Concepts for curriculum design
Analysing a ‘new approach’ to the
National Curriculum
National Association for Primary Education
Association for the Study of Primary Education
Conference on ‘The Primary Curriculum’, February 27th 2013
Andrew Pollard
reflectiveteaching.co.uk
Institute of Education, University of London
Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: a ‘new approach’
‘The National Curriculum should set out only the essential knowledge and understanding
that all children should acquire and leave teachers to decide how to teach this most
effectively.’
• The legitimacy of over-aching aims and judgements of ‘essential knowledge and
understanding’ has not been established
• Core subjects are over-specified and embed pedagogic prescription
• Other foundation subjects as a whole are incoherent in form and content
• Breadth is sustained, but balance in knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes is lacking
• Continuity from EY to KS1 is weak; progression and expectation are very bold
‘We want the National Curriculum to be a benchmark not a straitjacket, a body of
knowledge against which achievement can be measured.’
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Inclusion (and differentiation) across the curriculum is required but will be difficult
Language, literacy and numeracy across the curriculum are required. Learning is absent.
Personalisation, connection and relevance rely on the School Curriculum
Pupil agency , including engagement, authenticity and feedback rely on the SC
Curricular coherence is weak, and must be built through the School Curriculum
Assessment requirements are unclear, but are likely to be very powerful
Systemic congruence of control factors is real. Can schools rise above the straitjacket?
HOW TO TACKLE THIS SUBJECT?
Comparisons of:
• Early Ministerial statements
• Cambridge Primary Review recommendations
• Rose Review curriculum
• Expert Panel recommendations
• Curricula within UK and internationally
• Political party positions
• Pressure group perspectives
• Historical precedents
• Disciplines of education
• International research
• International agency recommendations
All good for critique …. but how also to seed improvement in DfE
and constructive responses through the School Curriculum?
STRUCTURE OF TALK
A ‘new approach’ to the National Curriculum’?
Concepts for curricular design
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breadth (aims, subjects and areas of learning)
Balance (between knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes)
Continuity, progression and expectation
Personalisation (incl. connection, relevance, differentiation)
Agency (incl. engagement, dialogue, authenticity and feedback)
Coherence and congruence
Taking stock
What next?
Pollard, A. (2010)
Professionalism
and Pedagogy:
a contemporary
opportunity.
London: TLRP GTCE.
... drawing on ...
CURRICULUM
Aims
Contexts
Processes
Outcomes
PEDAGOGY
ASSESSMENT
Curricular
concepts
Pedagogic
concepts
Assessment
concepts
1. Society’s educational goals
Breadth
Principle
Alignment
2. Elements of learning
Balance
Repertoire
Validity
3. Community context
Connection
Warrant
Dependability
4. Institutional context
Coherence
Culture
Expectation
5. Processes for learners’
social needs
Personalisation
Relationships
Inclusion
6. Process for learners’
emotional needs
Relevance
Engagement
Authenticity
7. Processes for learners’
cognitive needs
Differentiation
Dialogue
Feed-back
8. Outcomes for continuous
improvement in learning
Progression
Reflection
Development
9. Outcomes for certification
and the lifecourse
Effectiveness
Empowerment
Consequence
WHY NATIONAL CURRICULA?
Aims and objectives for each stage of education can represent national
aspirations, affirm pupil entitlements and clarify expectations.
Curriculum breadth and balance can be considered as a whole.
Curriculum progression and continuity can be planned and monitored.
Training and professional development programmes for teachers can be
tailored.
Assessment and inspection systems can be used to reinforce intentions.
Parents, employers and other stakeholders know what is being taught.
Coherence, alignment and improvement of the system as a whole can be
developed though evaluation processes, research and refinement.
How should educational decisions be made?
Education Reform Act, Section 4, Principal Provisions
(1) It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State .....
(a) to establish a complete National Curriculum (taking first the core subjects
and then the other foundation subjects); and (b) to revise that Curriculum
whenever he considers it necessary ...
(2) The Secretary of State may by order specify ...
(a) such attainment targets; (b) such programmes of study; and (c) such
assessment arrangements; as he considers appropriate ...
(3) An order made under subsection (2) above may not require—
(a) that any particular period or periods of time should be allocated during any
key stage to the teaching of any programme of study or any matter, skill or
process forming part of it; or
(b) that provision of any particular kind should be made in school timetables
for the periods to be allocated to such teaching during any such stage.
A ‘new approach’ to the curriculum
The Importance of Teaching
1.8 We are clear that our school system is performing below its potential: our pupils,
teachers and head teachers are capable of achieving more than the current structures
allow them to.
1.9 It does not have to be like this. The best performing and fastest improving education
systems in the world show us what is possible.
These systems consistently combine a rigorous focus on high standards with a
determination to narrow attainment gaps between pupils from different parts of society.
They combine high levels of autonomy for teachers and schools with high levels of
accountability: so that professionals both feel highly trusted to do what they
believe is right and highly responsible for the progress of every child.
They ensure that every child and young person learns through a coherent and stretching
approach to the curriculum.
A ‘new approach’ to the curriculum
4.1 It is our ambition to reduce unnecessary prescription, bureaucracy and central
control throughout our education system.
That means taking a new approach towards the curriculum. At over 200 pages, the
guidance on the National Curriculum is weighing teachers down and squeezing out
room for innovation, creativity, deep learning and intellectual exploration.
4.2 The National Curriculum was never meant to be the whole school curriculum – the
totality of what goes on in any school. It was explicitly meant to be limited in scope yet
in practice has come to dominate.
The National Curriculum should set out only the essential knowledge and
understanding that all children should acquire and leave teachers to decide how to
teach this most effectively.
We want the National Curriculum to be a benchmark not a straitjacket, a body of
knowledge against which achievement can be measured.
.
A ‘new approach’ to the curriculum
The National Curriculum will act as a new benchmark for all schools.
It will be slim, clear and authoritative enough for all parents to see what their
child might be expected to know at every stage in their school career.
Academies and Free Schools will retain the freedom they have at the moment to
depart from aspects of the National Curriculum where they consider it
appropriate. But they will be required by law, like all schools, to teach a broad
and balanced curriculum. And all state schools will be held accountable for their
performance in tests and exams which reflect the National Curriculum.
Contrastive starting points
English, mathematics and science are the building blocks
of education; improving our performance in these
subjects will be essential if our country is to compete in
the global economy. That is why they are central to the
new National Curriculum.
(DfE consultation document, April 2013, para 1.8)
At the heart of the educational process lies the child.
(Plowden Report, 1967, p7)
Enduring design dilemmas
In TLRP terms, a balance must be struck between two principles:
•
Effective teaching and learning engages with valued forms of
knowledge. Teaching and learning should engage with the big
ideas, facts, processes, language and narratives of subjects so that
learners understand what constitutes quality and standards in
particular disciplines. (TLRP Principle 2)
•
Effective teaching and learning recognises the importance of
prior experience and learning. Teaching and learning should take
account of what the learner knows already in order to plan their
next steps. This includes building on prior learning but also taking
account of the personal and cultural experiences of different
groups of learners. (TLRP Principle 3)
Plowden understood the importance of combining
knowledge and development
The child is the agent in his own learning. This was the message of the
often quoted comment from the 1931 Hadow Report:
`The curriculum is to be thought of in terms of activity and
experience rather than of knowledge to be acquired and facts to be
stored'.
Read in isolation, the passage has sometimes been taken to imply ...
that activity and experience did not lead to the acquisition of
knowledge. ... The actual implication is almost the opposite of this.
It is that activity and experience, both physical and mental, are
often the best means of gaining knowledge and acquiring facts. ....
We certainly would not wish to undervalue knowledge and facts, but
facts are best retained when they are used and understood, when
right attitudes to learning are created, when children learn to
learn. Instruction in many primary schools continues to bewilder
children because it outruns their experience.
(Plowden Report, 1967, pp 193-7)
Design dilemmas
How should the value of coherence and progression in subject
knowledge be compared with ….. the benefits of making
connections to other dimension of children’s lives?
How can a national curriculum framework guarantee curricular
entitlements and guide the work of teachers ….. whilst also
enabling them to exercise professional judgement when
responding to particular learning needs?
STRUCTURE OF TALK
A ‘new approach’ to the National Curriculum’?
Conceptual tools for curricular design
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breadth (aims, subjects and areas of learning)
Balance (between knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes)
Continuity, progression and expectation
Personalisation (incl. connection, relevance, differentiation)
Agency (incl. engagement, dialogue, authenticity and feedback)
Coherence and congruence
Taking stock
What next?
AIMS: WHY BREADTH?
DOES THE CURRICULUM REPRESENT SOCIETY’S
EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS FOR ITS CITIZENS?
In England, Section 78 of the Education Act 2002 states that school
curriculum should be ‘balanced and broadly based’ and should
‘promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical
development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepare
pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and
experiences of later life.’
2. The school curriculum in England
2.1 Every state-funded school must offer a curriculum which is
balanced and broadly based and which:
• promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical
development of pupils at the school and of society, and
• prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities
and experiences of later life. (NC Consultation Framework, 2013)
AIMS: WHY BREADTH?
Breadth is associated with high achievement.
INCA comparative international study documented curricular breadth
among ‘high performing jurisdictions’ to age 16 (DfE, 2011)
‘Inspection reports in all parts of the UK have, for decades, testified
that children are likely to achieve most progress in the core skills or
literacy and numeracy if they learn in a rich, broad and balanced
curriculum which provides them with stimulating content to talk,
read and write about and to explore mathematically, scientifically,
socially or creatively.’ (Expert Panel, 2011)
AIMS: WHY BREADTH?
The Cambridge Primary Review is unequivocal about the need to protect curriculum
breadth.
This case is argued on the grounds of :
•
educational entitlement - pupils in primary schools need a proper foundation for their
learning both now and in the future and for later educational choice,
• educational standards – HMI and Ofsted inspection evidence consistently show that
standards in the so-called ‘basics’ of literacy and numeracy are interdependent, and that
narrowing the curriculum down in the hope of raising such standards is not only
educationally unsound but also counterproductive.
It follows that reduction in the specified content of the national curriculum should be across
the board rather than by cutting back what the CPR regards as essential domains of
knowledge and understanding or downgrading their status.
While England’s best primary schools will always provide both breadth and
excellence, an unacceptably large number will reduce the curriculum to what is
required and/or tested. This is a key lesson of recent educational history.
(Alexander, 2011, submission to DfE for consultation)
AIMS: WHY BREADTH?
Two versions of ‘minimal entitlement’ appear to be on offer.
Minimalism 1 reduces entitlement to a handful of subjects deemed
uniquely essential on the grounds of utility and international
competitiveness.
Minimalism 2 foregrounds the educational imperative of breadth by
making a wider range of subjects statutory. It strives to balance the
different ways of knowing, understanding, investigating and making
sense that are central to the needs of young children and to our culture,
and achieves the required parsimony by stripping back the specified
content of each subject to its essential core.
Robin Alexander, Guardian article (15.3.11)
AIMS: WHY BREADTH?
Historical study, international comparison and sectoral reviews suggest
broad areas of intention such as:
•
•
•
•
•
Social
Economic
Personal
Cultural
Environmental
Public debate needed
Without clarity on goals, it is not possible for a fully coherent and
holistic curriculum to be offered or for appropriately aligned and
congruent assessment practices to be developed.
(Expert Panel report, 2011)
AIMS?
Aims in the National Curriculum proposals
No public debate on overall purposes. Why not?
3. Aims
3.1 The National Curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the
core knowledge that they need to be educated citizens. It introduces
pupils to the best that has been thought and said; and helps engender
an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.
3.2 The National Curriculum provides an outline of core knowledge
around which teachers can develop exciting and stimulating lessons.
(NC Consultation Framework, 2013)
STRUCTURE OF TALK
A ‘new approach’ to the National Curriculum’?
Conceptual tools for curricular design
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breadth (aims, subjects and areas of learning)
Balance (between knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes)
Continuity, progression and expectation
Personalisation (incl. connection, relevance, differentiation)
Agency (incl. engagement, dialogue, authenticity and feedback)
Coherence and congruence
Taking stock
What next?
WHY BALANCE?
DOES THE CURRICULUM AS EXPERIENCED OFFER
EVERYTHING WHICH A LEARNER HAS A RIGHT TO EXPECT?
Elements of learning (HMI, 1985)
Knowledge: Selections of that which is worth knowing and of interest. ‘That
which is taught should be worth knowing, comprehensible, capable of
sustaining pupils’ interest and useful to them at their particular stage of
development and in the future’.
Concepts: The ‘big ideas’ which inform a subject, or generalisations which
enable pupils to classify, organise and predict - to understand patterns,
relationships and meanings, e.g. flow, change, consequence, temperature,
refraction, power, energy.
Skills: The capacity or competence to perform a task, e.g. personal/social
(listening, collaborating, reflecting), physical/practical (running, writing,
cutting), intellectual (observing, reasoning, imagining), communication
(oracy, literacy, numeracy) etc.
Attitudes: The overt expression of values and personal qualities, e.g.
reliability, initiative, self-discipline, tolerance, resilience, resourcefulness,
etc.
WHY BALANCE?
Why Knowledge as an element of learning?
Teachers with good subject knowledge are able to make more
secure judgements about the appropriate teaching of
knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes.
Content knowledge - knowledge of the subject held by the
teacher.
Pedagogic content knowledge - knowledge of how to use
content knowledge for teaching purposes.
Curricular knowledge - knowledge of curriculum structures and
materials
WHY BALANCE?
Knowledge in the National Curriculum proposals:
NC proposals: Framework 3.1 The National Curriculum provides pupils
with an introduction to the core knowledge that they need to be
educated citizens. It introduces pupils to the best that has been
thought and said; and helps engender an appreciation of human
creativity and achievement.
E. D. Hirsch: ‘core knowledge curriculum’
A specified sequence of topics in each subject which will enhance
both educational standards and opportunities for all
WHY BALANCE?
Knowledge in the National Curriculum proposals:
Core subjects:
• Very high knowledge content specifications, long and detailed
• Progression based on perceived logics, experience of typical learning
sequences, and comparison with the ordering of knowledge in successful
jurisdictions internationally
• Obscure authorship and uneasy relationships with subject specialists
Other foundation subjects:
• High knowledge content specification, but very short and variable quality
• Progression by key stage forsakes upper/lower KS2 opportunity
• Variable in form and lacking common elements
• Imbalanced emphases suggest significant stakeholder influence
WHY BALANCE?
Why Concepts as an element of learning?
Concepts enable the most important ideas and deep structure of knowledge
and understanding in each subject to be presented in concise ways. This
avoids long lists of curriculum content.
• Concepts as organisers – because they ‘provide a map of knowledge’
which establish connections between cases, facts and experiences and
thus enable us to understand them.
• Concepts as anchorage points – in providing stability for exploration of
the subject and enabling cumulative understanding by learners.
• Concepts for flexible futures – because the information explosion generates
new facts at such a rate that it is futile to try to keep up.
WHY BALANCE?
Why Concepts as an element of learning?
The Geographical Association proposed a curriculum for primary schools
based on ‘thinking geographically’. As they put it:
A few large, organising concepts underlie a geographical way of investigating
and understanding the world. These are high level ideas that can be
applied across the subject to identify a question, guide an investigation,
organise information, suggest an explanation or assist decision making.
They are the key ideas involved in framing the unique contribution of
geography as a subject discipline.
The three main organising concepts for geography are place, space and
environment. There are further basic ideas in geography that run across
this overarching framework, such as connection, interrelation, scale and
change.
Using these ideas carefully and accurately is a key component of what we
mean by thinking geographically. (Geographical Association, 2012)
WHY BALANCE?
Concepts in the National Curriculum proposals:
Core subjects:
Implicit in programmes of study, but not explicitly drawn out
Other foundation subjects:
Mentioned in history, but missing from most subjects and
certainly not explicit
WHY BALANCE?
Why Skills as an element of learning?
A skill is ‘the capacity or competence to perform a task’ - but
uses of the term include reference to: basic, physical,
personal, study, subject and vocational skills.
Classic distinction from Gilbert Ryle:
• declarative knowledge – knowing that
• procedural knowledge – knowing how
The point is that there are sets of capabilities which complement
and extend a subject-based curriculum. Skills may be
specified for study across all curriculum subjects.
WHY BALANCE?
Skills are recognised internationally:
It is probably no accident that Finland, Japan, Shanghai and
Singapore are without physical resources. All of these places have
known for a very long time that their standard of living depends
entirely on the knowledge and skills of their people.
All now realize that high wages in the current global economy
require not just superior knowledge of the subjects studied in
school, but also a set of social skills, personal habits and
dispositions and values that are essential to success. The Asian
countries in particular are concerned that their students may not
have as much capacity for independent thought, creativity and
innovation as their countries will need.
Mark S Tucker (2011) Standing on the Shoulders of Giants:
an American agenda for education reform
WHY BALANCE?
Skills in the National Curriculum proposals
5. Language, literacy and numeracy
5.1 Teachers should develop pupils’ spoken language, reading
and writing as integral aspects of the teaching of every
subject. Fluency in the English language is an essential
foundation for success in all subjects.
5.2 Teachers should also use every relevant subject to develop
pupils’ mathematical fluency. Confidence in numeracy and
other mathematical skills is a precondition of success across
the National Curriculum. (NC Consultation Framework, 2013)
WHY BALANCE?
Skills in the National Curriculum proposals:
Core subjects:
Embedded in programmes of study, but not made explicit or
extracted on a cross-curricular basis except for language,
literacy and numeracy
Other foundation subjects:
Mentioned variably in relation to subject domains, but not
systematically or cross-curricular
WHY BALANCE?
Why Attitudes as an element of learning?
Attitudes were regarded by HMI as ‘the overt expression, in a
variety of situations, of values and personal qualities’
• Honesty, reliability, initiative, self-discipline and tolerance
Other specific values and priorities reflect particular social,
cultural and economic priorities:
• citizenship , health, exercise and diet, sustainability
WHY BALANCE?
Why Attitudes as an element of learning?
HMI also emphasised promotion of ‘positive attitudes (to learning) –
now termed ‘dispositions to learn’:
• Resilience covers aspects of the learner’s emotional and
experiential engagement with the subject matter of learning.
• Resourcefulness embraces the main cognitive skills and dispositions
of learning.
• Reciprocity covers the social and interpersonal side of learning.
• Reflectiveness covers the strategic and self-managing sides of
learning. (Claxton et al, 2011, p40)
WHY BALANCE?
Why Attitudes as an element of learning?
‘Learning how to learn’ (James et al, 2007) for the 21st century.
2020 Vision (Gilbert, 2007) aspired to ‘a new school experience’.
•
•
•
•
•
•
personalisation
assessment for learning
learning how to learn
pupil voice
engaging parents and carers
pupil engagement in a meaningful curriculum
WHY BALANCE?
Attitudes in the National Curriculum proposals:
Core subjects:
No mention
Other foundation subjects:
No mention
WHY BALANCE?
A balanced curriculum?
Knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes
versus
‘Fewer things in greater depth’
results in
Effective narrowing, because of the combination of overspecification and high stakes reinforcement of core subjects,
combined with under-specification and incoherence of other
foundation subjects.
STRUCTURE OF TALK
A ‘new approach’ to the National Curriculum’?
Conceptual tools for curricular design
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breadth (aims, subjects and areas of learning)
Balance (between knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes)
Continuity, progression and expectation
Personalisation (incl. connection, relevance, differentiation)
Agency (incl. engagement, dialogue, authenticity and feedback)
Coherence and congruence
Taking stock
What next?
WHY CONTINUITY?
DOES THE CURRICULUM FACILITATE AND SUPPORT
CUMULATIVE LEARNING?
Why continuity through the curriculum?
Children's development is a continuous process and schools have
to provide conditions and experiences which sustain and
encourage that process while recognising that it does not
proceed uniformly or at an even pace.
There is a need to build systematically on the children's existing
knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes, so as to ensure an
orderly advance in their capabilities over a period of time.
(HMI, 1985)
WHY CONTINUITY?
Why continuity through the curriculum?
The main points at which progression is endangered by
discontinuity are those at which pupils change schools.
Curricular planning within and between schools should aim to
ensure continuity by making the maximum use of earlier
learning.
Continuity within and between schools may best be achieved
when there are clear curricular policies. If the goals are clear,
progress towards them is more likely to be maintained.
(HMI, 1985)
WHY CONTINUITY? EYFS
Area of learning
Aspect
Personal, Social and
Emotional Development
Self-confidence and self-awareness
Managing feelings and behaviour
Making relationships
Physical Development
Moving and handling
Health and self-care
Communication and
Language
Listening and attention
Understanding
Speaking
Literacy
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
Numbers
Shape, space and measures
Expressive Arts and Design
Exploring and using media and materials
Being imaginative
Understanding the World
People and communities
The world
Technology
WHY CONTINUITY? EYFS
Learning characteristics. Children learn:
By playing and exploring
● finding out and exploring
● using what they know in their play
● being willing to have a go
Through active learning
● being involved and concentrating
● keeping on trying
● enjoying achieving what they set out to do
By creating and thinking critically
● having their own ideas
● using what they already know to learn new things
● choosing ways to do things and finding new ways
WHY CONTINUITY?
Continuity in the National Curriculum proposals
English: Key Stage 1
During Year 1 teachers should build on work from the
Foundation Stage, making sure that pupils can sound
and blend unfamiliar printed words quickly and
accurately using the phonic knowledge and skills that
they have already learnt.
Teachers should also ensure that pupils continue to
learn new grapheme-phoneme correspondences
(GPCs) and revise and consolidate those learnt earlier.
WHY PROGRESSION?
DOES THE CURRICULUM PROVIDE AN APPROPRIATE
SEQUENCE AND DEPTH OF LEARNING EXPERIENCES?
1. Progression is linked to providing continuities in children’s
development as learners.
Children’s development is a continuous process and schools have to
provide conditions and experiences which sustain and encourage
that process while recognising that it does not proceed uniformly or
at an even pace. If this progression is to be maintained, there is a
need to build systematically on the children’s existing knowledge,
concepts, skills and attitudes, so as to ensure an orderly advance in
their capabilities over a period of time. (Her Majesty’s Inspectors,
1985, p 48)
This understanding of progression recognises variation, diversity and
uncertainty in learning and urges teachers to personalize the
curriculum in relation to pupils’ existing knowledge.
WHY PROGRESSION?
2. Progression emphasises the sequencing of programmes of
study to maintain the integrity and logic of subject
knowledge.
For example, Hirsch’s Core Knowledge Curriculum, orders
information to be learned in great detail - but leaves
pedagogic implications for teachers to determine.
WHY PROGRESSION?
3. Progression in forms of learner thinking
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956) :
• recall
• comprehension
• application
• analysis
• synthesis
• evaluation
WHY PROGRESSION?
Progression in the National Curriculum proposals
Core subjects
The DfE harvested national curricula from around the world and built
up its programmes of study from a process of comparison, drafting
and consultation about such knowledge – but opting for high
outcomes
So the outcome offers progression and very high expectations, but is
primarily justified in subject terms rather than in terms of the
development of capacity to learn
Other foundation subjects
No use of upper/lower key stage 2.
Content descriptions with limited delineation of substantive
progression
INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT: WHY EXPECTATION?
DO TEACHERS & SCHOOLS SUPPORT HIGH EXPECTATIONS
FOR STUDENTS AND ASPIRE FOR EXCELLENCE?
There is a tendency for teachers and pupils to interact together
in comfort zones. Routinised teaching produces drift in pupil
learning and, through this mutual accommodation, everyone
gets through the day.
There is also a pattern in some staffroom cultures and in the
thinking of some teachers to perceive deficiencies in the
children’s learning or even in the learners themselves and
their backgrounds. Such low expectations become a barrier
to learning and need to be challenged.
WHY EXPECTATION?
Expectations in the National Curriculum proposals
Core subjects
Explicitly high expectations set. Are they too high? Will they
self-generate ‘failure’?
Other foundation subjects
Variable expectations set. Are they too vague and incoherent?
Will they seem banal and dull the imagination?
STRUCTURE OF TALK
A ‘new approach’ to the National Curriculum’?
Conceptual tools for curricular design
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breadth (aims, subjects and areas of learning)
Balance (between knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes)
Continuity, progression and expectation
Personalisation (incl. connection, relevance, differentiation)
Agency (incl. engagement, dialogue, authenticity and feedback)
Coherence and congruence
Taking stock
What next?
PROCESSES FOR SOCIAL NEEDS: WHY PERSONALISATION?
DOES THE CURRICULUM RESONATE WITH THE SOCIAL AND
CULTURAL NEEDS OF DIVERSE LEARNERS?
‘Personalisation’ is a relatively new educational concept which
reflects both cumulative international understanding about
learning and contemporary commitment to reducing
inequalities in outcomes.
Whilst echoing the cognitive issues associated with
differentiation, it extends and broadens these to also embrace
the social, emotional and motivational dimensions of
learning.
WHY PERSONALISATION?
2020 Vision (Gilbert, 2006) drew on a US research review (Bransford et
al, 2000) to declare that:
Personalising learning is learner-centred and knowledge-centred :
Close attention is paid to learners’ knowledge, skills, understanding
and attitudes. Learning is connected to what they already know
(including from outside the classroom). Teaching enthuses pupils
and engages their interest in learning.
...and it is assessment-centred:
Assessment supports learning: learners monitor their progress and,
with their teachers, identify their next steps. Techniques such as
open questioning, sharing learning objectives and success criteria,
and focused marking have a powerful effect on the extent to which
learners are enabled to take an active role in their learning.
WHY PERSONALISATION?
Personalisation in the National Curriculum proposals
The new curriculum proposals make no explicit mention of the
value of personalisation
The concept of the School Curriculum, if time is available, and
the idea of teacher-determined pedagogies could allow for
personalised provision to be made
CONTEXT: WHY CONNECTION?
DOES THE CURRICULUM DRAW ON THE FUNDS-OFKNOWLEDGE OF FAMILIES AND THE COMMUNITY?
The concept of ‘connection’ draws attention to the extent to
which curricular experiences are contextually meaningful to
pupils.
For some, the school curriculum fails to make connections with
other parts of their lives.
Disengagement is disproportionately concentrated among
children from poorer backgrounds.
CPR, RSA and EP all suggest making provision for locally based
curricula.
WHY CONNECTION?
Connection in the National Curriculum proposals
The new curriculum proposals make no explicit mention of the
value of connection, other than in relation to the provision of
information to parents on curriculum and performance.
The concept of the School Curriculum, if time is available, and
the idea of teacher-determined pedagogies could allow for
the development of local, community connections.
PROCESSES FOR AFFECTIVE NEEDS: WHY RELEVANCE?
IS THE CURRICULUM PRESENTED IN WAYS WHICH ARE
MEANINGFUL TO LEARNERS?
There is little doubt that children and young people learn most
effectively when they understand the purposes and context of
the tasks and challenges with which they are faced. When a
pupil complains that an activity is ‘pointless', is ‘boring' or that
they ‘don't see what it's for', then the curriculum is failing to
satisfy the criterion of relevance.
A key consideration here is the value of incorporating practical
activities and first-hand experience into the teaching
programme through schemes of work.
WHY RELEVANCE?
Relevance in the National Curriculum proposals
The new curriculum proposals make no explicit mention of the
value of relevance
The concept of the School Curriculum, if time is available, and
the idea of teacher-determined pedagogies could allow for
relevance to be considered in provision
WHY DIFFERENTIATION?
ARE CURRICULUM TASKS AND ACTIVITIES STRUCTURED TO
MATCH THE INTELLECTUAL NEEDS OF LEARNERS?
Differentiation highlights the cognitive demands which a
curriculum or an activity make of the learner.
‘If I had to reduce the whole of educational psychology to just
one principle, I would say this: ‘The most important single
factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows.
Ascertain this and teach him accordingly’.
(Ausubel, 1968, p. vi)
WHY DIFFERENTIATION?
Judgements about progression and depth of cognitive challenge in
tasks are probably the most important that a teacher makes.
We have come to the conclusion, that the design of instructional
and assessment tasks is the fundamental determinant of the quality
of teaching and learning in the classroom (Hogan, 2012, p103)
Our key point is that it is the intellectual demands embedded in
classroom tasks that influence the degree of student engagement
and learning (Newmann, Bryk and Nagaok, 2001, p31)
Powerful and accomplished teachers are those who focus on
students’ cognitive engagement with the content of what it is that
is being taught ….. (Hattie, 2012, p 19)
WHY DIFFERENTIATION?
Differentiation in the National Curriculum proposals
4. Inclusion
Setting suitable challenges
4.1 Teachers should set high expectations for every pupil. They
should plan stretching work for pupils whose attainment is
significantly above the expected standard. They have an even
greater obligation to plan lessons for pupils who have low levels
of prior attainment or come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Teachers should use appropriate assessment to set targets which
are deliberately ambitious.
(NC Consultation Framework, 2013)
But, if the pitch is too high, mass, artificial, ‘failure’ will be created.
Will there be sufficient flexibility in year-by-year schemes of work to
respond flexibly to specific learner needs, or will the programme
of study simply roll on?
WHY DIFFERENTIATION?
Three themes of contemporary inclusive pedagogy:
Shifting the focus away from particular learners, identified as
having ‘special’ or ‘additional’ needs, towards the learning of
all children and young people in the class
Rejecting deterministic beliefs about ability as being fixed and
the associated idea that the presence of some will hold back
the progress of others
Seeing difficulties in learning as professional challenges for
teachers, rather than deficits in learners
WHY DIFFERENTIATION?
Differentiation in the National Curriculum proposals
4. Inclusion
Responding to pupils’ needs and overcoming potential barriers
for individuals and groups of pupils
4.2 Teachers should take account of their duties under equal
opportunities legislation that covers disability, ethnicity,
gender, sexual identity, gender identity, and religion or belief.
4.3 A wide range of pupils have special educational needs, many
of whom also have disabilities. Lessons should be planned to
ensure that there are no barriers to every pupil achieving.
(NC Consultation Framework, 2013)
But will achievement of inclusion be facilitated by a highly
specified, traditional and knowledge-driven curriculum, or
may it reinforce exclusion?
STRUCTURE OF TALK
A ‘new approach’ to the National Curriculum’?
Conceptual tools for curricular design
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breadth (aims, subjects and areas of learning)
Balance (between knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes)
Continuity, progression and expectation
Personalisation (incl. connection, relevance, differentiation)
Agency (incl. engagement, dialogue, authenticity and feedback)
Coherence and congruence
Taking stock
What next?
CLASSROOM PROCESSES: WHY AGENCY?
DOES THE CURRICULUM PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR
LEARNERS TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF THEIR LEARNING?
From accumulated international research, it is clear that learning is
enhanced when pupils are active participants in learning processes.
Global drivers increasingly bring to the fore what some call “21st
century competences”. The quantity and quality of learning thus
become central, with the accompanying concern that traditional
educational approaches are insufficient.
Learners are recognised as core participants. Active engagement in
developing understanding of their own activity as learners is
encouraged.
There is clarity of expectations and consistent assessment strategies,
including strong emphasis on formative feedback to support
learning.
(OECD, 2011)
WHY PUPIL AGENCY?
Curricular and pedagogic provision should enable:
Engagement: do our teaching strategies, classroom organisation
and consultation enable learners to actively participate in and
enjoy their learning?
Dialogue: does teacher-learner talk scaffold understanding to
build on existing knowledge and to strengthen dispositions to
learn?
WHY PUPIL AGENCY?
Pupil engagement and dialogic teaching in the National
Curriculum proposals
The new curriculum proposals appear to make just one explicit
mention of pupil engagement (in science), though there are
many opportunities in the ‘notes and guidance’.
The new curriculum proposals nominally encourage speaking
across the curriculum, but the activity is not thoroughly
embedded with explication of progression. Speaking and
Listening has been removed from the English PoS.
WHY PUPIL AGENCY?
Assessment provision should enable:
 Authenticity: do learners recognise routine processes of
assessment and feedback as being of personal value?
 Feeding-back: is there a routine flow of constructive, specific,
diagnostic feed-back from teacher to learners?
WHY PUPIL AGENCY?
Pupil agency in the National Curriculum proposals
The new curriculum proposals make no explicit mention of the
value of authenticity in the provision of personally meaningful
feedback to learners about their learning
The non-statutory ‘Notes and Guidance’ within new curriculum
proposals suggest sequences of pupil activity, and thus stray
into the pedagogic, but do not promote the systematic
provision of explicit feedback to learners.
STRUCTURE OF TALK
A ‘new approach’ to the National Curriculum’?
Conceptual tools for curricular design
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breadth (aims, subjects and areas of learning)
Balance (between knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes)
Continuity, progression and expectation
Personalisation (incl. connection, relevance, differentiation)
Agency (incl. engagement, dialogue, authenticity and feedback)
Coherence and congruence
Taking stock
What next?
WHY COHERENCE?
IS THERE CLARITY IN THE PURPOSES, CONTENT AND
ORGANISATION OF THE CURRICULUM AND DOES IT
PROVIDE HOLISTIC LEARNING EXPERIENCES?
Coherence refers to the extent to which the various parts of a
planned curriculum relate meaningfully together to reinforce
the knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes being learned.
The opposite would be fragmentation.
People tend to enjoy learning more when they understand it as a
whole. They feel more in control and are more willing to think
independently and take risks. On the other hand, perceptions
of incoherence can lead to feelings of frustration and to
strategies such as withdrawal.
WHY COHERENCE?
Coherence in the National Curriculum proposals
It is not apparent that any thought whatsoever has been given to
this issue, beyond the parameters of each core subject.
This reflects the reliance on subject authors and subject
consultation processes, with a consistent failure to engage in a
serious way with phase specialists to tackle cross-curricular
issues and to advise on loadings and inter-connections across
the curriculum.
WHY CONGRUENCE?
ARE FORMS OF ASSESSMENT ALIGNED WITH OVERALL
EDUCATIONAL INTENTIONS?
At the SYSTEM LEVEL we may expect alignment between:
• educational aims and purposes
• forms of summative assessment and measurement of
performance
• school inspection
Assessment and accountability tend to be focused on core
objectives, but should be carefully designed to avoid
distorting broader educational purposes.
Aims of the new National Curriculum
Every state-funded school must offer a curriculum which is balanced
and broadly based and which:
• promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical
development of pupils at the school and of society, and
• prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities
and experiences of later life. (NC Consultation Framework, 2013)
English, mathematics and science are the building blocks of education;
improving our performance in these subjects will be essential if our
country is to compete in the global economy. That is why they are
central to the new National Curriculum.
(NC consultation document, 2013)
2013–15 English grammar, punctuation
and spelling test framework
In July 2012, in response to Lord Bew’s independent review of Key
Stage 2 assessment1, the Government announced that a new
statutory English grammar, punctuation and spelling test (hereafter
known as ‘the test’) for all children in Year 6 would be introduced
during the 2012-13 academic year.
The test will only include questions that assess elements of the current
National Curriculum in English.
The domain will include items that measure:
• sentence grammar (through identification and grammatical
accuracy);
• punctuation (through identification and grammatical accuracy);
• vocabulary (through grammatical accuracy) and
• spelling.
A sample test in English: spelling
Listen carefully to the instructions I am going to give
you.
I am going to read twenty sentences to you.
Each sentence has a word missing in your answer
booklet.
You should listen carefully to the missing word and
fill this in, making sure you spell it correctly.
I will read the word, then the word within a
sentence, then repeat the word a third time.
Do you have any questions?
A sample test in English: spelling
Spelling one: the word is dinner.
We sat at the table to eat our dinner .
The word is dinner.
Spelling two: the word is following.
The ducklings walked in a line, following their
mother.
The word is following.
Consultation document
7.6 Approaches to the assessment of pupils’
progress and recognising the achievements of all
pupils at primary school will be explored more fully
within the primary assessment and accountability
consultation which will be issued shortly.
For interesting speculation, check out: ‘giftedphoenix’ on
‘whither National Curriculum assessment without levels’
Framework for Inspection of Schools,
January 2013
Inspectors are required to report on the quality of education provided in the
school and must, in particular, cover:
•
•
•
•
the achievement of pupils at the school
the quality of teaching in the school
the behaviour and safety of pupils at the school
the quality of leadership in, and management of, the school.
When reporting, inspectors must also consider:
• the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at the
school
• the extent to which the education provided by the school meets the needs
of the range of pupils at the school, and in particular the needs of disabled
pupils and those who have special educational needs.
Framework for Inspection of Schools,
January 2013
Quality of teaching in the school
The most important purpose of teaching is to raise pupils’
achievement. Inspectors consider the planning and
implementation of learning activities across the whole
of the school’s curriculum, together with teachers’
marking, assessment and feedback to pupils.
They evaluate activities both within and outside the
classroom.
They also evaluate teachers’ support and intervention
strategies and the impact that teaching has on the
promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and
cultural development.
Framework for Inspection of Schools,
January 2013
Quality of leadership in, and management of, the
school
Inspectors will consider the extent to which leaders
and managers:
provide a broad and balanced curriculum that
meets the needs of all pupils, enables all pupils to
achieve their full educational potential and make
progress in their learning, and promotes their
good behaviour and safety and their spiritual,
moral, social and cultural development
WHY CONGRUENCE?
ARE FORMS OF ASSESSMENT ALIGNED WITH OVERALL
EDUCATIONAL INTENTIONS?
At the CLASSROOM LEVEL, we might expect assessment
processes to generate formative information, support the use
of ‘assessment for learning’ and make learning ‘visible’.
• Clear learning intentions enable children to understand and
identify with the purposes underlying activities.
• Clear success criteria, shared with pupils, help them to clarify
the learning challenge and what it will look and feel like when
they have accomplished it.
Congruence in the National Curriculum proposals
Attainment targets
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to
know, apply and understand the matters, skills and
processes specified in the relevant programme of
study.
NC adoption of PoS + non-statutory notes and guidance
EP recommendation of PoS + specific attainments
expected
WHY CONGRUENCE?
At the SYSTEM LEVEL, pupil experience could narrow because of:
• Over specification of the core and overall curriculum imbalance
• High-stakes end of KS2 testing of the core curriculum
• An inspection framework with only oblique reference to
curriculum quality per se
At the CLASSROOM LEVEL, learning opportunities and parental
support may be gained by:
• Removal of ‘levels’ to enable a direct focus on learning itself
At the CLASSROOM LEVEL, pupil learning opportunities may be
lost because of:
• Failure to distinguish PoS and ‘essential learning outcomes’.
WHY CONGRUENCE?
The key features of Singapore’s performative pedagogy include a
determined focus on curriculum coverage, knowledge
transmission and exam preparation for national high stakes
assessments; a strong inclination for teachers to ‘teach to the
test’; fidelity of task implementation to task design; pragmatic,
fit-for-purpose instructional choices that are largely indifferent
to theoretical background but generally focus on techniques
drawn from direct instruction and traditional instruction
(worksheets, textbooks, drill and practice); a pervasive and
authoritative ability discourse; a preponderance of closed
questions, limited exchanges and performative talk during
lessons.
(Hogan et al, 2013)
STRUCTURE OF TALK
A ‘new approach’ to the National Curriculum’?
Conceptual tools for curricular design
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breadth (aims, subjects and areas of learning)
Balance (between knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes)
Continuity, progression and expectation
Personalisation (incl. connection, relevance, differentiation)
Agency (incl. engagement, dialogue, authenticity and feedback)
Coherence and congruence
Taking stock
What next?
TAKING STOCK
KNOWLEDGE, DEVELOPMENT AND CURRICULUM
The educational role of curricular provision relates to three
basic, enduring considerations:
• the nature of knowledge,
• the needs of learners, and crucially,
• the interactions between them.
The elements are not, however, equally significant at every age.
In particular, developmental aspects and basic skills are more
crucial for young children, while appropriate understanding of
more differentiated subject knowledge, concepts and skills
becomes more important for older pupils.
TAKING STOCK
KNOWLEDGE, DEVELOPMENT AND CURRICULUM
SOCIETY
KNOWLEDGE
E
x
p
e
r
i
e
n
c
e
DEVELOPMENT
INDIVIDUALS
CURRICULUM
TAKING STOCK: a ‘new approach’
‘The National Curriculum should set out only the essential knowledge and understanding
that all children should acquire and leave teachers to decide how to teach this most
effectively.’
• The legitimacy of over-aching aims and judgements of ‘essential knowledge and
understanding’ has not been established
• Core subjects are over-specified and embed pedagogic prescription
• Other foundation subjects as a whole are incoherent in form and content
• Breadth is sustained, but balance in knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes is lacking
• Continuity from EY to KS1 is weak; progression and expectation are very bold
‘We want the National Curriculum to be a benchmark not a straitjacket, a body of
knowledge against which achievement can be measured.’
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Inclusion (and differentiation) across the curriculum is required but will be difficult
Language, literacy and numeracy across the curriculum are required. Learning is absent.
Personalisation, connection and relevance rely on the School Curriculum
Pupil agency , including engagement, authenticity and feedback rely on the SC
Curricular coherence is weak, and must be built through the School Curriculum
Assessment requirements are unclear, but are likely to be very powerful
Systemic congruence of control factors is real. Can schools rise above the straitjacket?
WHAT NEXT? CONTEXTS OF POLICY MAKING
We envisage three primary policy contexts, each context
consisting of a number of arenas of action, some public, some
private:
• the context of influence
• the context of text production
• the context of practice
The policy process is one of complexity, it is one of policy-making
and remaking. It is often difficult, if not impossible to control
or predict the effects of policy, or indeed to be clear about
what those effects are, what they mean, when they happen.
The meanings of texts are rarely unequivocal. Novel or creative
readings can sometimes bring their own rewards.
(Bowe, Ball, Gold, 1992)
Scope and coverage of the consultation
4.1
This consultation covers the Government’s proposals relating
to the following elements of the framework for the National
Curriculum in England:
• proposed aims for the new National Curriculum
• changes to the programmes of study and attainment targets for all
subjects and key stages (except English, mathematics and science at
Key Stage 4)
• a proposal to replace the ICT programmes of study with new
computing programmes of study
• the equalities impact of the reforms
• issues relating to the implementation of the new National Curriculum
• the disapplication of aspects of the current National Curriculum
Consultation questions
Question 1: Do you have any comments on the proposed aims for the
National Curriculum as a whole as set out in the framework
document?
Question 2: Do you agree that instead of detailed subject-level aims
we should free teachers to shape their own curriculum aims based
on the content in the programmes of study?
Question 3: Do you have any comments on the content set out in the
draft programmes of study?
Question 4: Does the content set out in the draft programmes of
study represent a sufficiently ambitious level of challenge for
pupils at each key stage?
Question 5: Do you have any comments on the proposed wording of
the attainment targets?
Question 6: Do you agree that the draft programmes of study
provide for effective progression between the key stages?
Consultation questions
Question 7: Do you agree that we should change the subject information
and communication technology to computing, to reflect the content of
the new programmes of study for this subject?
Question 8: Does the new National Curriculum embody an expectation of
higher standards for all children?
Question 9: What impact - either positive or negative - will our proposals
have on the 'protected characteristic' groups?
Question 10: To what extent will the new National Curriculum make clear to
parents what their children should be learning at each stage of their
education?
Question 11: What key factors will affect schools’ ability to implement the
new National Curriculum successfully from September 2014?
Question 12: Who is best placed to support schools and/or develop resources
that schools will need to teach the new National Curriculum?
Question 13: Do you agree that we should amend the legislation to disapply
the National Curriculum programmes of study, attainment targets and
statutory assessment arrangements, as set out in section 12 of the
consultation document?
Possible goals in consultation
Develop aims – to introduce statements on
promoting positive attitudes to learning
Strengthen breadth – by improving coherence,
structure and rigour of other foundation subjects
Challenge the pitch and level of expectations – in
collaboration with subject associations
Object to consultation without information on end
of Key Stage assessment proposals
Challenge rhetoric of ‘professional freedom’ and
reality of mistrust and control