The Year of the curriculum
The programme consists of four modules, each with two units:
What are we
trying to
achieve?
How shall we
How do we
evaluate
success?
make it
happen?
How shall we
organise
learning?
How do we
make it
happen?
Module
4
Unit 7: Building for success: a strategic approach to
change and innovation
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Welcome to Unit 7
Building for success: a strategic approach to change and innovation
1. Introduction
a. Overview and rationale
b. Making it happen in lessons
1.
Introducing the new curriculum
a. Leading and managing change
b. Practicalities and considerations
c. Securing commitment and quality
2.
Embedding the new curriculum
a.
b.
c.
Systems, policies and routines
Consistent messages
Assessing breadth of learning
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Part 1
Introduction
© Curriculum Foundation
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a. Overview and rationale
The final module of this programme is much more practical than the previous three.
Hence the line-up of ‘suspects’ (below) is shorter than usual. In this module (the last
two units), we shall be considering how to make sure that the curriculum you have
designed bears fruit in terms of the deep learning we want for all our young people.
So this module concerns how the documented curriculum is translated into the
pedagogy and the learning experiences which will ensure the curriculum aims are
achieved.
No matter how good the quality of the curriculum, it would not succeed without
high quality learning routinely taking place. Hence the practical focus of this unit, on
what must be done to align aims and practice and what must be avoided.
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In unit 7 we tackle the strategy for implementing the new curriculum. Of course,
this has its own challenges but also much in common with the strategic planning for
any major change.
In unit 8 there is a focus on the paradigm shift which is necessary if the new
curriculum is really going to have the impact we want. If learners are to take
responsibility for their own learning, the curriculum is democratised. It is ‘owned’
by both education professionals and consumers (students, families, communities,
employers) and this has significant implications.
But first, have you done your Unit 6 homework? Have you thought about your
benchmarks? These will be important as you implement the new curriculum.
As always, remember to share your work at YOC@NUT.org.uk
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Do you remember this from Unit 1?
UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education considers three interrelated
dimensions of the curriculum:
• the intended or official curriculum as defined in guidelines, frameworks and
guides that specify what students are expected to learn and should be able to
do;
• the implemented curriculum that is actually taught in the classroom, including
how it is delivered and who teaches it;
• and the attained curriculum that represents what students have actually
learned.
They go on to point out that the challenge is ensuring coherence and congruence
between curriculum policy documents, the actual pedagogical process and
learning outcomes.
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We all know from experience that….
the expected learning set out in documentation,
what is actually taught in the classroom and
what students really learn in their lessons
…..can be three very different things.
So the considerable challenge we face as we implement the
new curriculum is to ensure this is not the case and students
really do learn what we have planned so carefully for them.
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The Final Hurdle
Of course, there does not have to be a complete match between
expected learning and actual learning outcomes.
Ideally students will be inspired independent learners and will
eagerly take their learning beyond that detailed in the curriculum.
However, the importance of the implementation phase cannot be
overstated. If we should fall at this final hurdle we would not reach
the finishing line and our ambitions for our learners would not be
realised.
This unit focuses on good practice and on the pitfalls to be avoided
to ‘make it happen’.
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b. Making it Happen in Lessons
Schemes of Learning or Learning Plans
The key tools for translating intended learning as set out in curriculum documents
into actual learning in lessons are schemes of learning or schemes of work. These are
often set out at three levels:
Long-term plans or overviews cover the full range of learning and progression across
a year or key stage, usually without much detail.
Medium-term plans cover sub-sections of the long-term plan and provide greater
detail about the learning objectives.
Short-term plans break the learning down further to the level of individual lessons.
Crucially, if the new curriculum is to have the impact we desire, what happens in
lessons will have to reflect all the decisions we made which fed into the list of
curriculum principles.
If values, attitudes, skills and competencies are to be routinely taught in the same
way as subject knowledge, they must be securely transmitted through long and
medium-term plans into learning objectives and outcomes at lesson level.
Schools therefore need to consider the extent to which the layout of their current
planning documentation needs to be rethought.
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Activity 1
Review your planning documentation. Is it fit for purpose?
• Does long term planning take account of coverage of content
and progression in learning across the year, from one year to
the next and across key stages?
• Do medium term or unit plans (see next slide) include
coverage of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and
competencies?
• Do they provide guidance on aligned learning activities?
• Is assessment considered at the planning stage?
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Schools will design their documentation according to their particular needs and circumstances. This example
of a mid-term plan covers a short (3 lesson) unit of learning. It is provided here to promote discussion and not
as a blueprint.
Key points to note:
• There are three distinct categories of learning objectives
• There are Bloom-style prompts to take knowledge and understanding to higher levels
• There is a focus on both subject competencies and generic competencies
Year 4 Science
Topic 3: Hygiene and First Aid
3 lessons
Key Subject Competency
To be able to …….
Learning Activities
Learning Objectives
Knowledge and understanding
·
·
·
·
·
Know …
State …
Recall …
Identify …
Understand …
Skills
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
Apply knowledge …
Analyse …
Evaluate …
Create …
Explain …
Describe …
Carry out an investigation …
Observe …
Research …
Attitudes and values
·
·
·
Appreciate the importance of …
Show concern …
Show respect for …
·
·
·
·
·
·
Devise an experiment …
Observe through magnifying glass …
Discuss reasons for …
Find out about …
Role-play …
Make a group presentation …
Contribution to the generic competencies: critical thinking …; investigation …; co-operation …; communication
Links to other subjects:
Assessment approach:
Materials:
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Learning Plans: Consistency and Quality
The documentation for learning plans must serve the needs
of the whole school, of teams and of individual teachers. A
collaborative design process can ensure that these needs are
met at every level while setting a quality standard expected
of all.
Deviation from the standard is wise only where there is a
particular additional risk or issue to address (eg Health and
Safety in Science).
It is important plans demonstrate universal commitment to
consistent whole school priorities, aims, values, attitudes etc.
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Activity 2
• You have reviewed your planning
documentation and thought about how it
could be improved. Draw up a new ‘quality
standard’ medium term planning template
which will ensure sufficient attention is paid to
skills, attitudes, values and competencies.
• Is the template self-explanatory? If not what
guidance will be needed?
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Implementation: It’s all down to the learning
experiences….
Teaching Strategies
Classroom management, pedagogy,
teaching & learning resources
Content
Aims & objectives,
content, skills &
competencies, values
& attitudes
Assessment
Students ’
Learning
Experiences
Formative and summative
Figure 1: Students’ Learning Experiences
Source: Ministry of Education, Singapore
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Making learning irresistible…….
Most of us can easily think of at least one memory of
irresistible learning from our own time as school children.
Sometimes these experiences are life-changing, perhaps
leading to a career choice or a lifelong love of, for
example, literature, art, sport, languages or nature.
What is your most memorable learning experience?
What was it about the experience you recall that made
the learning irresistible?
How could we design experiences to include the elements
that make learning irresistible?
Imagine how school would be if all learning experiences
were so positive!
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In his ‘Curriculum Design Handbooks’, Brian
Male teases out many of the features of
irresistible learning.
Dr. Male references a range of sources of
evidence and those who provide the best
evidence are, of course, the learners
themselves.
‘Visible Learning’ guru, John Hattie,
uses the powerful phrase ‘when
teachers see learning through the
eyes of students’. This perspective is
crucial if we are to make learning
truly irresistible.
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Resistible learning …….
Trevor Hawes, author of ‘Effective
Teaching and Learning in the Primary
Classroom’, points out that, not only is
‘traditional’ learning in a classroom with
30 other children not traditional, it is a
‘new fangled experiment in learning that
is not working out very well so far’.
Yet this is the comfort zone that teachers are
accustomed to and that they have been trained for.
If we want to realise our ambitions for the new
curriculum we have to think and act differently.
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There’s many a slip twixt curriculum and learning…..
The focus of the Year of the Curriculum programme
is, of course, curriculum development and design
rather than pedagogy. However curriculum
implementation cannot be separated from the
learning experiences that will ‘make it happen’.
Hence the following slide provides pointers to some
thought-provoking sources relating to irresistible
learning.
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Irresistible learning ….. how about...
• High Tech High Schools (San Diego) have been
working with the Innovation Unit on their projectbased approach to learning
• John Hattie’s outstanding meta-analyses re what
really works in the classroom
• What’s going on north of the border: Scotland’s
Curriculum for Excellence ‘Approaches to Learning’
section provides useful links
What other resources would you like to share via:
YOC@NUT.org.uk ?
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