Transcript Document

Unit 4
The new national
curriculum in
context
Part 3
Keeping track of progress
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In order to track progress, first we must have some
idea of what progress needs to be made.
This, of course, is set out in the new national
curriculum year by year (or key stage by key stage in
the case of some subjects and phases).
But this would give us at best an annual benchmark of
progress – more summative than formative.
So we need to look at the learning expected within a
year.
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Of course, what happens within a year depends upon the way in
which the curriculum has been designed by the school. So the
sequence of progress within a year depends upon curriculum
design – and assessment depends upon this sequence.
So assessment follows curriculum design. This has been a key
message of the Curriculum Design and the Assessment parts of
these “Year of the Curriculum” programmes.
The Year of the Curriculum
Life without Levels
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Do you remember Unit 4 of the Year of the Curriculum
(YoC) Curriculum Design programme?
(Did you do the Curriculum Design programme? If not,
it’s on the website!)
Unit 4
How shall we
organise
learning?
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Unit 4 of YoC pointed out that:
• our own aims, together with the national curriculum, set out
what we want young people to learn.
• curriculum design puts that learning together in a meaningful
series of ‘packages’ such as study units, topics or series of
lessons. Together, these cover the learning expected in the
year.
• the composition of these ‘units’ determines how how learning
is grouped together.
• the sequence of these ‘units’ (and the learning expected in
them), therefore sets out progress within a year, and so
determines the order in which learning needs to be assessed.
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Thisexample,
For
is all rather
thisobvious
element
and
of straightforward
Y4 Science could(so
be obvious
taught asand
one
‘unit’ or sequence
straightforward
that
ofyou
lessons.
are probably
Or it could
wondering
be split into
why two
it is or
even
three
separate
being
mentioned!).
pieces of learning carried out at different times of year. It is
up to the school to decide.
What makes it slightly more complex (and interesting) is the way in
That
will determine
each
part ofand
thethe
assessment
is
whichdecision
we ‘package’
different when
sorts of
learning,
impact this
carried
out – and so how progress is tracked.
has on assessment.
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Do you remember that in Unit 4, we looked at the “triangulation” of
design (there seems to be a lot of triangulation about). Do you
remember?
Yes?
In this model, the na onal curriculum Programmes of Study (PoS) supply the
‘subject content’. The present Secondary PoS also supply the Key Concepts – but
these will disappear in the new na onal curriculum. The Key Skills will come from
the skills element of the competencies that you listed in Unit 2. The PoS will, in
this model, provide the knowledge context for the competencies. Between these
three, the learning experience is defined.
If so, what were the three points of the triangle?
Subject content
Learning
experience
Key Concept
Key Skill
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9
The “Subject Content” is the knowledge aspect of the learning
expectations, the “Key Concept” is the understanding, and the “Key
Skill” is exactly what it says on the tin.
Do you remember how they impacted on design? Here are some
clues:
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We looked at an example of a Year 6 class investigating changes in marriage patterns in the
Parish Register. Do you remember?
The subject content here was ‘The Victorians’ and the key concept was the understanding
of the causes of change. The key concept gave us a criterion by which we can select from
the whole range of the content. We ask ourselves, ‘What aspects of the content will help
our pupils understand about change?’ In this case, we need look only at the the Parish
Register.
Subject content
The Victorians
Parish
Register
Key concept
Change
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In the Secondary example we looked at in Unit 3, a Year 8 class was engaged in a beach
study. Do you remember?
The subject content here was ‘erosion and deposition’ and the key concept was ‘how
interactions between physical and human processes change places and environments'.
Again, the key concept gives us a criterion by which we can select from the whole range of
the content. In this case, the building of the groynes by humans has impacted on the shape
of the beach. This gave us our focus.
Subject content
Erosion and
deposition
Beach
Study
Key concept
Interactions
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The key to this model is that if we change the key concept, we change the learning
experience even if the content stays the same.
For example, if we want our pupils to learn about economic development in the Victorian
period, then the Parish Register will not be too helpful. Instead we need to look at
factories or mines.
So changing the key concept, changes the learning experience that we need to design.
Subject content
The Victorians
Factories
and mines
Key concept
Economic
development
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The implication for assessment is that if we have designed our
curriculum in terms of the key content and concepts to be learned
in each unit or topic, then what do we need to look for when we
are assessing?
Yes, the very learning that we planned. So planning for
assessment should already have occurred as part of curriculum
design – in that the learning that we plan in each unit or topic is
exactly the learning that we look for in assessment.
What could be simpler? But there was a third point on the
triangle: the key skill. What happened to that?
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If you remember, in the Victorians example the key subject skills were
historical investigation and evaluating evidence.
Subject content
The Victorians
Key concept
Change
Key skills
Investigation
& evaluation
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Parish
Register
13
This all suggests that when we put learning together in Curriculum
Design, we need to distinguish between the forms of learning:
knowledge, understanding and skills.
Unit 2 of “life without levels” pointed out that in the new national
curriculum these are rather muddled up – and not all subjects and
phases are set out in the same way.
However, all three forms of learning are there – it just takes a while
to unpick them.
The national
curriculum in
England
The national
curriculum in
England
Key stages 1 and 2 framework document
Key stages 3 and 4 framework document
December 2014
September 2013
© Curriculum Foundation
Do you remember that:
The national
curriculum in
England
Key stages 1 and 2 framework document
September 2013
• In Maths and Science there are specifications
for the end of each year from Y1 to Y6, and
then at the end of the key stage for KS3 and
KS4
• In English there are end of year specifications
for Y1 and Y2, then specifications for Lower
Primary (end of Y4) and Upper Primary (end
of Y6), then at the end of the key stage for
KS3 and 4
The national
curriculum in
England
Key stages 3 and 4 framework document
December 2014
• For all other subjects, there are only end of
key stage specifications.
© Curriculum Foundation
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Science has a “Thinking Scientifically”
section at all key stages that list skills.
The national
curriculum in
England
Key stages 1 and 2 framework document
September 2013
The national
curriculum in
England
Key stages 3 and 4 framework document
December 2014
Maths has a “Thinking Mathematically”
section at KS3 only. At KS1 and KS2, the
skills are buried in the “subject content”
sections.
English does not have a corresponding
section – but the “Aims” at the
beginning of each key stage set out
corresponding skills.
© Curriculum Foundation
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So, we have sets of skills set out for:
So
model of
range and complexity
• the
Science
atincreasing
all key stages
works well for all subjects – but we have to look in
•different
Maths
at Key Stage 3
places to find the skills information that
we need. (Who decided to set it out like this? Is it
English
at Key Stages
2 & 3ofand
Maths
at
really intentional?
Which1,theory
history
do we
use here:
conspiracy
theory
ot the other
Key
Stagethe
1&
2 have sets
of –‘Aims”
for each
one?
key stage that essentially set out subject
What could be simpler?
skills.
The assumption in this Unit is that KS4 assessment
will be based on GCSE criteria. We shall look at
In
allseparately.
other subjects, they are within the
EYFS
programmes of study at all key stages.
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In fact, some countries have made it easier for their schools by
distinguishing these things in the first place. Here is the format that
one country uses to set out its national curriculum. First, which
country do you think it is?
© Curriculum Foundation
Key Inquiry Questions
Learn about
•
Students should appreciate that there is a great variety
of living and non-living things in the world. The study of
diversity will also allow students to appreciate the
importance and necessity of maintaining it. We seek to
organise this great variety to better understand the
world. There are common threads that connect all living
things, and unifying factors that help to classify them. In
this theme we study the diversity of living and non-living
things as well as materials.
•
•
What is our environment
made up of?
Why is it important to
maintain diversity?
How do we go about
understanding the
diverse range of living
and non-living things?
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and
understanding
•
•
•
Be able to sort living
and non-living things
into different groups,
giving reasons for their
choices
Understand why
diversity is important
to life
Recognise broad
groups of living
things(eg birds, fish,
mammals, fungi,
bacteria)
Skills
• Observe a variety of
living things and infer
the differences between
them.
• Classify living things into
broad groups
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Attitudes &
values
• Show curiosity about
living and non living
things
• Appreciate, value and
care for the natural
world.
Do you notice that they distinguish three sorts of “learning outcomes”?
And that they separate these from the “learn about” section that sets out in
prose the overall learning of the “syllabus unit”.
It is interesting that our government was keen to learn from Singapore, but
did not seek to learn this particular lesson.
Seco ndar y
Sc ho o l
Educ atio n
Shaping the Next Phase of
Your Child’s Learning Journey
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But that does not stop your school from using this sort of format
in its curriculum design – which can then make assessment easier.
If each ‘unit’ or series of lessons has set out learning expectations
in this way, then three things can happen:
1) You can put all the units together across the year and check
for coverage and progression.
2) The expectations for each unit can be the basis of
assessment.
3) Learners can be made aware of the expectations which will
help with self and peer assessment.
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Here is a format – based on Singapore’s – that the Curriculum
Theseathen
Have
closebecome
look at the basis
expected
for formative
outcomes.assessment
Where would
through
theythe
Foundation has been using in its work in South Sudan. These are the
unit and
come
in terms
summative
of Bloom,
assessment
SOLO oratWebb?
the end of the unit.
expected learning outcomes of a Primary 5 Social Studies unit.
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As this has not been done for us in England, we shall have to pick
through the national curriculum to find the knowledge,
understanding and skills - and we may wish to add some of our
own attitudes and values. We may even wish to add some of the
“generic competencies” we talked about in Unit 2 of “The Year of
the Curriculum”. (Do you remember those?).
And don’t forget to ensure an appropriate level of challenge in
terms of Bloom, SOLO or Webb.
You may even wish to give thought to the categories that you use.
You do not have to copy Singapore – you can develop your own.
If you do, please let us know!
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The examples given so far are all of a single subject – but many
schools will wish to combine elements of different subjects. There
are huge advantages of time and understanding in doing so – as was
pointed out in Unit 3 of “The Year of the Curriculum”. The same
model will still work – and you might even wish to help future
assessment by making clear the expectations for the different
subjects.
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Well, that’s it – and it must be homework time. If you have been
following all these units you will know the routine by now – and
have probably worked out the impeccable logic of the units and
guessed what the homework is.
Look at the learning you have planned for this term (if you haven’t
planned any, then this would be a good time to start!) and think of
the learning that you expect. Can you track these to the new
curriculum? Have you added anything of your own?
Can you set these out in terms of knowledge, understanding and
skills? Can you think of even better categories?
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We’ll end with someone you probably won’t recognise. It’s Dr John Gai
Yoch, the South Sudanese Minister of Education. He said:
“Our new curriculum sets out out our ambition as a nation, and by
working together we shall be able to realise it for all young people of
South Sudan”
We must not get too lost in the detail of assessment to remember the
importance of the task we have undertaken as teachers – the
realisation of national ambitions for all young people of our country!
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