The topics of 'Change, Loss and Grief' were previously included in the Aotearoa New Zealand curriculum but by 2007 references to loss, bereavement and grief were removed.
A group of academics, researchers, funeral sector and educational leaders believe it is beyond time to reintroduce these topics into the Health and Physical Education learning area.
The Funeral Directors Association supports two submissions to the curriculum review:
- The first is by the group noted above. This group calls on government to include grief education at specific points in the learning area offering opportunities for children to learn the language of grief and ways to support themselves and their peers. Resources and teacher training would also be required. Read submission.
- The second, by Skylight Trust, calls on the use of programmes such as those offered by the Trust to support improved health and education outcomes. Explicitly they recommend inclusion of responding to grief, loss and change in the curriculum. Read submission.