The Curriculum

In the "What is the curriculum?" blog the author raises four hypotheses about what the curriculum is. I have an entirely personal perspective on this, which has been developed through thirteen years in the teaching profession. I have been very lucky to work for some inspirational headteachers who continued to have faith in a creative curriculum during a period of increased prescription that followed the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1989. I don't blame the NC for the prescription that has shackled teachers and schools in the last 20 years. My two criminals guilty of this crime are an invasive inspection system and the publishing of league tables based on a seemingly flawed assessment system - but that is something for another post which I will write soon enough.

Back to the curriculum. As an advanced skills teacher I worked with loads of schools that were teaching a creative curriculum. I often reflected on the curriculum in each of the schools that I worked in, including those that I was teaching in and was often disappointed to discover that in the majority of cases what was being described as creative was actually a set of false links being made between a series of medium term subject plans that were written by someone external to the school and were delivered with very little adaptation for the learners.

Where "off the shelf" plans are used without any adaptation they lose their sparkle. This is because the teacher using the plan has no connection with the progression that the author intended. There must be an intellectual engagement with the materials to ensure that it matches the needs of the learners. This seems rather obvious, but I know through experience that this doesn't always happen. My other issue with "off the shelf" stuff is that we don't all find the same things inspiring, and I believe passionately that in order to inspire we need to feel inspired. One of the key skills that a talented teacher brings to the classroom  is the ability to take something that is inspiring and develop real and relevant learning from the material that fits in with an builds on a defined curriculum.

As my career has progressed I have developed my understanding of curriculum. In answering the hypotheses in the blog referenced above I feel that the most successful schools believe in a curriculum that encompasses every planned interaction with the children, from the minute they enter the grounds to the minute they leave (and actually beyond the school as well).

A bit of a ramble, but these are some themes that I want to develop further through this blog. Your thoughts and comments are very welcome.