Social Studies education… ‘aims to enable students to participate in a changing society as informed, confident and responsible citizens’.

(p. 8, Social Studies in the New Zealand Curriculum)

Being a critical and enquiring consumer is implicitly linked to active citizenship.

Social Studies Curriculum

This resource supports achievement objectives from the Social Studies’ Resources and Economic Activities strand, but also develops concepts embedded in the Social Organisation strand – such as rights and responsibilities and aspects of citizenship.

A concept approach

While this resource meets the specific Level 4 Achievement Objectives of:

Resources and Economic Activities (how and why individuals and groups seek to safeguard the rights of consumers) and
Social Organisation (how and why people exercise their rights and meet their responsibilities).

It is designed around the use of focus Social Studies concepts that underpin these Achievement Objectives. These concepts are relevant to various strands and levels, thus extending the lifetime of this resource beyond the current curriculum.

Social Studies concepts

Rights, responsibilities, market, goods and services, competition and the market, laws and regulations, needs and wants, participation, social decision-making and values exploration.

Perspectives - Current issues

Settings - New Zealand

Essential skills - Communication skills; Numeracy skills; Information skills; Problem-solving skills; Social and co-operative skills

The Social Studies processes at Levels 3-4

The Inquiry processes* - Indicators	Located in resource sections
Frame questions to focus an inquiry	1, 3
Collect and record information from a range of sources.	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Process information using appropriate conventions.	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Make a valid generalisation supported by evidence.	2, 3, 4
Communicate findings using conventions appropriate to the mode of communication.	1, 3, 4, 5
Reflect upon and evaluate steps and findings.	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The Values Exploration processes* - Indicators	Located in resource sections
Explain why people hold different values positions.	4, 5
Explain the possible consequences of some different values positions.	4, 5, 6
Explain some ways in which groups accept or resolve differences related to values positions.	4

The Social Decision-making processes* - Indicators	Located in resource sections
Identify possible causes of issues and problems.	4, 6
Use criteria to evaluate a range of solutions to relevant problems.	4, 5, 6
Make a choice about possible action and justify that choice.	4, 5, 6

*The Social Studies processes do not follow a linear progression, but are visited and revisited throughout a unit of work, or a course of study. The three processes inter-relate and complement each other.

Curriculum links

This resource can be linked to the Mathematics, English and Health and Physical Education curricula.

Key concepts in ACE Consumer

This resource uses a number of key concepts embedded in the Social Studies curriculum achievement objectives as the basis for all the learning intentions and activities. These concepts are introduced and revisited throughout the resource and used as the basis for the online activities.

Descriptive concepts (what we look at):

Consumer rights and responsibilities
Business rights and responsibilities
Competition and the market
Consumer needs and wants
Consumer rules and laws (government).

Analytical concepts (how we look):

Consumer decision-making
Critical thinking and inquiry processes
Values exploration
Social action and participation.

Key understandings

The key understandings developed in this resource derive from the concepts and are listed in the consumer education table that follows.

Student outcomes can be measured against their knowledge, skills, attitudes and values based on the following key understandings (see the Social Studies Exemplar project (2004) for more information).

Key understandings: Consumer education

Key aspects of learning	Ideas about society
Active informed consumer	Consumers can choose, purchase and use goods of an acceptable standard (safety, quality, fit for particular purpose, match description). Consumers have the right to accurate information about goods and services. Consumers may have the right to redress if goods/services they have purchased are faulty.
Responsible business	Business has some rights protected under law in New Zealand. Business has the responsibility to sell goods of an acceptable standard (safety, quality, fit for particular purpose, match description). Business must comply with laws in New Zealand regarding the promotion and sale of goods and services. Business has the responsibility to provide accurate information about goods and services.
Role of Government	Government has the responsibility to develop consumer law and regulations: where issues are not already covered by current laws, or the market does not provide rights of redress for the consumer, or where there are not sufficient protections for the consumer.

Key aspects of learning	Participation in society
Active informed consumer	Consumers can influence the market by their purchasing choices and actions. Consumers use formal and informal methods to seek redress.
Responsible business	Business provides a range of goods and services for consumers to choose from. Business, where required by law, has the responsibility to provide redress when things go wrong.
Role of Government	Government fosters an equitable market. Government provides information and sets information standards (eg, product labelling).

Key aspects of learning	Personal and social significance
Active informed consumer	Individuals understand and exercise their rights and responsibilities as critical (active and informed) consumers. Purchasing decisions made by consumers can be influenced by factors such as advertising and trends.
Responsible business	Individuals (and organisations) understand and exercise their rights and responsibilities in business.
Role of Government	Government ensures laws and information are available to consumers to fully participate in (and therefore influence) the market. Government is aware of new or changing markets, and develops laws and regulations, if required, to ensure business and consumer participation.

(The three aspects of learning used to analyse this topic are derived from the Social Studies Exemplar project (2004)).

Learning intentions

Students will:

examine and describe the factors that influence people’s purchasing decisions and the process that leads to a consumer decision (Section 1)
explore and describe some rights and responsibilities of consumers and businesses (Section 2)
recognise that there are laws to protect the consumer and explore situations when these laws apply (Section 3)
access, make sense of and use information derived from consumer laws and regulations (Section 4)
explain and demonstrate how to access consumer information and make a complaint to a trader about faulty goods (Section 5)
describe how our actions as consumers can influence the market (what is bought and sold) (Section 6).

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