Beacon

Schools Project

Health Education
Level 8 Planning Guide
Updated 2006

Section 4

Unit of work suitable for assessment with

AS 90710 v2 (3.3): Explain a range of health
practices currently used in New Zealand.

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 Explain a range of health practices
currently used in New Zealand
Introduction
This unit of work is designed to be internally to be assessed with AS 90710 v2
(3.3).

The range of health practices for this standard is anything that is currently
practiced in New Zealand. With New Zealand’s increasingly diverse community,
that means just about everything from the most cutting each medical
technologies to ancient herbal remedies, traditional Maori or Chinese medicine
through to modern life style change strategies and so on.

This achievement standard is potentially the most different of the five Level 3
health standards. That being said, it is still important to keep sight of the
underlying concepts of the curriculum. The concept of hauora has an obvious
place in that an exploration of a diverse range of health practices will yield
examples of each dimension being considered – this is built into the task used in
this resource.

The term ‘alternative’ has largely been replaced in the international literature as
TM (traditional medicine) or CAM (complementary and/or alternative medicine).
The WHO and MACCAH websites have some very current and easily accessible
information about this.

It is recommended that a general introductory statement about the different

health practice philosophies be prepared by the students to support their
assessment responses about the more specific health practices.

Important:
The emphasis of this standard is on the health practices, not the condition
or disease they are being used to treat or manage. The suggestion to tie
this work to a named health condition is to provide more substance and
focus for the discussion of the health practices.

Resources
Essential websites for key resource material

www.newhealth.govt.nz/maccah.htm see paper titled ‘Complementary and

alternative medicine – current policy and policy issues in NZ and selected
countries’ A discussion document 2003, from the NZ Ministerial Advisory
Committee on Complementary and Alternative Health (MACCAH), NZ Ministry of
Health. In 2003 this was a discussion document put for consultation. Look out for
the published reports that follow in subsequent years.

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www.who.int see paper titled ‘WHO traditional medicine strategy 2002-2005’
(go to the WHO homepage, type ‘traditional medicine’ into the search box and it
takes you directly to a list of articles including this one).

In both of these resources, the introductory statements and first chapters tend to
be more useful – select materials most suited to the direction you want the
students to take.

The British Medical Journal has all its articles on line www.bmj.com – see also
volume 322 (7279): 161.

[A selection of these materials is included in the Beacon Schools resource

folder]

For information specific to named health conditions and the various practices, the
internet has an overkill of information. Encourage students to access credible
sites that they can understand:
e.g. Western Health Practices
Ministry of Health www.moh.govt.nz
British Medical Journal as above
Journal of the American Medical Association www.jama.com and The NZ
Medical Journal www.nzma.org.nz allow only limited access to materials on line
but may be more accessible in a library
The Centre for Disease Control (USA) www.cdc.gov

For CAM (type complementary alternative medicine into the Search facility on
your internet programme) e.g.
National Center for complementary and alternative medicine (USA – official
government site) www.nccam.nih.gov
Journal of Alternative and complementary medicine (limited access to resources
on line) www.liebertpub.com
Health world on line is a less official but easier to understand site – Alternative
Medicine Center www.healthy.net

For TM (again type in traditional medicine – there are heaps, start from the WHO
one mentioned above)

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Teaching process
• This unit of work could be kept quite controlled by the teacher facilitating
structured lessons to make sense of a selection of materials OR
• The students could be largely left to prepare the materials for themselves, in
readiness for the assessment (see note about different assessment methods
and conditions below) with a few introductory lessons to give direction and a
couple of checkpoints to monitor progress. Feedback to date favours this
option so the following teaching sequence is based on this.
• Decide also whether the unit of work will be tied or linked to another health
context studied e.g. depression (as in the Level 3 NCEA handbook followed
from work on promoting youth mental health and resilience - acknowledging
the concerns about depression), or a focus on birthing may follow from
reproductive health etc.

Introductory lessons on theories – readings from WHO and MACCAH

• Use literacy skills type activities to help students unpack the meaning of the
paragraph and other extracts like it.

The MACCAH say that :

‘Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a broad domain of healing resources
that encompasses all health systems, modalities and practices and their accompanying
theories and beliefs, other than those intrinsic to the politically dominant health system
of a particular society or culture in a given historical period. CAM includes all such
practices and ideas self-defined by their users and preventing or treating illness or
promoting health and well-being’

• Use a jigsaw type activity from which students generate notes to document
current understandings about CAM/TM and ways these differ from western
scientific medical practices – the WHO traditional medicine strategy is quite
useful for this.

• Make links to previous contexts where named health conditions have been
considered. [optional]

• Model a small example of what students will be required to do perhaps based

on a previous context that considered a particular health condition e.g.
diabetes or other dietary condition, HIV/AIDS. Provide a few extracts about
health practices related to the health condition and give students the
opportunity to practice writing a statement that reflects the general
requirements of the standard, including making reference to hauora:
1. Explain, comprehensively, a range of health
practices currently used in New Zealand.
2. Compare, perceptively, the advantages and
disadvantages of these health practices.
• Provide an example of a piece of one student’s work from previous years
(assuming the students are not doing the same topic!) [optional]

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• Students select a health condition (the teacher can limit this as much as they
want/need to – make sure students are not selecting anything too obscure).

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• The students then need to be directed to locate at least 3 articles about each
of three health practices that could be used to manage the health condition.
Emphasise that the articles need to cover the requirements of the standard as
far as possible. It may be useful for students to have a check list of what to
collect (e.g. the following assessment reference list form).

• Build in check points to check on collection of materials and allow 1-2 lessons
for students to use some of the literacy techniques to unpack the meaning of
their articles and share these with a group or partner.

• [Optional] In addition to the formal written assessment, request that each

student presents 2-3 selections of their material as part of a whole class
feedback. It would be possible for the whole assessment to be done as a
seminar but it will be necessary to have print versions of the student work for
moderation (refer to alternative assessment task in the appendix).

Managing (and modifying) the assessment tasks

[Optional, but recommended in order to provide students with something

tangible that links the discussion about health practices to a specific
condition.] Select a health condition that could potentially be managed or
treated with a range of health practices - both western and CAM/TM, such as:
• A named major type of cancer
• Infertility
• Birthing
• Back pain
• Depression, stress or other mental health condition
• Heart disease or a circulatory disorders
• A dietary disorder

Select at least ONE example, from each of the two categories below – with at
least THREE in total. Each practice has to be one that could be used to manage
the named condition. Check student choices for viability and appropriateness
before they proceed ie. check that their choices are going to be able to get them
to the point of achievement.

• Medical health practices (Western scientific medicine) which may be defined

as the methods of treating diseases with the application of scientific methods
and logic. The focus is largely on the physical dimension of well-being. Some
examples are surgery, pharmaceutical drugs, radiation therapy, lifestyle
change.
• Complementary/alternative health practices (CAM) and traditional medicine
(TM) may be defined as the methods of treating illness that evolved from
within the social, spiritual, emotional and physical environment of a society.
Some examples are: naturopathy, homeopathy, meditation, acupuncture,
Maori (or other cultural group) medicine

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Because the boundaries between these practices can be vague, the selection
was kept flexible, with the overall intent being to have three quite different
practices. The websites listed on the student’s resource sheet in the appendix of
the Level 3 NCEA handbook are very useful places for gathering information
about this standard.

Alterations or alternative approaches to the existing tasks could

include:
• Not requiring the health practices to be discussed in relation to a specific
illness or disorder. Students could be guided to learn more about models of
health such as the western science-based/medicalised model (with examples
of this), versus a traditional/cultural model versus complementary/alternative
health practices with a comparison between them in terms of advantages and
disadvantages. This approach is possibly more conceptually challenging,
although new material from WHO (international) and MACCAH (NZ) would
make such an approach achievable.
NB. The purpose of attaching the discussion about the health practices to a
named illness is simply to provide a more concrete foundation for the
discussion and to provide some connection with previous work. It is not
essential for, nor is it the focus of this achievement standard.

• Not specifying that there has to be one western, one traditional/cultural and
one alternative health practice (in a contemporary setting the divisions
between these are becoming very blurred). However, to give students some
boundaries to work in, it is useful to have some containment in the
assessment task and to give some direction to students in the collection of
their resource material (to satisfy the explanatory notes). That being said, the
choice of health practices should come from each of the two lists in the
explanatory notes.

Additional notes to ensure authenticity of student work

To ensure authenticity of student work and to control the amount of information
students brought to class for the assessment all resource material to be used
for the assessment was collected and documented on a reference listed
prior to the assessment and handed in with the assessment.

Anyone with some internet savvy could extract enough information in an hour to
write a written report for this assessment. The list of resource material supplied
with the annotated sample of student work for 3.3 in the Level 3 NCEA handbook
is a small selection to illustrate what a few minutes printing articles from various
websites can achieve (many of websites are linked to each other or can be found
with even the most common search engines).

The conditions on page 2 of the assessment task for 3.3 (see appendix) require
this to be a resource based assessment in which the students are able to bring
material with them and provide an answer to the task under controlled
conditions. (The term ‘resource based’ assessment is used in this discussion
instead of ‘open book test’ as the connotations of this can be misleading.) It is not

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appropriate that this assessment be completed as a homework project although it
is appropriate that the resource material is collected in the students own time.

A number of other curriculum areas that have resource-based assessments (in

which students have access to their notes during the assessment) require
students to hand in all of their resource material. Health Education teachers are
encouraged to use this idea in this assessment.

As a guide (to contain and keep realistic the amount of material students bring),
allow each student to bring in up to 5 general articles about health practices and
their health condition (if needed), and up to 3 articles about each of the three
health practices. The excellence student was one that could synthesise a
response using most of their resource material and by making ‘well-reasoned
arguments with supporting evidence’ (see explanatory note #6)

The students need to complete the following form reference list prior to the
assessment and only the articles mentioned on the list could be used during the
assessment task. It would be permissible to have key passages highlighted and
annotations but no pre-written passages of work that only needed to be copied. It
is realistic to expect that students performing at this level should be able to
consolidate information from a variety of sources to complete a piece of work.
NB. Students can access published tasks on line. Teachers are
encouraged to adapt the assessment task to have points of difference as
far as this is practicable.

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 Prior Learning:
Unit: Health Practices currently used in NZ Health Determinants, Health Promotion,
Interpersonal Skills
Unit Aim: By the end of the unit students will independently
research and demonstrate an understanding of a range of health
practices currently used in New Zealand, and explain their
advantages and disadvantages for people at a personal,
interpersonal and societal level. Key Area of Learning: Mental Health Resources:
Level 3 Beacon Folder
Duration: 25 – 28 periods Various websites – see intro. notes in
folder
Class Level: Year 13/Level 8

Level Learning Outcomes Processes/Activities/Strategies Underlying Concepts Assessment

Students will: Opportunities

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8A4 • Investigate and understand the definition of • Use a jigsaw activity to document Learning Journal
contemporary, complementary, traditional and current understandings about Hauora
alternative medicine CAM/TM
8C2 • Demonstrate an understanding of various terms • Identify ways these differ from
(identifying the effects of
health practices currently
relating to contemporary health conditions and western scientised medical practices used in N.Z. on a person’s
practices The WHO strategy and the MACCAH hauora in a holistic view.)
definition of CAM is useful for this Learning Journal
8A1 • Critically evaluate a range of data to identify a health • The students could be largely left to Peer assess
condition research this for themselves, but group
• Research and investigate the implications of specific teacher modelling of a small example presentations
treatments of this condition could be more effective eg. diabetes, Attitudes
HIV/AIDS & Values
8D1 • Identify and critically analyse a range of alternative • Invite alternative practice specialists (developing respect for the
health practices and their impact on Hauora in to demonstrate their practice eg. rights and opinions of others
• Critically analyse attitudes, values and behaviours acupuncture, massage, in respect to seeking
8C2 hypnotherapy, chinese herbal alternative health care and
that contribute to use of CAM in N.Z. society
developing a sense of
medicine.
empathy with people
The ‘Yellow Pages’ provide excellent
contacts
• In groups research and ‘sell’ allocated
Health Practice to rest of class
• Identify and explain how the Determinants of Health • Use WHO and MACCAH readings to
8D1 contribute to the use and acceptance of alternative unpack theories, beliefs and political
8D2 health practices in N.Z. restraints of our current health system
• Complete critical thinking activities
around current newspaper/Listener
articles Socio-Ecological
Perspective

(identifying personal,
8A3 • Describe the implications of CAM and TM at • Compare in depth, the advantages interpersonal and societal
personal/interpersonal and societal levels. and disadvantages of alternative factors that influence access
8A4 to alternative health
health practices in N.Z. society
8C2 • Explore the ethical issues relating to the use of CAM Compare the models of Health that
treatments)
8D1 and TM alternative practices are based on,
8D2 and their impact on Hauora
This could be done as part of individual
Health Promotion

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 8A1 • Critically analyse and evaluate a range of Health • Students individually research at least Each student
Practices in relation to a specific Health Condition 3 articles about each of 3 chosen present a 2-3
Health Practices to cover the min. selection of
requirements of the standard. their material as
Refer research checklist for guidelines whole class
feedback

Essential Skills Communication Skills 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Social & Cooperative Skills 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Problem Solving Skills 12345678

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