Curriculum Issues in Modern Learning Practice
When embracing modern learning practices we are constantly challenged with the need to...
- consider seriously the extent to which we are actively engaging learners in future focused thinking
- focus on inspiring learners to learn how to learn
- develop their capacity to be confident, capable, life-long learners
While these are aspirational goals, where is the place for thinking about and teaching 'basic skills and knowledge'?
Use this debate forum to share your perspectives on how this balance may be achieved.
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Answer to the question: Basics are no longer taught in the modern public education system. Rote training has been kicked out of the curriculum. Indeed the word "rote" is the nastiest four letter word in the English language in the view of modern educators. There are two evil entities determining the modern curriculum, they are teachers unions and political correctness. 1
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Have you ever heard of the multiplication tables, correct spelling, and penmanship? All require rote training. Incidentally, learning how to drive requires rote training, any worthwhile endeavor requires rote training. How about playing football? In the military all basic training is by rote. Lastly, rote training instills discipline' It is difficult for me to believe that you even asked the question, "What is the problem with removing rote training?" Without it our whole society would be comprised of incompetent, fumble-fingered, dimwits. Some things we need to know, and do, automatically so that it becomes habitual, like learning to drive. Habitual learning allows us to apply knowledge instantly without the thinking required when you are in the learning pit. However, we need to have a real understanding of what ‘basics’ are important for the children of today. For example, is cursive writing still a basic we need to teach and is it relevant to our children and their future? The key competencies are a particularly important component of our curriculum as they sit above and underpin the content within our NZ curriculum as well as making up many of the learner dispositions that we are considering for a graduate profile in our schools. What constitutes the basics may be changing and becoming more diverse but the components of being able to communicate our ideas and to develop and to build on our thinking are still vital. It is the ways we are communicating and who with that are evolving and expanding.
Being able to pose questions, to acquire knowledge and to contribute to knowledge building together is also what is changing as is how we have the capacity to operate as individuals, as members of a pair or in a group as a part of an online community. The basics remain. How do I communicate? Do I understand what has been written by someone else? Can I add to the conversation in some way, maybe in a creative way? Am I numerate?
The basics are expanding from the ability to read, write and to do mathematics well to being able to access and to use electronic media to retrieve and to manipulate knowledge. The concepts of agency, ubiquity and connectedness are possibly the levers of change for many of us as we deliberately contemplate and rethink what we do, for who, when, where and how.
The future, just like Winter, is coming. The future is relentless and is happening now. What we, as teachers, have considered our bread and butter, i.e., the basics of content and our curriculum, is being challenged. Perhaps our preference for marmite or raspberry jam to go with our bread and butter is being threatened by the spreads that are now widely available. We know they are out there but can we trust the ingredients are what they used to be if we don’t know where they originated, what conditions they were produced in and how? Yes I know I am mixing my metaphors. The key competencies are a particularly important component of our curriculum as they sit above and underpin the content within our NZ curriculum as well as making up many of the learner dispositions that we are considering for a graduate profile in our schools. What constitutes the basics may be changing and becoming more diverse but the components of being able to communicate our ideas and to develop and to build on our thinking are still vital. It is the ways we are communicating and who with that are evolving and expanding.
Being able to pose questions, to acquire knowledge and to contribute to knowledge building together is also what is changing as is how we have the capacity to operate as individuals, as members of a pair or in a group as a part of an online community. The basics remain. How do I communicate? Do I understand what has been written by someone else? Can I add to the conversation in some way, maybe in a creative way? Am I numerate?
The basics are expanding from the ability to read, write and to do mathematics well to being able to access and to use electronic media to retrieve and to manipulate knowledge. The concepts of agency, ubiquity and connectedness are possibly the levers of change for many of us as we deliberately contemplate and rethink what we do, for who, when, where and how.
The future, just like Winter, is coming. The future is relentless and is happening now. What we, as teachers, have considered our bread and butter, i.e., the basics of content and our curriculum, is being challenged. Perhaps our preference for marmite or raspberry jam to go with our bread and butter is being threatened by the ‘spreads’ that are now widely available. We know they are out there but can we trust the ingredients are what they used to be if we don’t know where they originated, what conditions they were produced in and how? Yes I know I am mixing my metaphors.
What are we looking to do… abandon the basics, I don’t think so. It is more that we are looking for more effective ways in which we can create innovative approaches to teaching and learning so that all learners can thrive. There is still a need for the teaching of the basics... however we need to explore new ways of teaching these through MLP and rethink our own habits in how we go about teaching the basic skills and knowledge. Our kids need to have these basics to help them be Future Focused Learners! 1
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As teachers in the junior end of our school, we strongly agree that the basics are still important, but with MLP it opens up flexibility for delivery. We really like the idea of all schools and teachers identifying with the fundamental aspects of MLP, but then having the flexibility to make it work for their learners and their learning environments. We are fortunate with the New Zealand Curriculum. We have a great curriculum, which enables us (indeed requires us!) to plan work that enables confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners. The curriculum goes even further than that, with the 8 Principles, meaning that aspects such as Learning to Learn and Future Focus are absolutely embedded. It takes nothing away from the basics .... but these other aspects must be the power behind the planning and teaching. 1
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I agree that the basics are definitely still there. I believe that it is a shift in mindset. Now aspects such as Key Competencies and the Nature of Science are central to the planning. They are the horse that are put before the cart. To take the analogy further, the KCs, Principles and NOS are the driving force behind the planning and teaching. The basics, therefore, are actually taught more effectively. So this shift in mindset is not devaluing the basics - it is making them (the cart) travel further. (Apologies if I pushed the horse and cart thing too far in that last sentence ;-) ) Agree, we are lucky not to have a tightly prescriptive curriculum. Schools need to be looking at what we are delivering, and asking the question "what is important for my students to learn"? Those answers (plus the principles, values, and key competencies) should be driving decisions around the learning that is happening. 1
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I love the idea that the NZ Curriculum empowers teachers to flip the focus and put key competencies and values at the heart of what we do every day. I strongly agree with Dr Julia Atkin that we are teaching people not teaching subjects and that we need to really look at the opportunities we provide for students to become thinkers, self-managers etc using subject areas as the medium. We can talk with students in a way that shifts their thinking - and ours - away from correct answers and task completion towards making the most of opportunities to stretch their thinking and build learning capacity. I like the way you say that we need to remember that we are teaching the person, not a subject. That is so true!! When it comes to not focusing on the "correct answer" I too enjoyed the Guy Claxton reading. Carol Dweck is also someone I have really enjoyed reading (and watching on YouTube). I have used her ideas about fixed mindset versus growth mindset in my classroom of 5-year-olds. We like to say we have a classroom of "yetis" in our room, as we never say we can't do something - we just can't do it ....yet! When children don't know an answer or are confused we celebrate that and say that that means that learning is going on. (Interestingly I read something recently from Carol Dweck that said that she didn't want the growth mindset idea used simply as a self-esteem booster, and I get what she means). Here's the link .... http://schoolsweek.co.uk/ All this doesn't mean that we don't focus on the basics. They are still important. It just means that the basics are not the be all and the end all. I agree, it's about taking the basics then asking 'why is this useful to me' - what is the purpose of getting really fast at my times tables, how will it help me in my future life? I make myself deliberately consider this when planning and delivering learning to make sure that I have this clear and can help the kids to identify the links too. Thinking about this debate made me remember something I had read. There is the explicit curriculum - what we actually plan and teach. Then there is the implicit curriculum - what we unintentionally teach. This includes aspects such as where we position ourselves as teachers, e.g., at the front of the room implicitly teaching that we are the "sage on the stage". Then there is the null curriculum. What we don't teach can also contain a powerful message. If you focus on the basics at the expense of (or ahead of) aspects such as the Key Competencies and Principles of the NZ Curriculum, not only are you missing a learning opportunity to teach these life skills - you are actually teaching that they are less important. 1
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Looking at the shifts in education with Julia Atkin, we feel the holistic approach of teaching the whole child is very relevant when preparing learners for the future. The blend of Key Competencies, Values and Learning Areas in the NZ Curriculum provide a platform for teachers to develop "whole self" and "self for society". Teachers can enrich the lives of their learners, rather than just teach subjects in isolation. 1
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Guy Claxton encourages us to shift and stretch our thinking by adjusting our habits and the way that we talk to our children. We strongly agree that everyone has the capacity to learn, develop and get better, and believe that attitude and the learning environment are two very strong influences. 1
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Definitely! We were only talking about this the other day. We have a number of children with additional learning needs who haven't met National Standards, but have made huge progress. We recognise the importance of celebrating success for the individuals, to maintain self esteem, and keep our learners motivated. 1
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Tony Ryan suggests that we are currently experiencing the most dramatic changes in education. We strongly agree with that, and are trying our best to keep up with them all. Teachers hold very important positions in the lives of our learners, and we need to be innovative and inspirational. 1
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Having looked at another school's ICT survey at their last BOT meeting and the teachers were not as confident with the iPads they had just introduced as BYOD as their students were. Yet the teachers did not have personal ones. I argued the point with another member that shouldn't that be a priority so that indeed they keep up or ahead of the students and the possibilities by experiencing them? The BOT decided with the next round of purchasing the staff would all get devices. 1
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Are we reflecting the essence of the curriculum - confident, connected, actively involved, life long learners - in all that we do? Having listened to Julia Aitken with this point, is this a key question that we have at the heart of what we do? Is it a value that we can unpack as we reflect and move forward with agency and ubiquity and moving to a our new school? Maybe it should be the key to all those decisions we make! 1
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I don't think it is feasible at all. There is a lot in the Numeracy project that can support Agency and children knowing their next steps. Our learners who are our 'Agents' (Self regulated Learners or learners with Agency) are currently being taught to look at their support documentation as to their next steps in Knowledge learning and then where they can find resources to support this learning. Basic Facts still plays an important part of our programme, people can say they may not need them in the future but really we all use our tables in some shape and form in real life. There is still a need for the basics if you can see the purpose and in this case knowing this will allow learners to be confident, connected, actively involved in using these basics in later life≥ 1
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Changing my habits of teaching and learning through this term's modules has stretched myself. Thinking of those subjects I find difficult it is easy in a power of 3 to let the other 2 teach them but when you have to take one of those subjects you have the time to finding better resources and lessons to model better practice to the children we teach. So the collaborative approach for me is definitely the way to go to change my learning / teaching habits and talking to the learners using myself as the role model It was an interesting thing in the media about teaching numeracy. While it may be necessary to review some of our maths teaching, I don't think we should be looking at "throwing the baby out with the bathwater." We would have to dig a little deeper than the media (which likes to sensationalise things) and reports - which have proven to be wrong in the past. Instead, could we be looking at how we include the KCs and principles in our maths teaching. (And many teachers will already be doing this very effectively). 1
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One other aspect of the curriculum I really like, which covers life long learning, higher order thinking and modern learning practice is the Nature of Science. This really gets learners thinking - higher level, why they are doing things and includes a purpose for learning (including future focus). 1
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Our school tagline is Causing Learning Now. In essence this means it is our goal to provide children with programmes and teaching that will enable learning to occur. In our school it is important to provide opportunities for children to learn how to learn, not just to treat them as a vessel to be filled with facts but to give them the capabilities to become lifelong learners. We also take a holistic approach to teaching by combining learning areas from the curriculum with key competencies. We have further developed the key competencies into specific skills and values within our school which have been dubbed Tau Competencies. These are a critical part of our learning environment and are utilized on a daily basis within our classrooms. In order to stretch our students ability to think we once again utilise our Tau Competencies - within the skills aspect of these competencies we have goals for children in terms of how they think and how they can improve on their thinking. The crucial shift for teachers to make is to understand that we are no longer looking for a right or wrong answer in every aspect that we teach but that we need to be teaching children how to think, how to question, how to problem solve and to increase their thinking skills. A growth mindset and perseverance (grit) is integral. It is also important for us all to change our mentality that we are born with a certain capacity for knowledge or learning but instead we can train our brains to become stronger or better at learning - similar to how one would build up their fitness. It is key that teachers use the correct language to communicate this with students - this fits in with teaching our competency of perseverance. |
