Victoria, AustraliaMay Sweeney – National Co-ordinator

Learning and Teaching Scotland

November 2006

What do we want to do better?

Desire to address:• Overcrowding – too many initiatives• Progression• Balance between ‘vocational’ and ‘academic’• Preparing young people better for lifelong learning and

employment• Ensuring that assessment supports learning• Increasing choice

Values

“The Curriculum … must enable young people to build up a strong foundation of knowledge and understanding and promote a commitment to considered judgement and ethical action.”

page 11 A Curriculum for Excellence 2004

To enable all young people

to become

Successful learners

Effective contributors

Responsible citizens

Confident individuals

Principles for curriculum design

Challenge and enjoyment Breadth Progression Depth Personalisation and

choice Coherence Relevance

Aims of the programme• Focus practice upon the

child and around the four purposes of education

• Simplify and prioritise the current curriculum

• Encourage more learning through experiences

• Create a single framework for the curriculum and assessment 3-18

“To ensure that young people develop the literacy, numeracy and other essential skills and knowledge they will need for life and work.”

Page 4 A Curriculum for Excellence

New approach to curriculum developmentEngagement 2005-06• Education authorities; elected members• Head Teachers; schools/centres/establishments; children’s services• Children & young people• Parents/carers• TEIs/ FE colleges/GTC• Professional associations• Employers• Media• Range of interested parties: Forestry Commission; WWF etc

What has been happening?• Engagement• Early review groups• Skills for Work

Courses• Progress and

Proposals – March 2006

• Register of Interest

Proposals: Looking at the curriculumdifferently

• Single framework 3 – 18• Promote learning across a wide range of contexts and well

planned experiences• More than curriculum areas and subjects, also

– Ethos and life of the school– Interdisciplinary projects and studies– Opportunities for personal achievement

• Equip young people with high level of literacy and numeracy skills

Interdisciplinary projects and studies

“The curriculum needs to include space for learning beyond subject boundaries, so that learners can make connections between different areas of learning. …..

To be successful, these activities need to be well planned with a clear purpose and outcomes in mind.”

(Progress and Proposals 2006)

Opportunities for personal achievement“ ..activities such as

performances, community or enterprise activities and trips. … Many …are voluntary for learners and have traditionally been organised as ‘extra-curricular’ opportunities. However, they play a major part in creating opportunities for individual growth , progress and achievement and we need to consider how they can be made available for all learners.”

Proposals: Levels of achievement

ACfE levels of achievement will • replace 5-14 levels• extend from 3-18• describe both outcomes and experiences• “I can…” and “I have…” statements• Provide scope for challenge and depth

(no need to speed through levels but no ceilings either)

Proposals: Progression and Levels of Achievement

Level Experiences and outcomes for most children or young people

Early In pre-school and in Primary 1

First By end of P4, but earlier for some

Second By end of P7, but earlier for some

Third In S1- S3 but earlier for someFourth level broadly equates to SCQF level 4

Fourth

Senior In S4 – S6, but earlier for some

Proposals: Organising LearningOrganising learning through

curriculum areas - to provide breadth

– Health and well being– Languages – Mathematics– Sciences– Social studies– Expressive arts– Technologies– Religious and moral

education

“The curriculum areas should provide a basis for learning and the development of skills across a broad range of contexts. They offer opportunities for citizenship, sustainable development, enterprise, creativity and cultural aspects. …..

It will be open to schools to organise the outcomes and experiences differently (for example by designing challenging interdisciplinary projects), …to plan for progression, breadth and depth of learning.”

p15, Progress and Proposals 2006

Making Choices in learning

“The proposed changes to the structure of the curriculum give us an opportunity to look differently at choices in learning at all stages. … We would like to work with schools to explore possibilities for different approaches to personalisation and choice. ..e.g., whether it would be desirable and possible for choices to take place over a more extended period across S1-S3, ….approaches to subject choice which are not based on the current modal structure ..”

p15-16, Progress and Proposals 2006

Recognition of Achievement• How do we recognise

broader skills and achievements more explicitly?

• Robust, convincing and highly valued

• Must not become a new bureaucratic burden for schools

Implications

• Role of the teacher– Shift from prescription about detail of the

curriculum towards more scope for professional judgement and creativity

– Enhancing both initial teacher education and CPD

Implications

• Leadership– Increased expectations – Support professional dialogue and debate– Opportunities to be creative in curriculum

design

2006-07?• Building the Curriculum paper• Writing of outcomes and

experiences• Work on curriculum

architecture• Further engagement• Inter-authority collaboration• Involvement of schools and

other stakeholders through Register of Interest

• Examples of changing practice in response to ACfEX on website

• Glow

Current Challenges• Management of change • Varying levels of awareness and understanding of

purposes and principles• Readiness of staff to interpret and use simplified

guidance• Focus on external accountability and qualifications• Nature of CPD

A Curriculum for Excellence Scotland 2006