NZSL Curriculum

We do indeed have a NZSL Curriculum for use in schools. It is part of the Language and Languages area in the New Zealand Curriculum (2007). For the Deaf community, it is wonderful to see NZSL in this series, as they are proud of their unique and highly effective language.

The resources to assist with the delivery of this curriculum are currently being developed. In the meantime, if you are a teacher wanting to teach parts of the curriculum please contact:

New Zealand Sign Language Teachers' Association, local Deaf Aotearoa officeor the closest Deaf Education Centre to find a local Deaf person to work with you.

If you are in Auckland or Wellington, you can also contact Auckland University of Technology (AUT) School of Languages or Victoria University Deaf Studies Unit.

The curriculum clearly states that a school or early childhood education setting need to provide access to Deaf role models, with NZSL as their first language. This is because NZSL users can make the language really come alive for their students. They will also ensure that the students have access to the correct linguistic features of this visual-gestural language.

You may like to have a look at the learning languages kete on the tki website here, where you will find the School Support Services learning languages advisers. These advisers work generically with teachers of languages in English-medium schools and can help you, as a teacher, to work with the Deaf adults in delivering the curriculum.

Remember - resources will be available for the curriculum within the next two years.

Teachers, have a look at the NZSL curriculum