Do we need to rethink the curriculum? Reflection notes on the podcast with Meena Wood & Leisa Grace.

During my time in England, I became increasingly aware of the national curriculum’s inability to provide appropriate pathways for all children, particularly the students who struggle to access the curriculum in a typical mainstream setting.

When I started my teaching career at a specialist SEMH school, I took away two things:

1. All children are born with innate curiosity - they want to learn about the world around them

2. All children have the potential to learn 

   
   

80% of my students failed to experience a positive and successful learning experience in their mainstream settings for a wide range of reasons. Their experience of exclusion within the classroom was compounded with external traumatic events that led to these students being disenfranchised from school. In addition to this, the rigorous and stale approach to assessing students’ ability failed to discover the untapped potential these children undoubtedly possess. 

Attending a special school was transformative for many of my students. The single most important factor, in my opinion, was the collective understanding that every child needs to find their way of learning. They needed to rediscover what it felt like to discover a skill or a passion and tap into it, in a safe environment. Many children can access the standard approach and content that currently exists in schools. For others, it needed to be something else. 

My recent move to the Middle East has provided new insights related to Education including the IB curriculum which offers an alternative approach to curriculum planning, teaching, learning and inclusive practice.

It was therefore a breath of fresh air to move away from what I knew and witness a more methodical approach to teaching and learning; an approach where both the knowledge and the skills were explicitly taught to children. Furthermore, the students were not just learning a standalone topic they were learning about concepts which required different skills at various points of their learning journey. This IB curriculum suddenly opened my eyes to the way our early years approach could be sustained long term, throughout the school experience. This was what the IB curriculum had to offer.

Much to my delight, I stumbled across a brilliant episode titled Challenging The Traditional Curriculum: A vision for the future of Education on the Teach Middle East podcast. The episode featured former school leader and Inspector Meena Wood and podcast host Leisa Grace. 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the podcast:

Alternative pathways: 

Meena discussed the benefits of children experiencing a pathways approach to their curriculum. She reminded us of the origin of the word curriculum which is “Curre” in latin which means  “to run”. Essentially, our students are on a journey and course to run for a certain goal or "destination". The curriculum in our schools should focus on the destination for all our learners. Where are they trying to go? Where do they want to go? As we know, our learners won’t reach the same destination due to barriers including English being a second language and Special educational needs. Are we preparing the children for the destination that is best for them? And how do we assess if they are on track?  This is why assessment is symbiotically linked with curriculum. 

How do we create this pathways approach? 

Meena offered the following suggestions:

1.  Analyze who the children are,

2.  Consider their destination.

3.  Look at the subjects and skills you might be offering.

   
   

Inspection process

Meena reflected on her time as a KHDA inspector and provided some insight on their inspection framework and how this compares to the Ofsted approach, which, as we know, has faced recent scrutiny. 

She highlighted that the KHDA inspection process has been carefully thought out by the United Arab Emirates government who have ensured it remains a values-led inspection. 

The Middle East boasts of the fastest growing International schools. There are at least 17 different curricula with an incredibly diverse population of children across the region. Nonetheless, schools have found a way to thrive despite the enormous diversity which can partially be attributed to the inspection process. When schools are being inspected, inspectors are looking for the following:

1. The school’s ability to Self evaluate

2. The school’s ability to be  Inclusive 

3. The school’s ability to educate its students on and through innovation 

4. The school’s ability to develop students as lifelong Learners.

KHDA’s focus is undoubtedly on the learners. Student achievement is their number one priority. When considering student achievement, KHDA are inspecting the teaching, assessment, curriculum, protection, care and guidance in the support of students as all-round learners. 

What’s even more impressive is how they provide exemplars of what success may look like for children at a particular moment in their learning journey. 

The expectations are broken down into the following categories: 

• Progress 

• Learning skills 

• Attainment 

• Personal development 

• Social responsibility 

• Innovative enterprise skills 

  
  

As you can see, there is a lot of thought that goes into the skills required in the classroom for a project but it doesn’t stop there. The skills are also related to their personal development, creativity, social skills, thinking skills which are regularly revisited and taught irrespective of the concept/subject being taught. This is a refreshing move away from assessing a child’s ability to retain information on a standalone topic. Other countries who boast of a similar approach to this include Singapore, Finland and Estonia.

The British National curriculum 

Meena provided much needed insight on the conversations that are taking place by our government and educational leaders in the UK. 

In the episode, Leisa joked that she didn’t want to get into politics and Meena corrected her by stating that political dogma drives education. She is right.  In the national curriculum there is a hierarchical approach. Furthermore,  there’s no parity in the educational qualifications. For example, we still value the achievement of A levels more than  BTEC certifications. Academic achievement is still valued more important than vocational education which is evident in how we teach, what we teach and how we assess progress and attainment. 

Meena eloquently suggested the need for a pathways approach to be available for students between the ages of 14-19. She provided a case study of a successful 14-19 diploma in 2010. Key stakeholders would observe the sector [at the current time] before supporting their students in choosing the subjects in school that would be beneficial for roles in this sector. The stakeholders then created links to an FE college the students could be connected with to receive relevant education in that particular area. 

This is similar to the German apprenticeship journey. 

For this approach, it required two things: 

1. Collaboration  with employers, colleges and schools 

2. Compliance with CIAG (Careers, information advice and guidance).

Unfortunately, a change in government at the time led to this diploma being discontinued but the evidence of how successful this approach would be remains. Meena also referenced the German apprentice approach as an example of how this can be successful if implemented well. 

What is the future of education in the UK?

Meena shared some insight on the government’s consideration for a different certification to rival A levels. The suggestion is a Post-16 International baccalaureate. This is something that is already on offer to 16-19 year olds in some colleges but it’s typically offered in grammar schools, highlighting the hierarchical approach to our education system.

Meena also suggested that teacher training should focus on project based learning and enquiry based learning which contributes to a learner centered approach to the curriculum. I would go one step further and add extensive and regular teacher training on neurodiversity and special educational needs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Meena highlights how the national curriculum is building in failure and losing potential through the curriculum and assessment process. As a sector, we are losing creative potential because we are still testing children on whether they can read or write. Furthermore, the recent SEND report highlighted that our children with SEN are also being failed in schools . There is some fanatastic work being taking place in schools by some exceptional outward-thinking leaders and educators. However, the data and recent events taking place across the country highlight the need to go back to the drawing board and rethink what the end goal is when we welcome our students through our doors each day.

Education settings succesfully rethining the curriculum:

Below are some examples of institutions Meena referenced in the podcast as educational settings leading the way in their approach to creating meaningful pathways for students: 

UTC (Canary Wharf) - They provide a bridge between the world of education and the world of work, training young people in the technical entrepreneurial skills and personal and collaborative skills needed to succeed in the modern workplace. The learning is relevant and meaningful as they apply it to their process of study.

Wimbledon high -  A high school for girls which boasts of incredible STEM labs. They focus on technology and digital technology where plenty of project based learning and inquiry based learning takes place. 

Personal recommendation: Graygrigg Primary School. Graygrigg primary school is one of the pilot schools on the  Rethinking The Curriculum Project. They are a small, rural, Church of England Primary School who are able to take full advantage of their outdoor environment and have built a forest school curriculum around this that fits hand in hand with their school curriculum. As their school advisor, it's been great to watch them fulfil their mission to be a place where everyone belongs - this is something they are working to ensure runs through all curriculum developments through a focus on belonging and justice: both social and climate justice

I am currently collaborating with the Chartered College of Teaching as an advisor on the Rethinking The Curriculum Project. Schools across the country will work with us to co-design and implement curriculum change resources, CPD and frameworks over the academic year 2023-24. If you are interested in the project and would like to be kept informed of upcoming events, publications, research, and wider opportunities to engage with the project? Please register using the form on the Rethinking The Curriculum Project