Clarification details
Updated December 2020. The sections ‘Developing focus questions’, ‘Points of view, values and perspectives’, and ‘Reflecting on and evaluating the understandings’ have been updated to address new issues that have arisen from moderation.
The purpose of clarifications
We create clarification documents to help people understand the current requirements of achievement standards. Clarifications do not introduce new criteria, change the intent of the standard, or change what we expect from assessment.
These documents unpack and explain the language and intent of the standard so people interpret and apply the standard consistently. We provide examples or guidance as illustrations only. They are not prescriptions or requirements.
For official requirements, always refer to the current version of the achievement standard as published by NZQA.
Developing focus questions
Students need to develop at least two questions that will determine the focus of the inquiry. While the final questions should be a product of the student’s own work, teachers may guide students during this part of the inquiry process.
Collected material
Collected material should be relevant to the focus of the inquiry and come from a range of both primary and secondary sources. A primary source means original material that is collected first-hand and is usually unedited, such as interviews, news reports, blogs, etc., whereas a secondary source means material that others have collected, such as books, feature articles in newspapers, etc.
Points of view, values and perspectives
A document clarifying the requirements of ‘Points of view, values and perspectives’ for all internal Social Studies standards at levels 2 and 3 can be found below.
Clarification on points of view, values and perspectives
Reflecting on and evaluating the understandings
Further explanation of the types of comments that could be included for this criterion can be found in explanatory note 3 for this standard. For Achieved, aspects discussed in the reflection/evaluation should be fully explained and well-supported by specific examples and details.
Justified generalisations outside the context
Students need to use the points of view, values and perspectives and the social actions that were identified and considered and apply these to another context/setting. For example:
- the same issue/social actions in a different place
- the application of similar issue/actions from the student’s issue to another issue
- the implications for different groups not studied in the original inquiry.