting their presence and perceived importance.
Summary
Outdated disciplinary framing
No logical progression across year levels
Skills taught within topics only — broad geographic skills neglected
Poorly conceived concepts and limited Māori representation
Mātauranga Māori included additively, not indigenised
Mandated elements crowd out local curriculum and responsive teaching
The draft Geography curriculum represents a missed opportunity to move beyond 1990s framing into contemporary understandings of the discipline. While climate and some mātauranga Māori have been reintroduced, the overall design — from purpose through to sequencing and practices — does not reflect how geography has developed over the past 35 years. Significant revision is needed to serve diverse learners and contemporary issues.