Australian Curriculum Analysis

Critical issues facing educators today include; educational inequity, socio-economic status of students, cultural diversity, stereotyping, dominate cultural paradigms, and social disadvantage. Because of these issues, educators will be best prepared for classroom life if they find ways to adapt and modify the learning environment in order, to provide for inclusive regardless of the learners needs. All children in Australia are presented with the opportunity to attend schools which are designed to be inclusive for any and all abilities. Due to the diverse nature of the school age population in Australia classrooms are made up of an assortment of needs in relation to social, cognitive, and physical areas of learning.

Curriculum is designed to develop successful learners. Confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens (MCEECDYA, 2008, p.13). In 2008, the Australian Government promised to deliver a fair and equitable curriculum for the national’s educational system, taking the task away from the State and Local Governments. The purpose of this was to create an even level of education throughout the country whether in Hobart of Cape York, and to ensure our nations position into the 21st century. This essay will demonstrate the Nation’s curriculum, its structure and development ready for its initial implementation in 2011.

Curriculums are the roadmaps for schools which provide purpose and direction for administrators, educators, parents, and students. Curriculum typically refers to, “the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn, which includes the learning standards or learning objectives they are expected to meet; the units and lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given to students; the books, materials, videos, presentations, and readings used in a course; and the tests, assessments, and other methods used to evaluate student learning.” (Curriculum, 2015, para. 1) Curriculums may come in many shapes and forms, whether they’re purchased as a package at the school or district level or they’re created or refined by educators and

The Australian Curriculum incorporates observations as one of the fundamental skills that students are required to learn (Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], n.d., ACAVAM106). Observations, such as the observational drawing of leaves completed in topic two provide students with an opportunity to develop their visual literacy skills and inquire about the world around them (Dinham, 2014, p. 39). During the different stages of drawing development, students draw upon prior learning, which they have gained through observations, to express their thoughts and make meaning. In the same way, the artist Henri Rousseau, who’s jungle paintings have been described as “…primitive and naïve” drew upon his developing catalogue of prior learning to

As a future educator, it will be my job to continue acknowledging, valuing and teaching Indigenous origins, histories and cultures using the Australian Institute for Teaching and School (AITSL) standard 2.4 and the Australian Curriculum. This will give my future students a better understanding that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were the first custodians of our Australian land and of their origins. They lived in Australia 60,000 years before the British settled in 1788. I will teach an Australian historical time line prior to 1788.

A study conducted in 2003 by Ofsted that involved England, Denmark and Finland, showed England’s national curriculum compared to the other two countries was:

Another alternative is that curriculum as an outcome ties together the experiences of learners while at school with the purpose to achieve goals and objectives (Reid, 2005).

The components of high-quality mathematics instruction are a standards-based curriculum and evidence-based instructional strategies. A standards-based curriculum is the content and skills that students should learn. Evidence-based instructional strategies are teaching strategies that are backed by research proving them to be effective.

Australia is very a multicultural and diverse country. Consequently schools are faced with many diverse students of different abilities and backgrounds. To ensure equity and fairness among students, policies and legislations have been put into place to ensure diversity is being catered for and that no student is being excluded from the education system. Some of these policies and legislation include: The Disability Discrimination Act 1992, The Salamanca Statement, Disability Standards 2005, Inclusive Education Statement, Disabilities Services Act QLD 2006 and the Melbourne Declaration.

What educators believe and think influences the learning of their students/children. Write an essay that agrees or disagrees with this statement.

This report summarizes my findings after evaluating the curriculum of Natchez-Adams School District. I was granted access to the curriculum by Dr. Delarious Stewart, Curriculum Director for the Natchez-Adams School District. This report is designed to reflect how the curriculum is aligned with state and district standards. A curriculum is vital to promoting the success of all students because it is the content that is being taught in the school district. For this reason, the person or persons designing and developing the curriculum must understand the many different facets of an effective curriculum. I will present my findings in the following paragraphs.

An area of need at Napavine Jr. Sr. High School is the curriculum adoption process. Two years ago, I worked with the English department to adopt the curriculum for grades 6-12. At that time, there was no guidance and no set procedure. Several months ago, the building principal asked me to be the lead for the K-12 music department’s curriculum adoption. I am not a music teacher and I have no experience in music curriculum. I realized that we needed a plan in place so that teachers would have the mechanism to thoroughly explore, evaluate and select the best curriculum for their program.

The role of the teachers and the expectations of the students are clearly defined by the Australian Curriculum that supports various learning areas. It is imperative for the teachers to adhere to the curriculum in the lesson planning, planning activities that are culturally inclusive and the assessments. The strategies presented earlier, reflect the curriculum links. The first strategy aimed to create an awareness to acknowledge differences, and to embrace diversity. Some of the curriculum links supporting this strategy are presented below:

Due to the disengaged nature of our students, I surmised, that the AC’s general capabilities provide an excellent structure for the life-skilling programs we implement at BYLC. Therefore, I mapped the AC’s English and Mathematics content descriptors to the Literacy and Numeracy general capabilities as a basis for our modified curriculum.

This year, district leadership and the faculty in the Portland Public School’s is engaged in an ambitious effort to design curriculum using an internet-based learning platform called Atlas Rubicon. Once complete, Atlas Rubicon will allow us to carefully examine the scope and sequence of our curriculum beginning on the first day that students enter the district at 5-years-old, through to graduation 13-year later. The curriculum design process will enable us to ensure that our instruction and assessment practices are comprehensively aligned with new learning expectations associated with the articulation of the Next Generation Science Standards, the ELA and Math Common Core Standards, the C3 Social Studies Frameworks, and all other relevant state