Australian Curriculum: Languages
Design, Development and Opportunities for
Engagement
Suzanne Bradshaw
Senior Project Officer, Languages
National Symposium: Japanese Language Education 2012
Friday 2 November 2012
Outline of Presentation
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ACARA
Design features of the Australian Curriculum
Curriculum development process
Update on the curriculum development process
for Languages
• Opportunities for engagement
ACARA
• The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
(ACARA) is a Commonwealth statutory authority responsible for the
development of an Australian curriculum that supports 21st century
learning for all Australian students.
• ACARA’s work is carried out in collaboration with a wide range of
stakeholders, including teachers, principals, students, academics,
State and Territory education authorities, professional education
associations, community groups and the general public.
Preparation for life
Australian governments commit to
working in collaboration to promote
equity and excellence in Australian
schooling with school sectors supporting
all young Australians to become:
• confident successful learners
• and creative individuals
• active and informed citizens.
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Shape of the Australian Curriculum v3.0
Available at
www.acara.edu.au
The Australian Curriculum
• Sets out what all students are to be taught (content) and
what students are typically able to understand and able
to do (achievement standards)
• affirms the central importance of discipline-based
knowledge and skills as well as general capabilities and
cross-curriculum priorities
• acknowledges that classroom teachers are best placed
to organise learning for students; they will make
decisions about the pedagogical approach intended to
achieve the best learning outcomes
A curriculum for all young Australians
A world-class curriculum for the 21st centur
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Curriculum
Curriculum
The Australian Curriculum details
what students should learn
(content descriptions) and
describes the quality of learning
expected (achievement standards)
Organisation of learning /
pedagogy
Schools and teachers are
best placed to decide how to
organise learning, taking account of
the needs and interests of students
and school context
Assessment
The Australian Curriculum does
not specify how teachers /
schools / curriculum authorities
will assess student learning
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Dimensions of the Australian Curriculum
Learning areas
General capabilities
In a world where knowledge is
constantly growing and evolving
students need to develop skills,
behaviours and dispositions that
apply across subject areas;
equip students to be lifelong
learners
The Australian Curriculum is designed
to ensure that students develop the
knowledge, understanding and skills on
which major disciplines are based;
reflecting ways in which knowledge has
and will continue to be developed and
codified
Cross-curriculum priorities
Special attention to three
contemporary issues
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Dimensions of the
Australian
Curriculum
General capabilities
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Information and Communication
Technology Capability
• Critical and Creative Thinking
• Ethical Behaviour
• Personal and Social
Capability
• Intercultural
Understanding
Learning areas
• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• Humanities and Social Sciences –
History, Geography, Economics and
Business, Civics and Citizenship
• The Arts
• Languages
• Health and Physical Education
• Technologies
Cross-curriculum priorities
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories
and cultures
• Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
• Sustainability
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The Learning Areas
Learning areas
Phase
English
Phase 1
Mathematics
Phase 1
Science
Phase 1
Humanities and social
sciences
•History
•Geography
•Economics, Business, Civics and
citizenship
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
The Arts
Phase 2
Languages
Phase 2
Health and Physical Education
Phase 3
Technologies
Phase 3
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General capabilities
Literacy
Personal and social capability
Numeracy
Intercultural understanding
ICT capability
Ethical behaviour
Critical and creative thinking
• General capabilites embedded in learning areas,
identified by icons in content descriptions
• Overview of general capabilities with description
published at http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities
General capabilities
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Cross-curriculum priorities
• Three cross curriculum priorities
– Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories
and cultures
– Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
– Sustainability
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Elements of the curriculum: F–10
Content descriptions
• A core of knowledge, understanding and skills –
what students will be taught
Achievement standards
• The expected standard or quality; challenging,
but achievable – the quality of student learning
as a result of what they are taught
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Development of the learning areas F−10
Learning areas
Timeline
English
2008-2010
Mathematics
2008-2010
Science
2008-2010
Humanities and social sciences
•History
•Geography
•Economics and Business, Civics and citizenship
2008-2010
2010-2012
2011-2013
The Arts
2010-2013
Languages
2010-2013
Health and physical education
2011-2013
Technologies
2011-2013
Australian Curriculum
development timelines
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Online delivery
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Digital curriculum and resources
• The Australian Curriculum has been published
online
• ACARA works with Education Services Australia
to publish draft material on the consultation
portal and when approved the online curriculum
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au
• Australian Curriculum Connect project linking
state/territory digital resources to support the
teaching of the curriculum
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More information …
ACARA Website
www.acara.edu.au
Australian Curriculum Website
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Home
Curriculum Development
Process
Australian Curriculum development
The Curriculum Development Process, outlines
four stages in the development of the Australian
Curriculum
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2.
3.
4.
Curriculum shaping
Curriculum writing
Preparation for implementation
Curriculum monitoring, evaluation and review
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Australian Curriculum: Languages
Shaping Process
Research
Position
Paper
Initial
Advice
Paper
Draft
Shape
Paper
Shape
Paper
Shaping of the Languages Curriculum
ACARA
Broad consultation at key
stages in curriculum
development
Associate Professor
Angela Scarino
International and
National Reviewers
Dr Jakelin Troy
Languages advisory panel
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Languages
Expert Group
Consultation –January – April 2011
• There were a total of 2150 responses to the
online survey (1913 from individuals, 236 from
organisations)
• Main categories of respondents: parents
(21.46%); students (18.83%); and secondary
teachers of languages (16.35%)
• State responses; notably NSW 34.5%; Vic
40.5%
Japanese Responses
• 115 responses from individuals, 47 responses from
organisations
• Main categories of respondents: secondary teachers of
Japanese (40.8%); teachers of Japanese teaching
across primary and secondary (13.9%); students
(9.57%);
• Sectors: Independent schools (42.55%); Government
Department schools (10.64%); Catholic Education
Schools ( 8.51%)
• State responses; notably NSW 41.98%; Vic 20.99 %
Key Strengths
• The strong positioning of languages within school
education
• The development of language-specific curricula
• Recognition of the diversity of language learners and
pathways
• The strong positioning of Aboriginal Languages and
Torres Strait Islander Languages
• The rationale for learning languages
• Key concepts and understandings in learning languages
Key Issues
• Staging of Language-specific curricula
development
• Indicative hours
• Implementation and policy issues
Beyond curriculum
development – policy and
implementation matters
Policy and Implementation Issues
• The need for a national languages policy
• The availability of qualified teachers as well as the provision of high
quality teaching and appropriate resources, including digital
resources, to enhance face-to-face teaching.
• Professional development of existing teachers to implement new
concepts in the proposed curriculum.
• Management of the multiple pathways within schools as well as the
continuity of language learning across primary and secondary
schools.
• Incentives for learning languages and ‘eligibility requirements’ for
entry into languages courses at the senior secondary level.
Language -specific curriculum
development process
Considerations for determining which languages and which
pathways will be the subject of curriculum development
• Coverage of the maximum number of students
• Australian Government priorities for language learning
• Languages most widely spoken by particular
communities in Australia
• Community support, particularly through ethnic and
community schools
• Languages of global importance
• Immigration and international students
• Economic significance.
Languages to be considered for development as
part of the Australian Curriculum F-10
• Arabic, Auslan, Chinese, Classical
languages, French, German, Hindi,
Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Modern Greek, Spanish, Turkish and
Vietnamese.
The Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages paper paragraph 110
Board Decisions October 2011
• The ACARA Board approved initial work on the Chinese and Italian
curricula F-10 and the development of a Framework for Aboriginal
Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages
Languages for development by end of 2013
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Arabic
Chinese
French
German
Indonesian
Italian
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Japanese
Korean
Modern Greek
Spanish
Vietnamese
Pathways
The ACARA Board has agreed to develop:
• For Chinese, pathways are being developed for three learner
groups, second language learner, background language learner and
first language learner
• that for the majority of specific languages one curriculum pathway
will be developed for each language in Years F-10 by the end of
2013, pitched to the dominant cohort of learners for that language in
the current Australian context.
• For Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages, a
framework is being developed that provides different learner
pathways that also take account of the varied states of the
language(s) involved.
Senior secondary curriculum
development
• ACARA will provide advice to the
Ministerial Council in December 2012 on
the scope of senior secondary curriculum
development (beyond English,
Mathematics, Science, History and
Geography)
Australian Curriculum: Languages
Writing Process
Australian Curriculum: Languages
Writing Process
Writing of Draft
Curriculum
Draft Curriculum
for Consultation
Intensive
Engagement
Revision of Draft
Curriculum
Validation of
Achievement
Standards
Publication of
Final Curriculum
The Shape of the Australian Curriculum:
Languages
The procedures and
guidelines document
Procedures and Guidelines document
• A support document intended to provide more
detailed advice for writers to complement the
Languages Shape paper and the Curriculum
Design Paper (v3.0)
• Aims to provide the degree of specification
necessary to ensure appropriate consistency in
writing across the scope of Languages
curriculum being developed by ACARA.
Procedures and Guidelines
• Introduction
• Structure and design specifications for
developing the Languages Curriculum
• Developing a language-specific
curriculum-process
• Resources and exemplification
Curriculum Writing Phase
Broad consultation at key
stages in curriculum
development
ACARA
Writing Teams
Languages Advisory
Panel
International and
National Reviewers
Languages National
Panel
Language-specific
Curriculum Experts
Register of Writers and Advisory Panel Members
• Overarching Languages Advisory Group and Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Languages Advisory Group
has been appointed
• ACARA appointed language-specific writers and
language-specific experts in September.
• A register of curriculum writers and language-specific
experts has been developed
Consultation processes
• State/territory consultation forums (teachers, academics,
authorities, associations)
• National panel meetings (2 representatives from each
state and territory and national professional teacher
associations; DEEWR rep)
• Meetings with state and territory authorities and major
professional associations
• Web surveys and written submissions
• Trial schools and teachers participation
• Critical readers and reviewers
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Timelines
Stage 1 curriculum development F-10:
Chinese and Italian
Activity
Date
Curriculum writing begins
November 2011
Draft curriculum approved by Board for consultation
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Chinese (second language learner pathway background
language learner pathway, and first language learner
pathway)
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Italian (a single pathway)
27 November 2012
Consultation period
December 2012 – April 2013
Consultation report approved by Board
May 2013
Final curriculum approved by Board for publication
September 2013
Stage 1 curriculum development F-10:
Framework for Aboriginal Languages and
Torres Strait Islander Languages
Activity
Date
Curriculum writing begins
May 2012
Draft curriculum approved by Board for consultation
March 2012
Consultation period
April – June 2013
Consultation report approved by Board
July 2013
Final curriculum approved by Board for publication
November 2013
Stage 2 curriculum development F-10:
Arabic, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Modern
Greek, Spanish and Vietnamese
Activity
Date
Curriculum writing begins
October 2012
Draft curriculum approved by Board for consultation
May 2013
Consultation period
May 2013 – July 2013
Consultation report approved by Board
September 2013
Final curriculum approved by Board for publication
December 2013
Sequences
• F-10 sequence
• 7-10 sequence ( year 7 entry)
• Curriculum written in bands i.e.
– F-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10
Relationship between the curriculum and
indicative hours for the purpose of writing
curriculum
Indicative hours
Curriculum
( for the purpose of writing curriculum)
Foundation – Year 10 sequence
Foundation – Year 4 (Level 1)
175 hours
Years 5-6 (Level 2)
A further 175 hours
Years 7-8 (Level 3)
A further 160 hours
Years 9-10 (Level 4)
A further 160 hours
Years 7-10 sequence (Year 7 entry)
Years 7-8 (Level 1)
160 hours
Years 9-10 (Level 2)
A further 160 hours
Languages
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Preamble – Curriculum Architecture
Common Rationale
Common Aims
Learning area organisation
Language-specific page
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Context statement
Band descriptions
Content descriptions
Content elaborations
Achievement standards
Suzanne Bradshaw
Senior Project Officer, Languages
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and
Reporting Authority (ACARA)
Level 10 | 255 Pitt Street | SYDNEY | NSW | 2000
Ph: 02 8098 3149| Fax: 1300 995 468
Ph: +618 8302 4794 (Adelaide)
Email: suzanne.bradshaw@acara.edu.au