The Curriculum has Been in a Muddle for Far Too Long
It’s great that schools are now being asked to work towards coherence, insists Mary Myatt…
- by Mary Myatt
‘Gallimaufry’ – meaning ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’ – is a word that neatly captures the mixed picture for the curriculum in much of the sector.
Of course, it is fair to say that knowledge has always been taught.
However, the conversations about what is taught, why material is taught, and how that material links to an overarching ambition for what we want pupils to know within a subject, have not been consistent.
The focus, until recently, has largely been on how content has been delivered, as opposed to the purpose, quality and impact of that content.
The varying attitudes to curriculum, its purpose, its design and its impact on pupils’ achievement have resulted in a narrowing of curriculum subjects in many primary schools in the last years of Key Stage 2, in order to focus, understandably, on English and maths.
These subjects are important; schools are judged on how well pupils do in them, and the pressure is on. But it is a mistake to neglect the other subjects.
First, because children are entitled to a broad and balanced offer and second, because a wider curriculum, beyond being an entitlement, will support outcomes in English and maths.
The impact in many secondary schools has meant that many pupils stop studying some subjects at the age of 14. And a further problem is that content coverage has trumped understanding of that content.
High challenge
The impetus for shifting the narrative for this has come from a number of sources. The first is one of justice and social equity – why should only some, rather than most of our pupils not have access to important knowledge?
A second is the influence of recent findings from cognitive science, meaning that people are now asking what it means to really know something, to retain important ideas in the long-term memory, and to create the conditions for pupils to have meaningful conversations about what they are learning, how it connects to other ideas and where else it might go.
There is something too, about a move to a more scholarly approach for pupils, for increasing the cognitive demands and for supporting these through appropriate scaffolding, support and talk.
An example of this is offered by history teacher Richard Kennett, who provided pupils in year 7 with sections from a scholarly text, in this case The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris.
Morris’ text had been chosen to compare with Simon Schama’s account of the same period. Students were expected to read extracts and to answer questions such as, ‘What does Morris argue most people think about the Norman Conquest?’ and ‘What does Morris say about the impact of the Norman Conquest on women? ’.
The careful use of a stimulus for these young people took them into demanding work. The task was characterised by high challenge and low threat: ‘Read these and answer all the questions. This is supposed to be hard. If you can’t answer all the questions don’t worry!’
Intrinsic engagement
And in primary, consider learning about incarnation in Year 1. A focus on thinking about the key concept to be taught and understood by the pupils meant considering the etymology to ensure understanding of the fact that for Christians, a key belief is that god became human in the form of baby Jesus at Christmas.
Then all the twinkly stuff around the festival is understood in terms of this key concept. If we think that pupils are not capable of this, then consider how many four-year-olds are ‘fluent’ in dinosaurs; and that many of these know that the word comes from the Greek for scary lizard.
The focus on curriculum depth and clarity provides intrinsic engagement for learners. It means it doesn’t need to be dressed up, distorted or diminished. Our children can cope.
As we revisit the quality of what we teach, let’s not get precious about it. The process of unpicking is messy, unsettling and sometimes sticky. But it is possible to get to a place where great content like a great text becomes, to quote Andy Tharby, the ‘beating heart’ of the lesson.
Mary Myatt is an education adviser, and the author of High Challenge, Low Threat, Hopeful Schools and Curriculum: Gallimaufry to Coherence (John Catt)
