This study seeks to trace the development of curriculum integration and related curricula designs in state schools in Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) during the “New Education” era (1920s‐1940s).
The mixed historical/theoretical analysis draws on primary and secondary data.
The paper concludes that largely forgotten designs for curriculum integration developed in the 1920s‐1940s in NZ are similar in intent to the student‐centred “integrative” model of curriculum integration and may usefully inform the contemporary discourse in NZ concerning best practice on middle schooling for young adolescents (approximately ten to 14 years old).
The study provides an additional point of entry towards theorising and re‐evaluating the history of progressive education in NZ.
This study provides historical/theoretical context for recent interest in curriculum integration in NZ, particularly in relation to middle schooling and to student‐centred pedagogies.
