Dan McGinty & May Sweeney Learning and Teaching Scotland

1. Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire& Moray Inter-Authority HT ConferenceSeptember 2007Bring on the Opportunities! Dan McGinty & May Sweeney Learning and Teaching Scotland

2. Purposes of the Day • To provide an update of what to expect from Curriculum for Excellence in 2007-08 • To consider what we can do now to improve learning & teaching • To consider planning for implementation of Curriculum for Excellence and where we might start • To consider the implications of organising learning around Curriculum for Excellence outcomes & experiences

3. Remind me, why we are doing this again….? “The Curriculum …should give young people the confidence, attributes and capabilities to make valuable contributions to society page 11 A Curriculum for Excellence 2004

4. What’s around the corner? 2007-2008 • publication of learning outcomes and experiences: phased approach • developing our thinking on how we organise learning • consultation with the profession: SCQF 4 and 5 (secondary) recognising wider achievement (consideration by all sectors) • GLOW: networking opportunities

5. Links with other key developments • Journey to Excellence • HGI0S 3 • Leadership

6. Definition of the Curriculum • The ethos and life of the school • Curriculum areas and subjects • Interdisciplinary projects and studies • Opportunities for personal achievement

8. How might we recognise A Curriculum for Excellence? • Values, purposes and principles evident in planning • Learner at the centre – 4 capacities • Pupil voice • Professional enquiry and leadership • Emphasis on pedagogy • ‘newer’ principles obvious • Connections across and within curriculum areas

9. How might we recognise A Curriculum for Excellence? • Opportunities for transfer of learning and personal achievement • Assessment supporting learning • Learning to learn • Appropriate pathways for every individual • Use of technology (GLOW) • Flexible design of physical environment • Time and other resources used to support learning • Better learning – better behaviour!

10. Examples • East Ayrshire: Grange Academy; Auchinleck Academy; Doon Academy • North Ayrshire: Largs Academy; Auchenharvie Academy; Greenwood Academy; Garnock Academy • South Lanarkshire: Biggar HS • Argyll & Bute: Oban HS; Tobermory HS • East Lothian: Extreme Learning • Shetland Islands: Sandwick JHS; Anderson HS; Whalsay JHS; Scalloway JHS

11. “So seldom has the focus been on the curriculum that many schools have no way of discussing the issues surrounding the curriculum. Conversations surrounding the curriculum are more likely to be about procedures, policies, rituals, rules, mores, and customs.” Curriculum Architecture: creating a place of our own, ML Hawkins & MD Graham

12. Where Now? • How might staff meetings and CPD activities contribute to improving learning & teaching & more active, experiential learning? • How can staff benefit more from what is going on in each other’s schools? • Look at the “universal” experiences and talk about contexts in your school where your pupils would have been able to make these statements • These were common experiences extracted by the writer teams from each of the curricular areas for all pupils What are the challenges for teachers in planning for these experiences to ensure coherence and progression? • What one (or two) example/s will you take away and try to initiate in your own school this session. How would you anticipate bringing staff on board?

13. Outcomes, Experiences & Organising Learning Curriculum for Excellence 2007

14. Organising learning • development of the 4 capacities with clear aspirations for each child • provision of literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing • planning of outcomes and experiences across the curriculum • planning for progression, especially at transition stages • building upon learning at home and beyond school • arrangements for assessment • pupil voice • deployment of staff; use of resources within and beyond the school

15. Learning outcomes Decisions on • how learning outcomes and experiences will be organised • possibilities for grouping outcomes within and across curriculum areas • contribution of interdisciplinary learning to outcomes and experiences • how the seven principles of curriculum design will apply to programmes of learning for groups and for individuals • range of learning and teaching approaches and contexts for learning • nature of presentations and assessment evidence • tracking and monitoring of progress

16. Planet Earth Science Outcomes • Available on the LTS: Curriculum for Excellence website under Outcomes & Experiences • What we did with the packs • How participants responded to the outcomes • What we hope people have done with the materials

17. Learning Outcomes & Experiences • The work of seconded teacher writers • To embed the values, purposes & principles • Ensure coherence with other curricular areas • Embed cross-cutting themes

18. Qualitatively different outcomes Outcomes should: • Specify the learning target • Indicate/direct the selection of learning activity/approach and indicate purpose • Allow evaluation of the learning outcome But … • Not constrain learning

19. Within an outcome! Skills Declutter Show progression Methodology Purposes of science education ACE Capacities Allow cross curricular work Active Teach for understanding Increase cognitive demand Big areas of contemporary science

20. Re-shaping outcomesWork in progress From …. I can construct a food web and predict the consequences of change (P5-P7) To I can use my knowledge and understanding of food chains and webs to create, plan and protect a wildlife area

21. Shredding an outcome • I have had the opportunity to care for living things and the environment and cantalk about their needs. • I caninvestigate the differing nutritional needs of groups of people in the community and canapply this knowledge when planning and cooking suitable meals for specific target groups.

22. RME LEs & LOs in Progress • Through having had the opportunity to listen to stories, songs and talk about real situations, I can communicate why something seems fair or unfair, show kindness towards others, and express what I think is right and wrong in a variety of situations (Values-Early) • I can discuss issues of morality in the modern world in relation to the concepts of justice, wisdom, compassion and integrity, drawing upon and challenging where appropriate the teachings of world faiths and other views (Values-3rd level)

23. MONEY

24. Interdisciplinary learning Connected, meaningful learning • enable children and young people to make connections across curriculum areas • provide meaningful learning experiences which are enjoyable, motivating and exciting • support and reinforce focused learning in curriculum areas and extend it to practical application in a variety of contexts • allow children and young people to see a project or study through to completion • lead to a greater retention of knowledge

25. Personalisation and choice • discover new talents and aptitudes • explore an area of knowledge or an interest in depth • meet personal challenges to help them overcome physical, emotional or social barriers • engage in enquiry, collaborative decision-making and independent learning • experience success through opportunities for personal achievement • become skilled in self-evaluation and peer assessment

26. Transfer of learning to new situations • become skilled in flexible thinking • apply concepts across subject areas and to life beyond the school • adopt multiple points of view in problem solving • select which knowledge and skills are required in unfamiliar situations

27. Skills for life and work • acquire an understanding of the skills necessary for life and work through a wide range of real life contexts. • develop their ability to think and act in enterprising ways and to explore their creativity. • experience joined-up areas of learning which will help them to understand how curriculum areas relate to career choices. • make informed choices of future pathways • acquire the skills, behaviours and attitudes necessary for lifelong learning

28. Relevance to life beyond school • Contexts which are not always possible in subject-based study • Further opportunities to address themes such as citizenship, enterprise etc. • Active participation of parents

29. Some planning considerations • be well planned with a clear purpose in mind – collaborative planning • have clear educational gains, arising from the learning outcomes • demonstrate the principles of curriculum design: challenge and enjoyment; breadth; progression; depth; personalisation and choice; coherence; relevance • contribute to the development of the qualities and attributes within the 4 capacities • add value by building upon learning within curriculum areas • provide coherent, authentic experiences

30. Some design options emerging • Two or more related curriculum areas or subjects are combined to address individual or groups of outcomes within these areas • Teachers of different subjects or stages plan collectively to determine their contributions to the learning outcomes and experiences for groups of pupils. While there is teaching in separate groups or classes, at some point there is a common activity which brings pupils together • Pupils experience learning both through curriculum areas and interdisciplinary activities every day • Groups of learning outcomes are addressed by pupils through extended projects in which pupils have an element of choice, • A core and elective structure where discrete subject teaching and interdisciplinary studies have a clear time allocation throughout the school year

31. Design options emerging • Interdisciplinary units feature at regular points in the year, for example, one per term. The pattern can vary in the one school, resulting in a different design for each stage or year group • Stand alone days and weeks feature in the school calendar, where normal timetable is suspended. There is a common focus for the use of this time, with contributions from the whole school or certain groups. Preparation and evaluation take place within individual classes • Learning is supported across transition stages by interdisciplinary learning which is continued from primary into secondary • Most learning is planned in an integrated fashion, for example in early years and primary school. • A blend of approaches within the one school.

32. Planning for the Future • How will you capitalise on the strengths of staff, parents and community partners in planning for this broader definition of the curriculum? The ethos and life of the school Curriculum areas and subjects Interdisciplinary projects and studies Opportunities for personal achievement • What arrangements are you making for engagement with learning outcomes and experiences and the development of a variety of methods required for effective teaching? • How are you planning to ensure that literacy, numeracy and aspects of health and wellbeing are the responsibility of each and every member of staff?

33. What plans will you make to ensure further progress with AifL within the framework of CfE? • How will collaborative approaches to planning, within the broader definition of the curriculum, enhance pupils’ experiences? • How will you plan for, organise and monitor coherence, progression and relevance ? • How will you build capacity for leadership in staff and pupils? • How will you evaluate your success in promoting the 4 capacities and what supporting evidence might be used for this purpose?

34. Curriculum for Excellence 2007