Teacher Education as a Fifth Curricular Layer

In his 2012 blog entry, Larry Cuban juxtaposes a conventional view of ‘the curriculum’ with what he considers to be a more accurate representation how things work in their translation from government level policy intent to the classroom. Cuban presents an argument for understanding the curriculum as multi-layered as opposed to the more traditional notion of one homogenous entity which is uniformly and seamlessly enacted from the national policy level, through to its reception by students and its instantiation in testing. His four layered curriculum consists of the intended, official layer, that is the policy layer; the layer that is taught by teachers (the practice layer); the layer that is learned by students; and the fourth ‘tested’ layer. Cuban adds that a crucial factor to consider when examining curricula is the historical context within which all layers of the curriculum are nested. He uses the metaphor of a coral reef to portray the multivalent nature of any historical context.

This chapter examines the Learning Languages strand of the 2007 New Zealand curriculum through the lens of Cuban's four-layered curriculum. Focussing particularly on the attempted integration of intercultural competence into New Zealand language education, it contrasts the intended and official layer of the curriculum strand introduced in 2007, with the taught layer, examined through key evaluation research carried out by the author and colleagues over the ten years following the introduction of the ‘new’ curriculum.