It’s who you are and who you get: The chosen curriculum

This article reports on a line of findings that explores how New Zealand secondary teachers teach about inequality as part of the official New Zealand curriculum (NZC) in their respective teaching subjects. This second phase of the study is part of a wider project about how inequality is positioned within NZC. In-service teachers at four large state secondary schools were invited to discuss their knowledge of how inequality is positioned within NZC and to comment on their decision making around its inclusion in their teaching practice. Teacher responses fell into three categories: 1) perceptions of stronger inequality and curriculum alignment within particular subject areas; 2) teachers’ purposeful inclusion of inequality regardless of subject(s) taught; and 3) the hidden curriculum’s central role in teaching and learning about inequality. These findings emphasise the need for further exploration of the tensions between the official and “chosen” curriculum. With curriculum viewed as the means of preparing students for future work and study, this research raises the importance of understanding teachers’ curriculum-based decision making as they serve as critical enablers/gatekeepers to children and young people’s knowledge and capacity building.