Rationale for Religious Studies standards

Nature of Religious Studies standards

The Religious Studies standards have been developed for a diverse Aotearoa New Zealand and need to be able to be used by all schools and all students – by those with a specific religious affiliation as well as by those who have none but wish to acquire knowledge and understanding of religions. This is viewed as important in the context of globalisation and of the migration of people of different faiths and cultures to Aotearoa New Zealand. Understanding religions contributes to understanding how belief systems function in societies and to the fostering of an inclusive society in Aotearoa New Zealand that reflects the histories and traditions of all its people.

It is expected that the contexts used for the learning and assessment activities associated with the standards will relate to the local, national, and global communities of which students are members.

Why has the Ministry not developed Assessment Resources for the standards?

The Ministry has not developed resources relating to individual standards because of the difficulties associated with selecting contexts that would be useful to teachers.

If a context were selected that related to a specific religious faith, the resource would not be engaging for those who did not espouse the faith that was used as the context; and if generic contexts were used, they would be very abstract and therefore unlikely to be engaging.

It suggested that schools work together to discuss teaching learning and assessment matters, and collaborate on developing assessment resources.