(Re)presenting disaster vulnerability in New Zealand school geography

This article focuses on the representation of disaster vulnerability, using the 2010 Haiti earthquake to problematise recent changes in secondary school curriculum and assessment. Drawing upon media perspectives of the Haiti earthquake, the article contrasts a traditional and relational teaching approach to the concept of disaster vulnerability. The article concludes that teachers need to draw upon a wider range of geographical paradigms in order to move students towards critical engagement with societal issues, a key aim of the social science learning area in the New Zealand Curriculum.