NZAEE Guidance for Te Mātaiaho Draft Consultation 2026
This document aims to support teachers, school leaders and environmental educators with the public consultation on the most recent draft Te Mātaiaho curriculum framework, with feedback closing on April 24th, 2026.
Download the Guidance document here
You may also like to watch our recorded webinar from February here: Analysing the Draft Curriculum with an Environmental Education Lens (skip ahead to 14 mins).
It's quite difficult to summarise the information into a format that isn't too overwhelming, but we hope this provides a useful starting point if you haven't already submitted your feedback. It includes all the links you need to access the documents and feedback form.
NZAEE Feedback on Te Mātaiaho Draft
We strongly encourage you to personalise your own feedback, but to help provide guidance we have included a copy of our feedback below. We submitted this using the online form. Many of the questions are optional, but we chose to answer some of them and then added our remaining comments in the Overall Comments box at the end.
Questions for Boards, Principals, Teachers, Communities
You can provide feedback on all sections, or you may want to only provide feedback on a specific section or phase.
8. Does Te Mātaiaho make clear the importance of a knowledge-rich curriculum to achieve equity and excellence (Mātairangi, Mātaitipu, Mātainuku)?
No, we do not feel that Mātairangi, Mātaitipu or Mātainuku, in this version of Te Mātaiaho, make clear how this curriculum will achieve equity or excellence for learners in Aotearoa NZ. Our main concerns include:
- Demotion of the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Mātairangi (changed from being 'central' to 'reflecting')
- Removal of the 2023 Mātaitipu Vision for Young People, as written by young people, is completely unacceptable and shows a lack of respect for young people and the knowledge they need for a complex, uncertain future.
- Mātainuku in this 2025 draft does not include any of the principles from the 2007 NZC (or 2023 draft) and places a higher importance on only some areas of knowledge (literacy and maths). We completely disagree with the removal of the principles, which strongly promoted equity, inclusion, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and high expectations for learners.
9. Does Te Mātaiaho make clear what schools must teach through the design of the learning areas (Mātaiaho)?
Mātaiaho means "weaving learning within and across learning areas" and the 2023 draft included the curriculum Values, Key Competencies and outlined the Understand, Know, Do structure for the learning areas.
This has changed significantly in the current 2025 draft and we do not agree that this design is clear or fit for purpose for schools to use, and definitely does not provide a framework for connecting learning across learning areas.
10. Does Te Mātaiaho make clear how schools and communities develop and deliver teaching and learning programmes that enable all students to access the curriculum and progress in their learning? (Mātaioho, Mātaiahikā)?
No, this version of Te Mātaiaho does not make clear how all students will be able to access the curriculum and progress their learning. We believe this document fails to acknowledge our place in Aotearoa NZ, including a severe lack of focus on upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It does not provide a flexible approach for diverse learners and communities to create learning programmes that are engaging and place-based. We disagree with the token inclusion of Mātaiahikā at the end of the document, as this is not reinforced across the framework and will not be possible with the removal of localised curriculum and partnerships with tangata whenua.
11. Are there are significant omissions or clarifications required to enable a clearer expression of the purpose and intent of Te Mātaiaho?
Yes, there are many omissions and clarifications required, which we will outline in our full feedback included in the "Overall Comments"
12. Overall comments Please give any overall feedback about the NZ Curriculum | Te Mātaiaho.
The New Zealand Association for Environmental Education (NZAEE) comprises individuals, organisations and networks involved in environmental and sustainability education across Aotearoa New Zealand. Our members are teachers and educators, researchers and academics, professional development providers, community action groups, and more. NZAEE’s mission is to connect and inspire educators, ākonga and communities to learn, collaborate and take action for te taiao.
Our feedback is based on careful analysis and comparison of this 2025 draft with two previous curriculum documents: 2007 New Zealand Curriculum and 2023 Draft Te Mātaiaho
We have many concerns about the 2025 draft and feel it is unfit for use in its current form. Our feedback relates to the following key areas that are essential for quality environmental education:
- Integration of Indigenous worldviews and knowledge, which in Aotearoa means upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi and giving equal status to mātauranga Māori.
- Environmental and place-based issues as rich contexts for learning, including knowledge and skills that reflect a future-focused curriculum.
- Student agency and action competence, with young people having multiple opportunities to contribute meaningfully within their school and community.
- Cross-curricular and whole school learning, based on a progression model that is developmentally appropriate.
Below is more detail about each of these key areas and our recommendations for changes.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi
This draft heavily demotes the centrality and importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in multiple ways:
- Purpose wording has changed to ‘reflecting’ rather than ‘give effect to’ or ‘centrality’ of Te Tiriti.
- Vision (Pg 7) does not include any mention of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
- Curriculum Principles are gone (from the 2007 NZC and 2023 draft), which included Te Tiriti o Waitangi and specific references to protecting and providing for te reo Māori, tikanga, mātauranga Māori and authentic connections with whānau, hapū, iwi.
- Inclusion of mātauranga Māori is now optional according to the Purpose (Pg 5)
Recommendation: Uphold your role as Te Tiriti partners and meaningfully include the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi within our national curriculum framework (and all learning areas), as intended in the 2023 Te Mātaiaho document. We cannot address current and future environmental issues without working respectfully and in partnership with Indigenous communities and experts.
Environmental and place-based issues, values, and learning
This draft does not include enough focus on environmental issues or local, place-based learning:
- Nothing specific has been included in the 2025 Vision or Purpose statements, and the Values and Principles from the 2007 NZC (and 2023 Te Mātaiaho) have been removed.
- In this 2025 draft there are only two explicit mentions of sustainability / respect for the environment within the whole framework, on Pg 16 and 21, from a total of 22 pages.
- In comparison, both the 2007 NZC and 2023 Te Mātaiaho documents explicitly include multiple references in the Vision, Purpose, Values, Principles, Mātaiahikā, and Mātaiaho, such as: ‘ecological sustainability’, ‘kaitiaki’, ‘connection’, ‘wellbeing’, ‘respect for place’, ‘biodiversity’, ‘environmental responsibility’. Environmental values and concepts are woven meaningfully through both the 2007 and 2023 documents and within most learning areas in the 2007 NZC.
Recommendation: Reinstate the NZC Values and Principles, and the original intent of Te Mātaiaho 2023, specifically Mātaitipu (young people’s vision), Mātaiahikā, and Mātaiaho (including personal, participatory and planetary value). Ensure that our national curriculum is world-leading in recognising the importance of environmental issues and solutions.
Student vision, agency, choice, participation
This draft does not empower or centre young people:
- Mātaitipu Vision for young people as conceived by young people has been replaced with a vision that does not reflect the ideas, values and issues that are important to our young people.
- Capabilities replacing Key Competencies lacks the inclusion of ‘Participating and Contributing’ with the closest being ‘Problem Solving’. This does not sufficiently address the importance of students taking action to address local and global environmental issues.
Recommendations: Reinstate Mātaitipu Vision for Young People from the 2023 Te Mātaiaho and meaningfully weave this throughout the curriculum framework and all learning areas. Include “Participating and Contributing” as a Capability and ensure that action-based learning is included within the Practices of all learning areas.
Meaningful cross-curricular connections
This draft does not include any specific guidance or frameworks to enable meaningful cross-curricular learning.
- Mātaiaho - weaving learning in and across learning areas, has been changed from the 2023 draft to a section that includes: Learning Pathways, required learning areas, time allocations. Pg 13 states: “schools may also choose to look for opportunities to connect and integrate teaching across learning areas…” but with no supporting framework to enable this suggestion. References are made in Mātaioho about “connecting to prior learning” but this is not explicitly stated as including connections across learning areas
- Te Mātaiaho 2023 draft included explicit structures to support cross-curricular learning includin on Pg 23: “While the learning areas are presented as distinct, this should not limit the ways in which schools structure learning experiences offered to ākonga. All learning should make use of the natural connections that exist between learning areas. The common UKD structure across the learning areas facilitates integration while retaining the integrity of each area.”
- Te Mātaiaho 2023 draft, and the original English and maths learning areas, also included Critical Focus Statements for each phase in the progression model (see Pg 19 of 2023 draft). These were designed to sit across all learning areas and were evidence-based, developmentally appropriate stages to guide and connect curriculum planning.
Recommendation: Honour the original intent of Mātaiaho - weaving learning in and across learning areas, from the 2023 Te Mataiaho, including reinstating the critical focus statements (as stated on Pg 19, 2023 Te Mātaiaho) to ensure meaningful, developmentally appropriate and cross-curricular learning for each learning phase.
