Back to the future - reinventing the curriculum in a digital age

1. Back to the future - reinventing the curriculum in a digital age Back to the Future David Leat, Research Centre for Learning and Teaching & SOLE Central, Newcastle University David.Leat@ncl.ac.uk

2. The meaning of curriculum Back to the Future Definitions: ‘We see the curriculum as a desired goal or set of values that can be activated through a development process culminating in experiencesfor students’ Wiles & Bondi, 2007, p.5. Or ‘The curriculum of a school, or course, or a classroom can be conceived of a series of planned events that are intended to have educational consequences for one or more students.’ Eisner, 2002, p.31.

3. Vic (A.V.) Kelly identifies 3 major ideologies in curriculum planning: • Curriculum as content, education as transmission – students learn the stuff; • Curriculum as product, education as an instrument - students become workers; • Curriculum as process, education as development– students become ‘themselves’; • (McKernan) Society and problem centred – students & community (co-) create the curriculum. Back to the Future

4. Curriculum questions (Dillon 2009) • Nature of curriculum – what is it, what is it for? (for citizenship, for moral development, for delivery of vocational skills, for preparation for HE, for healthy lives, to pass exams!) • Elements of the curriculum – what is it composed of? • Who teaches it? • What is taught? • Where and when? • Why? • How? • What are the outcomes? Who learns what? • How is it assessed? • 3. How you think when you teach and assess. Back to the Future

5. Context in England since 1988: introduction of the National Curriculum • Increasing focus on measuring student and school/teacher performance - output regulation. • Much ‘teaching to the test’ (Berliner, 2011), ‘target setting’ and monitoring. • Knowledge that is ‘decontextualised’ and which loses its ‘organic’ connection to real life (Dewey 1916, 1966). • Serious consequences for student engagement with learning (Lawson & Lawson, 2013). Back to the Future

6. PISA reflects the tension – league tables Back to the Future

7. Misconceptions about teachingThe view of the inspectoratep.15 Ofsted Annual report on Schools, 2012/13 Back to the Future

8. The grammar of schooling – change is hard • One of the recurring themes of educational research and evaluation is that innovation and reform do not work well; • ‘An innovative school is one which tries one new thing after another without making any of them work’. Back to the Future

9. This sums it up • ‘Enquiry-based learning runs up against the whole fixed and immoveable school machinery’. (Pozuelos et al. 2010) • This refers to an enquiry curriculum project Exploring Our World (for ages 6-12). • The teachers did not find the structure and culture of their schools generally supportive for such significant educational change. Back to the Future

10. A Geography experience • One NE geography teacher in a high performing school developing EBL: • ‘My line manager said it was only permissible if it “did not impede the end of unit test” (even at Year 7), as these tests were used to determine target grades and these grades determined ability sets for teaching, and these sets determined GCSE options. Back to the Future

11. Is innovation always like this? Back to the Future

12. And worse still Back to the Future

13. Basil Bernstein Strong Classification Weak Classification • Framing (p.89): • ‘the degree of control teacher and pupil possess over the selection, organization, pacing and timing of the knowledge transmitted and received in the pedagogical relationship’ Back to the Future Classification (p.88): ‘the degree of boundary maintenance between contents’ Weak Framing Strong Framing

14. Remaking curriculum in a digital age? • Search Engines and Wiki sites • MOOCs and LOOCs • Khan Academy • Skype in the Classroom • Skype Seniors • United World Colleges Online • Google Hangouts • Webcams • Bootlegger • Edmodo Back to the Future

15. ‘Beyond Current Horizons’ • (highlights) the complex nature of many jobs, which cut across discipline and sectoral boundaries and the importance of collaborative working … rather than an emphasis on individual achievement and … qualifications. • The work of Brown (2008) and others suggest that the current focus on formal qualifications and credentials is misplaced. • The idea that initial education can be provided at the start of people‘s lives that will serve them until they retire has become increasingly outmoded. Back to the Future

16. Consortium for C21st Skills • Sponsored by Cisco, Intel and Microsoft, ATC21S aims to help educators around the world enable students with the skills to succeed. • ATC21S started with a group of more than 250 researchers across 60 institutions worldwide who categorized 21st-century skills internationally into four broad categories: • Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning • Ways of working. Communication and collaboration • Tools for working. Information and communications technology (ICT) and information literacy • Skills for living in the world. Citizenship, life and career, and personal and social responsibility Back to the Future

17. ‘Making Education Work’ – Pearson Publishing • Less power to the Secretary of State; • Stronger emphasis on vocational education and EU competences – broader curriculum, including emotional maturity; • Greater role for the Extended Project Qualification in access to Higher Education. Back to the Future

18. EU Competences • communication in mother tongue; • communication in foreign languages; • competence in maths, science and technology; • digital competence; • learning to learn (L2L); • social and civic competence; • sense of initiative and entrepreneurship; and • cultural awareness and expression. Back to the Future

19. AND ….. PISA 2015 DRAFT COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING FRAMEWORK • Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is a critical and necessary skill across educational settings and in the workforce. • There is a growing emphasis in state and national educational systems on project-based and inquiry-oriented learning (National Research Council, 2011). This includes shaping curriculum and instruction around critical thinking, problem solving, self-management and collaboration skills (Darling-Hammond 2011; Halpern, 2003). Back to the Future

20. Have you seen this man? Back to the Future

21. Mitra describes the SOLE approach as child driven learning which is: • Self organised; Curious; Engaged; Social; Collaborative; • (p.3 Guide) ‘The SOLE approach embraces a process where kids learn how to ask questions that make them come alive to the world.’ • Children (8-12 years old) choose their own groups of four and their own questions to explore; • Children can look to see what other groups are doing and take that information back to their own group; • Kids can move around freelyand change groups at any time; • Children can (should) talk … and discuss with other groups. Back to the Future

22. Are schools walled-in? • Anderson-Butcher (p.161) argues, based on the Ohio Collaborative School Improvement initiative that ‘This walled-in improvement planning reflects traditional thinking about schools as stand-alone institutions focused exclusively on young people’s learning and academic achievement, and also reinforces the idea that educators are the school improvement experts’. They argue that resources, opportunities and assets are ‘walled out’, creating an unnecessary gulf between in-school learning and out-of-school learning. Back to the Future

23. RSA Area Based Curriculum: • abouta place (Manchester and Peterborough): making use of local context and resources to frame learning • bya place: designed by schools in partnership with other local stakeholders, and • fora place: meeting the specific needs of children and local communities  • Its objectives are to: • Create learning experiences that are engaging for children from all backgrounds; • Increase children’s understanding of and attachment to the place where they live; • Embed schools more deeply within their communities and localities. Back to the Future

24. Upside • Students enjoyed learning about where they live and learning outside the classroom • Students particularly enjoyed having other adults involved • School and partner representatives reported a change to the way organisations engage with schools • Partners reported that more schools are now open to working with outside agencies Back to the Future

25. Some downside • For some schools the Peterborough Curriculum represented a choice between a standards driven agenda and a more holistic approach that involved developing students as whole individuals. It was therefore framed as very much part and parcel of a strategic direction that was in opposition to a standards agenda. • The secondary school curriculum in particular remained not only resistant to modification, but also to enhancement by the locality. This is in part due to the structures of the schools, where subject and classroom teachers were difficult for partners to access. Back to the Future

26. Infinite possibilities Back to the Future

27. ENQUIRY COMMUNITY SUBJECTS REMAKING CURRICULUM Dialogue - where different voices are heard and listened to. Meaning is not given but contested and explored. Back to the Future

28. Armathwaite School – Cumbria • School used a grant to appoint a part time community development officer; • She found and developed ‘enquiry’ partners in the community; • The pupils researched, designed and made new sandwiches at the village bakery, weekend packages at the local dog hotel, and a wedding and reception at the local church; • The curriculum is developed with the community. CPA Module Day 1

29. So why are we like this? Back to the Future

30. The inhibitor • You have got to make a balancing judgement as to how much time you are going to put into something versus the benefit it gets you back erm... Emily and Debbie are enjoying themselves more …, I am glad they got a lot out of it and I am glad they are experimenting... I mean it’s a bit out of control now with those two but not in a bad way, but I am a bit aware that … they could start learning things that are very interesting but not what they need. They are doing their exam in ten weeks time … so they need to be back on focus with particular things Back to the Future

31. Conclusion • If you have any ambition to be a creative curriculum maker then take heart – you are not alone; • Network whenever and wherever possible; • Experiment whenever you can (EPQ etc.) and don’t feel too bad if you end up with a ‘hybrid curriculum’; • Curriculum thinking will change at some point so be prepared to ‘seize the moment’; • Do not just accept the ‘dominant discourse’ – as education can be so much more than we are currently offering – be sceptical; • Email me if you do want to be on our EPBL mailing list. David.Leat@ncl.ac.uk Back to the Future