Curriculum policy in both Scotland and England in recent years has seen a considerable overhaul by both governments north and south of the border. In Scotland in 2002 following a ‘National Debate on Education’, the government felt the current curriculum at the time was failing. The government felt there was too much emphasis on examination, overly prescriptive and insufficiently interdisciplinary curriculum (Tucker, 2013). They saw that the world was continually changing and seen that education had to change with it. More choice, opportunities and a simple but effective way of assessment was needed. Something that would enable children to excel.
The response to this was for the Scottish Government in 2004 to launch: ‘A Curriculum for Excellence’
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The main objective set out in CfE is to help all children and young adults from ages 3-18 years gain the relevant knowledge, attributes and skills needed to take them forward in life in the 21st century. In order to achieve this, CfE states four key capacities that all young people should become; successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. What was being taught, how it was being taught and how things were assessed all changed through CfE. The new structure of the curriculum would focus on eight key areas; expressive arts, health and wellbeing, languages, mathematics, religious and moral education, sciences, social studies and technologies. (T.G.K. Bryce, 2013) When designing and supporting the learning outcomes in the key areas, the role of the Cfe seven principles; personalisation and choice, relevance, coherence, challenge and enjoyment, breadth, depth and progression must be considered. CfE was officially implemented in to Scottish schools system in …show more content…
In 2010, a collation government consisting of the Conservative and Liberal democrat parties were voted in to power. Under the newly formed government, Scotsman Michael Gove was appointed Education Minister. Just like in Scotland curriculum policy was at the forefront of agenda for Mr. Gove and the new government, they felt it was failing and seen the need for more emphasis to be put on "essay writing, problem-solving, mathematical modelling and computer programming" (Coughlan, 2013).
The plan from Michael Gove is reform of the National curriculum policy. Under the reform the curriculum is organised into five key stages determined by thirteen different age
The Australian Curriculum is organised in a few different ways. There are two main design elements, Curriculum content (what the teacher is to teach) and Achievement standards (what the student is to learn). There is also Reporting Framework which incorporates elements of both areas. These elements were designed to provide guidelines as to what would be included in the Australian Curriculum. The Curriculum Content is organised into categories (strands), and are presented with descriptions to report and describe what is to be taught at each year level. Together, these descriptions form the scope and sequence across all covered years of schooling (Foundation to Year Ten). The areas of study covered in each year build upon the previou...
The Scottish Government (2004) A Curriculum for Excellence: The Curriculum Review Group. [Online] Edinburgh: Scottish Executive. Available at: www.scotland.gov.uk (Accessed 27 April 2011)
The 1944 Act abolished the Board of Education replacing it with a central authority with its own Ministry of Education. The independence of Local Education Authorities (LEAs) was therefore under the control and direction of the Minister, as "the central government decided national policy while LEAs were to provide the schools" (Gosden, 1983:3). As a result of these changes, "there was more unity and standardisation in the national education service" (Dunford and Sharp, 1990:18). Changes in local administration were also made in the 1944 Act, and as a result, all secondary schools were required to have governing bodies a...
In terms of historical context, the National Curriculum was introduced into England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a nationwide curriculum for primary and secondary state schools following the Education Reform Act 1988 (DES, 1988). From its establishment, the curriculum was then divided into its primary (Key Stage One and Two) and secondary (Key Stage Three and Four) form.
The development of a national curriculum for Australia is not a new endeavour (Marsh, 2010). The ideal is that national curriculum across Australia would mean that students are provided with a quality education that helps to shape the lives of the nations citizens and continue developing the productivity and quality of life within Australia. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] have the task of developing and implementing a nationwide curriculum. ACARA (n.d.-c) claims have addressed needs of young Australians while considering that changing ways in learning and challenges will continue to shape students education in the future. A look at what the Australian Curriculum is, its purpose, structure and scope, learning theories and teaching processes and whether the curriculum has the capacity to meet the needs of 21st century learners will show that the initial construction of a national curriculum appears to be successful. However, the effectiveness of the Australian Curriculum will only be able to be evaluated in the future after implementation across the country.
The Australian curriculum has been designed for children in their schooling years from foundation to year twelve. Currently the curriculum has covered four learning areas (English, Mathematics, Science and History) from kindergarten to year ten. “The Australian Curriculum describes knowledge, skills and understanding organised by learning areas.” (ACARA, 2010 d). Each learning area contains a: rationale – describing the nature of learning, aims – the intended result of learning from the curriculum, year level description, strands – interrelated broad organisers for the content in each learning area, content descriptions – describe what teachers are expected to teach, content elaborations – content description sup...
Franklin Bobbitt in The Curriculum writes: ‘The central theory [of curriculum] is simple. Human life, however varied, consists in the performance of specific activities. Education that prepares for life is one that prepares definitely and adequately for these specific activities. People need the abilities, attitudes, habits, appreciations and forms of knowledge and these will be the objectives of the curriculum. The curriculum will then be that series of experiences which children and youth must have by way of obtaining those objectives.’ (Bobbit...
By educating children, we need to prepare them for the life in a fast changing society where they can be responsive, fulfilled and innovative. The ability to use methods of teaching and learning within the curriculum is important when trying to make it possible. Countless amounts of schools have already been familiarising themselves with the importance of creativity and ways of how to teach, how to make the learning more holistic, more engaging and more creative. With the new curriculum complete, there are consequently many more opportunities and challenges for teachers to provide the best and most appropriate learning opportunities for the pupils they teach. The White Paper on education, publicising the new curriculum, stated it ‘creates scope for teachers to inspire’. It foresees ‘teachers taking greater control over what is taught in schools, innovating in how the...
When reviewing the literature regarding the past, present and future of educational curriculum, several main points seem apparent, namely that curriculum is cyclical, that a dilemma or paradox exists, and that curriculum must be looked at with a sensitive view.
The education system in Ireland has always been a considerable point of discord. It has been the focus of numerous debates and reforms. Many of these initiatives have been heralded as exemplary feats of innovation and reform in there early days and then rapidly seem to deteriorate over time. Even our success stories appear as isolated pockets of excellence are as likely to atrophy as to prosper (Fullan, 2001). The power to select and shape curriculum in Ireland has predominately rested in the hands of the privileged few. As a consequence of this the values and rationale underlining Irish curriculum have persistently lacked consultation, partnership and connectivity with the true drivers and targets of the initiatives. This has led to the repeated introduction of new reforms and the repeated failures of these reforms in the most vicious of cyclical processes. As we stand on the cusp a truly radical educational reform, this paper will outline how the NCCA are transcending past failures and resistance to change by sectoral interests to create an educational reform that will if politically and locally supported alter the fabric of the educational system and Irish society. This will be done by critically evaluating the importance of consultation/ partnership in successful reforms, the approach that the NCCA are taking and finally the values in these proposed changes and how they compare to the current school culture and curriculum.
The UK’s education system has seen many reforms aiming to improve opportunities for children. Education was once a supreme priviledge, of which only the rich members of society would receive the right to. A significant change in the form of The Forsters Education Act 1870 began to address this, with the introduction of free compulsory schooling. At present, in England and Wales, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) states that:
My topic links to the curriculum for Excellence as it emphasises that children learn through active play such as spontaneous play, planned, purposeful play along with investigating and exploring. (Scottish Executive Education Department,
Since then, Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction has been a standard reference for anyone working with curriculum development. Although not a strict how-to guide, the book shows how educators can critically approach curriculum planning, studying progress and retooling when needed. Its four sections focus on setting objectives, selecting learning experiences, organizing instruction, and evaluating progress. Readers will come away with a firm understanding of how to formulate educational objectives and how to analyze and adjust their plans so that students meet the objectives. Tyler also explains that curriculum planning is a continuous, cyclical process, an instrument of education that needs to be fine-tuned.
Curriculum is important being it’s the underlying factor that plays a role in determining ones growth, achievement and success. The majority of curriculum con...
Gamoran, A. (1996) “Curriculum Standardization and Equality of Opportunity in Scottish Secondary Education: 1984-90”, Sociology of Education, 69: 1-21