A Curriculum Planning Tool

Sue Lyle brings you the curriculum planning tool for the Climate Change Special Edition of Creative Teaching & Learning!

If Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship is to be embedded across the curriculum we need a plan. Since I began writing curriculum materials in 1985, I have researched and developed a curriculum planning tool that has proved helpful to teachers.

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      string(5789) "40Arctic StorieS l Cross CurriCulum ProjeCt PlanTeaching Thinking&CreativityCurriculum ChangeCurriculum 2008 in both England and Wales bringssignificant changes to the content and presentationof the curriculum which provide both opportunitiesand challenges to schools.  In ‘Making The Most ofLearning’, the Welsh Assembly government  calls fora ‘learner-centred curriculum’ which is ‘meaningful,relevant and motivating’ (DCELLS, 2008).  In planningfor pupils’ learning the development of skills is now atthe heart of the curriculum.  The revised orders reduceprescription and leaves schools free to organise anddeliver the curriculum in the way that best suits theircircumstances and needs.  Schools are encouragedto seek more imaginative and innovative ways oforganising and managing curriculum content.  Athematic or topic approach is recommended where twoor more subject areas may plan together to develop ascheme of work that engages the pupils and promotesskills development.  The new curriculum aims to beup-to-date and motivating for all learners.  Althoughthe subject content is reduced, the key changes come inthe pedagogy, the HOW of classroom organisation andmanagement.Learning And TeachingAfter thirty years of a focus on curriculum whereteachers have been encouraged to think of themselvesas teachers of subjects rather than children, the newcurriculum wants teachers to focus on the learner.This has implications for teachers’ understanding ofhow children learn and how to motivate them.  A keyIntroducingArCTIC STorIeSIn this set of activities Sue Lyle and Maggy Roberts show how a thematic approachto teaching can be developed using both Egan’s Romantic Framework and a skills-based approach to curriculum planning.  The activities are designed to meet thedemands of Curriculum 2008 for the 8-13 age range and incorporate thinking,communication and ICT skills.  The activities are part of a new pack, ‘Arctic Stories’soon to be published by Imaginative Minds.pedagogic tool is collaborative learning, where learnerslearn from each other in pairs and small groups, whereactive and interactive learning drives curriculumplanning, not content. Planning  should thereforetake account of how collaborative tasks can developpupils’ thinking skills, especially questioning, planning,problem-solving, creative and critical thinking.A Thematic ApproachIn this issue of ‘Teaching Thinking’ we draw on Egan’sRomantic Framework (1991) to inform curriculumplanning using a thematic approach.  Examples ofactivities come from an active learning pack, ‘ArcticStories’ which will soon be available to buy.  The packdemonstrates the use of collaborative learning strategiesto promote pupils’ thinking and communicationskills.  The extracts can be used as part of a study ofVictorian Britain and can therefore be part of the historycurriculum.  It is also linked to geography and scienceand incorporates active citizenship and education forsustainable development and global citizenship (ESDGC).The use of ICT, thinking and communication skills is builtinto all activities.The stories take place in 1873. The first story is thatof the Inuit in the Arctic whose lives depended onthe mammals of the sea.  The second story is one of aseaman in Victorian Scotland who, when faced with theworkhouse, decided to take a job on a whaling ship.  Thethird story is that of a time traveller from 2008 who cantravel back to 1873 and tell the Inuit and Victorian sailorsabout the future. 41Teaching Thinking&CreativityArctic StorieS l Cross CurriCulum ProjeCt PlanThe romantic FrameworkSue has provided a detailed account of the RomanticFramework in her discussion of Egan on P31.  For thepurpose of these activities we use Egan’s ‘The Story FormModel’ (1986:41) which provides a useful curriculumplanning tool that encourages teachers to see lessonsor units of lessons as ‘good stories to be told ratherthan sets of objectives to be obtained’ (p.3).   The basicplanning tool can be divided into 5 stages as follows:Identifying importanceFinding binary oppositesOrganising content into story formConclusionEvaluationTaking these five elements we show how we have usedthe planning tool to plan lessons on the people of  theArctic and their encounters with Victorian sailors:1. Identifying importanceWhat is most important about this topic?Why should it matter to children?What is affectively engaging about it?Consider this quotation from Lopez’s book, ‘ArcticDreams’:‘What does it mean to grow rich? Is it to have red-bloodedadventures and to make a fortune, which is what broughtthe whalers and other entrepreneurs north? Or is it,lllllrather, to have a good family life and be imbued with afar-reaching and intimate knowledge of one’s homeland,which is what the Tununirmiut  told the whalers at Pond’sBay wealth was?  Is it to retain a capacity for awe andastonishment in our lives, to continue to hunger after whatis genuine and worthy?  Is it to live at moral peace with theuniverse?’   (Lopez, 1999)A consideration of these questions is fundamental to ourlives – what makes the good life?  They illustrate what wecall ‘the 3Cs’:concepts that are central to all peoplesconcepts that are common in all societiesconcepts that are contestable in all contexts.Such concepts are so important that they will matter tothe children.  The story of the contact between Arcticpeoples and the industrialising world is one that raisesquestions about  how we live in the world today; asour focus on the Arctic is sharpened as global warmingincreases,"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Introducing Arctic Stories

17 Jun 2009

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      string(5679) "Curriculum FocusNEWS ROUNDUP52InteracTive January 20062new releases,3nominations – and more!Shortlisted for BETT Awards 2006 in two different categories with threeproducts (2Create, 2Animate and 2Create A Story), 2Simple will be launchingtwo brand new titles on Stand C54.One of the new releases, Simple City, is a virtualcity designed to be explored by foundation stageand KS1 children. It brings the real world intothe classroom, stimulating language,independence, listening and creative play.Children can explore ten different locations tobuild their very own house or car or to design various environments such as a zooor garden. 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The websites range from a KS2 project that helps children to discoverthe joy of playground games to an award-winning KS3-4 site celebrating everything to do with theatre.Established in 2002, Culture Online is part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The organisationwas set up to improve access to the arts and culture through the innovative use of technology. Culture Onlineworks with an array of partner organisations, including the National Theatre, the Victoria and Albert Museumand the 24 Hour Museum, to develop compelling interactive resources which have won praise from teachers and multiple awards.“Teachers and school children provide the best inspiration for developing compelling interactive resources. That’s why we do user-testing sessions in schools. It willcome as no surprise to anyone who works in education, children come up with some of the best ideas. We work with partner organisations to turn ideas into reality.Our projects are designed to take pupils on a learning journey, which is both self motivating and fun,” says Jonathan Drori, director, Culture Online.Projects have been developed with the National Curriculum in mind and provide a range of benefits for teachers and students alike. Teacher supportmaterials include lesson plans, competitions, workshops, suggested field trips and packs of ideas to inspire further learning.53January 2006 InteracTiveCurriculum FocusNEWS ROUNDUPFrom Domesday to CNDStand S19 at BETT is the place to go for information on the NationalArchives Learning Curve (www.learningcurve.gov.uk), a freely availableonline teaching resource using the raw material of history, structured totie in with the history National Curriculum from Key Stages 2 to 5. 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Digital Learning

The Curriculum Collection

1 Jan 2005

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It will work with anyapplication so long as there is a cursor – either 2Simple’s other products orwith Word, etc, or it can be used as a word bank when planning or writing.In addition, 2Simple will be launching a third new product which they arekeeping under wraps until BETT itself.The curriculumcollectionJam on itKicking off on stand F30 at BETT 2006 is BBCjam, a free service designed for 5-16 year olds.Going live at the end of January 2006, BBCjam (bbc.co.uk/jam) is packed with curriculum-based resources and an innovative combinationof video games, audio and animation to stimulate children to explore,learn and create both in the classroom or at home. It will also help engagechildren who are not achieving their full potential by encouraging themto try an alternative way of learning.Designed as an appealing mix of formal curriculum based resources andengaging informal learning, BBC jam will launch 20 subjects throughout2006. The first seven are maths and English for 5-7 year olds, geography andscience for 7-9 year olds, French for 11-14 year olds and statistics and businessstudies for 14-16 year olds.The service is aimed first and foremost at the children themselves, but italso helps teachers to speak their pupils’ language and so makes an excitingaddition to any lesson. 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Digital Learning

The Curriculum Collection

1 Nov 2006

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      string(5626) "TASC cansupport progression in learning and access to mastery for all. SOLO is about outcomes– the observed learning of an individual child – so the notes here can only be anindicative range.Table 2Bloom’s TASCSOLO*Indicative but not exclusiveRemember; understand Gather/organiseWhat do I know aboutthis?Pre-structural, uni-structural;multi-structuralRemember; understand Identify What is the task?Apply GenerateHow many ideas can Ithink of?Multi-structuralAnalyse Decide Which is the best idea? Multi-structural; relationalApply; analyse; evaluate;createImplement Let’s do it! Relational; extended abstractAnalyse; evaluate Evaluate How well did I do? RelationalUnderstand; analyse Communicate Let’s tell someone! RelationalAnalyse; evaluate; create Learn from experience What have I learned? Extended abstract47Vol 7.3School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadershipSkillsAssessmentWallace recommends that children learn to use the TASC framework through tacklinga challenge to design and create something. This simple starting point takes usimmediately to an open context that begins with awareness of current knowledgeand understanding. Completion requires progression on to application, analysisand beyond, opening up ‘deep’ learning. This seemed to be equally applicable to the‘problem solving’, which we are being encouraged to use to support the developmentof ‘mastery’, so we tested out our thinking. With thanks to Helen Blanchard, a highlyexperienced mathematics consultant, SOLO was used as a planning tool to identify thelearning progression – as shown in Figure 3.Figure 3Taking the problem outlined inFigure 3, TASC was used by a groupof school leaders to explore thethinking process it generated. Theuse of ‘active verbs’ that stretchacross the knowledge dimensionsfocused action and reflection. Ofcourse, the problem was solved, butwe also identified:■ where knowledge andunderstanding had beenpurposefully applied■ how that the simple instruction‘Let’s do it’ prompted us toconsider how we could provethe answer (the solution beingto use a torch and phonestopwatch)■ how TASC prompted ‘extendedabstract’ thinking whichgenerated a ‘deeper’ problemto solve (If the lights have to48Vol 7.3School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadershipSkillsAssessmentKnowledge trails1. Securing robust assessmentunder the new curriculum –Securing a rigorous alternativeto the defunct NC levels is achallenge, but not unachievablewhen built upon solid founda-tions. Ann O’Hara identifies thekey components of successful,sustainable assessment.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/securing-robust-assessment-under-the-new-curriculum2. The future of assessmentwithout levels – The Commis-sion on Assessment Without Lev-els has published its final report.But is it enough to calm fears anddrive innovation? Sue Hackmanisn’t so sure.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/the-future-of-assess-ment-without-levels.htmflash together at 22.00 hours, when do you start them off at thebeginning of the day?)■ that this approach to learning is enjoyable!A professional journeyHattie tells us that, ‘The solution is less about 21st century or inquirylearning, and more about knowing when to think surface and whento think deep. It is about the appropriate proportions of surface anddeep in any series of lessons and about knowing when to move fromlearning more ideas to relating and extending these ideas.’11 Whenwe consider the learning we want to achieve with our children, useof TASC as illustrated above seems to affirm Hattie’s point that ‘Co-operative learning is most powerful after the students have acquiredsufficient surface knowledge to then be involved in discussion andlearning with their peers – usually in some structured manner’.12It is early days, but TASC and SOLO are connecting our thinkingand classroom learning. SOLO gives us a means by which to identifyand respond to personalised progression in learning. TASC enablesus to structure independent learning and prompt the thinking for‘deep learning’. Formative assessment is ‘a vital part of teaching andlearning’13 and can only be enhanced by the insight into achievedlearning that we gain from these tools.As one leader noted, ‘We are on a professional journey’. We aretaking steps forward, reflecting, evaluating and developing further.Ann O’Hara is an independent education adviser, leadership coachand writer working with schools, LAs, and national organisations.She has spent over 30 years working at many levels in educationincluding headteacher, Ofsted inspector, School ImprovementPartner, senior local authority manager and national adviser.She is author of Learning and Assessment Pathways, published byImaginative Minds Ltd.http://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/securing-robust-assessment-under-the-new-curriculumhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/securing-robust-assessment-under-the-new-curriculumhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/securing-robust-assessment-under-the-new-curriculumhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/securing-robust-assessment-under-the-new-curriculumhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/the-future-of-assessment-without-levels.htmhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/the-future-of-assessment-without-levels.htmhttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/the-future-of-assessment-without-levels.htmhttp://teachingtimesbookshop.co.uk/product/learning-assessment-pathways-laps/49Vol 7.3School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadershipSkillsAssessmentReferences1. Assessment Reform"
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Leadership

Is your assessment fit for purpose?

29 Mar 2016