As a sector, I don’t think as much attention has been paid to implementing the curriculum as it has to the pedagogy to teach it.
It’s a bit like going into a restaurant where all the effort has gone in to making it look amazing: tables beautifully set, glasses sparkling, lighting gorgeous, everything looking inviting. And staff expertly trained in creating a great experience for diners.
Then the food comes out. No-one has given the same thought, care and attention to what actually is on the plate.
I reckon there are parallels with implementing the curriculum.
Plenty of thought has gone into the processes of teaching a great lesson. Most settings have a teaching and learning policy drawn from what we currently understand works best. Many of them drawn from Rosenshine and the Walkthrus. These have made a massive difference to the clarity and impact of instruction.
Unless I’ve missed it, I don’t see similar discussions about the quality of the content being taught.
This is important because if we don’t shift the lens and consider quality, then we’re likely to end up with ‘sub-Wikipedia’ content which might or might not be accurate. And for the most part, misses opportunities to convey the energy and vibrancy of the subjects we are teaching.
A few thoughts on how we might address this.
There are three principles for implementing the curriculum that I think can help us here.
The first is to ask where the resources have come from? Are we drawing from authentic sources? For example, if I’m teaching about mosques in RE, am I using low grade worksheets, or showing images of actual mosques? If I’m teaching about the theory of evolution am I using a great text such as Sabina Radeva’s Charles Darwin on the Origin of Species? Or a dull worksheet? It’s the same with all the subjects. We have choices and those choices matter for the quality of pupils’ learning.
The second might sound odd! But the question I ask is whether the materials are beautiful? Not in the sense that they are covered in sparkly graphics, but in the way that William Morris talked about beauty. He said that we shouldn’t have anything in our homes that we don’t know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
And so I ask myself, are these resources useful in terms of pupils’ learning and beautiful in terms of whether they are high quality?
The third is whether the resources contain the subject specific vocabulary which is the gateway into the domain. Or are the resources dumbed down in the mistaken belief that pupils can’t cope? They can. Particularly if they are using knowledge organisers and have the chance for plenty of discussion.
A great deal of work has gone into the curriculum intent. For the most part, intent statements are in place, plans written up, and resources prepared. Virtually every school talks about an ambitious curriculum for every young person.
It’s just we haven’t always made the connection that an ambitious promise deserves an ambitious delivery.
Until next time
Mary
PS I’m doing a free CPD session to explore how to invigorate the primary curriculum, Monday 8 September 3.30-4.30, register here
I actually don’t think the beautiful’ point is wacky at all, Mary. I agree completely. How can we build the first mediational process of ‘Attention’ if we don’t have something worth looking at? I also think beauty and care in presentation *can* be a form of communication about the value of the content. There is a ceremony to decoration which inherently conveys our sense of value for the things we are making beautiful.
Thank you Mary.. signed up for 8th September and hoping my new team members will also register from Lloyd Williamson School - starting new Headship!