The irony is that one of Nz’s most vocal conservatives, and successful business person - Bob Jones - has always maintained he’d hire top arts graduates (classics, English, history..) over finance, business, tech etc. McKinsey has a similar recruitment strategy - top post-grad arts students. Why? Because they can think and express well reasoned ideas….they review all sources, assimilate, evaluate & decide…what every person business person does every minute of every day. Everything this Cabinet doesn’t do. Reminds me of a saying one of Australia’s top advertising creative once quipped to me “remember, an ordinary man is always at his best”.
Thanks, Simon — such an insightful connection. It’s striking, isn’t it, how often in the business world the value of critical thinking, synthesis, and nuanced communication is recognised — skills deeply embedded in the humanities and arts disciplines.
Yet somehow, when it comes to shaping education policy, those same disciplines — and the teachers who specialise in cultivating those capabilities — are often sidelined. As you say, the ability to review sources, evaluate complexity, and reason well is exactly what’s required in leadership, business, and democracy.
It’s hard not to feel the irony when those making curriculum decisions don’t seem to apply those same skills — or listen to the people who do this work every day in classrooms.
There are extensive studies emerging that show a lack of wonder, curiousity and creativity without the arts. STEAM is emerging as a more wholistic approach, once again.
That would be extremely interesting, although I hold little faith that the poor old arts have even been given much thought under the current government's foci. Symptomatic of the views on what is valuable and what isn't in a curriculum I suspect!
The irony is that one of Nz’s most vocal conservatives, and successful business person - Bob Jones - has always maintained he’d hire top arts graduates (classics, English, history..) over finance, business, tech etc. McKinsey has a similar recruitment strategy - top post-grad arts students. Why? Because they can think and express well reasoned ideas….they review all sources, assimilate, evaluate & decide…what every person business person does every minute of every day. Everything this Cabinet doesn’t do. Reminds me of a saying one of Australia’s top advertising creative once quipped to me “remember, an ordinary man is always at his best”.
Thanks, Simon — such an insightful connection. It’s striking, isn’t it, how often in the business world the value of critical thinking, synthesis, and nuanced communication is recognised — skills deeply embedded in the humanities and arts disciplines.
Yet somehow, when it comes to shaping education policy, those same disciplines — and the teachers who specialise in cultivating those capabilities — are often sidelined. As you say, the ability to review sources, evaluate complexity, and reason well is exactly what’s required in leadership, business, and democracy.
It’s hard not to feel the irony when those making curriculum decisions don’t seem to apply those same skills — or listen to the people who do this work every day in classrooms.
Your quote rings all too true in this moment.
I'm very concerned about who is having the most influence on the curriculum development and now the proposed testing regime.
Unfortunately I could not view the OIA documents. Any tips on how I can?
They are best viewed on a device rather than a phone - if that's how you're trying to view? Laptop is best to navigate the platform to read them.
https://nzate.org.nz/oia-responses-2025/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31HcEKXXMDKmvPGPK64Esj3LR0gFInKyxInVSYasxC0V48xPBGwHFCrLc_aem_ZlzAdgFnwECoMJPkQtfIFg
Thank you for that tip, Sarah. It is much appreciated.
It may well be that the intention is to shift the curriculum to STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Maths).
It's done here in the USA and the result has largely been kids who can't write well and whose attention span is more suitable for TikTok.
There are extensive studies emerging that show a lack of wonder, curiousity and creativity without the arts. STEAM is emerging as a more wholistic approach, once again.
Wow! I would love to know more about the Visual Arts curriculum planning in such a manner as the OIA has disclosed here for the Sciences.
That would be extremely interesting, although I hold little faith that the poor old arts have even been given much thought under the current government's foci. Symptomatic of the views on what is valuable and what isn't in a curriculum I suspect!