Kura Tuarua Marautanga
Upper School Curriculum
Te Au ringa rehe |
Hard Materials
The teaching of hard materials involves instructing students in the use and manipulation of materials like wood and metals to create functional and artistic projects. It aims to develop students' technical skills, craftsmanship, and understanding of material properties through hands-on design and fabrication activities.
Hard Materials Class 8
In Class 8, the impulse of identity is woven into the hard materials curriculum as students learn to work with a range of materials—clay, stone, wood, and metal—and transform them into finished creations. The process of working with varying material densities requires physical engagement and focus, encouraging students to connect with the material in a tactile way while gaining confidence in their abilities. Developing skills for each medium supports students' sense of self-sufficiency and independence, as they acquire and refine new techniques. Each project challenges them to follow an established plan, honing their capacity for critical thinking, patience, and persistence. The journey from concept to completion in hard materials provides students with a concrete sense of achievement, fostering a growing confidence in their own skills and identity.
Additionally, by working through the design, planning, and crafting phases, students experience firsthand the need to balance precision and creativity. This exploration of transformation and mastery allows them to see the possibilities within seemingly rigid materials, reflecting a broader understanding of flexibility and choice in their own lives. As students experiment with tools and materials of varying hardness, they begin to grasp the nuances within their polarized perspectives, recognising that mastery over a medium—and, by extension, over their own abilities—is achieved gradually. This curriculum gives them opportunities to confront challenges, test their own limits, and see the unique value in their work, all of which reinforces their emerging sense of identity and place in the world.
UNITS OF LEARNING
Possible Content:
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Marionettes (very time consuming); not time to complete any theory work-very skills focussed
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Stools with a focus on using hand tools (to help connect with the materials)
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Joints
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Need a balance between skills and theory work
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Need to focus on getting students ready for Qualifictaion years
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Project reflections: Getting students to understand why they are doing what they are doing? Understanding the materials they are using, tools and equipment, techniques and processes-which is best and why?
Relevant Pedagogical Aims:
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To support the individual’s developing sense of uniqueness.
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To re-discover notions of beauty and goodness in light of one’s own responses to the world.
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To stimulate personal goal setting and a sense of responsibility for oneself.
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To polish skills for learning.
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To encourage courage. (In context of composing ones own music)
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To foster a sense of connectedness to the world.
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To promote active searches for meaningful role-models or people who are worth emulating.
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To develop social skills more consciously.
Hard Materials Class 9
In Class 9, the impulse of polarity is explored through the hard materials curriculum, allowing students to experience the physical and transformative nature of materials, mirroring their own inner changes. Working with materials like copper, students encounter the dynamic interaction between extremes—heat and cold, hardness and malleability—as they learn processes such as annealing, where intense heat is used to soften copper before it is quickly cooled to make it pliable.
These activities provide an embodied experience of polarity, as students observe how opposing forces can change a material’s properties. This hands-on exploration helps students understand that, much like their own emotional fluctuations, controlled conditions can transform states, allowing them to see beyond simple extremes and develop a sense of balance.
The curriculum also cultivates a respect for forces greater than themselves, as they work within the boundaries of safety while handling potentially dangerous tools and processes. By engaging with powerful elements and learning to manipulate materials within precise limits, students begin to appreciate the need for discipline and careful observation—skills that are essential for managing their own internal highs and lows. Additionally, this work connects to their studies in geology, as they explore the earth’s own polar forces through volcanic rock and metal formations. These experiences not only challenge them physically and intellectually but also deepen their understanding of the natural world and its interplay of opposites, supporting their growth in navigating polarities both within and outside themselves.
UNITS OF LEARNING
Possible Content:
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Ridges
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Malleable metals (pewter jewellery+mould making)
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Forging (fire pokers)
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Copper bowls
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Candle holder
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Need a balance between skills and theory work
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Need to focus on getting students ready for Qualifictaion years
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Project reflections: Getting students to understand why they are doing what they are doing? Understanding the materials they are using, tools and equipment, techniques and processes-which is best and why?
Relevant Pedagogical Aims:
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To awaken to the polarities of subject knowledge through both heart and will.
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To develop the reasoning power of the student.
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To show how causes, issues, “facts”, phenomena, opinions, etc. can pull in two directions, have two sides.
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To work with accurate observation, objectivity and detail.
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To bring claims of rights and responsibilities to consciousness.
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To foster tolerance and social engagement.
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To build inner courage and perseverance.
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To bring idealism to the fore, to push ideas to the limit.
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To work with the hands and soil.
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To work with the discovery of assertion and a sense of place in the world.
Hard Materials Class 10
Hard Materials Class 11
The Class 11 year is directed by the impulse of analysis. Students' increased reasoning ability allows them to extend upon the awareness of the design process introduced in Class 10 through the inclusion of an accompanying research and design document.
Through reasoning and research they will investigate how practical requirements and technological limitations can contribute to design innovations. This understanding allows akonga to articulate and justify a design that is unique to the individual and includes a personal sense of aesthetic and style.
They can now think critically and objectively about their ideas with consideration of the impact their design could have in a global context. Completion of hard materials projects during the Class 11 year raises students' confidence in their practical skills and supports finding their place in the world.
Hard Materials Class 12
The Class 12 year of synthesis creates an increased awareness of the connection and relationship between objects, ideas and beings.
This understanding provides students the ability to be more self directed in their learning using clarity, objectivity and independent judgement. They are able to determine and predict accurately the outcome of actions and design processes on a product while considering time constraints and any limitations upon the overall project's scope.
Students are supported to develop any necessary skill-sets required to realise their conceptual outcomes and can proudly stand by the fruits of their creation. Their realised concept and workmanship help to foster within a sense that they have made a difference and can moreover continue to make a difference for their community and the wider world.